CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS ON SNOWMELT RUNOFF IN SHOGAWA RIVER BASIN

Author(s):  
Ryosuke ARAI ◽  
Yasushi TOYODA ◽  
Masamichi OHBA ◽  
Takahiro SATO ◽  
So KAZAMA
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Til Prasad Pangali Sharma ◽  
Jiahua Zhang ◽  
Narendra Raj Khanal ◽  
Foyez Ahmed Prodhan ◽  
Basanta Paudel ◽  
...  

The Himalayan region, a major source of fresh water, is recognized as a water tower of the world. Many perennial rivers originate from Nepal Himalaya, located in the central part of the Himalayan region. Snowmelt water is essential freshwater for living, whereas it poses flood disaster potential, which is a major challenge for sustainable development. Climate change also largely affects snowmelt hydrology. Therefore, river discharge measurement requires crucial attention in the face of climate change, particularly in the Himalayan region. The snowmelt runoff model (SRM) is a frequently used method to measure river discharge in snow-fed mountain river basins. This study attempts to investigate snowmelt contribution in the overall discharge of the Budhi Gandaki River Basin (BGRB) using satellite remote sensing data products through the application of the SRM model. The model outputs were validated based on station measured river discharge data. The results show that SRM performed well in the study basin with a coefficient of determination (R2) >0.880. Moreover, this study found that the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) snow cover data and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) meteorological datasets are highly applicable to the SRM in the Himalayan region. The study also shows that snow days have slightly decreased in the last three years, hence snowmelt contribution in overall discharge has decreased slightly in the study area. Finally, this study concludes that MOD10A2 and ECMWF precipitation and two-meter temperature products are highly applicable to measure snowmelt and associated discharge through SRM in the BGRB. Moreover, it also helps with proper freshwater planning, efficient use of winter water flow, and mitigating and preventive measures for the flood disaster.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 6473-6491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Pellicer-Martínez ◽  
José Miguel Martínez-Paz

Abstract. Currently, climate change is a major concern around the world, especially because of the uncertainty associated with its possible consequences for society. Among them, fluvial alterations can be highlighted in basins whose flows depend on groundwater discharges and snowmelt. This is the case of the headwaters of the Tagus River basin, whose water resources, besides being essential for water uses within this basin, are susceptible to being transferred to the Segura River basin (both basins are in the Iberian Peninsula). This work studies the possible effects that the latest climate change scenarios may have on this transfer, one of the most important ones in southern Europe. In the first place, the possible alterations of the water cycle of the donor basin were estimated. To do this, a hydrological model was calibrated. Then, with this model, three climatic scenarios were simulated, one without climate change and two projections under climate change (Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 (RCP 4.5) and 8.5 (RCP 8.5)). The results of these three hydrological modelling scenarios were used to determine the possible flows that could be transferred from the Tagus River basin to the Segura River basin, by simulating the water resource exploitation system of the Tagus headwaters. The calibrated hydrological model predicts, for the simulated climate change scenarios, important reductions in the snowfalls and snow covers, the recharge of aquifers, and the available water resources. So, the headwaters of the Tagus River basin would lose part of its natural capacity for regulation. These changes in the water cycle for the climate change scenarios used would imply a reduction of around 70 %–79 % in the possible flows that could be transferred to the Segura basin, with respect to a scenario without climate change. The loss of water resources for the Segura River basin would mean, if no alternative measures were taken, an economic loss of EUR 380–425 million per year, due principally to decreased agricultural production.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghanashyam Khanal

Background: Climate change is an emerging challenge that the global society will have to deal with over the coming decades. The task is particularly daunting to developing societies as they are considered more susceptible to climate change because of their exposures and sensitivities to climate-related extremes, and especially because of their restricted adaptive capabilities to deal with the effects of hazardous events. Objectives: This research attempts to seek evidence of adaptation undertaken as a result of climate change-induced impacts and analyze the factors affecting the capability and strategies of climate change adaptation by small scale farmers in Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cum correlational research design was employed in the study following a quantitative approach. Using a convenience sampling method, primary data for each variable was collected from 67 small scale farmers of Tinau River Basin located in the Western region of Nepal. 5-Point Likert Scale questions were prepared and pilot testing was conducted to collect the responses. Descriptive statistics, Kendall Rank Correlation and Cronbach’s Alpha (α) Test were used while analyzing the data and testing the hypotheses. The inferences were made at 5% and 1% level of significance. Results: The findings indicate that the small scale farmers in the Tinau River Basin are experiencing the varied level of changes in climate. It revealed the existence of some barring factors for adaptation, further, insisting that farmers are prone to suffer from capability losses due to climate change. Conclusion: The study concludes that small scale farmers are prone to suffer from capability losses due to climate change. Climate change effects are hampering their ability to cultivate the land, increasingly damaging their production, and causing lower yields of harvests. Implications:  This study suggests that such influencing factors should be taken into prime consideration (while developing additional intervention) to enhance farmers’ capabilities to better cope with climate change effects; thus improving their adaptation measures for maintaining a flourishing relationship with the changing climate.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Pellicer-Martínez ◽  
José Miguel Martínez-Paz

