Alternating Climate Drivers Affect Altamaha River, Georgia Streamflow
Proceedings of the 2013 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 10-11, 2013, Athens, Georgia. Variability in freshwater delivery (precipitation and streamflow) to the Altamaha River estuary (GA, USA) was examined in relation to indices for several climate signals: the Bermuda High Index (BHI), the...
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ftgeorgiatech:oai:repository.gatech.edu:1853/48524 2024-06-02T08:11:43+00:00 Alternating Climate Drivers Affect Altamaha River, Georgia Streamflow Sheldon, Joan E. Burd, Adrian B. University of Georgia. Dept. of Marine Sciences 2013-04 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1853/48524 en_US eng Georgia Institute of Technology GWRI2013. Climate, Floods, & Droughts http://hdl.handle.net/1853/48524 Water resources management Altamaha River Freshwater delivery Estuarine ecosystem health Storm tracking Precipitation patterns Text Proceedings 2013 ftgeorgiatech 2024-05-06T11:54:43Z Proceedings of the 2013 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 10-11, 2013, Athens, Georgia. Variability in freshwater delivery (precipitation and streamflow) to the Altamaha River estuary (GA, USA) was examined in relation to indices for several climate signals: the Bermuda High Index (BHI), the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), the Niño4 index for El Niño Modoki, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Freshwater delivery is an important factor determining estuarine character and health, and streamflow to this estuary has been linked to key ecosystem properties (e.g., salinity regime, water residence time, nutrient inputs, and marsh processes), so understanding how climate patterns affect precipitation and river discharge will help elucidate how the estuarine ecosystem may respond to climate changes. Precipitation patterns in the Altamaha River watershed were described using empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of the combined multi-decadal time series of precipitation at 14 stations. The first EOF mode (67% of the variance) was spatially uniform with monthly temporal variability. The second mode (11%) showed a spatial gradient along the long axis of the watershed (NW-SE) whereas the third mode (6%) showed a NE-SW pattern. We compared these EOFs, monthly standardized anomalies of Altamaha River discharge at the Doctortown, GA gauge (closest to the estuary), and the climate indices. Complex, seasonally alternating patterns emerged. The BHI was correlated with June-January discharge and precipitation EOF 1. The SOI was correlated with January-April discharge and precipitation EOF 2, and also weakly correlated with EOF 1 in November-December. The Niño4 index correlations resembled those of the SOI with some exceptions. The AMO was correlated with river discharge and precipitation EOF 3 mainly in December-February and June. There were no consistent relationships between two NAO indices and river discharge or precipitation. The occurrence of tropical storms in ... Conference Object North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Georgia Institute of Technology: SMARTech - Scholarly Materials and Research at Georgia Tech Soi ENVELOPE(30.704,30.704,66.481,66.481) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Georgia Institute of Technology: SMARTech - Scholarly Materials and Research at Georgia Tech |
op_collection_id |
ftgeorgiatech |
language |
English |
topic |
Water resources management Altamaha River Freshwater delivery Estuarine ecosystem health Storm tracking Precipitation patterns |
spellingShingle |
Water resources management Altamaha River Freshwater delivery Estuarine ecosystem health Storm tracking Precipitation patterns Sheldon, Joan E. Burd, Adrian B. Alternating Climate Drivers Affect Altamaha River, Georgia Streamflow |
topic_facet |
Water resources management Altamaha River Freshwater delivery Estuarine ecosystem health Storm tracking Precipitation patterns |
description |
Proceedings of the 2013 Georgia Water Resources Conference, April 10-11, 2013, Athens, Georgia. Variability in freshwater delivery (precipitation and streamflow) to the Altamaha River estuary (GA, USA) was examined in relation to indices for several climate signals: the Bermuda High Index (BHI), the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), the Niño4 index for El Niño Modoki, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Freshwater delivery is an important factor determining estuarine character and health, and streamflow to this estuary has been linked to key ecosystem properties (e.g., salinity regime, water residence time, nutrient inputs, and marsh processes), so understanding how climate patterns affect precipitation and river discharge will help elucidate how the estuarine ecosystem may respond to climate changes. Precipitation patterns in the Altamaha River watershed were described using empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of the combined multi-decadal time series of precipitation at 14 stations. The first EOF mode (67% of the variance) was spatially uniform with monthly temporal variability. The second mode (11%) showed a spatial gradient along the long axis of the watershed (NW-SE) whereas the third mode (6%) showed a NE-SW pattern. We compared these EOFs, monthly standardized anomalies of Altamaha River discharge at the Doctortown, GA gauge (closest to the estuary), and the climate indices. Complex, seasonally alternating patterns emerged. The BHI was correlated with June-January discharge and precipitation EOF 1. The SOI was correlated with January-April discharge and precipitation EOF 2, and also weakly correlated with EOF 1 in November-December. The Niño4 index correlations resembled those of the SOI with some exceptions. The AMO was correlated with river discharge and precipitation EOF 3 mainly in December-February and June. There were no consistent relationships between two NAO indices and river discharge or precipitation. The occurrence of tropical storms in ... |
author2 |
University of Georgia. Dept. of Marine Sciences |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Sheldon, Joan E. Burd, Adrian B. |
author_facet |
Sheldon, Joan E. Burd, Adrian B. |
author_sort |
Sheldon, Joan E. |
title |
Alternating Climate Drivers Affect Altamaha River, Georgia Streamflow |
title_short |
Alternating Climate Drivers Affect Altamaha River, Georgia Streamflow |
title_full |
Alternating Climate Drivers Affect Altamaha River, Georgia Streamflow |
title_fullStr |
Alternating Climate Drivers Affect Altamaha River, Georgia Streamflow |
title_full_unstemmed |
Alternating Climate Drivers Affect Altamaha River, Georgia Streamflow |
title_sort |
alternating climate drivers affect altamaha river, georgia streamflow |
publisher |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1853/48524 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(30.704,30.704,66.481,66.481) |
geographic |
Soi |
geographic_facet |
Soi |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_relation |
GWRI2013. Climate, Floods, & Droughts http://hdl.handle.net/1853/48524 |
_version_ |
1800757963765317632 |