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Qi Hu
,
C. M. Woodruff
, and
Stephen E. Mudrick

Century-long annual precipitation time series at 168 stations in the central United States are analyzed with special attention given to interdecadal variations. The results show statistically significant precipitation variations of interdecadal timescales in the region. In particular, one variation has a quasi 20-yr period, and another one possesses a quasi 12-yr period.

The negative phases of the 20-yr variation match with the major drought periods in the region's history, that is, the 1910s, 1930s, 1950s, and the late 1970s. The positive phases of this variation correspond well to the wet periods between the dry epochs. The 12-yr variation shows an amplification after the mid-1960s, while the 20-yr variation shows a reduced amplitude following this time. Concurrent with these changes, the annual precipitation in the region has increased since the mid-1960s.

A plausible mechanism connecting the interdecadal variations of annual precipitation in the central plains region and slow timescale variations in the midlatitude and subtropical North Atlantic regions is briefly discussed.

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Lei Wang
,
Tandong Yao
,
Chenhao Chai
,
Lan Cuo
,
Fengge Su
,
Fan Zhang
,
Zhijun Yao
,
Yinsheng Zhang
,
Xiuping Li
,
Jia Qi
,
Zhidan Hu
,
Jingshi Liu
, and
Yuanwei Wang

Abstract

Monitoring changes in river runoff at the Third Pole (TP) is important because rivers in this region support millions of inhabitants in Asia and are very sensitive to climate change. Under the influence of climate change and intensified cryospheric melt, river runoff has changed markedly at the TP, with significant effects on the spatial and temporal water resource distribution that threaten water supply and food security for people living downstream. Despite some in situ observations and discharge estimates from state-of-the-art remote sensing technology, the total river runoff (TRR) for the TP has never been reliably quantified, and its response to climate change remains unclear. As part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ “Pan-Third Pole Environment Study for a Green Silk Road,” the TP-River project aims to construct a comprehensive runoff observation network at mountain outlets (where rivers leave the mountains and enter the plains) for 13 major rivers in the TP region, thereby enabling TRR to be accurately quantified. The project also integrates discharge estimates from remote sensing and cryosphere–hydrology modeling to investigate long-term changes in TRR and the relationship between the TRR variations and westerly/monsoon. Based on recent efforts, the project provides the first estimate (656 ± 23 billion m3) of annual TRR for the 13 TP rivers in 2018. The annual river runoff at the mountain outlets varies widely between the different TP rivers, ranging from 2 to 176 billion m3, with higher values mainly corresponding to rivers in the Indian monsoon domain, rather than in the westerly domain.

Open access
Xin Li
,
Guodong Cheng
,
Shaomin Liu
,
Qing Xiao
,
Mingguo Ma
,
Rui Jin
,
Tao Che
,
Qinhuo Liu
,
Weizhen Wang
,
Yuan Qi
,
Jianguang Wen
,
Hongyi Li
,
Gaofeng Zhu
,
Jianwen Guo
,
Youhua Ran
,
Shuoguo Wang
,
Zhongli Zhu
,
Jian Zhou
,
Xiaoli Hu
, and
Ziwei Xu

A major research plan entitled “Integrated research on the ecohydrological process of the Heihe River Basin” was launched by the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2010. One of the key aims of this research plan is to establish a research platform that integrates observation, data management, and model simulation to foster twenty-first-century watershed science in China. Based on the diverse needs of interdisciplinary studies within this research plan, a program called the Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER) was implemented. The overall objective of HiWATER is to improve the observability of hydrological and ecological processes, to build a world-class watershed observing system, and to enhance the applicability of remote sensing in integrated ecohydrological studies and water resource management at the basin scale. This paper introduces the background, scientific objectives, and experimental design of HiWATER. The instrumental setting and airborne mission plans are also outlined. The highlights are the use of a flux observing matrix and an eco-hydrological wireless sensor network to capture multiscale heterogeneities and to address complex problems, such as heterogeneity, scaling, uncertainty, and closing water cycle at the watershed scale. HiWATER was formally initialized in May 2012 and will last four years until 2015. Data will be made available to the scientific community via the Environmental and Ecological Science Data Center for West China. International scientists are welcome to participate in the field campaign and use the data in their analyses.

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