Multi-decadal river flow variations in France
International audience In this article, multi-decadal variations in the French hydroclimate are investigated, with a specific focus on river flows. Based on long observed series, it is shown that river flows in France generally exhibit large multi-decadal variations in the instrumental period (defin...
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ftsorbonneuniv:oai:HAL:hal-04110434v1 2023-06-18T03:42:08+02:00 Multi-decadal river flow variations in France Boé, J. Habets, F. Milieux Environnementaux, Transferts et Interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les Sols (METIS) Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2014 https://hal.science/hal-04110434 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013 en eng HAL CCSD info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013 hal-04110434 https://hal.science/hal-04110434 BIBCODE: 2014HESS.18.691B doi:10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013 Hydrology and Earth System Sciences https://hal.science/hal-04110434 Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2014, 18, pp.691-708. ⟨10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013⟩ Earth Science [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2014 ftsorbonneuniv https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013 2023-06-06T22:49:49Z International audience In this article, multi-decadal variations in the French hydroclimate are investigated, with a specific focus on river flows. Based on long observed series, it is shown that river flows in France generally exhibit large multi-decadal variations in the instrumental period (defined in this study as the period from the late 19th century to the present), especially in spring. Differences of means between 21 yr periods of the 20th century as large as 40% are indeed found for many gauging stations. Multi-decadal spring river flow variations are associated with variations in spring precipitation and temperature. These multi-decadal variations in precipitation are themselves found to be driven by large-scale atmospheric circulation, more precisely by a multi-decadal oscillation in a sea level pressure dipole between western Europe and the eastern Atlantic. It is suggested that the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability, the main mode of multi-decadal variability in the North Atlantic-Europe sector, controls those variations in large-scale circulation and is therefore the main ultimate driver of multi-decadal variations in spring river flows. Potential multi-decadal variations in river flows in other seasons, and in particular summer, are also noted. As they are not associated with significant surface climate anomalies (i.e. temperature, precipitation) in summer, other mechanisms are investigated based on hydrological simulations. The impact of climate variations in spring on summer soil moisture, and the impact of soil moisture in summer on the runoff-to-precipitation ratio, could potentially play a role in multi-decadal summer river flow variations. The large amplitude of the multi-decadal variations in French river flows suggests that internal variability may play a very important role in the evolution of river flows during the next decades, potentially temporarily limiting, reversing or seriously aggravating the long-term impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic HAL Sorbonne Université Spring River ENVELOPE(-138.627,-138.627,69.281,69.281) French River ENVELOPE(-129.220,-129.220,59.583,59.583) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL Sorbonne Université |
op_collection_id |
ftsorbonneuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Science [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
spellingShingle |
Earth Science [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] Boé, J. Habets, F. Multi-decadal river flow variations in France |
topic_facet |
Earth Science [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
description |
International audience In this article, multi-decadal variations in the French hydroclimate are investigated, with a specific focus on river flows. Based on long observed series, it is shown that river flows in France generally exhibit large multi-decadal variations in the instrumental period (defined in this study as the period from the late 19th century to the present), especially in spring. Differences of means between 21 yr periods of the 20th century as large as 40% are indeed found for many gauging stations. Multi-decadal spring river flow variations are associated with variations in spring precipitation and temperature. These multi-decadal variations in precipitation are themselves found to be driven by large-scale atmospheric circulation, more precisely by a multi-decadal oscillation in a sea level pressure dipole between western Europe and the eastern Atlantic. It is suggested that the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability, the main mode of multi-decadal variability in the North Atlantic-Europe sector, controls those variations in large-scale circulation and is therefore the main ultimate driver of multi-decadal variations in spring river flows. Potential multi-decadal variations in river flows in other seasons, and in particular summer, are also noted. As they are not associated with significant surface climate anomalies (i.e. temperature, precipitation) in summer, other mechanisms are investigated based on hydrological simulations. The impact of climate variations in spring on summer soil moisture, and the impact of soil moisture in summer on the runoff-to-precipitation ratio, could potentially play a role in multi-decadal summer river flow variations. The large amplitude of the multi-decadal variations in French river flows suggests that internal variability may play a very important role in the evolution of river flows during the next decades, potentially temporarily limiting, reversing or seriously aggravating the long-term impacts of anthropogenic climate change. |
author2 |
Milieux Environnementaux, Transferts et Interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les Sols (METIS) Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boé, J. Habets, F. |
author_facet |
Boé, J. Habets, F. |
author_sort |
Boé, J. |
title |
Multi-decadal river flow variations in France |
title_short |
Multi-decadal river flow variations in France |
title_full |
Multi-decadal river flow variations in France |
title_fullStr |
Multi-decadal river flow variations in France |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multi-decadal river flow variations in France |
title_sort |
multi-decadal river flow variations in france |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-04110434 https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-138.627,-138.627,69.281,69.281) ENVELOPE(-129.220,-129.220,59.583,59.583) |
geographic |
Spring River French River |
geographic_facet |
Spring River French River |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences https://hal.science/hal-04110434 Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2014, 18, pp.691-708. ⟨10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013 hal-04110434 https://hal.science/hal-04110434 BIBCODE: 2014HESS.18.691B doi:10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-691-201410.5194/hessd-10-11861-2013 |
_version_ |
1769007968007749632 |