scholarly journals Hybrid climate datasets from a climate data evaluation system and their impacts on hydrologic simulations for the Athabasca River basin in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 5151-5173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyung-Il Eum ◽  
Anil Gupta
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
North American ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Athabasca River ◽  
The North ◽  
Spatial Coverage

Abstract. A reliable climate dataset is the backbone for modelling the essential processes of the water cycle and predicting future conditions. Although a number of gridded climate datasets are available for the North American content which provide reasonable estimates of climatic conditions in the region, there are inherent inconsistencies in these available climate datasets (e.g., spatially and temporally varying data accuracies, meteorological parameters, lengths of records, spatial coverage, temporal resolution, etc.). These inconsistencies raise questions as to which datasets are the most suitable for the study area and how to systematically combine these datasets to produce a reliable climate dataset for climate studies and hydrological modelling. This study suggests a framework called the REFerence Reliability Evaluation System (REFRES) that systematically ranks multiple climate datasets to generate a hybrid climate dataset for a region. To demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework, REFRES was applied to produce a historical hybrid climate dataset for the Athabasca River basin (ARB) in Alberta, Canada. A proxy validation was also conducted to prove the applicability of the generated hybrid climate datasets to hydrologic simulations. This study evaluated five climate datasets, including the station-based gridded climate datasets ANUSPLIN (Australia National University Spline), Alberta Township, and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium's (PCIC) PNWNAmet (PCIC NorthWest North America meteorological dataset), a multi-source gridded dataset (Canadian Precipitation Analysis; CaPA), and a reanalysis-based dataset (North American Regional Reanalysis; NARR). The results showed that the gridded climate interpolated from station data performed better than multi-source- and reanalysis-based climate datasets. For the Athabasca River basin, Township and ANUSPLIN were ranked first for precipitation and temperature, respectively. The proxy validation also confirmed the utility of hybrid climate datasets in hydrologic simulations compared with the other five individual climate datasets investigated in this study. These results indicate that the hybrid climate dataset provides the best representation of historical climatic conditions and, thus, enhances the reliability of hydrologic simulations.

scholarly journals Hybrid climate datasets from a climate data evaluation system and their impacts on hydrologic simulations for the Athabasca River basin in Canada

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyung-Il Eum ◽  
Anil Gupta
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Hydrological Modeling ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Athabasca River ◽  
The North ◽  
Spatial Coverage

Abstract. A reliable climate dataset is a backbone for modeling the essential processes of the water cycle and predicting future conditions. Although a number of gridded climate datasets are available for the North American content, which provide reasonable estimates of climatic conditions in the region, there are inherent inconsistencies in these available climate datasets (e.g., spatial and temporal varying data accuracies, meteorological parameters, length of records, spatial coverage, temporal resolution, etc). These inconsistencies raise a valid question as to which datasets are the most suitable for the study area and how to systematically combine these datasets to produce a reliable climate dataset for climate studies and hydrological modeling. This study suggested a framework, called reference reliability evaluation system (REFRES), that systematically determines a ranking of multiple climate datasets to generate a hybrid climate dataset for a region. To demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework, REFRES was applied to produce a historical hybrid climate dataset for the Athabasca River basin in Alberta, Canada. A proxy validation was also conducted to prove the applicability of the generated hybrid climate datasets to hydrologic simulations. This study evaluated five climate datasets, including station-based gridded climate datasets (ANUSPLIN, Alberta Township, and PNWNAmet), a multi-source gridded dataset (Canadian Precipiation Analysis – CaPA), and a reanalysis-based dataset (NARR). The results showed that the gridded climate interpolated from station data performed better than multi-source and reanalysis based climate datasets. For the Athabasca River basin, Township and ANUSPLIN were mostly ranked first for precipitation and temperature, respectively. The proxy validation also confirmed the superior performance of hybrid climate datasets compared with the other five individual climate datasets investigated in this study. These results indicate that the hybrid climate dataset provides a better representation of historical climatic conditions and thus, enhancing the reliability of hydrologic simulations.

