The effects of possible future climate change on evaporation losses from four contrasting UK water catchment areas
✍ Scribed by Gareth Roberts
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 161 KB
- Volume
- 12
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6087
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Evaporation losses from four water catchment areas under dierent land uses and climatic conditions were calculated using formulations developed from small plot studies. These formulations, dependent on rainfall inputs, potential evaporation and air temperature, were extrapolated to the catchment scale using land classi®cations based on analysing remotely sensed imagery. The approach adopted was veri®ed by comparing the estimated annual evaporation losses with catchment water use, given by the dierence between rainfall inputs and stream ¯ow outputs, allowing for changes in soil moisture.
This procedure was repeated using modi®ed values of rainfall, potential evaporation and air temperature, as given by a climate change scenario. The computed evaporation losses were used in annual water balances to calculate stream ¯ow losses under the climate change scenario. It was found that, in general, stream ¯ow from areas receiving high rainfall would increase as a result of climate change. For low rainfall areas, a decrease in stream ¯ow was predicted. The largest actual changes in stream ¯ow were predicted to occur during the winter months, although the largest percentage changes will occur during the summer months. The implications of these changes on potable water supply are discussed.