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Eagleson, P. S.

Publications and source records attributed to Eagleson, P. S..

17 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Estimation of continental precipitation recycling

The total amount of water that precipitates on large continental regions is supplied by two mechanisms: 1) advection from the surrounding areas external to the region and 2) evaporation and transpiration from the land surface within the region. The latter supply mechanism is tantamount to the recycling of precipitation over the continental area. The degree to which regional precipitation is supplied by recycled moisture is a potentially significant climate feedback mechanism and land surface-atmosphere interaction, which may contribute to the persistence and intensification of droughts. Gridded data on observed wind and humidity in the global atmosphere are used to determine the convergence of atmospheric water vapor over continental regions. A simplified model of the atmospheric moisture over continents and simultaneous estimates of regional precipitation are employed to estimate, for several large continental regions, the fraction of precipitation that is locally derived. The results indicate that the contribution of regional evaporation to regional precipitation varies substantially with location and season. For the regions studied, the ratio of locally contributed to total monthly precipitation generally lies between 0. 10 and 0.30 but is as high as 0.40 in several cases.

Brubaker, Kaye L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Land surface hydrology parameterization for atmospheric general circulation models including subgrid scale spatial variability

Parameterizations are developed for the representation of subgrid hydrologic processes in atmospheric general circulation models. Reasonable a priori probability density functions of the spatial variability of soil moisture and of precipitation are introduced. These are used in conjunction with the deterministic equations describing basic soil moisture physics to derive expressions for the hydrologic processes that include subgrid scale variation in parameters. The major model sensitivities to soil type and to climatic forcing are explored.

Entekhabi, D.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Application of spatial Poisson process models to air mass thunderstorm rainfall

Eight years of summer storm rainfall observations from 93 stations in and around the 154 sq km Walnut Gulch catchment of the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Arizona are processed to yield the total station depths of 428 storms. Statistical analysis of these random fields yields the first two moments, the spatial correlation and variance functions, and the spatial distribution of total rainfall for each storm. The absolute and relative worth of three Poisson models are evaluated by comparing their prediction of the spatial distribution of storm rainfall with observations from the second half of the sample. The effect of interstorm parameter variation is examined.

Eagleson, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Spatial analysis of storm depths from an Arizona raingage network

Eight years of summer rainstorm observations are analyzed by a dense network of 93 raingages operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, in the 150 km Walnut Gulch experimental catchment near Tucson, Arizona. Storms are defined by the total depths collected at each raingage during the noon-to-noon period for which there was depth recorded at any of the gages. For each of the resulting 428 storm days, the gage depths are interpolated onto a dense grid and the resulting random field analyzed to obtain moments, isohyetal plots, spatial correlation function, variance function, and the spatial distribution of storm depth.

Fennessey, N. M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Spatial characteristics of observed precipitation fields: A catalog of summer storms in Arizona, Volume 1

Eight years of summer raingage observations are analyzed for a dense, 93 gage, network operated by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, in their 150 sq km Walnut Gulch catchment near Tucson, Arizona. Storms are defined by the total depths collected at each raingage during the noon to noon period for which there was depth recorded at any of the gages. For each of the resulting 428 storms, the 93 gage depths are interpolated onto a dense grid and the resulting random field is anlyzed. Presented are: storm depth isohyets at 2 mm contour intervals, first three moments of point storm depth, spatial correlation function, spatial variance function, and the spatial distribution of total rainstorm depth.

Fennessey, N. M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Spatial characteristics of observed precipitation fields: A catalog of summer storms in Arizona, Volume 2

The parameters of the conceptual model are evaluated from the analysis of eight years of summer rainstorm data from the dense raingage network in the Walnut Gulch catchment near Tucson, Arizona. The occurrence of measurable rain at any one of the 93 gages during a noon to noon day defined a storm. The total rainfall at each of the gages during a storm day constituted the data set for a single storm. The data are interpolated onto a fine grid and analyzed to obtain: an isohyetal plot at 2 mm intervals, the first three moments of point storm depth, the spatial correlation function, the spatial variance function, and the spatial distribution of the total storm depth. The description of the data analysis and the computer programs necessary to read the associated data tapes are presented.

Fennessey, N. M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Spatial modelling of total storm rainfall

The spatial structure of the depth of rainfall from a stationary storm event is investigated by using point process techniques. Cells are assumed to be stationary and to be distributed in space either independently according to a Poisson process, or with clustering according to a Neyman-Scott scheme. Total storm rainfall at the centre of each cell is a random variable and rainfall is distributed around the centre in a way specified by a spread function that may incorporate random parameters. The mean, variance and covariance structure of the precipitation depth at a point are obtained for different spread functions. For exponentially distributed centre depth and a spread function having quadratically exponential decay, the total storm depth at any point in the field is shown to have a gamma distribution. The probability of zero rainfall at a point is investigated, as is the stochastic variability of model parameters from storm to storm. Data from the Upper Rio Guaire basin in Venezuela are used in illustration.

Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Areal coverage of storm precipitation

The probability distributions of the spatial distribution of precipitation from storms of different types were studied. The occurrence of wetted rainstorm area within a catchment was modeled as a Poisson arrival process in which each storm is composed of stationary, nonoverlapping, independent random cell clusters whose centers are Poisson-distributed as through fractals. The portion of a catchment covered by a stationary rainstorm was modeled by the common area of two overlapping circles. The first two moments of the distribution of the common area were derived from purely geometrical considerations. The spatial structure of the depth of rainfall from a stationary rainstorm was investigated using point process techniques. Total storm rainfall at the center of each cell is a random variable, and rainfall is distributed around the center specified by a spread function that may incorporate random parameters.

