Articles | Volume 28, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2919-2024
© Author(s) 2024. 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-28-2919-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
04 Jul 2024
Research article |
| 04 Jul 2024
| 04 Jul 2024
Wetting and drying trends in the land–atmosphere reservoir of large basins around the world
GIGA, Escuela Ambiental, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 70 52-21, Medellín, Colombia
Ruben D. Molina
GIGA, Escuela Ambiental, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 70 52-21, Medellín, Colombia
Jorge I. Zuluaga
SEAP/FACom, Instituto de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 70 52-21, Medellín, Colombia
Jesus D. Gomez-Velez
Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA
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Silvana Bolaños Chavarría, Micha Werner, Juan Fernando Salazar, and Teresita Betancur Vargas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 4323–4344, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4323-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4323-2022, 2022
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Using total water storage (TWS) from GRACE satellites, we assess the reliability of global hydrological and land surface models over a medium-sized tropical basin with a well-developed gauging network. We find the models poorly represent TWS for the monthly series, but they improve in representing seasonality and long-term trends. We conclude that GRACE provides a valuable dataset to benchmark global simulations of TWS change, offering a useful tool to improve global models in tropical basins.
Mateo Duque-Villegas, Juan Fernando Salazar, and Angela Maria Rendón
Earth Syst. Dynam., 10, 631–650, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-631-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-631-2019, 2019
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Earth's climate can be studied as a system with different components that can be strongly altered by human influence. One possibility is that the El Niño phenomenon becomes more frequent. We investigated the potential impacts of the most frequent El Niño: a permanent one. The most noticeable impacts include variations in global water availability and vegetation productivity, potential dieback of the Amazon rainforest, greening of western North America, and further aridification of Australia.
Juan Fernando Salazar, Juan Camilo Villegas, Angela María Rendón, Estiven Rodríguez, Isabel Hoyos, Daniel Mercado-Bettín, and Germán Poveda
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1735–1748, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-1735-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-1735-2018, 2018
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River flow regimes are being altered by global change. Understanding the mechanisms behind such alterations is crucial for hydrological prediction. We introduce a novel interpretation of river flow metrics (scaling) that allows any river basin to be classified as regulated or unregulated, and to identify transitions between these states. We propose the
forest reservoirhypothesis to explain how forest loss can force the Amazonian river basins from regulated to unregulated states.
Daniel Mercado-Bettín, Juan F. Salazar, and Juan Camilo Villegas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-550, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-550, 2017
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
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Global changes in forest cover have been related to major scientific and social challenges. There are important uncertainties about the potential effects of ongoing forest loss on water cycle. Here we analysis the division of rainfall in evaporation and runoff (water in rivers) and the presence or absence of forest in 22 large regions. We found that in less forested regions, evaporation dominates the division while in more forested regions rainfall is equally divided into evaporation and runoff.
Silvana Bolaños Chavarría, Micha Werner, Juan Fernando Salazar, and Teresita Betancur Vargas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 4323–4344, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4323-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4323-2022, 2022
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Using total water storage (TWS) from GRACE satellites, we assess the reliability of global hydrological and land surface models over a medium-sized tropical basin with a well-developed gauging network. We find the models poorly represent TWS for the monthly series, but they improve in representing seasonality and long-term trends. We conclude that GRACE provides a valuable dataset to benchmark global simulations of TWS change, offering a useful tool to improve global models in tropical basins.
Liwen Wu, Jesus D. Gomez-Velez, Stefan Krause, Anders Wörman, Tanu Singh, Gunnar Nützmann, and Jörg Lewandowski
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1905–1921, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1905-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1905-2021, 2021
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With a physically based model that couples flow and heat transport in hyporheic zones, the present study provides the first insights into the dynamics of hyporheic responses to the impacts of daily groundwater withdrawal and river temperature fluctuations, allowing for a better understanding of transient hyporheic exchange processes and hence an improved pumping operational scheme.
