Quantifying Errors in Large Scale Water Balance

dc.contributor.advisorBrubaker, Dr. Kaye Len_US
dc.contributor.authorJoe, Sommeren_US
dc.contributor.departmentCivil Engineeringen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2005-02-02T06:53:31Z
dc.date.available2005-02-02T06:53:31Z
dc.date.issued2004-12-08en_US
dc.description.abstractAssessment and prediction of the effects of Arctic river flows on ocean circulation and climate are hindered by lack of knowledge about the terrestrial water balance. This study quantifies the components of the annual water budget (precipitation, streamflow, and evapotranspiration) and their uncertainty for a large Russian river basin. Over long periods, assuming negligible change in storage, inputs and outputs should balance. However, measurement limitations and errors lead to nonzero water balance closure (WBC). The variance of WBC, computed by summing the component variances, quantifies uncertainty in the water budget. The component terms and their uncertainty are calculated from independent observations and physically-based modeling. For the analysis period, the WBC is negative. The computed uncertainty is large, but not sufficient to conclude that WBC could be zero. Because current assessments do not completely account for the water budget, statements about the effects of climate change must be done cautiously.en_US
dc.format.extent2696509 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2146
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledEngineering, Civilen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledHydrologyen_US
dc.titleQuantifying Errors in Large Scale Water Balanceen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
umi-umd-2123.pdf
Size:
2.57 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format