Inter-Annual Variability of the Hydrologic Cycle over North America

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

0208009KumarThe goal of the proposed research is to develop a better understanding of the coupling between the atmospheric and terrestrial (land) branches of the hydrologic cycle and identifies the physical basis of their inter-annual variability. The underlying hypothesis of the proposed research is that the regional atmospheric moisture transport is governed by both the large scale forcing as well as local recycling, and their relative contributions have important implications in the inter-annual variability of the hydrologic cycle. The relative contributions of advected and recycled moisture may depend on the season, re-ion and the memory of the various reservoirs such as the atmosphere. near-surface and sub-surface storage. Two specific science objectives will be addressed in this project:Objective I: Identify the modes of the observed inter-annual variability of the hydrologic cycle and the underlying causal mechanism.Objective 2: Identify the roles of land surface and sub-surface storage (water and snow/ice) in regulating the inter-annual variability of the hydrologic cycle.Climate variability, natural or human induced. Have the potential to alter the moisture fluxes, which can have significant societal impact. For example, it is speculated that C02-induced global warming would lead to an intensification of global water cycle (an increase in global water fluxes), leading to greater -global precipitation. faster evaporation and a general exacerbation of extreme weather and hydrological regimes including floods and droughts. In addition we may see a shift in the spatial patterns of transport, resulting from the feedback between the changes in the hydrologic cycle and general circulation patterns. Changes in hydrologic regimes have implications for water resource management as well as biogeochemical processes in ecosystems. A better understanding of the dynamics of the hydrologic cycle and the underlying causal mechanism will have significant impact in all areas of water-related processes.