Yilin Fang, Xingyuan Chen, Jesus Gomez Velez, Xuesong Zhang, Zhuoran Duan, Glenn E. Hammond, Amy E. Goldman, Vanessa A. Garayburu-Caruso, and Emily B. Graham
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 3553–3569, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3553-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3553-2020, 2020
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Surface water quality along river corridors can be improved by the area of the stream bed and stream bank in which stream water mixes with shallow groundwater or hyporheic zones (HZs). These zones are ubiquitous and dominated by microorganisms that can process the dissolved nutrients exchanged at this interface of these zones. The modulation of surface water quality can be simulated by connecting the channel water and HZs through hyporheic exchanges using multirate mass transfer representation.
Nathan A. Wales, Jesus D. Gomez-Velez, Brent D. Newman, Cathy J. Wilson, Baptiste Dafflon, Timothy J. Kneafsey, Florian Soom, and Stan D. Wullschleger
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1109–1129, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1109-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1109-2020, 2020
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Rapid warming in the Arctic is causing increased permafrost temperatures and ground ice degradation. To study the effects of ice degradation on water distribution, tracer was applied to two end members of ice-wedge polygons – a ubiquitous landform in the Arctic. End member type was found to significantly affect water distribution as lower flux was observed with ice-wedge degradation. Results suggest ice degradation can influence partitioning of sequestered carbon as carbon dioxide or methane.
Mateo Duque-Villegas, Juan Fernando Salazar, and Angela Maria Rendón
Earth Syst. Dynam., 10, 631–650, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-631-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-631-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Earth's climate can be studied as a system with different components that can be strongly altered by human influence. One possibility is that the El Niño phenomenon becomes more frequent. We investigated the potential impacts of the most frequent El Niño: a permanent one. The most noticeable impacts include variations in global water availability and vegetation productivity, potential dieback of the Amazon rainforest, greening of western North America, and further aridification of Australia.
Juan Fernando Salazar, Juan Camilo Villegas, Angela María Rendón, Estiven Rodríguez, Isabel Hoyos, Daniel Mercado-Bettín, and Germán Poveda
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1735–1748, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-1735-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-1735-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
River flow regimes are being altered by global change. Understanding the mechanisms behind such alterations is crucial for hydrological prediction. We introduce a novel interpretation of river flow metrics (scaling) that allows any river basin to be classified as regulated or unregulated, and to identify transitions between these states. We propose the
forest reservoirhypothesis to explain how forest loss can force the Amazonian river basins from regulated to unregulated states.
Daniel Mercado-Bettín, Juan F. Salazar, and Juan Camilo Villegas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-550, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-550, 2017
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Global changes in forest cover have been related to major scientific and social challenges. There are important uncertainties about the potential effects of ongoing forest loss on water cycle. Here we analysis the division of rainfall in evaporation and runoff (water in rivers) and the presence or absence of forest in 22 large regions. We found that in less forested regions, evaporation dominates the division while in more forested regions rainfall is equally divided into evaporation and runoff.
Related subject area
Subject: Global hydrology | Techniques and Approaches: Instruments and observation techniques
Evaluation of reanalysis soil moisture products using cosmic ray neutron sensor observations across the globe
Evaporation enhancement drives the European water-budget deficit during multi-year droughts
Combining passive and active distributed temperature sensing measurements to locate and quantify groundwater discharge variability into a headwater stream
Technical note: Evaluation and bias correction of an observation-based global runoff dataset using streamflow observations from small tropical catchments in the Philippines
Hydrology and water resources management in ancient India
Terrestrial water loss at night: global relevance from observations and climate models
Global-scale evaluation of 22 precipitation datasets using gauge observations and hydrological modeling
SMOS brightness temperature assimilation into the Community Land Model
SMOS near-real-time soil moisture product: processor overview and first validation results
Estimating annual water storage variations in medium-scale (2000–10 000 km2) basins using microwave-based soil moisture retrievals
Recent trends and variability in river discharge across northern Canada
Effects of changes in moisture source and the upstream rainout on stable isotopes in precipitation – a case study in Nanjing, eastern China
The "Prediflood" database of historical floods in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula) AD 1035–2013, and its potential applications in flood analysis
Regional GRACE-based estimates of water mass variations over Australia: validation and interpretation
Geodynamical processes in the channel connecting the two lobes of the Large Aral Sea
Yanchen Zheng, Gemma Coxon, Ross Woods, Daniel Power, Miguel Angel Rico-Ramirez, David McJannet, Rafael Rosolem, Jianzhu Li, and Ping Feng
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 1999–2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1999-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1999-2024, 2024
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Reanalysis soil moisture products are a vital basis for hydrological and environmental research. Previous product evaluation is limited by the scale difference (point and grid scale). This paper adopts cosmic ray neutron sensor observations, a novel technique that provides root-zone soil moisture at field scale. In this paper, global harmonized CRNS observations were used to assess products. ERA5-Land, SMAPL4, CFSv2, CRA40 and GLEAM show better performance than MERRA2, GLDAS-Noah and JRA55.
