Climate Variability Influences on Hydrological Responses of a Large Himalayan Basin

The hydrological cycle, a fundamental component of climate is likely to be altered in important ways due to climate change. In this study, the historical daily runoff has been simulated for the Chenab River basin up to Salal gauging site using a simple conceptual snowmelt model (SNOWMOD). The model has been used to study the impact of plausible hypothetical scenarios of temperature and rainfall on the melt characteristics and daily runoff of the Chenab River basin. The average value of increase in snowmelt runoff for T + 1°C, T + 2°C and T + 3°C scenarios are obtained to be 10, 28 and 43%, respectively. Whereas, the average value of increase in total streamflow runoff for T + 1°C, T + 2°C and T + 3°C are obtained to be 7, 19 and 28%, respectively. Changes in rainfall by −10 and + 10% vary the average annual snowmelt runoff over the T + 2°C scenario by −1% and + 1% only. The result shows that melt is much more sensitive to increase in temperature than to rainfall.     

NON‐UNIFORM CHANGES TO WHITEWATER RECREATION IN CALIFORNIA'S SIERRA NEVADA FROM REGIONAL CLIMATE WARMING

Whitewater recreation is an aesthetic ecosystem service potentially affected by climate warming alterations to runoff. In California's Sierra Nevada, climate change is likely to reduce water availability with warmer air temperatures and stationary or decreasing precipitation, which will likely alter whitewater recreation opportunities. In this study, we identified 128 whitewater runs on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada within a 13‐basin study area that ranged from serene float trips to remote, difficult, kayak expeditions. We used a spatially explicit, one‐dimensional rainfall‐runoff model to estimate the unregulated hydrology at specific locations within flow thresholds amenable to whitewater recreation. Climate warming scenarios were simulated by increasing air temperature by 2 °C, 4 °C and 6 °C and assuming no change in precipitation. With mild warming, the average number of boatable weeks per year increases, but more extreme warming decreases the average boatable weeks per year across the Sierra Nevada. Runs in low‐elevation drainages, such as the Cosumnes and the Tule River Basins, are most vulnerable to changes in boatable weeks. Yet, high‐elevation watersheds, such as the Kern River, also have a large reduction in boatable weeks. Watersheds in the central Sierra Nevada show an increase in boatable weeks. Overall, we found elevation and run type to be the best predictors of resiliency for Sierra Nevada whitewater runs. Recreation is important for management of rivers, yet it is difficult to quantify and to plan for. This research provides a sensitivity analysis approach to climate warming for the Sierra Nevada and presents a method that can be applied to other regions and whitewater rivers. The observed reduction in whitewater recreation opportunities in unregulated rivers because of climate warming and continued increases in population will likely increase the importance of whitewater boating on regulated rivers and thus the reliance on operations for meeting multiple demands. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of the effect of climate change on the Nakdong river stream flow using indicators of hydrological alteration

This study models the effect of climate change on runoff in southeast Korea using the TANK conceptual rainfall-runoff model. The results are assessed using the indicators of hydrological alteration (IHA) developed by U.S. Nature Conservancy. Future climate time series are obtained by scaling historical series, provided by four global climate models (GCMs, IPCC, 2007) and three greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions scenarios (IPCC, 2000), to reflect a maximum increase of 3.6 °C in the average surface air temperature and 33% in the annual precipitation. To this end, the spatio-temporal change factor method is used, which considers changes in the future mean seasonal rainfall and potential evapotranspiration as well as the daily rainfall distribution. In this study, the variance range for precipitation is from +3.55% to +33.44% compared to the present for years between 2071 and 2100. The variance range for the daily mean temperature is estimated between +1.59 °C and +3.58 °C. Although the simulation results from different GCMs and GHG emissions scenarios indicate different responses of the flows to the climate change, the majority of modeling results show that there will be more runoff in southeast Korea in the future. According to the analysis results, the predicted impacts of hydrological alteration caused by climate change on the aquatic ecosystem are as follows: 1) an increase in the availability of aquatic ecosystem habitats in Nakdong River in future summers and winters, 2) an increase in stress on the aquatic ecosystem due to extremely high stream flow, 3) an increase in the stress duration of flood events for the Nakdong River downstream and 4) an increase in aquatic ecosystem stress caused by rapid increases or decreases in stream flow.     

