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Forests, water & research in the Sierra Nevada

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Presentation on theme: "Forests, water & research in the Sierra Nevada"— Presentation transcript:

1 Forests, water & research in the Sierra Nevada
Roger Bales, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, UC Merced

2 Sierra Nevada watershed research infrastructure
CZO N-S transect of research catchments MODIS image Main CZO site 600 1200 1800 2400 3000 Elev., m San Joaquin Experimental Range 400 m 1300 ft Shorthair Creek 2700 m 8900 ft CZO P301 2000 m 6600 ft Soaproot Saddle 1100 m 3600 ft E-W transect of flux towers Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory

3 Mountain hydrology – fluxes
How will this landscape & the hydrologic processes connecting it alter w/ climate warming & land-use/landcover change? Motivating questions evapotranspiration precipitation infiltration snowmelt sublimation runoff Reservoirs: Snowpack storage Soil-water storage ground & surface water exchange

4 Mountain hydrology – fluxes
Myth: We can, with a high degree of skill, estimate or predict the magnitude of these quantities evapotranspiration precipitation infiltration snowmelt sublimation runoff Reservoirs: Snowpack storage Soil-water storage ground & surface water exchange

5 Mountain hydrology – fluxes
My biases: Improved predictions require better process understanding The basis for process understanding is new measurements Processes are coupled & best studied together evapotranspiration precipitation infiltration snowmelt sublimation runoff Reservoirs: Snowpack storage Soil-water storage ground & surface water exchange

6 Basic water balance Precipitation = Evapotranspiration + Runoff = +

7 50% more runoff in snow dominated vs. mixed rain-snow catchments 5oF
3oC 0.1 increase per 350 m (1150 ft) 50% more runoff in snow dominated vs. mixed rain-snow catchments 5oF Implication for 2oC warmer climate: Reduce runoff by 10-40% in mixed conifer forest (assuming ecosystems adapt) 6000’ 7000’ 8000’ Decreasing temperature Increasing snow fraction Decreasing vegetation Coarser soils

8 Annual evapotranspiration
mm in / / / Elevation, m/ft Annual evapotranspiration Highest current evapotranspiration in rain to rain-snow transition region of mixed conifer forest – year-round growth Lower elevation is water limited Higher elevation is cold limited Goulden et al., submitted

9 Sierra Nevada precipitation & snow water equivalent (SWE) – climatological estimate?
in >80 70 50 35 25 15 10 >28 24 16 8 3

10 Most snowmelt comes from elevations above most measurement of precipitation or snowpack

11 Mountain water cycle & climate warming
oF Warming by 2–6oC (4–11oF) drives significant changes: rain-vs-snow storms * snowpack amounts * snowmelt timing * flood risk streamflow timing * low baseflows growing seasons * recharge? drier soil in summer Precipitation changes uncertain Already observed (*) Land surface temperatures 5-yr average Departure from mean 2 1 -1 -2 oF 15 11 7 4 -4 11

12 Kings basin snowmelt w/ climate warming

13 Making a water-secure world – the three I’s
INFRASTRUCTURE to store, transport & treat water Stronger & more-adaptable INSTITUTIONS Better & more-accessible INFORMATION Water security: the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity & quality of water for health, livelihoods & production, coupled w/ an acceptable level of water-related risks

14 Making a water-secure world – the three I’s
INFRASTRUCTURE to store, transport & treat water Stronger & more-adaptable INSTITUTIONS Ecosystem services Better & more-accessible INFORMATION Water is fundamental to sustainable ecosystem services. Water management therefore translates into managing ecosystem services, and must be a fundamental goal of virtually all such efforts.

15 A new generation of integrated measurements
lidar eddy correlation embedded sensor networks isotopes & ions satellite snowcover sap flow low-cost sensors sediment

16 Basin-wide deployment of hydrologic instrument clusters – American R
Basin-wide deployment of hydrologic instrument clusters – American R. basin Strategically place low-cost sensors to get spatial estimates of snowcover, soil moisture & other water-balance components Network & integrate these sensors into a single spatial instrument for water-balance measurements.

17 Building the knowledge base to enhance forest & water management

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