Estimation of long-term basin scale evapotranspiration from streamflow time series
Abstract
We estimated long-term annual evapotranspiration (ETQ) at the watershed scale by combining
continuous daily streamflow (Q) records, a simplified watershed water balance, and
a nonlinear reservoir model. Our analysis used Q measured from 11 watersheds (area
ranged from 12 to 1386 km 2) from the uppermost section of the Neuse River Basin in
North Carolina, USA. In this area, forests and agriculture dominate the land cover
and the spatial variation in climatic drivers is small. About 30% of the interannual
variation in the basin-averaged ETQ was explained by the variation in precipitation
(P), while ETQ showed a minor inverse correlation with pan evaporation. The sum of
annual Q and ETQ was consistent with the independently measured P. Our analysis shows
that records of Q can provide approximate, continuous estimates of long-term ET and,
thereby, bounds for modeling regional fluxes of water and of other closely coupled
elements, such as carbon. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.
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http://hdl.handle.net/10161/4072Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1029/2009WR008838Publication Info
Hui, D; Jackson, Robert; Katul, Gabriel G; McCarthy, HR; Oren, R; & Palmroth, S (2010). Estimation of long-term basin scale evapotranspiration from streamflow time series. Water Resources Research, 46(10). pp. W10512. 10.1029/2009WR008838. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10161/4072.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Robert B. Jackson
Adjunct Professor of Earth & Ocean Sciences
Robert B. Jackson is the Nicholas Chair of Global Environmental Change in the Earth
and Ocean Sciences Division of the Nicholas School of the Environment and a professor
in the Biology Department. His research examines how people affect the earth, including
studies of the global carbon and water cycles, biosphere/atmosphere interactions,
energy use, and global change.
Rob Jackson received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Rice University
(1983). He worked four years for the Dow
Gabriel G. Katul
Theodore S. Coile Professor of Hydrology and Micrometeorology
Gabriel G. Katul received his B.E. degree in 1988 at the American University of Beirut
(Beirut, Lebanon), his M.S. degree in 1990 at Oregon State University (Corvallis,
OR) and his Ph.D degree in 1993 at the University of California in Davis (Davis, CA).
He is currently the Theodore S. Coile Professor of Hydrology and Micrometeorology
at the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at Duke University (Durham,
Ram Oren
Nicholas Professor of Earth Systems Science
With his graduate students, Dr. Oren quantifies the components of water flux in forest
ecosystems and the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on water and, due to strong
links between carbon and water, on carbon flux. Climate variability, including variations
in air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, incoming radiation and soil moisture,
and environmental change, including elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide, affect the
intra- and inter-annual patterns and amounts of water used by forest e
Sari Palmroth
Associate Research Professor in the Division of Environmental Science and Policy
Dr. Palmroth's research focuses on the effects of resource availability and climatic
variability on carbon uptake and allocation of individual shoots, trees and forest
ecosystems. She studies ecophysiological processes in trees from leaf to stand scales,
with special emphasis on conifers. In particular, Dr. Palmroth is interested in the
radiative transfer in forest canopies, how the radiation regime is affected by conifer
shoot structure, and what the feedbacks are between availability of solar
Alphabetical list of authors with Scholars@Duke profiles.

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