A watershed modeling approach to streamflow reconstruction from tree-ring records
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Authors
Saito, Laurel
Biondi, Franco
Salas, Jose D.
Panorska, Anna K.
Kozubowski, Tomasz J.
Issue Date
2008
Type
Article
Language
Keywords
dendrochronology , watershed modeling , Walker River
Alternative Title
Abstract
Insight into long-term changes of streamflow is critical for addressing implications of global warming for sustainable water management. To date, dendrohydrologists have employed sophisticated regression techniques to extend runoff records, but this empirical approach cannot directly test the influence of watershed factors that alter streamflow independently of climate. We designed a mechanistic watershed model to calculate streamflows at annual timescales using as few inputs as possible. The model was calibrated for upper reaches of the Walker River, which straddles the boundary between the Sierra Nevada of California and the Great Basin of Nevada. Even though the model incorporated simplified relationships between precipitation and other components of the hydrologic cycle, it predicted water year streamflows with correlations of 0.87 when appropriate precipitation values were used.
Description
Citation
Saito, L., F. Biondi, J.D. Salas, A.K. Panorska, and T.J. Kozubowski. A watershed modeling
approach to streamflow reconstruction from tree-ring records. Environmental Research
Letters 3: 024006 (6pp); doi:10.1088/1748-9326/3/2/024006.
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License
In Copyright (All Rights Reserved)
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
ISSN
1748-9326