scholarly journals Trends and variability of water balance components over a tropical savanna and Eucalyptus forest in Australia

Author(s):  
Yinhong Kang ◽  
Lu Zhang ◽  
Warrick Dawes

Abstract In this paper, the long-term dynamics of water balance components in two different contrasting ecosystems in Australia were simulated with an ecohydrological model (WAter Vegetation Energy and Solute modelling (WAVES)) over the period 1950–2015. The selected two ecosystems are woodland savanna in Daly River and Eucalyptus forest in Tumbarumba. The WAVES model was first manually calibrated and validated against soil water content measured by cosmic-ray probe and evapotranspiration measured with eddy flux techniques. The calibrated model was then used to simulate long-term water balance components with observed climate data at two sites. Analyzing the trends and variabilities of potential evapotranspiration and precipitation is used to interpret the climate change impacts on ecosystem water balance. The results showed that the WAVES model can accurately simulate soil water content and evapotranspiration at two study sites. Over the period of 1950–2015, annual evapotranspiration at both sites showed decreasing trends (−1.988 mm year−1 in Daly and −0.381 mm year−1 in Tumbarumba), whereas annual runoff in Daly increased significantly (5.870 mm year−1) and decreased in Tumbarumba (–0.886 mm year−1). It can be concluded that the annual runoff trends are consistent with the rainfall trends, whereas trends in annual evapotranspiration are influenced by both rainfall and potential evapotranspiration. The results can provide evidence for controlling the impacting factors for different ecosystems under climate change.

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Ruggiu ◽  
Francesco Viola

The prediction of long term water balance components is not a trivial issue, even when empirical Budyko’s type approaches are used, because parameter estimation is often hampered by missing or poor hydrological data. In order to overcome this issue, we provided regression equations that link climate, morphological, and vegetation parameters to Fu’s parameter. Climate is here defined as a specific seasonal pattern of potential evapotranspiration and rain: five climatic scenarios have been considered to mimic different conditions worldwide. A weather generator has been used to create stochastic time series for the related climatic scenario, which in turn has been used as an input to a conceptual hydrological model to obtain long-term water balance components with low computational effort, while preserving fundamental process descriptions. The morphology and vegetation’s role in determining water partitioning process has been epitomized in four parameters of the conceptual model. Numerical simulations explored a large set of basins in the five climates. Results show that climate superimposes partitioning rules for a given basin; morphological and vegetation watershed properties, as conceptualized by model parameters, determine the Fu’s parameter within a given climate. A sensitive analysis confirmed that vegetation has the most influencing role in determining water partitioning rules, followed by soil permeability. Finally, linear regressions relating basin characteristics to Fu’s parameter have been obtained in the five climates and tested in a basin for each case, obtaining encouraging results. The small amount of data required and the very low computational effort of the method make this approach ideal for practitioners and hydrologists involved in annual runoff assessment.


Author(s):  
Yuriy Yushchenko ◽  
Olha Palanychko ◽  
Mykola Pasichnyk ◽  
Oleksandr Zakrevskyi

Research of precipitation, water balance of river basins, and the impact of precipitation on river runoff remain relevant in the context of global and regional climate change. Nowadays, many scientific research all over the world are devoted to the research of the problem of river runoff change under the influence of climatic factors. This kind of research has been developing strongly in Ukraine in recent decades. In particular, they concern the rivers of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The basin of the river Putyla to the line of the village of Putyla has an area of 181 km2. It is located in the south-eastern part of the Carpathian and characterized by a significant influence of warm rains on the formation of water runoff. The average annual runoff is characterized by rather complex patterns of change both in time and space. There are periodic, cyclical and unidirectional changes that occur under the influence of a complex system of factors. Climate is a major factor of the water change. Thus, the research of the average runoff of the Putila River has different aspects.To determine the effect of precipitation on river runoff, the method of comparing difference-integral curves of annual runoff and precipitation, as well as water-balance methods are used. Long-term changes and intra-annual distribution of precipitation, in particular rainfall, according to the observations of the meteorological station Selyatyn were analyzed. We constructed a differential integrated curve of modular coefficients of the average annual precipitation in the Putil district. It clearly reflects the cyclical changes in precipitation. Long-term changes and intra-annual distribution of water runoff in the Putyla River also were analyzed. During the observation period, periods of long-term fluctuations of the average annual precipitation were revealed. The average annual rainfall is 842.9 mm. The annual course is stable, ie the greatest amount of precipitation falls in the summer, when there are intense thunderstorms and showers, the least – in winter. Based on the data of hydrological observations, the average long-term value of water consumption according to GP Putila is 2.47 m3/s. We calculated the coefficient of variability (variation). The coefficient of variation for average costs is 0.21 (21%), and for precipitation – 0.7 (7%). The connection between precipitation and runoff was established. We have built a comprehensive schedule of annual distribution of precipitation and costs of the Putyla River for 2010. You can see that in the spring due to snowmelt there is an influx of water and there is a spring flood. It is known that 2010 in Putilsky district was full of water. The reduction of water consumption in the Putyla River in the cold period of the year with a decrease in precipitation is also observed. Graph of the dependence of the runoff of the Putyla River on precipitation in the village of Selyatyn showed a fairly clear relationship between the variable values of runoff and precipitation (the coefficient of variation is 0,66). The feeding structure of the Putyla River is mixed. The main share is occupied by rain, less - snow and groundwater. Key words: climate change, precipitation, runoff, rivers, long-term changes in runoff, intra-annual distribution of precipitation and runoff, Putyla river.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 280
Author(s):  
Diana Saja-Garbarz ◽  
Agnieszka Ostrowska ◽  
Katarzyna Kaczanowska ◽  
Franciszek Janowiak

