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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/116457
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Spatiotemporal patterns of precipitation inferred from streamflow observations across the Sierra Nevada mountain range |
Author: | Henn, B. Clark, M. Kavetski, D. Newman, A. Hughes, M. McGurk, B. Lundquist, J. |
Citation: | Journal of Hydrology, 2018; 556:993-1012 |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Issue Date: | 2018 |
ISSN: | 0022-1694 1879-2707 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Brian Henn, Martyn P. Clark, Dmitri Kavetski, Andrew J. Newman, Mimi Hughes, Bruce McGurk, Jessica D. Lundquist |
Abstract: | Given uncertainty in precipitation gauge-based gridded datasets over complex terrain, we use multiple streamflow observations as an additional source of information about precipitation, in order to identify spatial and temporal differences between a gridded precipitation dataset and precipitation inferred from streamflow. We test whether gridded datasets capture across-crest and regional spatial patterns of variability, as well as year-to-year variability and trends in precipitation, in comparison to precipitation inferred from streamflow. We use a Bayesian model calibration routine with multiple lumped hydrologic model structures to infer the most likely basin-mean, water-year total precipitation for 56 basins with long-term (>30 year) streamflow records in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. We compare basin-mean precipitation derived from this approach with basin-mean precipitation from a precipitation gauge-based, 1/16° gridded dataset that has been used to simulate and evaluate trends in Western United States streamflow and snowpack over the 20th century. We find that the long-term average spatial patterns differ: in particular, there is less precipitation in the gridded dataset in higher-elevation basins whose aspect faces prevailing cool-season winds, as compared to precipitation inferred from streamflow. In a few years and basins, there is less gridded precipitation than there is observed streamflow. Lower-elevation, southern, and east-of-crest basins show better agreement between gridded and inferred precipitation. Implied actual evapotranspiration (calculated as precipitation minus streamflow) then also varies between the streamflow-based estimates and the gridded dataset. Absolute uncertainty in precipitation inferred from streamflow is substantial, but the signal of basin-to-basin and year-to-year differences are likely more robust. The findings suggest that considering streamflow when spatially distributing precipitation in complex terrain may improve its representation, particularly for basins whose orientations (e.g., windward-facing) are favored for orographic precipitation enhancement. |
Keywords: | Precipitation; orographic enhancement; streamflow; mountain hydrology; Sierra Nevada; Bayesian inference |
Description: | Available online 8 August 2016 |
Rights: | © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.08.009 |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.08.009 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 8 Civil and Environmental Engineering publications |
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