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Relationships among forest type, watershed characteristics, and watershed ET in rural basins of the Southeastern US

Evapotranspiration (ET) typically accounts for 60–70% of precipitation in rural basins of the Southeastern United States. Since 1930, substantial reforestation of former croplands has occurred in the Piedmont and Appalachian Highlands in this area, leading to an expected increase in ET and reduction in baseflow. This study examines relationships between basin vegetative cover, abiotic factors, and water-budget partitioning in 45 USGS-gaged rural basins in the Southeastern US. Data are for the 1982–2014 water years with watersheds having ≥40% forest cover, crystalline-rock aquifers, minimal basin water export, and no large reservoirs. Long-term annual ET is calculated using the water-budget equation (ET = P-Q), which ranges from 641 to 971 mm/yr. (median 824). Vegetative cover and other basin variables are regressed against ET to quantify the effects of vegetative and forest types. Budyko analysis is employed to compare the watersheds and to evaluate factors affecting residuals. Regression analysis indicates that ET behavior is best explained by abiotic factors (i.e., precipitation and temperature) but forest-cover type also has some effect. Evergreen forest cover is less common than deciduous or mixed forest but has a positive relationship with ET, while deciduous and total forest have negative relationships with ET. Comparison of water-balance and Budyko-estimated ET indicates that deciduous and total forest are associated with negative residuals while evergreen is not significant. Furthermore, these results show that: forest cover effects on basin ET are complicated; forest-cover type is important for water-yield management in this region, and abiotic basin characteristics exert stronger control than forest cover on ET.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

The Budyko shape parameter as a descriptive index for streamflow loss

Increases in evapotranspiration (ET) from global warming are decreasing streamflow in headwater basins worldwide. However, these streamflow losses do not occur uniformly due to complex topography. To better understand the heterogeneity of streamflow loss, we use the Budyko shape parameter (ω) as a diagnostic tool. We fit ω to 37-year of hydrologic simulation output in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), an important headwater basin in the US. We split the UCRB into two categories: peak watersheds with high elevation and steep slopes, and valley watersheds with lower elevation and gradual slopes. Our results demonstrate a relationship between streamflow loss and ω. The valley watersheds with greater streamflow loss have ω higher than 3.1, while the peak watersheds with less streamflow loss have an average ω of 1.3. This work highlights the use of ω as an indicator of streamflow loss and could be generalized to other headwater basin systems.

large scale analysis↗

Spatiotemporal Variations of Evapotranspiration in Amazonia Using the Wavelet Phase Difference Analysis

The relationships and seasonal-to-annual variations among evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation (P), terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA), radiation (downward shortwave radiation, DSR), and phenology (leaf area index, LAI) are complex across the Amazon basin. Here, to analyze how ET is controlled by these influencing factors, we used wavelet phase difference (WPD) to investigate the effects of P, TWSA, DSR, and LAI on ET at different spatiotemporal scales. The Amazon-scale averaged ET has strong correlations with these factors at the annual and multi-year periodicities. The patterns of WPDs have south-north and west-east divides due to the significant variation in climatic conditions. The results demonstrate that ET is mainly affected by water and energy availability while vegetation regulates both processes. The deep soil moisture/groundwater can provide strong subsidies to ET during the meteorological dry season in the water-limited area of Amazon. The WPD can well reflect the responses of ET to the variations of P, TWSA, DSR, and LAI, and the process of vegetation sustaining ET in the dry years in the water-limited area of the Amazon.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Statistical framework to assess long-term spatio-temporal climate changes: East River mountainous watershed case study

Abstract Evaluation of long-term temporal and spatial climatic change in mountainous regions is a critical challenge because of the interactive effects of multiple land and climatic factors and processes. Here we present the application of the statistical framework to the assessment of changes of climatic conditions, using data from 17 meteorological stations across the East River watershed near Crested Butte, Colorado, USA, and spanning the period from 1966 to 2021. The framework is developed based on (1) a time-series analysis of daily, monthly, and yearly averaged meteorological parameters (temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed, etc.), (2) evaluation and time series analysis of potential evapotranspiration (ET o ), actual evapotranspiration (ET), aridity index (AI), standard precipitation index (SPI) and standard precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI), and (3) a temporal-spatial climatic zonation of the studied area based on the hierarchical clustering and PCA analysis of the SPEI, because the SPEI can be considered an integrative characteristic of the changes of climatic conditions. The Budyko model, with the application of the Penman–Monteith equation for the estimation of ET o , was used to determine the ET. The time series analysis of the AI is used to identify the periods with energy limited and water limited conditions. Hierarchical clustering of site locations for the three temporal segments of the SPEI showed a significant temporal-spatial shifts, indicating that dynamic climatic processes drive zonation patterns. Therefore, the watershed climatic zonation requires periodic re-evaluation based on the structural time series analysis of meteorological and water balance data.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Energy‐Water Asynchrony Principally Determines Water Available for Runoff From Snowmelt in Continental Montane Forests

ABSTRACT Changes in the volume, rate, and timing of the snowmelt water pulse have profound implications for seasonal soil moisture, evapotranspiration (ET), groundwater recharge, and downstream water availability, especially in the context of climate change. Here, we present an empirical analysis of water available for runoff using five eddy covariance towers located in continental montane forests across a regional gradient of snow depth, precipitation seasonality, and aridity. We specifically investigated how energy‐water asynchrony (i.e., snowmelt timing relative to atmospheric demand), surface water input intensity (rain and snowmelt), and observed winter ET (winter AET) impact multiple water balance metrics that determine water available for runoff (WAfR). Overall, we found that WAfR had the strongest relationship with energy‐water asynchrony (adjusted r 2 = 0.52) and that winter AET was correlated to total water year evapotranspiration but not to other water balance metrics. Stepwise regression analysis demonstrated that none of the tested mechanisms were strongly related to the Budyko‐type runoff anomaly (highest adjusted r 2 = 0.21). We, therefore, conclude that WAfR from continental montane forests is most sensitive to the degree of energy‐water asynchrony that occurs. The results of this empirical study identify the physical mechanisms driving variability of WAfR in continental montane forests and are thus broadly relevant to the hydrologic management and modelling communities.

Webb, Ryan William↗