Articles | Volume 26, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3393-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3393-2022
Research article
 | 
05 Jul 2022
Research article |  | 05 Jul 2022

Diel streamflow cycles suggest more sensitive snowmelt-driven streamflow to climate change than land surface modeling does

Sebastian A. Krogh, Lucia Scaff, James W. Kirchner, Beatrice Gordon, Gary Sterle, and Adrian Harpold

Data sets

CONUS (Continental U.S.) II High Resolution Present and Future Climate Simulation R. Rasmussen, A. Dai, C. Liu, and K. Ikeda https://doi.org/10.5065/49SN-8E08

NCEP/EMC (2009), NLDAS Primary Forcing Data L4 Hourly 0.125 x 0.125 degree V002 Y. Xia et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/6J5LHHOHZHN4

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Short summary
We present a new way to detect snowmelt using daily cycles in streamflow driven by solar radiation. Results show that warmer sites have earlier and more intermittent snowmelt than colder sites, and the timing of early snowmelt events is strongly correlated with the timing of streamflow volume. A space-for-time substitution shows greater sensitivity of streamflow timing to climate change in colder rather than in warmer places, which is then contrasted with land surface simulations.