Dr Lei Gu

Abstract:

Climate change impacts on hydrological processes can affect reservoir operational performance. Hence, the reservoir operation model, based on historical climate conditions, may not guarantee sustainable water resources management in the future. To enable stakeholders to design reliable adaptation strategies, this study aims to propose a cascading framework to quantify the impacts of climate change on the operational performance and sustainability of a multipurpose reservoir. The Danjiangkou Reservoir (DJKR), which serves as the water source for the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China, was selected as a case study. To achieve the aforementioned aims, bias-corrected simulations from 13 global climate models (GCMs) were first input into five hydrological models [i.e., one data-driven [deep belief network (DBN)], three conceptual [SIMHYD, HBV, and Xin'anjiang (XAJ)], and one physically-based [variable infiltration capacity (VIC)]. The simulated reservoir inflows were then fed into a 10-day reservoir simulation model where DJKR operation followed the designed operating rules to evaluate reservoir operational performance. Finally, a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model was proposed to assess reservoir sustainability under both historical (1976-2005) and future (2021-2050) climate conditions. The results show that the combination of the GCM ensembles and the SIMHYD, HBV, XAJ, and VIC models exhibit similar growth patterns in the reservoir inflow and operational benefits for the future period. However, the DBN model produces consistent decreases in most cases, which may be attributed to its inability to generate accurate estimates of extreme events. The results indicate that hydrological models may be extensively utilized in decision making with greater confidence, and the data-driven model should be interpreted with caution when used in hydrological climate change impact studies. The efficiency metrics suggest that decision makers should focus more on increasing operational benefits, which can subsequently enhance reservoir sustainability. Overall, the framework proposed in this study provides a foundation for evaluating the reservoir sustainability and adaptability to climate change from water managers' perspective.

Abstract:

By utilizing Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) terrestrial water storage anomaly (TWSA) and remote sensing precipitation data, Flood Potential Index (FPI) has been widely used in large-scale flood monitoring. However, divergent post-processing dynamics of different GRACE solutions result in substantial uncertainties in GRACE TWSA and thus affecting predictive skills of FPI. To overcome this, this study develops an Integrated Flood Potential Index (IFPI) by linking the FPI derived from six GRACE products. The Gaussian copula is employed to establish the joint distribution of FPI from six spherical harmonic (SH) products and mass concentration blocks solutions. One of the most flood-prone regions, Yangtze River basin in China, is selected as a case study. We have identified and characterized the floods with different intensities using IFPI, which is evaluated against standardized discharge observations as well as the Total Storage Deficit Index (TSDI), Water Storage Deficit Index (WSDI) and Combined Climatologic Deviation Index (CCDI). Results show that the area under curve (AUC) values of IFPI for different levels of floods are generally greater than FPIs and their ensemble mean, implying the better predictive skill for the large-scale flood events. During the three severest floods in 2010, 2015, and 2016, IFPI captures the flood variability exhibited by TSDI, WSDI, and CCDI, as well as hydrological observations. This proposed approach might provide reference for flood monitoring and from multi-mission satellite data.

Abstract:

Atmospheric moisture holding capacity increases with temperature by about 7% per °C according to the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship. Thermodynamically then, precipitation intensity should exponentially intensify and thus worsen flood conditions as the climate warms. However, regional and global analyses often report a nonmonotonic (hook) scaling of precipitation and runoff, in which extremes strengthen with rising temperature up to a maximum or peak point (Tpp) and decline thereafter. The underlying cause of this hook structure is not yet well-understood, and whether it may shift and/or regulate storm runoff extremes under anthropogenic climate warming remains unknown. Here, we examine temperature scaling of precipitation and storm runoff extremes under different climate conditions using observations and large ensemble hydroclimatic simulations over mainland China. In situ observations suggest a spatially homogeneous, negative response of relative humidity to warming climates over 34.6% of the land area, and the remaining hook-dominated regions usually show a colder Tpp than that of precipitation or storm runoff extremes. The precipitation and streamflow series over mainland China's catchments throughout the 21st century are projected by a model cascade chain under a high-end emission scenario (RCP 8.5), which involves 31 CMIP5 climate models, 11 CMIP6 climate members, a daily bias correction method, and four lumped conceptual hydrological models. The CMIP5 ensemble projects that the hook structures shift toward warmer temperature bins, resulting in 10%–30% increases in storm runoff extremes over mainland China, while the CMIP6 ensemble projects more severe flood conditions in future warming climates.

Abstract:

The Clausius-Clapeyron relationship holds that the atmospheric water vapor content enhances with warming temperatures, suggesting intensifications of precipitable water and also altering runoff generation. Drought conditions are determined by variations in water fluxes such as precipitation and runoff, which tightly connect with temperature scaling characteristics. However, whether and how water fluxes' scaling with temperatures may affect the evolution of droughts under climate change has not yet been systematically investigated. This study develops a cascade modeling chain consisting of the climate model ensemble, bias correction technique, and hydrological models to investigate the precipitation and runoff scaling relationships with warming temperatures under the current (1961–2005) and future periods (2011–2055 and 2056–2100), as well as their implications on future drought changes across 151 catchments in China. The results show that (1) precipitation (runoff) scaling relationships with temperatures are stable during different time periods; (2) return level analysis indicates drought risks are projected to become (1–10 times) more severe across central and southern catchments, where the precipitation (runoff) strengthens with rising temperatures up to a peak point and then decline in a hotter environment. The northeastern and western catchments, where a monotonic increasing scaling type dominated, are accompanied by drought mitigations for two future periods; (3) future changes in hydrological droughts relative to the baseline are (1–5 times) larger than those in meteorological droughts. These results imply that changes in future drought risks are highly dependent on the present precipitation (runoff)-temperature relationships, suggesting a meaningful implication of scaling types for future drought prediction.

Abstract:

The assessment of climate change impacts is usually done by calculating the change in drought conditions between future and historical periods by using multiple climate model simulations. However, this approach usually focuses on anthropogenic climate changes (ACCs) while ignoring the internal climate variability (ICV) caused by the chaotic nature of the climate system. Recent studies have shown that ICV plays an important role in the projected future climate change. To evaluate that role, this study quantifies the contribution of ICV to climate change impacts on regional droughts by using the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the fraction of standard deviation (FOSD) as metrics for China. The internal climate variability or noise (i.e. ICV) is estimated as the inter-member variability of two climate models' large-member ensembles; the signal (i.e. ACC) and the climate model uncertainty (or inter-model uncertainty, IMU) are estimated as the ensemble mean and inter-model variability of 29 global climate models, respectively. The drought conditions are characterized by drought frequency, duration and severity, which are quantified by using the theory of run based on the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). The results show that deteriorated drought conditions induced by ACCs are projected to occur over China. From the perspective of the SNR, the ICV impacts are less significant compared to the ACC impacts for drought metrics. Remarkable spatial variations of SNRs for future drought metrics are found, with values varying from 0.001 to exceeding 10. In terms of the FOSD, ICV contributions relative to the IMU are large, as FOSDs are >1 for around 22% grids. These results imply the significance of taking into account the impacts of ICV in drought assessment, any study ignores the influence of ICV may be biased.