Streamflow Response to Climate Change in the Brahmani River Basin,India

Climate change can significantly affect the water resources availability by resulting changes in hydrological cycle. Hydrologic models are usually used to predict the impacts of landuse and climate changes and to evaluate the management strategies. In this study, impacts of climate change on streamflow of the Brahmani River basin were assessed using Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) run under the platform of Modular Modeling System (MMS). The plausible hypothetical scenarios of rainfall and temperature changes were used to assess the sensitivity of streamflow to changed climatic condition. The PRMS model was calibrated and validated for the study area. Model performance was evaluated by using joint plots of daily and monthly observed and simulated runoff hydrographs and different statistical indicators. Daily observed and simulated hydrographs showed a reasonable agreement for calibration as well as validation periods. The modeling efficiency (E) varied in the range of 0.69 to 0.93 and 0.85 to 0.95 for the calibration and validation periods, respectively. Simulation studies with temperature rise of 2 and 4°C indicated 6 and 11% decrease in annual streamflow, respectively. However, there is about 62% increase in annual streamflow under the combined effect of 4°C temperature rise and 30% rainfall increase (T4P30). The results of the scenario analysis showed that the basin is more sensitive to changes in rainfall as compared to changes in temperature.     

Downscaling Monsoon Rainfall over River Godavari Basin under Different Climate-Change Scenarios

Evaluating the impact of climate change at river basin level has become essential for proper management of the water resources. In the present study, Godavari River basin in India is taken as study area to project the monthly monsoon precipitation using statistical downscaling. The downscaling method used is a regression based downscaling termed as fuzzy clustering with multiple regression. Among the atmospheric variables simulated by global circulation/climate model (GCM) mean sea level pressure, specific humidity and 500 hPa geopotential height are used as predictors. 1^o × 1^o gridded rainfall data over Godavari river basin are collected from India Meteorological Department (IMD). A statistical relationship is established between the predictors and predictand (monsoon rainfall) to project the monsoon rainfall for the future using the Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2) over IMD grid points under the Representative Concentration Pathways 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 (RCP 2.6, 4.5, 8.5) scenarios of Fifth Coupled Model Inter-Comparison Project (CMIP 5). Downscaling procedure is applied to all 25 IMD grid points over the basin to find out the spatial distribution of monsoon rainfall for the future scenarios. For 2.6 and 4.5 scenarios results show an increasing trend. For scenario 8.5 rainfall showed a mixed trend with rainfall decreasing in the first thirty years of prediction and then increasing gradually over the next sixty years.     

Optimal water allocation at different levels of climate change to minimize water shortage in arid regions (Case Study: Zayandeh-Rud River Basin,Iran)

Climate change is one of the most important factors influencing the future of the world's environment. The most important impacts of climate change are changes in water supply and demand in different regions of the world. In this study, different climate change patterns in two RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios (RCP: Representative Concentration Pathway), were adopted for the Zayandeh-Rud River Basin, Iran, through weighting of GCMs (General Circulation Models). These climate change patterns are including ideal, medium, and critical patterns. Using the LARS-WG model (Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator), the outputs of the GCMs were downscaled statistically and the daily temperature and precipitation time series were generated from 2020 to 2044. Then, based on this information, the inflow volume into the Zayandeh-Rud Reservoir was predicted by the IHACRES model (Identification of unit Hydrograph and Component flows from Rainfall, Evaporation and Streamflow) and the agricultural water demand was also estimated based on future evapotranspiration. Finally, using GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling System) software, water resources in this basin were allocated based on the basic management scenario (B) and the water demand management scenario (D). The results showed that the average monthly temperature will increase by 0.6 to 1.3 °C under different climate change patterns. On the other hand, on the annual basis, precipitation will decrease by 6.5 to 31% and inflow volume to the Zayandeh-Rud Reservoir will decrease by 21 to 38%. The results also showed that the water shortages based on the baseline management scenario (B) will be between 334 and 805 MCM (Million Cubic Meters). These range of values varies between 252 and 787 MCM in the water demand management scenario (D). In general, the water shortage can be reduced in the Zayandeh-Rud River Basin with water demand control, but complete resolution of this problem in this region requires more integrated strategies based on a sustainable development, such as a fundamental change in the cropping pattern, prevention of population growth and industrial development.     