Christian Massari, Francesco Avanzi, Giulia Bruno, Simone Gabellani, Daniele Penna, and Stefania Camici
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1527–1543, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1527-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1527-2022, 2022
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Droughts are a creeping disaster, meaning that their onset, duration and recovery are challenging to monitor and forecast. Here, we provide further evidence of an additional challenge of droughts, i.e. the fact that the deficit in water supply during droughts is generally much more than expected based on the observed decline in precipitation. At a European scale we explain this with enhanced evapotranspiration, sustained by higher atmospheric demand for moisture during such dry periods.
Nataline Simon, Olivier Bour, Mikaël Faucheux, Nicolas Lavenant, Hugo Le Lay, Ophélie Fovet, Zahra Thomas, and Laurent Longuevergne
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1459–1479, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1459-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1459-2022, 2022
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Groundwater discharge into streams plays a major role in the preservation of stream ecosystems. There were two complementary methods, both based on the use of the distributed temperature sensing technology, applied in a headwater catchment. Measurements allowed us to characterize the spatial and temporal patterns of groundwater discharge and quantify groundwater inflows into the stream, opening very promising perspectives for a novel characterization of the groundwater–stream interface.
Daniel E. Ibarra, Carlos Primo C. David, and Pamela Louise M. Tolentino
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2805–2820, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2805-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2805-2021, 2021
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We evaluate a recently published global product of monthly runoff using streamflow data from small tropical catchments in the Philippines. Using monthly runoff observations from catchments, we tested for correlation and prediction. We demonstrate the potential utility of this product in assessing trends in regional-scale runoff, as well as look at the correlation of phenomenon such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation on streamflow in this wet but drought-prone archipelago.
Pushpendra Kumar Singh, Pankaj Dey, Sharad Kumar Jain, and Pradeep P. Mujumdar
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4691–4707, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4691-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4691-2020, 2020
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Like in all ancient civilisations, the need to manage water propelled the growth of hydrological science in ancient India also. In this paper, we provide some fascinating glimpses into the hydrological, hydraulic, and related engineering knowledge that existed in ancient India, as discussed in contemporary literature and recent explorations and findings. Many interesting dimensions of early scientific endeavours emerge as we investigate deeper into ancient texts, including Indian mythology.
Ryan S. Padrón, Lukas Gudmundsson, Dominik Michel, and Sonia I. Seneviratne
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 793–807, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-793-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-793-2020, 2020
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We focus on the net exchange of water between land and air via evapotranspiration and dew during the night. We provide, for the first time, an overview of the magnitude and variability of this flux across the globe from observations and climate models. Nocturnal water loss from land is 7 % of total evapotranspiration on average and can be greater than 15 % locally. Our results highlight the relevance of this often overlooked flux, with implications for water resources and climate studies.
Hylke E. Beck, Noemi Vergopolan, Ming Pan, Vincenzo Levizzani, Albert I. J. M. van Dijk, Graham P. Weedon, Luca Brocca, Florian Pappenberger, George J. Huffman, and Eric F. Wood
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 6201–6217, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-6201-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-6201-2017, 2017
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This study represents the most comprehensive global-scale precipitation dataset evaluation to date. We evaluated 13 uncorrected precipitation datasets using precipitation observations from 76 086 gauges, and 9 gauge-corrected ones using hydrological modeling for 9053 catchments. Our results highlight large differences in estimation accuracy, and hence, the importance of precipitation dataset selection in both research and operational applications.
