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With increasing concerns about the impact of warming temperatures on water resources, more attention is being paid the relationship between runoff and precipitation, or runoff efficiency. Temperature is a key influence on Colorado River runoff efficiency, and warming temperatures are projected to reduce runoff efficiency. Here, we investigate the nature of runoff efficiency in the upper Colorado River (UCRB) basin over the past 400 years, with a specific focus on major droughts and pluvials, and to contextualize the instrumental period. We first verify the feasibility of reconstructing runoff efficiency from tree-ring data. The reconstruction is then used to evaluate variability in runoff efficiency over periods...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Climatology,
Climatology,
Colorado River,
Hydrology,
Lees Ferry (historical), All tags...
Precipitation Reconstruction,
Runoff Efficiency,
Temperature Reconstruction,
Tree-Rings,
USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC),
Water Resources,
climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere,
environment,
inlandWaters, Fewer tags
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Abstract (from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL067613/full): This empirical study examines the influence of precipitation, temperature, and antecedent soil moisture on upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) water year streamflow over the past century. While cool season precipitation explains most of the variability in annual flows, temperature appears to be highly influential under certain conditions, with the role of antecedent fall soil moisture less clear. In both wet and dry years, when flow is substantially different than expected given precipitation, these factors can modulate the dominant precipitation influence on streamflow. Different combinations of temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation;
Tags: Colorado River,
Drought,
Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather,
Rivers, Streams and Lakes,
Southwest CASC, All tags...
Water, Coasts and Ice,
drought,
precipitation,
temperature, Fewer tags
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With increasing concerns about the impact of warming temperatures on water resources, more attention is being paid the relationship between runoff and precipitation, or runoff efficiency. Temperature is a key influence on Colorado River runoff efficiency, and warming temperatures are projected to reduce runoff efficiency. Here, we investigate the nature of runoff efficiency in the upper Colorado River (UCRB) basin over the past 400 years, with a specific focus on major droughts and pluvials, and to contextualize the instrumental period. We first verify the feasibility of reconstructing runoff efficiency from tree-ring data. The reconstruction is then used to evaluate variability in runoff efficiency over periods...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Climatology,
Climatology,
Colorado River,
Hydrology,
Lees Ferry (historical), All tags...
Precipitation Reconstruction,
Runoff Efficiency,
Temperature Reconstruction,
Tree-Rings,
USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC),
Water Resources,
climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere,
environment,
inlandWaters, Fewer tags
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A key feature of anticipated 21st century droughts in Southwest North America is the concurrence of elevated temperatures and increased aridity. Instrumental records and paleoclimatic evidence for past prolonged drought in the Southwest that coincide with elevated temperatures can be assessed to provide insights on temperature-drought relations and to develop worst-case scenarios for the future. In particular, during the medieval period, ∼AD 900-1300, the Northern Hemisphere experienced temperatures warmer than all but the most recent decades. Paleoclimatic and model data indicate increased temperatures in western North America of approximately 1 °C over the long-term mean. This was a period of extensive...
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