Impact of Irrigation over the California Central Valley on Regional Climate
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Dept Hydrol & Atmospher SciIssue Date
2017-05
Metadata
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AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOCCitation
Impact of Irrigation over the California Central Valley on Regional Climate 2017, 18 (5):1341 Journal of HydrometeorologyJournal
Journal of HydrometeorologyRights
© 2017 American Meteorological Society.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Irrigation, while being an important anthropogenic factor affecting the local to regional water cycle, is not typically represented in regional climate models. An irrigation scheme is incorporated into the Noah land surface scheme of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model that has a calibrated convective parameterization and a tracer package is used to tag and track water vapor. To assess the impact of irrigation over the California Central Valley (CCV) on the regional climate of the U.S. Southwest, simulations are run (for three dry and three wet years) both with and without the irrigation scheme. Incorporation of the irrigation scheme resulted in simulated surface air temperature and humidity that were closer to observations, decreased depth of the planetary boundary layer over the CCV, and increased convective available potential energy. The result was an overall increase in precipitation over the Sierra Nevada range and the Colorado River basin during the summer. Water vapor rising from the irrigated region mainly moved northeastward and contributed to precipitation in Nevada and Idaho. Specifically, the results indicate increased precipitation on the windward side of the Sierra Nevada and over the Colorado River basin. The former is possibly linked to a sea-breeze-type circulation near the CCV, while the latter is likely associated with a wave pattern related to latent heat release over the moisture transport belt.Note
6 Month Embargo; Published Online: 12 April 2017ISSN
1525-755X1525-7541
Version
Final published versionSponsors
USDA [1295GTA109]Additional Links
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/JHM-D-16-0158.1ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1175/JHM-D-16-0158.1