The aim of this study was to investigate the accumulation of silicon in oilseed rape and to characterize the changes in chosen water balance parameters in response to drought. The following parameters were estimated: water content, osmotic and water potential, evapotranspiration, stomatal conductance and abscisic acid level under optimal and drought conditions. It was shown that oilseed rape plants accumulate silicon after its supplementation to the soil, both in the case of silicon alone and silicon together with iron. It was revealed that silicon (without iron) helps maintain constant water content under optimal conditions. While no silicon influence on osmotic regulation was observed, a transpiration decrease was detected under optimal conditions after silicon application. Under drought, a reduction in stomatal conductance was observed, but it was similar for all plants. The decrease in leaf water content under drought was accompanied by a significant increase in abscisic acid content in leaves of control plants and those treated with silicon together with iron. To sum up, under certain conditions, silicon is accumulated even in non-accumulator species, such as oilseed rape, and presumably improves water uptake under drought stress.


1975 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. KRISTENSEN ◽  
S. E. JENSEN

A model for calculating the daily actual evapotranspiration based on the potential one is presented. The potential evapotranspiration is reduced according to vegetation density, water content in the root zone, and the rainfall distribution. The model is tested by comparing measured (EAm) and calculated (EAc) evapotranspirations from barley, fodder sugar beets, and grass over a four year period. The measured and calculated values agree within 10 %. The model also yields information on soil water content and runoff from the root zone.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 2877-2898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Müller Schmied ◽  
Linda Adam ◽  
Stephanie Eisner ◽  
Gabriel Fink ◽  
Martina Flörke ◽  
...  

Abstract. When assessing global water resources with hydrological models, it is essential to know about methodological uncertainties. The values of simulated water balance components may vary due to different spatial and temporal aggregations, reference periods, and applied climate forcings, as well as due to the consideration of human water use, or the lack thereof. We analyzed these variations over the period 1901–2010 by forcing the global hydrological model WaterGAP 2.2 (ISIMIP2a) with five state-of-the-art climate data sets, including a homogenized version of the concatenated WFD/WFDEI data set. Absolute values and temporal variations of global water balance components are strongly affected by the uncertainty in the climate forcing, and no temporal trends of the global water balance components are detected for the four homogeneous climate forcings considered (except for human water abstractions). The calibration of WaterGAP against observed long-term average river discharge Q significantly reduces the impact of climate forcing uncertainty on estimated Q and renewable water resources. For the homogeneous forcings, Q of the calibrated and non-calibrated regions of the globe varies by 1.6 and 18.5 %, respectively, for 1971–2000. On the continental scale, most differences for long-term average precipitation P and Q estimates occur in Africa and, due to snow undercatch of rain gauges, also in the data-rich continents Europe and North America. Variations of Q at the grid-cell scale are large, except in a few grid cells upstream and downstream of calibration stations, with an average variation of 37 and 74 % among the four homogeneous forcings in calibrated and non-calibrated regions, respectively. Considering only the forcings GSWP3 and WFDEI_hom, i.e., excluding the forcing without undercatch correction (PGFv2.1) and the one with a much lower shortwave downward radiation SWD than the others (WFD), Q variations are reduced to 16 and 31 % in calibrated and non-calibrated regions, respectively. These simulation results support the need for extended Q measurements and data sharing for better constraining global water balance assessments. Over the 20th century, the human footprint on natural water resources has become larger. For 11–18% of the global land area, the change of Q between 1941–1970 and 1971–2000 was driven more strongly by change of human water use including dam construction than by change in precipitation, while this was true for only 9–13 % of the land area from 1911–1940 to 1941–1970.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 4125-4143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrica Perra ◽  
Monica Piras ◽  
Roberto Deidda ◽  
Claudio Paniconi ◽  
Giuseppe Mascaro ◽  
...  

