Spatial-temporal variations of evapotranspiration and runoff/ precipitation ratios responding to the changing climate in the pacific northwest during 1921-2006

Abstract

Water resources in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are very sensitive to climate change. There are still big knowledge gaps on how evapotranspiration (ET) varies in responding to changing temperature (T) and precipitation (P) over different zones in terms of supply and demand regime for ET. Here, we employ the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrologic model and a high-resolution meteorological data set to quantify spatial and seasonal variations of ET and the runoff (R)/precipitation (P) ratio over the PNW and attribute effects of T and P. We evaluate modeled ET and R with eddy covariance measurements, upscaled regional ET, and reconstructed natural streamflow. Simulation results indicate that water-limited (annual potential ET (PET) ≥ P) and energy-limited zones (annual PET