Seasonal discharge response to temperature-driven changes in evaporation and snow processes in the Rhine Basin

Buitink, Joost; Melsen, Lieke A.; Teuling, Adriaan J.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-387-2021

Articles | Volume 12, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-387-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-387-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 2

Research article

|

08 Apr 2021

Research article |

| 08 Apr 2021

Seasonal discharge response to temperature-driven changes in evaporation and snow processes in the Rhine Basin

Joost Buitink, Lieke A. Melsen, and Adriaan J. Teuling

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-387-2021-supplement

Data sets

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1979 to present, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS) H. Hersbach, B. Bell, P. Berrisford, G. Biavati, A. Horányi, J. Muñoz Sabater, J. Nicolas, C. Peubey, R. Radu, I. Rozum, D. Schepers, A. Simmons, C. Soci, D. Dee, and J.-N. Thépaut https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

3D soil hydraulic database of Europe at 250 m resolution B. Tóth, M. Weynants, L. Pásztor, and T. Hengl https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11203

Model code and software

A distributed simple dynamical systems approach (dS2 v1.0) for computationally efficient hydrological modelling at high spatio-temporal resolution J. Buitink, L. A. Melsen, J. W. Kirchner, and A. J. Teuling https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-6093-2020

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Short summary

Higher temperatures influence both evaporation and snow processes. These two processes have a large effect on discharge but have distinct roles during different seasons. In this study, we study how higher temperatures affect the discharge via changed evaporation and snow dynamics. Higher temperatures lead to enhanced evaporation but increased melt from glaciers, overall lowering the discharge. During the snowmelt season, discharge was reduced further due to the earlier depletion of snow.