scholarly journals Investigation of Springtime Cloud Influence on Regional Climate and its Implication in Runoff Decline in Upper Colorado River Basin

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Lin ◽  
Yoshihide Takano ◽  
Yu Gu ◽  
Jingyu Wang ◽  
Bin Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Upper Colorado River Basin

Assessing the Performance of Multiple Regional Climate Model Simulations for Seasonal Mountain Snow in the Upper Colorado River Basin

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Salzmann ◽  
Linda O. Mearns
Keyword(s):  
Regional Climate Model ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
River Basin ◽  
North American ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Upper Colorado River Basin

Abstract This study assesses the performance of the regional climate model (RCM) simulations from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) for the Upper Colorado River basin (UCRB), U.S. Rocky Mountains. The UCRB is a major contributor to the Colorado River’s runoff. Its significant snow-dominated hydrological regime makes it highly sensitive to climatic changes, and future water shortage in this region is likely. The RCMs are evaluated with a clear RCM output user’s perspective and a main focus on snow. Snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow duration, as well as air temperature and precipitation from five RCMs, are compared with snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL) observations, with National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Reanalysis II (R2), which provides the boundary conditions for the RCM simulations, and with North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR). Overall, most RCMs were able to significantly improve on the results from the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis. However, in comparison with spatially aggregated point observations and NARR, the RCMs are generally too dry, too warm, simulate too little SWE, and have a too-short snow cover duration with a too-late start and a too-early end of a significant snow cover. The intermodel biases found are partly associated with inadequately resolved topography (at the spatial resolution of the RCMs), imperfect observational data, different forcing techniques (spectral nudging versus no nudging), and the different land surface schemes (LSS). Attributing the found biases to specific features of the RCMs remains difficult or even impossible without detailed knowledge of the physical and technical specification of the models.

scholarly journals Upper Colorado River Basin 20th century droughts under 21st century warming: Plausible scenarios for the future

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 100206
Author(s):  
Connie A. Woodhouse ◽  
Rebecca M. Smith ◽  
Stephanie A. McAfee ◽  
Gregory T. Pederson ◽  
Gregory J. McCabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
River Basin ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Upper Colorado River Basin ◽  
The Future

scholarly journals Evaluating the Conservation Potential of Tributaries for Native Fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Fisheries ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 194-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian G. Laub ◽  
Gary P. Thiede ◽  
William W. Macfarlane ◽  
Phaedra Budy
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Upper Colorado River Basin ◽  
Native Fishes
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