Connecting streamflow and atmospheric conditions in Europe: State-of-the-art review and future directions

David M. Hannah, Anne K. Fleig, Daniel G. Kingston, James H. Stagge, Donna Wilson

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    5 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Given the issues of climate change and global water-food-energy security, there is an urgent need to improve understanding of climate-streamflow connections at regional scales and beyond. We synthesise pan-European studies: (1) to evaluate current methods for assessing space-time dynamics for different streamflow metrics (annual regimes, low flows and high flows) and for linking flow variability to atmospheric drivers (circulation indices, air-masses, gridded climate fields and vapour flux); and (2) to propose a plan for future research connecting streamflow and the atmospheric conditions in Europe and elsewhere. We highlight the need to consider appropriate atmospheric descriptors (dependent on the target flow metric and region of interest) and to develop analytical techniques that best characterise connections in the ocean-atmosphere-land surface process chain. We call for the need to consider not only atmospheric interactions, but also the role of the river basin-scale terrestrial hydrological processes in modifying the climate signal response of flows.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationIAHS-AISH Proceedings and Reports
    PublisherCopernicus Publications
    Pages401-406
    Number of pages6
    Volume363
    ISBN (Print)9781907161414
    Publication statusPublished - 2014
    Event7th World Flow Regimes from International and Experimental Network Data-Water Conference, FRIEND-Water 2014 - Montpellier, France
    Duration: 7 Oct 201410 Oct 2014

    Conference

    Conference7th World Flow Regimes from International and Experimental Network Data-Water Conference, FRIEND-Water 2014
    Country/TerritoryFrance
    CityMontpellier
    Period7/10/1410/10/14

    Keywords

    • Climate
    • Drought
    • Flood
    • Hydroclimatology
    • Regimes
    • River Discharge
    • Teleconnections
    • Vapour Flux

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

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