Spurious Grid-Scale Precipitation in the North American Regional Reanalysis

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (6) ◽  
pp. 2168-2184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory L. West ◽  
W. James Steenburgh ◽  
William Y. Y. Cheng
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Regional Reanalysis ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Regional Reanalysis

Abstract Spurious grid-scale precipitation (SGSP) occurs in many mesoscale numerical weather prediction models when the simulated atmosphere becomes convectively unstable and the convective parameterization fails to relieve the instability. Case studies presented in this paper illustrate that SGSP events are also found in the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) and are accompanied by excessive maxima in grid-scale precipitation, vertical velocity, moisture variables (e.g., relative humidity and precipitable water), mid- and upper-level equivalent potential temperature, and mid- and upper-level absolute vorticity. SGSP events in environments favorable for high-based convection can also feature low-level cold pools and sea level pressure maxima. Prior to 2003, retrospectively generated NARR analyses feature an average of approximately 370 SGSP events annually. Beginning in 2003, however, NARR analyses are generated in near–real time by the Regional Climate Data Assimilation System (R-CDAS), which is identical to the retrospective NARR analysis system except for the input precipitation and ice cover datasets. Analyses produced by the R-CDAS feature a substantially larger number of SGSP events with more than 4000 occurring in the original 2003 analyses. An oceanic precipitation data processing error, which resulted in a reprocessing of NARR analyses from 2003 to 2005, only partially explains this increase since the reprocessed analyses still produce approximately 2000 SGSP events annually. These results suggest that many NARR SGSP events are not produced by shortcomings in the underlying Eta Model, but by the specification of anomalous latent heating when there is a strong mismatch between modeled and assimilated precipitation. NARR users should ensure that they are using the reprocessed NARR analyses from 2003 to 2005 and consider the possible influence of SGSP on their findings, particularly after the transition to the R-CDAS.

scholarly journals Daphnia diversity in water bodies of the Po River Basin

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Marková ◽  
Catia Maurone ◽  
Erica Racchetti ◽  
Marco Bartoli ◽  
Valeria Rossi
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
North American ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
12S Rrna ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Po River ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Northern European Russia ◽  
Po River Basin

<p>Shallow water bodies dominate the areal extent of continental waters and host a proportion of biodiversity higher than the percentage of Earth’s surface they cover. <em>Daphnia</em> is a key component of small aquatic ecosystems food webs. Here we present the result of a survey in 24 ponds located in the core of Po river Basin, to assess the actual spreading of <em>Daphnia</em> species in one of the most productive areas of the Northern hemisphere. By using diagnostic genetic markers (<em>12S rRNA </em>and <em>ND5 </em>genes) we identified five <em>Daphnia</em> species: <em>D. ambigua</em>, <em>D. curvirostris</em>, <em>D. longispina</em>, <em>D. obtusa</em> and <em>D. pulex </em>in fourteen ponds. Additional analyses of two nuclear genes (<em>LdhA</em> and <em>Rab4</em>) revealed that <em>D. pulex</em> in the study area is native European strain. In opposite, <em>D. ambigua</em> shared haplotype with the North-Eastern American lineage that was introduced to Europe by long-distance dispersal. In the Po river Basin we identified a highly divergent lineage of <em>D. longispina </em>group that formed a clade with individuals from northern European Russia and might represent a new <em>Daphnia </em>species. <em>Daphnia</em> species in the Cremona province have European origin, except for <em>D. ambigua</em> which is a North American species spreading across Europe. Future attention will require monitoring of invasive species, particularly <em>D. ambigua</em> and the North American invasive clone of <em>D. pulex </em>that is already present in Northern Italy. </p>

scholarly journals Status of Major Glaciers of Hunza River Basin, Under Changing Climatic Conditions of Pakistan Over the Period of (1990-2018)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajid Ali ◽  
Garee Khan ◽  
Wajid Hassan ◽  
Javed Akhter Qureshi ◽  
Iram Bano
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Remote Sensing Techniques ◽  
Elevation Model ◽  
Hunza River

Abstract Ice masses and snow of Hunza River Basin (HRB) are an important primary source of fresh water and lifeline for downstream inhabitants. Changing climatic conditions seriously put an impact on these available ice and snow masses. These glaciers may affect downstream population by glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) and surge events due to climatic variation. So, monitoring of these glaciers and available ice masses are important. This research delivers an approach for selected glaciers of the Hunza river basin. An attempt is made in this study using Landsat (OLI, ETM, ETM+, TM), digital elevation model (DEM), Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing techniques (RS&GIS) techniques. We delineated 27 glaciers within HRB from the period of 1990-2018. These glaciers' total area is about 2589.75 ±86km 2 in 1990 and about 2565.12 ±68km 2 in 2018. Our results revealed that from 2009 to 2015, glacier coverage of HRB advanced with a mean annual advance rate of 2.22±0.1 km 2 a -1 . Conversely, from 1994 to 1999, the strongest reduction in glacier area with a mean rate of - 3.126±0.3km 2 a -1 is recorded. The glaciers of HRB are relatively stable compared to Hindukush, Himalayan and Tibetan Plateau (TP) region of the world. The steep slope glacier's retreat rate is more than that of gentle slope glaciers, and the glaciers below elevation of 5000 m above sea level change significantly. Based on climate data from 1995-2018, HRB shows a decreasing trend in temperature and increasing precipitation. The glacier area's overall retreat is due to an increase in summer temperature while the glacier advancement is induced possibly by winter and autumn precipitation.

