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Observed Trends in Global Indicators of Mean and Extreme Streamflow
Author(s) -
Gudmundsson L.,
Leonard M.,
Do H. X.,
Westra S.,
Seneviratne S. I.
Publication year - 2019
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 - 10.1029/2018gl079725
Subject(s) - streamflow , context (archaeology) , climate change , environmental science , percentile , climatology , mediterranean climate , geography , geology , drainage basin , statistics , mathematics , cartography , oceanography , archaeology
This study investigates global changes in indicators of mean and extreme streamflow. The assessment is based on the Global Streamflow Indices and Metadata archive and focuses on time series of the annual minimum, the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles, the annual mean, and the annual maximum of daily streamflow. Trends are estimated using the Sen‐Theil slope, and the significance of mean regional trends is established through bootstrapping. Changes in the indices are often regionally consistent, showing that the entire flow distribution is moving either upward or downward. In addition, the analysis confirms the complex nature of hydrological change where drying in some regions (e.g., in the Mediterranean) is contrasted by wetting in other regions (e.g., North Asia). Observed changes are discussed in the context of previous results and with respect to model estimates of the impacts of anthropogenic climate change and human water management.