Precipitationshed Explained

In meteorology, a precipitationshed is the upwind ocean and land surface that contributes evaporation to a given, downwind location's precipitation. The concept has been described as an "atmospheric watershed".^[1] The concept itself rests on a broad foundation of scholarly work examining the evaporative sources of rainfall.^{[2] [3] [4]} Since its formal definition, the precipitationshed has become an element in water security studies,^[5] examinations of sustainability,^[6] and mentioned as a potentially useful tool for examining vulnerability of rainfall dependent ecosystems.^[7]

Concept

In an effort to conceptualize the recycling of evaporation from a specific location to the spatially explicit region that receives this moisture, the precipitationshed concept was expanded to the evaporationshed. This expanded concept has been highlighted as particularly useful for providing a spatially explicit region for examining the impacts of significant land-use change, such as deforestation, irrigation, or agricultural intensification.^{[8] [9]}

See also

• Water cycle
• Moisture recycling
• Line Gordon

External links

• Stockholm Resilience Centre Whiteboard talk series
• CABI: Precipitationsheds - a new concept for water science
• Water Resilience for Human Prosperity

Notes and References

1. P. W. Keys. etal. Analyzing precipitationsheds to understand the vulnerability of rainfall dependent regions. Biogeosciences. 9. 2. 733–746. 2012. 10.5194/bg-9-733-2012. 2012BGeo....9..733K. free.
2. R. Koster. etal. Global sources of local precipitation as determined by the Nasa/Giss GCM. Geophysical Research Letters. 13. 2. 121–124. February 1986. 10.1029/GL013i002p00121. 1986GeoRL..13..121K.
3. E.A.B. Eltahir . R.L. Bras . Precipitation recycling in the Amazon basin. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 120. 518. 861–880. July 1994. Part A. 10.1256/smsqj.51805.
4. P.A. Dirmeyer . K.L. Brubaker . Contrasting evaporative moisture sources during the drought of 1988 and the flood of 1993. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres . 104. D16. 19383–19397. 27 August 1999. 10.1029/1999JD900222. 1999JGR...10419383D. free.
5. H. Wheater . P. Gober . Water security in the Canadian Prairies: science and management challenges. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. 13 November 2013. 371. 2002 20120409. 10.1098/rsta.2012.0409. 24080618. 20120409. 2013RSPTA.37120409W. free.
6. Book: Water Resilience for Human Prosperity. J.Rockström. etal. 2014. 978-1-107-02419-9. Cambridge University Press.
7. R.Mahmood. etal. Land cover changes and their biogeophysical effects on climate. International Journal of Climatology. 34. 4. 929–953. March 2014. 10.1002/joc.3736. 2014IJCli..34..929M. 3725248 .
8. R.J. van der Ent . etal. Oceanic sources of continental precipitation and the correlation with sea surface temperature. Water Resources Research. 49. 7. 3993–4004. 2013. 10.1002/wrcr.20296. 2013WRR....49.3993E. 281166 .
9. Duerinck. H. M.. van der Ent. R. J.. van de Giesen. N. C.. Schoups. G.. Babovic. V.. Yeh. Pat J.-F.. 2016-02-17. Observed Soil Moisture–Precipitation Feedback in Illinois: A Systematic Analysis over Different Scales. Journal of Hydrometeorology. 17. 6. 1645–1660. 10.1175/JHM-D-15-0032.1. 1525-755X. 2016JHyMe..17.1645D. 1874/335947. 127710976 . free.