North American rainfall patterns during past warm states: A proxy network-model comparison for the Last Interglacial and the mid-Holocene

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron de Wet ◽  
Jessica Oster ◽  
Daniel Ibarra ◽  
Bryce Belanger
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
North American ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
The North ◽  
Driving Mechanisms ◽  
Statistical Measures ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Rainfall Patterns

&lt;p&gt;The Last Interglacial (LIG) period (~129,000&amp;#8211;116,000 years BP) and the mid-Holocene (MH) (~6,000 years BP) are the two most recent intervals with temperatures comparable to low emissions scenarios for the end of the 21&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; century. During the LIG and the MH differences in the seasonal and latitudinal distribution of insolation led to enhanced northern hemisphere high-latitude warmth relative to the pre-industrial, despite similar greenhouse gas concentrations, marking these intervals as potentially useful analogs for future change in regions like North America. Further, the inclusion of both LIG (127 ka) and MH (6 ka) experiments in the CMIP6-PMIP4 effort provides an opportunity to better understand the regional hydroclimate responses to radiative forcing during these two intervals. The dense coverage of paleoclimate proxy records for North America during the MH (N=260 sites) reveals a pattern of relative aridity in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada and wetness in the southern Great Basin and Mexico. However, the seasonality and driving mechanisms of rainfall patterns across the continent remain poorly understood. Our understanding of terrestrial hydroclimate in North America during the LIG is more limited (N=39 sites), largely because the LIG is beyond the range of radiocarbon dating.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here we present spatial comparisons between output from 14 PMIP4 global circulation models and LIG and MH networks of moisture-sensitive proxies compiled for the North American continent. We utilize two statistical measures of agreement &amp;#8211; weighted Cohen&amp;#8217;s Kappa and Gwet&amp;#8217;s AC2 &amp;#8211; to assess the degree of categorical agreement between moisture patterns produced by the models and the proxy networks for each time-slice. PMIP4 models produce variable precipitation anomalies relative to the pre-industrial for both the LIG and MH experiments, often disagreeing on both the sign and magnitude of precipitation changes across much of North America. The models showing the best agreement with the proxy network are similar but not identical for the two measures, with Gwet&amp;#8217;s AC2 values tending to be larger than Cohen&amp;#8217;s Kappa values for all models. This pattern is enhanced for the much larger MH proxy network and is likely related to the fact that Gwet&amp;#8217;s AC2 is a more predictable statistic in the presence of high agreement. Overall agreement is lower for the mid-Holocene than for the LIG, reflecting smaller MH rainfall anomalies in the models. The models with the highest agreement scores during the LIG produce aridity in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest and wetness in Alaska, the Yukon, the Great Basin, and parts of the Mid-West and Eastern US, although spatial coverage of the proxies in these latter two regions is poor. The models with the highest agreement score for the mid-Holocene tend to produce aridity across Canada and the northern US with dry conditions extending down the US Pacific coast and increased wetness in the American Southeast and across the North American Monsoon region. Our analyses help elucidate the driving mechanisms of rainfall patterns during past warm states and can inform which models may be the most useful for predictions of near-future hydroclimate change across North America.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals The North American Monsoon GPS Transect Experiment 2013

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (11) ◽  
pp. 2103-2115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolande L. Serra ◽  
David K. Adams ◽  
Carlos Minjarez-Sosa ◽  
James M. Moker ◽  
Avelino F. Arellano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
North American ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Precipitable Water ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
North American Monsoon ◽  
Atmospheric Sciences ◽  
The North ◽  
Northwestern Mexico ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Northwestern Mexico experiences large variations in water vapor on seasonal time scales in association with the North American monsoon, as well as during the monsoon associated with upper-tropospheric troughs, mesoscale convective systems, tropical easterly waves, and tropical cyclones. Together these events provide more than half of the annual rainfall to the region. A sufficient density of meteorological observations is required to properly observe, understand, and forecast the important processes contributing to the development of organized convection over northwestern Mexico. The stability of observations over long time periods is also of interest to monitor seasonal and longer-time-scale variability in the water cycle. For more than a decade, the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) has been used to obtain tropospheric precipitable water vapor (PWV) for applications in the atmospheric sciences. There is particular interest in establishing these systems where conventional operational meteorological networks are not possible due to the lack of financial or human resources to support the network. Here, we provide an overview of the North American Monsoon GPS Transect Experiment 2013 in northwestern Mexico for the study of mesoscale processes and the impact of PWV observations on high-resolution model forecasts of organized convective events during the 2013 monsoon. Some highlights are presented, as well as a look forward at GPS networks with surface meteorology (GPS-Met) planned for the region that will be capable of capturing a wider range of water vapor variability in both space and time across Mexico and into the southwestern United States.

