Changes in surface hydrology, soil moisture and gross primary production in the Amazon during the 2015/2016 El Nino.

ABSTRACT: The 2015/2016 El Niño event caused severe changes in precipitation across the tropics. This impacted surface hydrology, such as river run-off and soil moisture availability, thereby triggering reductions in gross primary production (GPP). Many biosphere models lack the detailed hydrological component required to accurately quantify anomalies in surface hydrology and GPP during droughts in tropical regions. Here, we take the novel approach of coupling the biosphere model SiBCASA with the advanced hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB to attempt such a quantification across the Amazon basin during the drought in 2015/2016. We calculate 30-40% reduced river discharge in the Amazon starting in October 2015, lagging behind the precipitation anomaly by approximately one month and in good agreement with

SUBMITTER: van Schaik E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6178443 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature