Increasingly severe hydrological extremes are predicted for the Pannonian Basin as one of the consequences of climate change. The challenges of extreme droughts require the adaptation of agriculture especially during the intense growth phase of crops. For dryland farming, the selections of the optimal land use type and sustainable agricultural land management are potential adaptation tools for facing the challenges posed by increased aridity. To this end, it is indispensable to understand soil moisture (SM) dynamics under different land use types over drought-affected periods. Within the framework of a Slovenian–Hungarian project, soil moisture, matric potential and rainfall time series have been collected at three pilot sites of different land use types (pasture, orchards and a ploughland) in SW Hungary since September 2018. Experiments were carried out in soils of silt, silt loam and clay loam texture. In the summers (June 1 to August 31) of 2019 and 2022, we identified normal and dry conditions, respectively, with regard to differences in water balance. Our results demonstrated that soil moisture is closely controlled by land use. Marked differences of the moisture regime were revealed among the three land use types based on statistical analyses. Soils under pasture had the most balanced regime, whereas ploughland soils indicated the highest amplitude of moisture dynamics. The orchard, however, showed responses to weather conditions in sharp contrast with the other two sites. Our results are applicable for loamy soils under humid and subhumid temperate climates and for periods of extreme droughts, a condition which is expected to be the norm for the future.

The identification of drought-sensitive areas (DSAs) in floodplain Fluvisols of high textural pedodiversity is crucial for sustainable land management purposes. During extended drought periods moisture replenishment is only available by capillary rise from the groundwater. However, moisture flux is often hindered by capillary barriers in the interface between layers of contrasting textures. The results of HYDRUS-1D simulations run on multilayered soil profiles were integrated into textural maps to determine the spatial distribution of water dynamics on the floodplain of the Drava River (SW Hungary). Model runs and field data revealed limited moisture replenishment by capillary rise when both contrasting textural interfaces and sandy layers are present in the profile. By implementing these textural and hydraulic relations, a drought vulnerability map (DSA map) of the operational area of the Old Drava Programme (ODP) was developed. According to the spatial distribution of soils of reduced capillary rise, 52% of the ODP area is likely threatened by droughts. Our model results are adaptable for optimisation of land- and water-management practices along the floodplains of low-energy and medium-sized rivers under humid continental and maritime climates.

Increasingly severe weather extremes are predicted as one of the consequences of climate change. According to climatic models, weather extremities induce higher risks for both flood and drought in the Carpathian Basin. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, flood control relied on cost-intensive engineering structures, but recently ecological solutions have come to the fore. Flood hazard on major rivers could be mitigated if multiple and cumulative water retention opportunities are exploited on the upper sections of tributary catchments. Appropriate land use and landscape pattern changes can shift the infiltration to run-off ratio to the benefit of the former. In the Transdanubian Hills of Southwest Hungary three study areas with different agricultural land use types had been selected and investigated for the impact of landscape micro-features on soil moisture retention capacity with the purpose of conserving water from wet periods for the times of drought. Marked differences in moisture dynamics have been detected between arable land, grasslands and orchards. This fact underlines the need for integrated soil and water conservation. Drought risk was found to be the highest on ploughland. Favourable soil water budgets have been observed in the fields as a function of land use: less intensive types, like grazing land and orchards (particularly tree rows), were identified as places of high water retention capacity. Although serious water stress conditions were also reached in the orchard, it markedly mitigated drought conditions compared to the ploughland.

Climate change is commonly associated with extreme weather phenomena. Extreme weather patterns may bring prolonged drought periods, more intense runoff and increased severity of floods. Rainfall distribution is extremely erratic both in space and time, particularly in areas of rugged topography and heterogeneous land use. Therefore, locating major rainfall events and predicting their hydrological consequences is challenging. Hence, our study aimed at exploring the spatial and temporal patterns of daily rainfall totals of R ≥ 20 mm, R ≥ 30 mm and R ≥ 40 mm (extreme precipitation events, EPE) in Pécs (SW Hungary) by a hydrometeorological network (PHN) of 10 weather stations and the gridded database of the Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ). Our results revealed that (a) OMSZ datasets indicated increasing frequencies of EPEs for the period of 1971–2020 in Pécs, (b) the OMSZ dataset generally underestimated EPE frequencies, particularly for R ≥ 40 mm EPEs, for the period of 2013 to 2020, and (c) PHN indicated a slight orographic effect, demonstrating spatial differences of EPEs between the two datasets both annually and seasonally for 2013–2020. Our results pointed out the adequacy of interpolated datasets for mesoscale detection of EPE distribution. However, topographically representative monitoring networks provide more detailed microscale data for the hydrological management of urban areas. Data from dense rain-gauge networks may complement interpolated datasets, facilitating complex environmental management actions and precautionary measures, particularly during weather-related calamities.

Global climate change has discernible impacts on the quality of the landscapes of Hungary. Only a dynamic and spatially differentiated land evaluation methodology can properly reflect these changes. The provision level, rate oftransformation and spatial distribution of ecosystem services (ESs) are fundamental properties of landscapes and have to be integral parts of an up-to-date land evaluation. For agricultural land capability assessment soil fertility is a major supporting ES, directly associated with climate change through greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration as regulationg services. Since for Hungary aridification is the most severe consequence of climate change, water-related ESs, such as water retention and storage on and below the surface as well as control of floods, water pollution and soil erosion, are of increasing importance. The productivity of agricultural crops is enhanced by more atmospheric CO2 but restricted by higher drought susceptibility. The value of floodplain landscapes, i.e. their agroecological, nature conservation, tourism (aesthetic) and other potentials, however, will be increasingly controlled by their water supply, which is characterized by hydrometeorological parameters. Case studies are presented for the estimation of the value of two water-related regulating ESs (water retention and groundwater recharge capacities) in the floodplains of the Kapos and Drava rivers, Southwest Hungary. It is predictable that in the future land evaluation techniques based on the FAO framework will be more dynamic and integrated with the monetary valuation of ESs. The latter task, however, still involves numerous methodological problems to solve.

The retention of surface runoff and the preservation of soil moisture are among the most important water-related ecosystem services. In addition to field monitoring, advanced remote sensing techniques have been devised to reveal soil moisture dynamics on agricultural land. In our study we compare two soil moisture indices, TWI and SAVI, in three agricultural areas with different land use types. The SAVI has been found suitable to point out spatial variation on the moisture conditions of the vadose zone.