Articles | Volume 24, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4317-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4317-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
03 Sep 2020
Research article |
| 03 Sep 2020
| 03 Sep 2020
Climate elasticity of evapotranspiration shifts the water balance of Mediterranean climates during multi-year droughts
Francesco Avanzi
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA
CIMA Research Foundation, via Armando Magliotto 2, 17100, Savona, Italy
Joseph Rungee
Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 95343, Merced, California, USA
Tessa Maurer
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA
Roger Bales
Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 95343, Merced, California, USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA
Qin Ma
Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 95343, Merced, California, USA
Department of Forestry, Mississippi State University, 39762, Mississippi State, Mississippi, USA
Steven Glaser
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA
Martha Conklin
Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, 95343, Merced, California, USA
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Short summary
Multi-year droughts in Mediterranean climates often see a lower fraction of precipitation allocated to runoff compared to non-drought years. By comparing observed water-balance components with simulations by a hydrologic model (PRMS), we reinterpret these shifts as a hysteretic response of the water budget to climate elasticity of evapotranspiration. Our results point to a general improvement in hydrologic predictions across drought and recovery cycles by including this mechanism.
Multi-year droughts in Mediterranean climates often see a lower fraction of precipitation...
