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Title: Tundra water budget and implications of precipitation underestimation

Journal Article · · Water Resources Research
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5]
  1. Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska FairbanksFairbanks Alaska USA
  2. International Arctic Research CenterUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanks Alaska USA
  3. Department of BiologySan Diego State UniversitySan Diego California USA; Department of Geography, College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterExeter UK
  4. Department of Biological and the Environmental Science and Engineering ProgramUniversity of Texas at El PasoEl Paso Texas USA
  5. Department of BiologySan Diego State UniversitySan Diego California USA; Department of Animal and Plant SciencesUniversity of Sheffield, Western BankSheffield UK
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Difficulties in obtaining accurate precipitation measurements have limited meaningful hydrologic assessment for over a century due to performance challenges of conventional snowfall and rainfall gauges in windy environments. Here, we compare snowfall observations and bias adjusted snowfall to end-of-winter snow accumulation measurements on the ground for 16 years (1999-2014) and assess the implication of precipitation underestimation on the water balance for a low-gradient tundra wetland near Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska (2007-2009). In agreement with other studies, and not accounting for sublimation, conventional snowfall gauges captured 23-56% of end-of-winter snow accumulation. Once snowfall and rainfall are bias adjusted, long-term annual precipitation estimates more than double (from 123 to 274 mm), highlighting the risk of studies using conventional or unadjusted precipitation that dramatically under-represent water balance components. Applying conventional precipitation information to the water balance analysis produced consistent storage deficits (79 to 152 mm) that were all larger than the largest actual deficit (75 mm), which was observed in the unusually low rainfall summer of 2007. Year-to-year variability in adjusted rainfall (±33 mm) was larger than evapotranspiration (±13 mm). Measured interannual variability in partitioning of snow into runoff (29% in 2008 to 68% in 2009) in years with similar end-of-winter snow accumulation (180 and 164 mm, respectively) highlights the importance of the previous summer's rainfall (25 and 60 mm, respectively) on spring runoff production. Incorrect representation of precipitation can therefore have major implications for Arctic water budget descriptions that in turn can alter estimates of carbon and energy fluxes.

Research Organization:
San Diego State University, San Diego, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF); Swedish-America Foundation; Gemzeus Foundation; Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0005160; OPP-03332964; OPP-0328686; OPP-0436177; PLR0454996; PLR-0421588; PLR-1304555
OSTI ID:
1373979
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1373980; OSTI ID: 1623450
Journal Information:
Water Resources Research, Vol. 53, Issue 8; ISSN 0043-1397
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (6)

Regional Patterns and Asynchronous Onset of Ice-Wedge Degradation since the Mid-20th Century in Arctic Alaska journal August 2018
Regional Patterns and Asynchronous Onset of Ice-Wedge Degradation since the Mid-20th Century in Arctic Alaska journal August 2018
The Controls of Iron and Oxygen on Hydroxyl Radical (•OH) Production in Soils journal December 2018
The Controls of Iron and Oxygen on Hydroxyl Radical (•OH) Production in Soils journal December 2018
Modelling the impacts of projected sea ice decline on the low atmosphere and near-surface permafrost on the North Slope of Alaska journal August 2018
Groundwater Controls on Postfire Permafrost Thaw: Water and Energy Balance Effects journal October 2018

Figures / Tables (5)

Figure 1(p. 3)figure Figure 1
Figure 2(p. 7)figure Figure 2
Table 1(p. 7)table Table 1
Figure 3(p. 8)figure Figure 3
Figure 4(p. 10)figure Figure 4

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Environmental Sciences & Ecology
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Arctic
precipitation
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tundra
water budget
wetland