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Streamflow sensitivity to water storage changes across Europe
Author(s) -
Berghuijs Wouter R.,
Hartmann Andreas,
Woods Ross A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl067927
Subject(s) - streamflow , hydrosphere , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , water storage , flow (mathematics) , sensitivity (control systems) , drainage basin , groundwater , climate change , climatology , geology , biosphere , oceanography , geography , geometry , cartography , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , electronic engineering , engineering , inlet , biology , ecology
Terrestrial water storage is the primary source of river flow. We introduce storage sensitivity of streamflow ( ϵ S ), which for a given flow rate indicates the relative change in streamflow per change in catchment water storage. ϵ S can be directly derived from streamflow observations. Analysis of 725 catchments in Europe reveals that ϵ S is high in, e.g., parts of Spain, England, Germany, and Denmark, whereas flow regimes in parts of the Alps are more resilient (that is, less sensitive) to storage changes. A regional comparison of ϵ S with observations indicates that ϵ S is significantly correlated with variability of low ( R 2 = 0.41), median ( R 2 = 0.27), and high flow conditions ( R 2 = 0.35). Streamflow sensitivity provides new guidance for a changing hydrosphere where groundwater abstraction and climatic changes are altering water storage and flow regimes.