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Editor's Highlight
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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 33,
L10403,
doi:10.1029/2006GL025711,
2006
Trends in 20th century drought over the continental United States
Konstantinos M. Andreadis
Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Dennis P. Lettenmaier
Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Abstract
We used a simulated data set of hydro-climatological variables to examine for 20th century trends in soil moisture, runoff,
and drought characteristics over the conterminous United States (U.S.). An increasing trend is apparent in both model soil
moisture and runoff over much of the U.S., with a few decreasing trends in parts of the Southwest. The trend patterns were
qualitatively similar to those found in streamflow records observed at a station network minimally affected by anthropogenic
activities. This wetting trend is consistent with the general increase in precipitation in the latter half of the 20th century.
Droughts have, for the most part, become shorter, less frequent, and cover a smaller portion of the country over the last
century. The main exception is the Southwest and parts of the interior of the West, where, notwithstanding increased precipitation
(and in some cases increased soil moisture and runoff), increased temperature has led to trends in drought characteristics
that are mostly opposite to those for the rest of the country especially in the case of drought duration and severity, which
have increased.
Received 9
January
2006;
accepted 21
April
2006;
published 25
May
2006.
Index Terms: 1812 Hydrology: Drought; 1833 Hydrology: Hydroclimatology; 1872 Hydrology: Time series analysis (3270, 4277, 4475).
Read Full Article (file size: 678239 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Andreadis, K. M., and D. P. Lettenmaier
(2006),
Trends in 20th century drought over the continental United States,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
33,
L10403,
doi:10.1029/2006GL025711.
Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
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