Abstract. Currently, climate change is a major concern around the world, especially because of the uncertainty associated with its possible consequences for society. Among these can be highlighted the fluvial alterations in basins whose flows depend on groundwater discharges and snow melt. This is the case of the headwaters of the Tagus River Basin, whose water resources, besides being essential for water uses within this basin, are susceptible to being transferred to the Segura River Basin (both basins are in the Iberian Peninsula). This work studies the possible effects that the latest climate change scenarios may have on this transfer, one of the most important in southern Europe. In the first place, the possible alterations of the water cycle of the donor basin were estimated. To do this, a hydrological model was calibrated. Then, with this model, three climatic scenarios were simulated, one without climate change and two projections under climate change (Representative Concentration Representative 4.5 (RCP 4.5) and RCP 8.5). The results of these three hydrological modelling scenarios were used to determine the possible flows that could be transferred from the Tagus River Basin to the Segura River Basin, by simulating the water resource exploitation system of the Tagus headwaters. These hydrological modelling predict, for the simulated climate change scenarios, important reductions in the snowfalls and snow covers, the recharge of aquifers and the available water resources. So, the headwaters of the Tagus River Basin would be the loss of part of its natural capacity for regulation. These changes in the water cycle for the climate change scenarios used would imply a reduction of around 80 % in the possible flows that could be transferred to the Segura Basin, with respect to a scenario without climate change. The loss of water resources for the Segura River Basin would mean, if no alternative measures were taken, an economic loss of 330–380 million euro per year, due principally to decreased agricultural production.


2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 1979-1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wang ◽  
H. Li ◽  
X. Hao

Abstract. The spatial and temporal variations of snowcover distribution, and snowmelt runoff are considered as sensitive indicators for climatic change. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and forecast the responses of snowmelt runoff to climate change in an inland river basin. The upper basin of Heihe River in Northwestern China was chose as the study area, and the observation data from the meteorological and hydrological stations were utilized to analyze the status and regularity of the climatic change over the past 50 years. Snow cover area was obtained by an optimized technology using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data with Normalized Difference Snow Index adjustment and topographic correction. A concept of potential snowmelt was suggested to illustrate the response of spatial snowmelt to climate change. The results show that the annual SCA proportion and the potential snowmelt keep an increasing trend since 2000. There is a negative relationship between annual air temperature and SCA proportion from 2000 to 2008. Snowmelt Runoff Model was chose to simulate snowmelt runoff and scenario forecast the change trend of snowmelt runoff in this region. The results show that climatic warming was apparent in the upper basin of Heihe River over the past 50 a. Annual average air temperature of three different weather stations located in the basin has increased 2.1 °C, 2.6 °C and 2.9 °C respectively from 1956 to present. The snowmelt runoff has increased obviously from 1970 to present. With different warming climate scenarios, the results by using SRM simulating showed that the first occurred time of snowmelt runoff shift ahead and discharge become larger as responses of snowmelt runoff to air temperature increasing, and the influence of temperature rising on average discharge of the whole snow season is not obvious.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 525-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Adnan ◽  
Ghulam Nabi ◽  
Shichang Kang ◽  
Guoshuai Zhang ◽  
Rana Muhammad Adnan ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Camila Billerbeck ◽  
Ligia Monteiro da Silva ◽  
Silvana Susko Marcellini ◽  
Arisvaldo Méllo Junior

Abstract Regional climate models (RCM) are the main tools for climate change impacts assessment in hydrological studies. These models, however, often show biases when compared to historical observations. Bias Correction (BC) are useful techniques to improve climate projection outputs. This study presents a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework to compare combinations of RCM with selected BC methods. The comparison was based on the modified Kling-Gupta efficiency (KGE’). The criteria evaluated the general capability of models in reproducing the observed data main statistics. Other criteria evaluated were the relevant aspects for hydrological studies, such as seasonality, dry and wet periods. We applied four BC methods in four RCM monthly rainfall outputs from 1961 to 2005 in the Piracicaba river basin. The Linear Scaling (LS) method showed higher improvements in the general performance of the models. The RCM Eta-HadGEM2-ES, corrected with Standardized Reconstruction (SdRc) method, achieved the best results when compared to the observed precipitation. The bias corrected projected monthly precipitation (2006-2098) preserved the main signal of climate change effects when compared to the original outputs regarding annual rainfall. However, SdRc produced significant decrease in monthly average rainfall, higher than 45% for July, August and September for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios.


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