Observed Spatiotemporal Changes in the Mechanisms of Extreme Water Available for Runoff in the Western United States

Yan, Hongxiang; Sun, Ning; Wigmosta, Mark; Skaggs, Richard; Leung, L. Ruby; Coleman, Andre; Hou, Zhangshuan

doi:10.1029/2018GL080260

Title: Observed Spatiotemporal Changes in the Mechanisms of Extreme Water Available for Runoff in the Western United States

Journal Article · Thu Jan 03 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080260· OSTI ID:1496586

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Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

Abstract This paper presents the first study to identity, in historical records, regional changes in the mechanisms of extreme water available for runoff ( W ). We used a quality‐controlled Snowpack Telemetry data set (1979–2017) combined with the nonparametric regional Kendall test to examine changes in annual maximum W under four hydrometeorological conditions (melt only/rain‐on‐snow/all melt/all melt plus rainfall) over the mountainous regions of the western United States. Under a warming climate, our analyses indicated significant declining trends in annual maximum W at regional scale under all four conditions. The annual maximum of all melt plus rainfall decreased significantly by 15% in the southwestern United States, while the frequency of rain‐on‐snow events increased significantly by 32% in the northwestern United States. The annual maximum snowmelt only decreased significantly by 21% across the entire western United States. Our results confirmed that interaction between regional humidity and solar radiation with warming temperature helps drive these changes.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830; DE‐AC06‐76RLO‐1830

OSTI ID:: 1496586

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1491956

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-138215

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 2; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 22 works

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