Precipitationshed

A precipitationshed is the upwind ocean and land surface that contributes evaporation to a given, downwind location's precipitation. The concept has been described as an “atmospheric watershed”.[1] The concept itself rests on a broad foundation of scholarly work examining the evaporative sources of rainfall.[2][3][4] Since its formal definition, the precipitationshed has become an element in water security studies,[5] examinations of sustainability,[6] and mentioned as a potentially useful tool for examining vulnerability of rainfall dependent ecosystems.[7]

Overview of a precipitationshed

Concept

In an effort to conceptualize the recycling of evaporation from a specific location to the spatially explicit region that receives this moisture, the precipitationshed concept was expanded to the evaporationshed. This expanded concept has been highlighted as particularly useful for providing a spatially explicit region for examining the impacts of significant land-use change, such as deforestation, irrigation, or agricultural intensification [8][9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ P. W. Keys et al., Analyzing precipitationsheds to understand the vulnerability of rainfall dependent regions, Biogeosciences, 9, 733–746, 2012 PDF
  2. ↑ R. Koster et al., "Global sources of local precipitation as determined by the Nasa/Giss GCM, Geophysical Research Letters Volume 13, Issue 2, pages 121–124, February 1986
  3. ↑ E.A.B. Eltahir and R.L. Bras, "Precipitation recycling in the Amazon basin, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society Volume 120, Issue 518, pages 861–880, July 1994 Part A
  4. ↑ P.A. Dirmeyer and K.L. Brubaker, "Contrasting evaporative moisture sources during the drought of 1988 and the flood of 1993, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (1984–2012) Volume 104, Issue D16, pages 19383–19397, 27 August 1999
  5. ↑ H. Wheater and P. Gober, Water security in the Canadian Prairies: science and management challenges, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 13 November 2013 vol. 371 no. 2002 20120409
  6. ↑ J.Rockström et al., Water Resilience for Human Prosperity, 2014
  7. ↑ R.Mahmood et al., Land cover changes and their biogeophysical effects on climate, Issue International Journal of Climatology International Journal of Climatology Volume 34, Issue 4, pages 929–953, March 2014
  8. ↑ P. W. Keys et al., Variability of moisture recycling using a precipitationshed framework, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences,18, 3937–3950, 2014 PDF
  9. ↑ R.J. van der Ent et al., Oceanic sources of continental precipitation and the correlation with sea surface temperature, Water Resources Research, 49, 7, 3993-4004 2013

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 28, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.