Lags in hydrologic recovery following an extreme drought: Assessing the roles of climate and catchment characteristics
| Autor: | Tim R. McVicar, Yuting Yang, Junlong Zhang, Lu Zhang, Michael L. Roderick, Francis H. S. Chiew, Yongqiang Zhang, Randall J. Donohue |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
Hydrology
Baseflow 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences business.industry 0208 environmental biotechnology Water supply 02 engineering and technology 01 natural sciences 020801 environmental engineering Water resources Water security Drought recovery Streamflow Environmental science Precipitation Water cycle business 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Water Science and Technology |
| Zdroj: | Water Resources Research. 53:4821-4837 |
| ISSN: | 1944-7973 0043-1397 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/2017wr020683 |
| Popis: | Drought, generally characterized by below-average water supply, propagates through the hydrologic system with consequent ecological and societal impacts. Compared with other drought aspects, the recovery of drought especially in the hydrological components, which directly relates to the recovery of water resources for agricultural, ecological and human needs, is less-understood. Here, taking the Millennium drought in southeast Australia (∼1997-2009) as an illustrating case, we comprehensively examined multiple aspects of the meteorological (i.e., precipitation) and hydrological (i.e., streamflow and baseflow) droughts across 130 unimpaired catchments using long-term hydro-meteorological observations. Results show that the duration and intensity of the meteorological drought are both lengthened and amplified in the hydrological drought, suggesting a nonstationarity in the rainfall-runoff relationship during a prolonged drought. Additionally, we find a time lag commonly exists between the end of the meteorological droughts and the end of the hydrological drought, with the recovery of baseflow showing a longer lag than the recovery of streamflow. The recovery rate of precipitation after drought was found to be the dominant factor that controls the recovery of hydrological droughts while catchment landscape (i.e., valley bottom flatness) plays an important but secondary role in controlling the lags in the hydrological recovery. Other hydro-climatic factors and catchment properties appear to have only minor influences governing hydrological drought recovery. Our findings highlight a delayed response in the terrestrial components of the hydrological cycle to precipitation after prolonged drought, and provide valuable scientific guidance to water resources management and water security assessment in regions facing future droughts. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
Plný text