Dominik Rains, Xujun Han, Hans Lievens, Carsten Montzka, and Niko E. C. Verhoest
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 5929–5951, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5929-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5929-2017, 2017
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We have assimilated 6 years of satellite-observed passive microwave data into a state-of-the-art land surface model to improve surface soil moisture as well as root-zone soil moisture simulations. Long-term assimilation effects/biases are identified, and they are especially dependent on model perturbations, applied to simulate model uncertainty. The implications are put into context of using such assimilation-improved data for classifying extremes within hydrological monitoring systems.
Nemesio J. Rodríguez-Fernández, Joaquin Muñoz Sabater, Philippe Richaume, Patricia de Rosnay, Yann H. Kerr, Clement Albergel, Matthias Drusch, and Susanne Mecklenburg
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 5201–5216, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5201-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5201-2017, 2017
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The new SMOS satellite near-real-time (NRT) soil moisture (SM) product based on a neural network is presented. The NRT SM product has been evaluated with respect to the SMOS Level 2 product and against a large number of in situ measurements showing performances similar to those of the Level 2 product but it is available in less than 3.5 h after sensing. The new product is distributed by the European Space Agency and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.
Wade T. Crow, Eunjin Han, Dongryeol Ryu, Christopher R. Hain, and Martha C. Anderson
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 1849–1862, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1849-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1849-2017, 2017
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Terrestrial water storage is defined as the total volume of water stored within the land surface and sub-surface and is a key variable for tracking long-term variability in the global water cycle. Currently, annual variations in terrestrial water storage can only be measured at extremely coarse spatial resolutions (> 200 000 km2) using gravity-based remote sensing. Here we provide evidence that microwave-based remote sensing of soil moisture can be applied to enhance this resolution.
Stephen J. Déry, Tricia A. Stadnyk, Matthew K. MacDonald, and Bunu Gauli-Sharma
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 4801–4818, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-4801-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-4801-2016, 2016
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This manuscript focuses on observed changes to the hydrology of 42 rivers in northern Canada draining one-half of its land mass over the period 1964–2013. Statistical and trend analyses are presented for the 42 individual rivers, 6 regional drainage basins, and collectively for all of northern Canada. A main finding is the reversal of a statistically significant decline in the first half of the study period to a statistically significant 18.1 % incline in river discharge across northern Canada.
Y. Tang, H. Pang, W. Zhang, Y. Li, S. Wu, and S. Hou
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 4293–4306, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-4293-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-4293-2015, 2015
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We examined the variability of daily stable isotopic composition in precipitation in Nanjing, eastern China. We found that both the upstream rainout effect on stable isotopes related to changes in the Asian summer monsoon and the temperature effect of precipitation stable isotopes associated with the Asian winter monsoon should be taken into account when interpreting the stable isotopic composition of speleothems in the Asian monsoon region.
M. Barriendos, J. L. Ruiz-Bellet, J. Tuset, J. Mazón, J. C. Balasch, D. Pino, and J. L. Ayala
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 4807–4823, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4807-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4807-2014, 2014
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This paper shows an interdisciplinary effort for a common methodology on flood risk analysis: hydraullics, hydrology, climatology and meteorology. Most basic problems of work with historical information are faced. Firsts results of data collection on historical floods for Catalonia (Ne Spain) are showed for period AD 1035-2014.
L. Seoane, G. Ramillien, F. Frappart, and M. Leblanc
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 4925–4939, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-4925-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-4925-2013, 2013
E. Roget, P. Zavialov, V. Khan, and M. A. Muñiz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 13, 2265–2271, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-13-2265-2009, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-13-2265-2009, 2009
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Short summary
Global change is altering river basins and their discharge worldwide. We introduce the land–atmosphere reservoir (LAR) concept to investigate these changes in six of the world's largest basins. We found that low-latitude basins (Amazon, Paraná, and Congo) are getting wetter, whereas high-latitude basins (Mississippi, Ob, and Yenisei) are drying. If this continues, these long-term trends will disrupt the discharge regime and compromise the sustainability of these basins with widespread impacts.
Global change is altering river basins and their discharge worldwide. We introduce the...
