Inter-decadal Variability of the East Asian Summer Monsoon and Its Impact on Hydrologic Variables in the Haihe River Basin, China

Wavelet analysis and Mann-Kendall tests are employed to evaluate the variation in the East Asian summer monsoon（EASM） and hydrological variables in the Haihe River basin calculated by the Variable Infiltration Capacity model. The relationships between those variables and the EASM are also examined. The results indicate consistent 40 a periodic variation in both the hydrological variables and the EASM. The hydrologic variables show downward trends in the Haihe River basin over the past 60 years, especially in piedmont regions of the Taihang-Yan Mountains. The variables are closely related to the EASM, whose continuous weakening since the 1970 s has resulted in prolonged drought and severe water shortages in the basin. The periodicity of the EASM index was analyzed using continuous wavelet transform methods. We found the most significant periodic signal of the EASM is ~80 years; therefore, the EASM may reinforce and reach a maximum in the 2040 s, resulting in more precipitation and other impacts on basin water resources. Hydrologic variables in the basin in the 2040 s are predicted, and their spatial distributions in the Haihe River basin are also discussed. These results allow for the estimation of water resources under forecasted EASM, which will be useful for water resources management in the Haihe River basin.

Climate change and groundwater resources in Thailand

The average temperature of Thailand is projected to increase by 2-3 °C, and the annual rainfall is projected to increase by 25% and up to 50% in certain areas. The climate change in future is expected to provide changes in hydrological cycle and therefore impacts the groundwater resources too. In this study, we analyzed the general climate change trends and reviewed the groundwater conditions of Thailand. The climate changes, hydrologic variability and the impact of climate change on groundwater sustainability are also discussed based on a national groundwater monitoring program. Currently, there are 864 groundwater monitoring stations and 1 524 monitoring wells installed in Thailand. Moreover, the impact of climate change on groundwater-dependent systems and sectors is also discussed according to certain case studies, such as saline water intrusion in coastal and inland areas. Managing aquifer recharge and other projects are examples of groundwater adaptation project for the future.

Tree-ring reconstruction of streamflow for Palgong Mountain forested watershed in southeastern South Korea

Tree-ring chronologies from pine,oak and black locust tree species were used to reconstruct annual streamflow and examine hydrological drought years for Palgong Mountain forested watershed in southeastern South Korea for the period from 1954-2015. The backward elimination multiple regression analysis provided the statistically significant predictor chronologies of streamflow. The final calibration and verification test models accounted for 84.8% and 81.6%,respectively,of the variability in streamflow observed in the gage data. Further verification of the validity of the reconstructed model was undertaken with the Pearson Correlation Coefficient,the Reduction of Error Test,and the Durbin-Watson Statistics and indicated fidelity of the model for reconstructing the annual streamflow. Analyses of the reconstructed annual streamflow indicate that the most persistent years of high flows above the median annual discharge occurred from 1986-2008.This period included 7 single or multiple years of highest flow above the 90 th percentile discharge and multiple years of high flows with a time interval of 2-6 years,although with intervening multiple years of low flows below the 10 th and 50 th percentile. In comparison,the most persistent years of low flows below the median annual discharge occurred from 1954-1985 and 2009-2015. This period included 8 single or multiple years of lowest flow below the 10 th percentiledischarge and multiple years of low flows with a time interval of 2-9 years,although also with intervening multiple years of high flows above the 50 th percentile. No single years of extreme hydrological droughts below the 10 th percentile were identified from 1986-2015 whereas a greater proportion of high flows above the 90 th percentile occurred during this period. The persistent single or multiple years of lowest flows between 1954 and 1985 were the recent most critical hydrological drought years identified in the Palgong Mountain forested watershed providing supportive evidence of the severity of past hydrological droughts during that period,applicable to the southeastern South Korea where the study watershed is located. This interpretation agrees with the hydrological drought event years identified from 1951 to the early 1980 s in a related national study that used precipitation proxy data to reconstruct past occurrences of droughts in Korea.