Streamflow sensitivity to water storage changes across Europe

Wouter R Berghuijs; Andreas J Hartmann; Ross Woods

doi:10.1002/2016GL067927

Streamflow sensitivity to water storage changes across Europe

Wouter R Berghuijs^*, Andreas J Hartmann, Ross Woods

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Terrestrial water storage is the primary source of river flow. We introduce storage sensitivity of streamflow (ϵ_S), which for a given flow rate indicates the relative change in streamflow per change in catchment water storage. ϵ_S can be directly derived from streamflow observations. Analysis of 725 catchments in Europe reveals that ϵ_S is high in e.g. parts of Spain, England, Germany and Denmark, whereas flow regimes in parts of the Alps are more resilient (that is, less sensitive) to storage changes. A regional comparison of ϵ_Swith observations indicates that ϵ_S is significantly correlated with variability of low (R² = 0.41), median (R² = 0.27), and high flow conditions (R² = 0.35). Streamflow sensitivity provides new guidance for a changing hydrosphere where groundwater abstraction and climatic changes are altering water storage and flow regimes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1980-1987
Number of pages	8
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	43
Issue number	5
Early online date	2 Mar 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL067927
Publication status	Published - 16 Mar 2016

Research Groups and Themes

Water and Environmental Engineering

Keywords

Aquifer
Catchment
Flow regime
Groundwater
Hydrology
Resilience

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10.1002/2016GL067927

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title = "Streamflow sensitivity to water storage changes across Europe",

abstract = "Terrestrial water storage is the primary source of river flow. We introduce storage sensitivity of streamflow (ϵS), which for a given flow rate indicates the relative change in streamflow per change in catchment water storage. ϵS can be directly derived from streamflow observations. Analysis of 725 catchments in Europe reveals that ϵS is high in e.g. parts of Spain, England, Germany and Denmark, whereas flow regimes in parts of the Alps are more resilient (that is, less sensitive) to storage changes. A regional comparison of ϵS with observations indicates that ϵS is significantly correlated with variability of low (R2 = 0.41), median (R2 = 0.27), and high flow conditions (R2 = 0.35). Streamflow sensitivity provides new guidance for a changing hydrosphere where groundwater abstraction and climatic changes are altering water storage and flow regimes. ",

keywords = "Aquifer, Catchment, Flow regime, Groundwater, Hydrology, Resilience",

author = "Berghuijs, {Wouter R} and Hartmann, {Andreas J} and Ross Woods",

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AU - Hartmann, Andreas J

AU - Woods, Ross

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KW - Aquifer

KW - Catchment

KW - Flow regime

KW - Groundwater

KW - Hydrology

KW - Resilience

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SP - 1980

EP - 1987

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

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ER -

Streamflow sensitivity to water storage changes across Europe

Abstract

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Dr Ross A Woods

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Streamflow sensitivity to water storage changes across Europe

Abstract

Research Groups and Themes

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

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Embargoed Document

Fingerprint

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Dr Ross A Woods

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