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The Impact of an Open Water Balance Assumption on Understanding the Factors Controlling the Long-Term Streamflow Components

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Author(s):
Ballarin, Andre S. ; Oliveira, Paulo Tarso S. ; Marchezepe, Bruno K. ; Godoi, Raquel F. ; Campos, Aline M. ; Campos, Fabrizio S. ; Almagro, Andre ; Meira Neto, Antonio A.
Total Authors: 8
Document type: Journal article
Source: WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH; v. 58, n. 10, p. 18-pg., 2022-10-01.
Abstract

Understanding how streamflow and its components, baseflow and quickflow, vary spatially according to climate and landscape characteristics is fundamental for dealing with different water-related issues. Analytical formulations have been proposed to investigate their long-term behavior and additional influencing factors, suggesting that they are mainly controlled by the aridity index (phi $\phi $). Nevertheless, these studies assume the catchment as a closed water balance system, neglecting inter-catchment groundwater flow (IGF). This simplification makes the analysis of the long-term streamflow components and their main control mechanisms challenging, given that many catchments cannot be considered as closed hydrologic entities. Here, we assessed the controls of the mean-annual streamflow components and their behavior under an open water balance assumption, using observed data of 734 Brazilian catchments with diverse hydroclimatic conditions. Our results indicate that indeed streamflow components are primarily controlled by phi $\phi $ at the mean annual timescale. The consideration of an open water-balance significantly improved the performance of aridity-based functional forms to describe streamflow components while also elucidating how catchments' attributes may influence streamflow behavior. Land cover, groundwater, climate seasonality, and topographic attributes appeared as the main control mechanisms besides aridity. Overall, our study provides new insights into the main control mechanism of the streamflow behavior at the long-term scale, while shedding light on the importance of the open water-balance assumption for model development and water resources management. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 19/24292-7 - Infiltration and runoff dynamics under different land uses and climate change in the Brazilian Cerrado area
Grantee:Dimaghi Schwamback
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
FAPESP's process: 22/06017-1 - Extreme events of rainfall and temperature in Brazil under a climate change context: statistical properties and future changes
Grantee:André Simões Ballarin
Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
FAPESP's process: 15/03806-1 - Water availability and quality threats in a Guarani Aquifer System outcrop zone
Grantee:Edson Cezar Wendland
Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Thematic Grants
FAPESP's process: 20/08140-0 - Extreme events in a climate change context: characterization based on climate model and nonstationarity
Grantee:André Simões Ballarin
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate