Articles | Volume 24, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-17-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-17-2020
Research article
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06 Jan 2020
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 06 Jan 2020

Seasonal partitioning of precipitation between streamflow and evapotranspiration, inferred from end-member splitting analysis

James W. Kirchner and Scott T. Allen

Model code and software

EndSplit end-member mixing and splitting scripts J. W. Kirchner https://doi.org/10.16904/envidat.91

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Short summary
Perhaps the oldest question in hydrology is Where does water go when it rains?. Here we present a new way to measure how the terrestrial water cycle partitions precipitation into its two ultimate fates: green water that is evaporated or transpired back to the atmosphere and blue water that is discharged to stream channels. Our analysis may help in gauging the vulnerability of both water resources and terrestrial ecosystems to changes in rainfall patterns.