Eagleson, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Moments of catchment storm area

The portion of a catchment covered by a stationary rainstorm is modeled by the common area of two overlapping circles. Given that rain occurs within the catchment and conditioned by fixed storm and catchment sizes, the first two moments of the distribution of the common area are derived from purely geometrical considerations. The variance of the wetted fraction is shown to peak when the catchment size is equal to the size of the predominant storm. The conditioning on storm size is removed by assuming a probability distribution based upon the observed fractal behavior of cloud and rainstorm areas.

Eagleson, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Feasibility of using LANDSAT images of vegetation cover to estimate effective hydraulic properties of soils

Research activities conducted from February 1, 1985 to July 31, 1985 and preliminary conclusions regarding research objectives are summarized. The objective is to determine the feasibility of using LANDSAT data to estimate effective hydraulic properties of soils. The general approach is to apply the climatic-climax hypothesis (Ealgeson, 1982) to natural water-limited vegetation systems using canopy cover estimated from LANDSAT data. Natural water-limited systems typically consist of inhomogeneous vegetation canopies interspersed with bare soils. The ground resolution associated with one pixel from LANDSAT MSS (or TM) data is generally greater than the scale of the plant canopy or canopy clusters. Thus a method for resolving percent canopy cover at a subpixel level must be established before the Eagleson hypothesis can be tested. Two formulations are proposed which extend existing methods of analyzing mixed pixels to naturally vegetated landscapes. The first method involves use of the normalized vegetation index. The second approach is a physical model based on radiative transfer principles. Both methods are to be analyzed for their feasibility on selected sites.

Eagleson, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The distribution of catchment coverage by stationary rainstorms

The occurrence of wetted rainstorm area within a catchment is modeled as a Poisson arrival process in which each storm is composed of stationary, nonoverlapping, independent random cell clusters whose centers are Poisson-distributed in space and whose areas are fractals. The two Poisson parameters and hence the first two moments of the wetted fraction are derived in terms of catchment average characteristics of the (observable) station precipitation. The model is used to estimate spatial properties of tropical air mass thunderstorms on six tropical catchments in the Sudan.

Eagleson, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Extensions and applications of a second-order landsurface parameterization

Extensions and applications of a second order land surface parameterization, proposed by Andreou and Eagleson are developed. Procedures for evaluating the near surface storage depth used in one cell land surface parameterizations are suggested and tested by using the model. Sensitivity analysis to the key soil parameters is performed. A case study involving comparison with an "exact" numerical model and another simplified parameterization, under very dry climatic conditions and for two different soil types, is also incorporated.

Andreou, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1982

A second-order Budkyo-type parameterization of landsurface hydrology

A simple, second order parameterization of the water fluxes at a land surface for use as the appropriate boundary condition in general circulation models of the global atmosphere was developed. The derived parameterization incorporates the high nonlinearities in the relationship between the near surface soil moisture and the evaporation, runoff and percolation fluxes. Based on the one dimensional statistical dynamic derivation of the annual water balance, it makes the transition to short term prediction of the moisture fluxes, through a Taylor expansion around the average annual soil moisture. A comparison of the suggested parameterization is made with other existing techniques and available measurements. A thermodynamic coupling is applied in order to obtain estimations of the surface ground temperature.

Andreou, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Ecological optimality in water-limited natural soil-vegetation systems. I - Theory and hypothesis

The solution space of an approximate statistical-dynamic model of the average annual water balance is explored with respect to the hydrologic parameters of both soil and vegetation. Within the accuracy of this model it is shown that water-limited natural vegetation systems are in stable equilibrium with their climatic and pedologic environments when the canopy density and species act to minimize average water demand stress. Theory shows a climatic limit to this equilibrium above which it is hypothesized that ecological pressure is toward maximization of biomass productivity. It is further hypothesized that natural soil-vegetation systems will develop gradually and synergistically, through vegetation-induced changes in soil structure, toward a set of hydraulic soil properties for which the minimum stress canopy density of a given species is maximum in a given climate. Using these hypotheses, only the soil effective porosity need be known to determine the optimum soil and vegetation parameters in a given climate.

Eagleson, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Ecological optimality in water-limited natural soil-vegetation systems. II - Tests and applications

The long-term optimal climatic climax soil-vegetation system is defined for several climates according to previous hypotheses in terms of two free parameters, effective porosity and plant water use coefficient. The free parameters are chosen by matching the predicted and observed average annual water yield. The resulting climax soil and vegetation properties are tested by comparison with independent observations of canopy density and average annual surface runoff. The climax properties are shown also to satisfy a previous hypothesis for short-term optimization of canopy density and water use coefficient. Using these hypotheses, a relationship between average evapotranspiration and optimum vegetation canopy density is derived and is compared with additional field observations. An algorithm is suggested by which the climax soil and vegetation properties can be calculated given only the climate parameters and the soil effective porosity. Sensitivity of the climax properties to the effective porosity is explored.

Eagleson, P. S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Estimation of effective hydrologic properties of soils from observations of vegetation density

A one-dimensional model of the annual water balance is reviewed. Improvements are made in the method of calculating the bare soil component of evaporation, and in the way surface retention is handled. A natural selection hypothesis, which specifies the equilibrium vegetation density for a given, water limited, climate soil system, is verified through comparisons with observed data. Comparison of CDF's of annual basin yield derived using these soil properties with observed CDF's provides verification of the soil-selection procedure. This method of parameterization of the land surface is useful with global circulation models, enabling them to account for both the nonlinearity in the relationship between soil moisture flux and soil moisture concentration, and the variability of soil properties from place to place over the Earth's surface.

Tellers, T. E.↗