Abstract. This work addresses the impact of climate change on the hydrology of a catchment in the Mediterranean, a region that is highly susceptible to variations in rainfall and other components of the water budget. The assessment is based on a comparison of responses obtained from five hydrologic models implemented for the Rio Mannu catchment in southern Sardinia (Italy). The examined models – CATchment HYdrology (CATHY), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), TOPographic Kinematic APproximation and Integration (TOPKAPI), TIN-based Real time Integrated Basin Simulator (tRIBS), and WAter balance SImulation Model (WASIM) – are all distributed hydrologic models but differ greatly in their representation of terrain features and physical processes and in their numerical complexity. After calibration and validation, the models were forced with bias-corrected, downscaled outputs of four combinations of global and regional climate models in a reference (1971–2000) and future (2041–2070) period under a single emission scenario. Climate forcing variations and the structure of the hydrologic models influence the different components of the catchment response. Three water availability response variables – discharge, soil water content, and actual evapotranspiration – are analyzed. Simulation results from all five hydrologic models show for the future period decreasing mean annual streamflow and soil water content at 1 m depth. Actual evapotranspiration in the future will diminish according to four of the five models due to drier soil conditions. Despite their significant differences, the five hydrologic models responded similarly to the reduced precipitation and increased temperatures predicted by the climate models, and lend strong support to a future scenario of increased water shortages for this region of the Mediterranean basin. The multimodel framework adopted for this study allows estimation of the agreement between the five hydrologic models and between the four climate models. Pairwise comparison of the climate and hydrologic models is shown for the reference and future periods using a recently proposed metric that scales the Pearson correlation coefficient with a factor that accounts for systematic differences between datasets. The results from this analysis reflect the key structural differences between the hydrologic models, such as a representation of both vertical and lateral subsurface flow (CATHY, TOPKAPI, and tRIBS) and a detailed treatment of vegetation processes (SWAT and WASIM).


Author(s):  
Vadim Yapiyev ◽  
Kanat Samarkhanov ◽  
Dauren Zhumabayev ◽  
Nazym Tulegenova ◽  
Saltanat Jumassultanova ◽  
...  

Both climate change and anthropogenic activities contribute to the deterioration of terrestrial water resources and ecosystems worldwide. Central Asian endorheic basins are among the most affected regions through both climate and human impacts. Here, we used a digital elevation model, digitized bathymetry maps and Landsat images to estimate the areal water cover extent and volumetric storage changes in small terminal lakes in Burabay National Nature Park (BNNP), located in Northern Central Asia (CA), for the period of 1986 to 2016. Based on the analysis of long-term climatic data from meteorological stations, short-term hydrometeorological network observations, gridded climate datasets (CRU) and global atmospheric reanalysis (ERA Interim), we have evaluated the impacts of historical climatic conditions on the water balance of BNNP lake catchments. We also discuss the future based on regional climate model projections. We attribute the overall decline of BNNP lakes to long-term deficit of water balance with lake evaporation loss exceeding precipitation inputs. Direct anthropogenic water abstraction has a minor importance in water balance. However, the changes in watersheds caused by the expansion of human settlements and roads disrupting water drainage may play a more significant role in lake water storage decline. More precise water resources assessment at the local scale will be facilitated by further development of freely available higher spatial resolution remote sensing products. In addition, the results of this work can be used for the development of lake/reservoir evaporation models driven by remote sensing and atmospheric reanalysis data without the direct use of ground observations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Bolbot ◽  
Vasyl Grebin

<p>The current patterns estimation of the water regime under climate change is one of the most urgent tasks in Ukraine and the world. Such changes are determined by fluctuations in the main climatic characteristics - precipitation and air temperature, which are defined the value of evaporation. These parameters influence on the annual runoff distribution and long-term runoff fluctuations. In particular, the annual precipitation redistribution is reflected in the corresponding changes in the river runoff.<br>The assessment of the current state and nature of changes in precipitation and river runoff of the Siverskyi Donets River Basin was made by comparing the current period (1991-2018) with the period of the climatological normal (1961-1990).<br>In general, for this area, it was defined the close relationship between the amount of precipitation and the annual runoff. Against the background of insignificant (about 1%) increase of annual precipitation in recent decades, it was revealed their redistribution by seasons and separate months. There is a decrease in precipitation in the cold period (November-February). This causes (along with other factors) a decrease in the amount of snow and, accordingly, the spring flood runoff. There are frequent cases of unexpressed spring floods of the Siverskyi Donets River Basin. The runoff during March-April (the period of spring flood within the Ukrainian part of the basin) decreased by almost a third.<br>The increase of precipitation during May-June causes a corresponding (insignificant) increase in runoff in these months. The shift of the maximum monthly amount of precipitation from May (for the period 1961-1990) to June (in the current period) is observed.<br>There is a certain threat to water supply in the region due to the shift in the minimum monthly amount of precipitation in the warm period from October to August. Compared with October, there is a higher air temperature and, accordingly, higher evaporation in August, which reduces the runoff. Such a situation is solved by rational water resources management of the basin. The possibility of replenishing water resources in the basin through the transfer runoff from the Dnieper (Dnieper-Siverskyi Donets channel) and the annual runoff redistribution in the reservoir system causes some increase in the river runoff of summer months in recent decades. This is also contributed by the activities of the river basin management structures, which control the maintenance water users' of minimum ecological flow downstream the water intakes and hydraulic structures in the rivers of the basin.<br>Therefore, in the period of current climate change, the annual runoff distribution of the Siverskyi Donets River Basin has undergone significant changes, which is related to the annual precipitation redistribution and anthropogenic load on the basin.</p>


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