Variation trends of meteorological variables and their impacts on potential evaporation in Hailar region

Evaporation, which is an important factor in the water balance at the basin scale, is a critical variable in the determination of local available water resources. Since the potential evaporation is mainly influenced by meteorological variables, it is necessary to investigate the extent to which different meteorological variables affect the potential evaporation. The aim of this study was to explore the variation trends of different meteorological variables, and their impacts on the potential evaporation. This study selected the Hailar Meteorological Station of the Hailar region, which is situated in a cold, semi-arid, and sub-humid region, as a case study site. Based on observed daily meteorological data from 1951 to 2009, the potential evaporation was calculated with the Penman formula, and the variations of meteorological variables were investigated with the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test. The correlation between the potential evaporation and each meteorological variable at annual and seasonal scales was also analyzed. The results show that the annual and seasonal potential evaporation and air temperature present increasing trends, whereas the wind speed, sunshine duration, and relative humidity present decreasing trends. Among the meteorological variables, the air temperature and relative humidity are the key factors that affect potential evaporation at different time scales, and the impacts of other meteorological variables on the potential evaporation are not significant and vary with time scales.

CHARACTERISTICS OF EVOLUTION OF POTENTIAL EVAPORATION IN TIANJIN REGION OF CHINA

The characteristics of seasonal and annual changes of potential evaporation,the variations of thermal and dynamical evaporation in different seasons and the relationshipsbetween potential evaporation and meteorological elements were analyzed according to the observeddata of 9 stations from 1961 to 2001 in the Tianjin region of China. Analyses indicate that thermalevaporation is the main part of the potential evaporation and offers about 90% fraction of to it insummer, while in winter the dynamical evaporation is greater than the thermal one, especially inJan. , offering 100% contribution, that the influence of temperature on the change of potentialevaporation was much larger than that of wind, vapor pressure and sunshine duration, and potentialevaporation increased by 30. 33mm with temperature raise 1℃, and that potential evaporation had asurprising increasing tendency, in particular during the recent decade, with the velocity of 4.22mm/a. The potential evaporation in the Tianjin region will be higher than the past, especially onthe global warming background, so that it has the great effects not only on the climatic forcingchanges, but also on development of city and e-conomy.

A general model for estimating actual evaporation from non-saturated surfaces

Based on energy balance equation and mass transfer equation, a general model to estimate actual evaporation from non-saturated surfaces was derived. Making use of two concepts, “relative evaporation” and “relative drying power”, a relationship was established to account for the departure from saturated conditions. Using this model, the actual evaporation (evapotranspiration) can be calculated without the need of potential evaporation estimation. Furthermore, the model requires only a few meteorological parameters that are readily and routinely obtainable at standard weather stations. Based on nearly 30 years data of 432 meteorological stations and 512 hydrological stations in China, in combined with GIS, nine typical river basins were selected. Using the data of the selected river basins, the model was tested. The results show that the actual evaporation rate can be estimated with an error of less than 10% in most areas of China, except few years in the Yellow River Basin.

Runoff characteristics and its sensitivity to climate factors in the Weihe River Basin from 2006 to 2018

Exploring the current runoff characteristics after the large-scale implementation of the Grain for Green(GFG)project and investigating its sensitivities to potential drivers are crucial for water resource prediction and management.Based on the measured runoff data of 62 hydrological stations in the Weihe River Basin(WRB)from 2006 to 2018,we analyzed the temporal and spatial runoff characteristics in this study.Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationships between different runoff indicators and climate-related factors.Additionally,an improved Budyko framework was applied to assess the sensitivities of annual runoff to precipitation,potential evaporation,and other factors.The results showed that the daily runoff flow duration curves(FDCs)of all selected hydrological stations fall in three narrow ranges,with the corresponding mean annual runoff spanning approximately 1.50 orders of magnitude,indicating that the runoff of different hydrological stations in the WRB varied greatly.The trend analysis of runoff under different exceedance frequencies showed that the runoff from the south bank of the Weihe River was more affluent and stable than that from the north bank.The runoff was unevenly distributed throughout the year,mainly in the flood season,accounting for more than 50.00%of the annual runoff.However,the trend of annual runoff change was not obvious in most areas.Correlation analysis showed that rare-frequency runoff events were more susceptible to climate factors.In this study,daily runoff under 10%-20%exceeding frequencies,consecutive maximum daily runoff,and low-runoff variability rate had strong correlations with precipitation,aridity index,and average runoff depth on rainy days.In comparison,daily runoff under 50%-99%exceeding frequencies,consecutive minimum daily runoff,and high-runoff variability rate had weak correlations with all selected impact factors.The sensitivity analysis results suggested that the sensitivity of annual runoff to precipitation was always higher than that to potential evaporation.The runoff about 87.10%of the selected hydrological stations were most sensitive to precipitation changes,and 12.90%were most sensitive to other factors.The spatial pattern of the sensitivity analysis indicated that in relatively humid southern areas,runoff was more sensitive to potential evaporation and other factors,and less sensitive to precipitation.

Evapotranspiration estimation methods in hydrological models

Actual evapotranspiration is a key process of hydrological cycle and a sole term that links land surface water balance and land surface energy balance. Evapotranspiration plays a key role in simulating hydrological effect of climate change, and a review of evapotranspiration estimation methods in hydrological models is of vital importance. This paper firstly summarizes the evapotranspiration estimation methods applied in hydrological models and then classifies them into the integrated converting methods and the classification gathering methods by their mechanism. Integrated converting methods are usually used in hydrological models and two differences exist among them： one is in the potential evaporation estimation methods, while the other in the function for defining relationship between potential evapora tion and actual evapotranspiration. Due to the higher information requirements of the Pen- man-Monteith method and the existing data uncertainty, simplified empirical methods for calculating potential and actual evapotranspiration are widely used in hydrological models. Different evapotranspiration calculation methods are used depending on the complexity of the hydrological model, and importance and difficulty in the selection of the most suitable evapotranspiration methods is discussed. Finally, this paper points out the prospective de velopment trends of the evapotranspiration estimating methods in hydrological modeling.