WELCOME TO JOAN ROSSELLÓ-GELI WEBPAGE
About me
I am a physical geographer currently working as associate lecturer at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). I am also a member of the Research Group of Climatology, Hydrology, Risks and Landscape from the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), where I graduated and passed my PhD.
My research is focused on extreme rainfall events, flash flooding and their impact on human activities and landscapes.
A SHORT CV
I hold a BA on Geography and a Physical Geography DEA (Advanced Studies Degree). My PhD research was titled: "Rainfall and runoff in torrential catchments in Mallorca".
Regarding teaching experience, I have worked as lecturer in the CESAG teacher training school, as associate lecturer in the Geography Department (UIB) and currently I am associate lecturer in the UOC, where I teach a 1st year course titled Introduction to Geography.
On a professional level, I have worked in several environmental studies companies, doing geological and risk related research.
RESEARCH
FLASH FLOODS AFFECTING THE BALEARIC ISLANDS AND THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN
My main research focus is the study of flash floods, affecting small to medium size catchments, using post-event analysis and the available computerized data.
URBAN FLOODING
The increase of urbanization, often related to tourism, has had the negative effect of occupying flood-prone areas. In that sense, I work mapping and analyzing new risks affecting those urban spaces. Such data can improve the awareness of stakeholders and authorities, thus improving the capabilities to adapt and overcome the flooding risk.
HISTORICAL CLIMATOLOGY AND RISKS
I am interested in the recovery of old instrumental climatological data, mainly focused in the Balearic Islands during the 19th century. With such information, we can improve data series to study climate change related impacts.
Moreover, I use historical data to analyze floods from the past, basically obtaining information from chronicles and newspapers. The results allow characterizing the flood impact evolution to plan for future flood-related damages.
FLOOD-RELATED FATALITIES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND EUROPE
A main flood-related impact are the casualties. To improve our knowledge about how people die as a result of a flood I joined the European project HyMeX, which has the aim to study flood fatalities across the Mediterranean and Europe within the Societal Impacts Working Group (www.hymex.org).
First results show how being in a car carried away by runoff is the main cause of fatalities.
PUBLICATIONS
MAPPING OF THE FLOOD DISTRIBUTION IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF PALMA (MALLORCA, SPAIN) IN THE FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE 21ST CENTURY
The City of Palma de Mallorca has been historically affected by flood events, with the latest flood of great magnitude occurring in 1962. After decades without large flooding events, since the start of the 21st century, 28 floods have been identified within the city boundaries. As change in the spatial location of these events has been observed, a research to identify where the floods are located nowadays and which causes can be related to such distribution has been undertaken.
Six types of floods were identified and the events classified accordingly, with the deficient planned infrastructures, flat urban areas without defined drainage and coastal sectors the three most common types. The results highlight the importance of the urban sprawl and malpractices related to flood risk areas, thus increasing the occurrence of floods of less spatial impact but with greater disturbance on the daily activity of the city inhabitants. Nevertheless, some uncertainties are identified in this research, demonstrating the need of further investigations.
Keywords: flood hazard; spatial distribution; urbanization impact; Western Mediterranean
LINK: https://doi.org/10.3390/earth2040056
LA PRENSA LOCAL, FUENTE PARA EL ESTUDIO DE INUNDACIONES: EL SEMANARIO SÓLLER (MALLORCA) DE 1900 A 2000
The local press, a source for the study of floods: the weekly Sóller (Mallorca) from 1900 to 2000.- The increase in the risk of flooding in the Mediterranean coastal arc has led to the implementation of measures aimed at reducing it. Among the elements that can be used to develop these measures is included the study of historical floods through documentary sources. One of those documentary sources is the newspapers, which reached a great development during the 19th century and the start of the 20th. The result of this process was the appearance of local press with variable periodicity that collects abundant data on floods that may not be included in the catalogs of a larger geographical scope, since they affect small basins and the socio-economic impacts caused may be unremarkable. Within those parameters is the Sóller basin in Mallorca Island, where a local weekly newspaper allows developing a database of floods from 1900 to 2000, which include affected catchments, rainfall totals and recorded damages. The data help to develop a descriptive classification of flood according to damages: ordinary, extraordinary and catastrophic. It can be considered as a progress in the knowledge of the historical flood risk in the basin and can be a helpful tool to develop prevention plans. The main conclusion of the research is the usefulness of press as a tool to gain knowledge about past events and its value as a source to classify the societal and environmental impacts of floods.
LINK: https://doi.org/10.17811/er.2.2021.207-222
TENDENCIAS DE LOS DÍAS CON PRECIPITACIÓN EN LA CUENCA DE SÓLLER (MALLORCA, ESPAÑA)
Daily rainfall data observed in two rain gauges located on a 50 km2 catchment in Mallorca have been studied to observe the annual distribution of rainy days and its seasonal distribution for the final decades of the 20th century.Furthermore, the rainy days trends have been analyzed for the period 1960-2000. Results confirm the high inter-annual variability of the Mediterranean climate and the contrast between areas because of factors like the sea closeness. Regarding trends, there is an increase of the yearly rainy days in both gauges during the observed period.
LINK: http://revele.uncoma.edu.ar/index.php/geografia/article/view/3245
RETRIEVING METEOROLOGICAL DATA FROM
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER IN MALLORCA: THE
‘SEMANARIO SÓLLER’ FROM 1892 TO 1901
The research presents retrieved meteorological data, including precipitation and temperature, from the weekly newspaper ‘Semanario Sóller’ in Mallorca. These values were recorded at the end of the nineteenth century, before the start of official measurements. The collected data portray the high variability of the weather at this time, showing slightly warmer and wet conditions, compared with measurements taken100 years later. Even so, a 10-year sample is not long enough, nor are possible instrumental and exposure differences known to sufficient detail, to reach any conclusions regarding any changes to the climate.
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.4088
FLOOD RELATED MORTALITY IN A TOURISTIC ISLAND: MALLORCA (BALEARIC ISLANDS) 1960–2018
Although they exist, fatalities related to floods are a rare occurrence in the island of Mallorca. In the aftermath of the Sant Llorenç flash-flood of October 2018, which killed 13 people, a research was undertaken to develop database gathering information about the flood related victims on the island. The data was obtained from official reports and newspapers archives and was completed via field research and witnesses' interviews. The difficulties in obtaining information reduced the period to the past 58 years. The results show that 25 people died as a result of a flood event in basins with an average area of 19.83 km2 and a minimum of only 0.10 km2. Breaking down further into demographics, 14 were male and 11 were female. The largest number of victims is included in the 18–65 age group and 36% of the fatalities were tourists and foreign residents. Even if the number of fatalities is small compared with other Mediterranean regions, the research results highlight the importance of the need of an increased safety campaign in the Islands, aimed both to residents and to tourists as well, taking into account the importance of Mallorca as a holidays resort in Europe.
LINK: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12644
