Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Santa Clara University

2013

Anthropogenic effects

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

The Key Role Of Heavy Precipitation Events In Climate Model Disagreements Of Future Annual Precipitation Changes In California, David W. Pierce, Daniel R. Cayan, Tapash Das, Edwin P. Maurer, Norman L. Miller, Yan Bao, M. Kanamitsu, Kei Yoshimura, Mark A. Snyder, Lisa C. Sloan, Guido Franco, Mary Tyree Aug 2013

The Key Role Of Heavy Precipitation Events In Climate Model Disagreements Of Future Annual Precipitation Changes In California, David W. Pierce, Daniel R. Cayan, Tapash Das, Edwin P. Maurer, Norman L. Miller, Yan Bao, M. Kanamitsu, Kei Yoshimura, Mark A. Snyder, Lisa C. Sloan, Guido Franco, Mary Tyree

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Climate model simulations disagree on whether future precipitation will increase or decrease over California, which has impeded efforts to anticipate and adapt to human-induced climate change. This disagreement is explored in terms of daily precipitation frequency and intensity. It is found that divergent model projections of changes in the incidence of rare heavy (>60 mm day−1) daily precipitation events explain much of the model disagreement on annual time scales, yet represent only 0.3% of precipitating days and 9% of annual precipitation volume. Of the 25 downscaled model projections examined here, 21 agree that precipitation frequency will decrease by the …


Using A Gridded Global Dataset To Characterize Regional Hydroclimate In Central Chile, E.M.C. Demaria, Edwin P. Maurer, J. Sheffield, E. Bustos, D. Poblete, S. Vicuña, F. Meza Feb 2013

Using A Gridded Global Dataset To Characterize Regional Hydroclimate In Central Chile, E.M.C. Demaria, Edwin P. Maurer, J. Sheffield, E. Bustos, D. Poblete, S. Vicuña, F. Meza

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Central Chile is facing dramatic projections of climate change, with a consensus for declining precipitation, negatively affecting hydropower generation and irrigated agriculture. Rising from sea level to 6000 m within a distance of 200 km, precipitation characterization is difficult because of a lack of long-term observations, especially at higher elevations. For understanding current mean and extreme conditions and recent hydroclimatological change, as well as to provide a baseline for downscaling climate model projections, a temporally and spatially complete dataset of daily meteorology is essential. The authors use a gridded global daily meteorological dataset at 0.25° resolution for the period 1948–2008, …