气候变化对降雨侵蚀力的影响研究综述

以全球变暖为主要特征的全球气候变化导致降雨侵蚀力改变,从而影响区域土壤流失过程。因此,研究气候变化对降雨侵蚀力的影响,对适应和预防全球气候变化、争取环境外交主动权、制定农业发展战略具有积极作用。对相关研究成果进行了总结:国外相关研究由侧重单一的降雨量变化对降雨侵蚀力的影响,发展为气候变暖和土地利用类型的变化对土壤侵蚀环境的综合影响;国内相关研究起步较晚,侧重于不同区域降雨侵蚀力的计算,在长江流域,气候变化对降雨侵蚀力影响的相关研究较少。加强相关研究,既可为长江流域降雨侵蚀力的研究提供理论依据,又可为长江流域降雨侵蚀的防治和气候变化下水保措施的制定提供技术支撑。     

Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources Availability and Agricultural Water Demand in the West Bank

Global climate change is predicted as a result of increased concentrations of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. It is predicted that climate change will result in increasing temperature by 2 to 6°C and a possible reduction of precipitation of up to 16% in the Mediterranean basin. In this study, the West Bank is taken as a case study from the Mediterranean basin to evaluate the effects of such climate change on water resources availability and agricultural water demands. Due to the uncertainty in climate change impacts on temperature and precipitation, a number of scenarios for these impacts were assumed within the range of predicted changes. For temperature, three scenarios of 2, 4 and 6°C increase were assumed. For precipitation, two scenarios of no change and 16% precipitation reduction were assumed. Based on these scenarios, monthly evapotranspiration and monthly precipitation excess depths were estimated at seven weather stations distributed over the different climatic and geographical areas of the West Bank. GIS spatial analyses showed that the increase in temperature predicted by climate change could potentially increase agricultural water demands by up to 17% and could also result in reducing annual groundwater recharge by up to 21% of existing values. However, the effects of reduced precipitation resulting from climate change are more enormous as a 16% reduction in precipitation could result in reducing annual groundwater recharge in the West Bank by about 30% of existing value. When this effect is combined with a 6°C increase in temperature, the reduction in groundwater recharge could reach 50%.     

Watershed Modeling to Assessing Impacts of Potential Climate Change on Water Supply Availability

Climate change could have impacts on hydrologic systems threatening, availability of water supply resources. In Illinois, regional water supply planning efforts are attempting to better understand potential impacts on low flow and surface water availability through analysis of hydrologic sensitivity to a range of climate scenarios. This paper explores the development, calibration and validation of Fox River watershed model using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) and the model’s application to assess impacts of potential climate change. The watershed model is calibrated and validated using daily flow records at three gauging stations. Automatic model calibration followed by manual refinement of parameter values was performed. Calibration results were generally good for monthly and annual time step but only satisfactory for daily simulations. Based on simulations of global climate models produced for IPCC fourth assessment report, climate scenarios were prepared by the Illinois State Water Survey for water supply planning initiatives in north-east and east-central Illinois. These scenarios showed ranges of temperature change between 0°C to +3.3°C and annual precipitation changes between −127 to +127 mm in the next 50 years, excluding the 5% extreme ends of those climate model simulations considered. Changes in climate were reflected using adjustments to the historical record, instead of using direct outputs from individual climate models. The watershed model was used to assess the impact of potential climate change. Application results indicate that annual precipitation change of 127 mm on average increases annual water yield and 7-day low flows by 28% and 19%, respectively. In contrast, a temperature change of +3.3°C results in average reductions of annual water yield by 13% and 7-day low flows by 10%. Seasonal effects were investigated through evaluation of changes in average monthly flows. Increasing precipitation resulted in significant changes in streamflows in late summer and fall months where as increasing temperature greatly affects winter flows due to snowmelt. The key implication is that climate change-induced variability of streamflows could have major impacts on water supply availability in the Fox River watershed and in particular, increased periods of drought could result in deficit of supplies during seasons of peak water use. It must be noted that this analysis does not examine the potential impacts of population growth and water use on water supply availability, which are also expected to have substantial influences in the region.     

变化环境下“中华水塔”水资源及产流规律变化分析研究

受全球气候变暖的影响,“中华水塔”地区正面临着以“变暖变湿”为主的气候变化。受气候及下垫面条件的综合影响,区域水资源显著增加,各流域产流机理在空间上呈现出明显的地区差异特征。基于“中华水塔”区域1956—2020年水文气象资料,通过趋势、突变、距平等分析方法,分析其水文要素和产流规律的变化趋势、特征及相互之间影响关系。结果表明：近年来“中华水塔”区域气温显著升高,蒸发能力总体增强,区域进入丰水期,降水、径流显著增加,在同等降水径流尺度下,黄河源区产流能力有所降低,长江、澜沧江源区产流能力明显增强;气温升高、降水量持续偏丰以及流域前期影响雨量（蓄水量）增加、枯季径流比例提高、下垫面生态持水能力增强是引起区域产流规律变化、水资源量增加的主要原因。