Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast and Midwest U.S.
Study region: Northeast and Midwest, United States. Study focus: Assessing the climate change impacts on the basin scale is important for water and natural resource managers. Here, the presence of monotonic trends and changes in climate-driven simulated 3-day peak flows, 7-day low flows, and mean ba...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2016-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581815001226 |
| _version_ | 1818595265037205504 |
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| author | Eleonora M.C. Demaria Richard N. Palmer Joshua K. Roundy |
| author_facet | Eleonora M.C. Demaria Richard N. Palmer Joshua K. Roundy |
| author_sort | Eleonora M.C. Demaria |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Study region: Northeast and Midwest, United States. Study focus: Assessing the climate change impacts on the basin scale is important for water and natural resource managers. Here, the presence of monotonic trends and changes in climate-driven simulated 3-day peak flows, 7-day low flows, and mean base flows are evaluated in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. during the 20th and the 21st centuries using climate projections from sixteen climate models. Proven statistical methods are used to spatially and temporally disaggregate precipitation and temperature fields to a finer resolution before being used as drivers for a hydrological model. New hydrological insights for the region: Changes in the annual cycle of precipitation are likely to occur during the 21st century as winter precipitation increases and warmer temperatures reduce snow coverage across the entire domain especially in the northern basins. Maximum precipitation intensities are projected to become more intense across the region by mid-century especially along the coast. Positive trends in 3-day peak flows are also projected in the region as a result of the more intense precipitation, whereas the magnitude of 7-day low flows and mean base flows are projected to decrease. The length of the low flows season will likely extend by mid-century despite the increased precipitation as the atmospheric demand increases. Keywords: Streamflow peaks, Low flows, Trend analysis, Intense precipitation, Base flows |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T11:13:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cf701fddf8db43bb928cd255ee8c611f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-5818 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T11:13:16Z |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-cf701fddf8db43bb928cd255ee8c611f2022-12-21T22:33:41ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182016-03-015309323Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast and Midwest U.S.Eleonora M.C. Demaria0Richard N. Palmer1Joshua K. Roundy2Northeast Climate Science Center, University of Massachusetts, 222 Marston Hall, Natural Resources Road, Amherst, MA 01003-9293, USA; Corresponding author. Present address: Southwest Watershed Research Center, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, 2000 E. Allen Road Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.Northeast Climate Science Center, University of Massachusetts, 222 Marston Hall, Natural Resources Road, Amherst, MA 01003-9293, USA; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 222 Marston Hall, Natural Resources Road, Amherst, MA 01003-9293, USADepartment of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas, 1530 W. 15th Street, 2150 Learned, Lawrence, KS 66045, USAStudy region: Northeast and Midwest, United States. Study focus: Assessing the climate change impacts on the basin scale is important for water and natural resource managers. Here, the presence of monotonic trends and changes in climate-driven simulated 3-day peak flows, 7-day low flows, and mean base flows are evaluated in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. during the 20th and the 21st centuries using climate projections from sixteen climate models. Proven statistical methods are used to spatially and temporally disaggregate precipitation and temperature fields to a finer resolution before being used as drivers for a hydrological model. New hydrological insights for the region: Changes in the annual cycle of precipitation are likely to occur during the 21st century as winter precipitation increases and warmer temperatures reduce snow coverage across the entire domain especially in the northern basins. Maximum precipitation intensities are projected to become more intense across the region by mid-century especially along the coast. Positive trends in 3-day peak flows are also projected in the region as a result of the more intense precipitation, whereas the magnitude of 7-day low flows and mean base flows are projected to decrease. The length of the low flows season will likely extend by mid-century despite the increased precipitation as the atmospheric demand increases. Keywords: Streamflow peaks, Low flows, Trend analysis, Intense precipitation, Base flowshttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581815001226 |
| spellingShingle | Eleonora M.C. Demaria Richard N. Palmer Joshua K. Roundy Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
| title | Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. |
| title_full | Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. |
| title_fullStr | Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. |
| title_short | Regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the Northeast and Midwest U.S. |
| title_sort | regional climate change projections of streamflow characteristics in the northeast and midwest u s |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581815001226 |
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