scholarly journals Ecological economics of North American integration: the reshaping of the economic landscape in the Santiago river basin

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvador Peniche Camps
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
North American ◽  
Energy Flow ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Ecological Economics ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Social Metabolism ◽  
The North ◽  
Economic Landscape

Ecological Economics studies social metabolism; that is, the material and energy flow into and out of the economy. Using the ecological economics perspective, we analyse the transformation of the economic landscape of the Santiago river basin, Mexico. We discuss why the appropriation of water resources is one of the most important drivers of North American economic integration. We argue that the theoretical model of neo-extractivism can explain the dynamics of social metabolism behind the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

scholarly journals Pedothem carbonates reveal anomalous North American atmospheric circulation 70,000–55,000 years ago

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 919-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik J. Oerter ◽  
Warren D. Sharp ◽  
Jessica L. Oster ◽  
Angela Ebeling ◽  
John W. Valley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Uranium Isotopes ◽  
Glacial Cycles ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Wind River Basin ◽  
The North ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Paleoclimate Records

Our understanding of climatic conditions, and therefore forcing factors, in North America during the past two glacial cycles is limited in part by the scarcity of long, well-dated, continuous paleoclimate records. Here, we present the first, to our knowledge, continuous, millennial-resolution paleoclimate proxy record derived from millimeter-thick pedogenic carbonate clast coatings (pedothems), which are widely distributed in semiarid to arid regions worldwide. Our new multiisotope pedothem record from the Wind River Basin in Wyoming confirms a previously hypothesized period of increased transport of Gulf of Mexico moisture northward into the continental interior from 70,000 to 55,000 years ago based on oxygen and carbon isotopes determined by ion microprobe and uranium isotopes and U-Th dating by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. This pronounced meridional moisture transport, which contrasts with the dominant zonal transport of Pacific moisture into the North American interior by westerly winds before and after 70,000–55,000 years ago, may have resulted from a persistent anticyclone developed above the North American ice sheet during Marine Isotope Stage 4. We conclude that pedothems, when analyzed using microanalytical techniques, can provide high-resolution paleoclimate records that may open new avenues into understanding past terrestrial climates in regions where paleoclimate records are not otherwise available. When pedothem paleoclimate records are combined with existing records they will add complimentary soil-based perspectives on paleoclimate conditions.

Effects of Initial Soil Moisture on Rainfall Generation and Subsequent Hydrologic Response during the North American Monsoon

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 644-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique R. Vivoni ◽  
Kinwai Tai ◽  
David J. Gochis
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
North American ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
North American Monsoon ◽  
Meteorological Model ◽  
Initial Soil Moisture ◽  
The North ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Initial Soil

Abstract Through the use of a mesoscale meteorological model and distributed hydrologic model, the effects of initial soil moisture on rainfall generation, streamflow, and evapotranspiration during the North American monsoon are examined. A collection of atmospheric fields is simulated by varying initial soil moisture in the meteorological model. Analysis of the simulated rainfall fields shows that the total rainfall, intensity, and spatial coverage increase with higher soil moisture. Hydrologic simulations forced by the meteorological fields are performed using two scenarios: (i) fixed soil moisture initializations obtained via a drainage experiment in the hydrologic model and (ii) adjusted initializations to match conditions in the two models. The scenarios indicate that the runoff ratio increases with higher rainfall, although a change is observed from a linear (fixed initialization) to a nonlinear response (adjusted initialization). Variations in basin response are attributed to controls exerted by rainfall, soil, and vegetation properties for varying initial conditions. Antecedent wetness significantly influences the runoff response through the interplay of different runoff generation mechanisms and also controls the evapotranspiration process. The authors conclude that a regional increase in initial soil moisture promotes rainfall generation, streamflow, and evapotranspiration for this warm-season case study.

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