Runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern-central Chile
Persistent drought events frequently intensify the aridity of ecosystems and cause catchment runoff depletion. Here, using large and long-term data sets of meteorological and hydrologic variables (precipitation, runoff, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration) investigated the major causes tha...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IWA Publishing
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Hydrology Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hr.iwaponline.com/content/54/12/1590 |
| _version_ | 1797369291849334784 |
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| author | Guillermo Barrientos Rafael Rubilar Efrain Duarte Alberto Paredes |
| author_facet | Guillermo Barrientos Rafael Rubilar Efrain Duarte Alberto Paredes |
| author_sort | Guillermo Barrientos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Persistent drought events frequently intensify the aridity of ecosystems and cause catchment runoff depletion. Here, using large and long-term data sets of meteorological and hydrologic variables (precipitation, runoff, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration) investigated the major causes that modulated catchment runoff depletion between the years 1980 and 2020 in southern-central Chile. We identified the hydrological years where aridity index intensified, analyzed its relationship with annual runoff, and evaluated the effect of the annual evaporation index and annual aridity index on water balance of 44 catchments with different precipitation regimes located between 35° and 40°S. Our results showed that observed precipitation and runoff significantly decreased between 1980 and 2020 in 64% of the catchments in the study area. Potential evapotranspiration increased significantly in 39% of the catchments. Hydrological years in which precipitation decreased showed a decreased runoff trend. This result suggests that meteorological droughts tend to significantly decrease observed runoff. The runoff value decreased as the aridity index increased from 0.3 to 6.7, and the Budyko curve captured 98.5% of the annual variability of all catchments.
HIGHLIGHTS
Significant contrast in aridity in response to decreased precipitation. Consecutive droughts lead to a moderate runoff deficit and a higher aridity index.;
Extreme aridity index over 6.5, PET far exceeds mean annual Q and P.; |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:44:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-22edbaf16b2e4650bbe24bb7e51e9f82 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1998-9563 2224-7955 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:44:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | IWA Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hydrology Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-22edbaf16b2e4650bbe24bb7e51e9f822024-01-02T10:33:33ZengIWA PublishingHydrology Research1998-95632224-79552023-12-0154121590160510.2166/nh.2023.116116Runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern-central ChileGuillermo Barrientos0Rafael Rubilar1Efrain Duarte2Alberto Paredes3 Departamento de Obras Civiles, Facultad de Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile Centro Nacional de Excelencia para la Industria de la Madera (CENAMAD), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile Cooperativa de Productividad Forestal, Departamento de Silvicultura, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Escuela de Graduados, Doctorado en Ecosistemas Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile Persistent drought events frequently intensify the aridity of ecosystems and cause catchment runoff depletion. Here, using large and long-term data sets of meteorological and hydrologic variables (precipitation, runoff, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration) investigated the major causes that modulated catchment runoff depletion between the years 1980 and 2020 in southern-central Chile. We identified the hydrological years where aridity index intensified, analyzed its relationship with annual runoff, and evaluated the effect of the annual evaporation index and annual aridity index on water balance of 44 catchments with different precipitation regimes located between 35° and 40°S. Our results showed that observed precipitation and runoff significantly decreased between 1980 and 2020 in 64% of the catchments in the study area. Potential evapotranspiration increased significantly in 39% of the catchments. Hydrological years in which precipitation decreased showed a decreased runoff trend. This result suggests that meteorological droughts tend to significantly decrease observed runoff. The runoff value decreased as the aridity index increased from 0.3 to 6.7, and the Budyko curve captured 98.5% of the annual variability of all catchments. HIGHLIGHTS Significant contrast in aridity in response to decreased precipitation. Consecutive droughts lead to a moderate runoff deficit and a higher aridity index.; Extreme aridity index over 6.5, PET far exceeds mean annual Q and P.;http://hr.iwaponline.com/content/54/12/1590aridity indexdroughtevaporation indexrunoff |
| spellingShingle | Guillermo Barrientos Rafael Rubilar Efrain Duarte Alberto Paredes Runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern-central Chile Hydrology Research aridity index drought evaporation index runoff |
| title | Runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern-central Chile |
| title_full | Runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern-central Chile |
| title_fullStr | Runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern-central Chile |
| title_full_unstemmed | Runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern-central Chile |
| title_short | Runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern-central Chile |
| title_sort | runoff variation and progressive aridity during drought in catchments in southern central chile |
| topic | aridity index drought evaporation index runoff |
| url | http://hr.iwaponline.com/content/54/12/1590 |
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