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Title: The Role of Topography in Controlling Evapotranspiration Age

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Princeton University Princeton NJ USA, Integrated GroundWater Modeling Center Princeton University Princeton NJ USA
  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Princeton University Princeton NJ USA, Integrated GroundWater Modeling Center Princeton University Princeton NJ USA, High Meadows Environmental Institute Princeton University Princeton NJ USA
  3. School of Environment and Sustainability Global Institute for Water Security University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon SK Canada, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
  4. Faculty of Geographical Science State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology Beijing Normal University Beijing China

Abstract Evapotranspiration (ET) age is a key metric of water sustainability but a major unknown partly due to the extreme difficulty in modeling it. Groundwater is found to be important in ET age variations in small‐scale studies, yet our understanding is insufficient because groundwater systems are nested across scales. Here, we conducted GPU‐accelerated particle tracking with integrated hydrologic modeling to quantify the variations in ET age at a regional scale of ∼0.4 M km 2 . Simulation results reveal topography‐driven flow paths shaping the spatial and temporal patterns of ET age variations. On ridges, where root zone decoupling with deep subsurface storage, ET age is generally young, with seasonal variations dominated by meteorological conditions. In the valley bottom, ET age is generally old, with significant subseasonal variations caused by the convergence of subsurface flow paths. On hillslopes with water table depths ranging from 1 to 10 m, ET age shows strong seasonal variations caused by the connections with lateral groundwater regulated by ET demand. Our modeling approach provides insights into the basic linkages between ET age and topography at large scale. Our work highlights the perspective of multiscale studies of ET age, suggesting new field experiments to test these process connections and to determine if such linkages warrant inclusion in Earth System Models.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1999926
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Journal Issue: 18 Vol. 128; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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