TY - JOUR
T1 - Increasing influence of air temperature on upper Colorado River streamflow
AU - Woodhouse, Connie A.
AU - Pederson, Gregory T.
AU - Morino, Kiyomi
AU - McAfee, Stephanie A.
AU - McCabe, Gregory J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2016/3/16
Y1 - 2016/3/16
N2 - This empirical study examines the influence of precipitation, temperature, and antecedent soil moisture on upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) water year streamflow over the past century. While cool season precipitation explains most of the variability in annual flows, temperature appears to be highly influential under certain conditions, with the role of antecedent fall soil moisture less clear. In both wet and dry years, when flow is substantially different than expected given precipitation, these factors can modulate the dominant precipitation influence on streamflow. Different combinations of temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture can result in flow deficits of similar magnitude, but recent droughts have been amplified by warmer temperatures that exacerbate the effects of relatively modest precipitation deficits. Since 1988, a marked increase in the frequency of warm years with lower flows than expected, given precipitation, suggests continued warming temperatures will be an increasingly important influence in reducing future UCRB water supplies.
AB - This empirical study examines the influence of precipitation, temperature, and antecedent soil moisture on upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) water year streamflow over the past century. While cool season precipitation explains most of the variability in annual flows, temperature appears to be highly influential under certain conditions, with the role of antecedent fall soil moisture less clear. In both wet and dry years, when flow is substantially different than expected given precipitation, these factors can modulate the dominant precipitation influence on streamflow. Different combinations of temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture can result in flow deficits of similar magnitude, but recent droughts have been amplified by warmer temperatures that exacerbate the effects of relatively modest precipitation deficits. Since 1988, a marked increase in the frequency of warm years with lower flows than expected, given precipitation, suggests continued warming temperatures will be an increasingly important influence in reducing future UCRB water supplies.
KW - Colorado River Basin
KW - soil moisture
KW - warming temperatures
KW - water year streamflow
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U2 - 10.1002/2015GL067613
DO - 10.1002/2015GL067613
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84960363401
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 43
SP - 2174
EP - 2181
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 5
ER -