TY - JOUR
T1 - The Strong Impact of Precipitation Intensity on Groundwater Recharge and Terrestrial Water Storage Change in Arizona, a Typical Dryland
AU - Qiu, Yuan
AU - Famiglietti, James S.
AU - Behrangi, Ali
AU - Farmani, Mohammad Ali
AU - Yousefi Sohi, Hossein
AU - Gupta, Aniket
AU - Hung, Fengwei
AU - Abdelmohsen, Karem
AU - Niu, Guo Yue
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025. The Author(s).
PY - 2025/7/28
Y1 - 2025/7/28
N2 - This study demonstrates the critical role of precipitation intensity in groundwater recharge generation and terrestrial water storage (TWS) change. We conducted two experiments driven by precipitation products with close annual totals but distinct intensity in Arizona, using the Noah-MP model with advanced soil hydrology. The experiment with higher precipitation intensity (EXPHI) produces an annual groundwater recharge of 6.91 mm/year in Arizona during 2001–2020, ∼15 times that of the experiment with lower precipitation intensity (EXPLI). Correspondingly, EXPLI produces a declining groundwater storage (GWS) trend of (Formula presented.) 0.51 mm/month, nearly triple that of EXPHI. GWS change dominates the TWS trend. EXPLI shows a declining TWS trend of (Formula presented.) 0.57 mm/month, nearly twice that of EXPHI. Higher precipitation intensity reduces evapotranspiration and enhances infiltration and percolation, allowing more precipitation to recharge groundwater. This study underscores the need to ensure the accuracy of precipitation intensity in hydrological modeling for reliable water resources assessment and projection.
AB - This study demonstrates the critical role of precipitation intensity in groundwater recharge generation and terrestrial water storage (TWS) change. We conducted two experiments driven by precipitation products with close annual totals but distinct intensity in Arizona, using the Noah-MP model with advanced soil hydrology. The experiment with higher precipitation intensity (EXPHI) produces an annual groundwater recharge of 6.91 mm/year in Arizona during 2001–2020, ∼15 times that of the experiment with lower precipitation intensity (EXPLI). Correspondingly, EXPLI produces a declining groundwater storage (GWS) trend of (Formula presented.) 0.51 mm/month, nearly triple that of EXPHI. GWS change dominates the TWS trend. EXPLI shows a declining TWS trend of (Formula presented.) 0.57 mm/month, nearly twice that of EXPHI. Higher precipitation intensity reduces evapotranspiration and enhances infiltration and percolation, allowing more precipitation to recharge groundwater. This study underscores the need to ensure the accuracy of precipitation intensity in hydrological modeling for reliable water resources assessment and projection.
KW - evapotranspiration
KW - groundwater recharge
KW - groundwater storage
KW - Noah-MP
KW - precipitation intensity
KW - terrestrial water storage
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105011864296
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105011864296#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1029/2025GL114747
DO - 10.1029/2025GL114747
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105011864296
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 52
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 14
M1 - e2025GL114747
ER -