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Climatic impacts of the Middle Route of the South‐to‐North Water Transfer Project over the Haihe River basin in North China simulated by a regional climate model
Author(s) -
Zou Jing,
Zhan Chesheng,
Xie Zhenghui,
Qin Peihua,
Jiang Shanshan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2016jd024997
Subject(s) - environmental science , groundwater , hydrology (agriculture) , structural basin , precipitation , water transfer , surface water , drainage basin , china , climate change , water resources , climatology , water resource management , geology , geography , environmental engineering , meteorology , paleontology , oceanography , geotechnical engineering , cartography , archaeology , ecology , biology
The Middle Route of the South‐to‐North Water Transfer Project (MSWTP) was constructed to ease the water crisis over the North China Plain. In this study, we incorporated a water transfer scheme into the regional climate model RegCM4 and investigated the climatic impacts of the MSWTP over the Haihe River Basin in North China. Four 10 year simulation tests were conducted from 2001 to 2010 where different volumes of water were transferred. The results demonstrated that before the MSWTP was conducted the original groundwater exploitation and consumption over the Haihe River Basin led to wetting and cooling at the land surface with rapidly falling groundwater depth. The extra water input from the MSWTP slightly enhanced the wetting and cooling effects over the basin, as well as reduced the falling rate in the groundwater depth along the conveyance line. However, the weak climatic effects of the MSWTP were limited at a local scale and had no obvious interannual trends, because the transfer volume of the MSWTP was far lower than the total demand which has been conventionally satisfied through local water exploitation. In terms of seasonal variations, the greatest changes due to the MSWTP occurred in the summer for precipitation and soil moisture and in the spring for energy‐related variables (heat fluxes and 2 m air temperature).