Changes of Hydrological Components in Arctic Rivers Based on Multi-Source Data during 2003–2016

• Published in: Water
• Main Authors: Hao Wu, Min Xu, Mengyan Zhu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: hydrological components; hydrograph separation; hydrological cycles; time lag; Arctic river basins; Hydraulic engineering; TC1-978; Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes; TD201-500; Arctic; Mackenzie River; Global warming; lena river; Mackenzie river; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243494; https://doaj.org/article/d95b6c24ac954a31a382fe22ac66a703

The hydrological cycle of the Arctic river basin holds an important position in the Earth’s system, which has been significantly disturbed by global warming. This study analyzed recent changes in the hydrological components of two representative Arctic river basins in Siberia and North America, the Lena River Basin (LRB) and Mackenzie River Basin (MRB), respectively. The trends were diagnosed in hydrological components through a comparative analysis and estimations based on remote sensing and observational datasets during 2003–2016. The results showed that the annual precipitation decreased at rates of 1.9 mm/10a and 18.8 mm/10a in the MRB and LRB, respectively. In contrast, evapotranspiration (ET) showed increasing trends, with rates of 9.5 mm/10a and 6.3 mm/10a in the MRB and LRB, respectively. Terrestrial water storage (TWS) was obviously decreased, with rates of 30.3 mm/a and 18.9 mm/a in the MRB and LRB, respectively, which indicated that more freshwater was released. Contradictive trends of the runoffs were found in the two basins, which were increased in the LRB and decreased in the MRB, due to the contributions of the surface water and base flow. In addition, the mean annual cycles of precipitation, ET, TWS, runoff depth, surface flow and base flow behaved differently in both magnitudes and distributions in the LRB and MRB, the trends of which will likely continue with the pronounced warming climate. The current case studies can help to understand the recent changes in the Arctic hydro-climatology and the consequence of global warming in Arctic river basins.