Changing Causes of Drought in the Urmia Lake Basin—Increasing Influence of Evaporation and Disappearing Snow Cover

Habibi, Maral; Babaeian, Iman; Schöner, Wolfgang

doi:10.3390/w13223273

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Previous studies compared the accuracy of ERA5 to observed data from several basins in Iran, indicating that ERA5 can be used as a potential source of weather data in basins with low densities of meteorological stations [82,83]. We also recommend using ERA5 as a source of weather data in the Urmia Lake Basin, which is consistent with the findings of M. Habibi et al [84].…”

Section: Comparison Of Era5 and Era-interim Precipitation And Tempera...supporting

confidence: 88%

ERA5 and ERA-Interim Data Processing for the GlobWat Global Hydrological Model

Abdollahi

Alidoost

Panahi

et al. 2022

Water

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The reproducibility of computational hydrology is gaining attention among hydrologists. Reproducibility requires open and reusable code and data, allowing users to verify results and process new datasets. The creation of input files for global hydrological models (GHMs) requires complex high-resolution gridded dataset processing, limiting the model’s reproducibility to groups with advanced programming skills. GlobWat is one of these GHMs, which was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to assess irrigation water use. Although the GlobWat code and sample input data are available, the methods for pre-processing model inputs are not available. Here, we present a set of open-source Python and YAML scripts within the Earth System Model Evaluation Tool (ESMValTool) that provide a formalized technique for developing and processing GlobWat model weather inputs. We demonstrate the use of these scripts with the ERA5 and ERA-Interim datasets from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). To demonstrate the advantage of using these scripts, we ran the GlobWat model for 30 years for the entire world. The focus of the evaluation was on the Urmia Lake Basin in Iran. The validation of the model against the observed discharge in this basin showed that the combination of ERA5 and the De Bruin reference evaporation method yields the best GlobWat performance. Moreover, the scripts allowed us to examine the causes behind the differences in model outcomes.

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Section: Comparison Of Era5 and Era-interim Precipitation And Tempera...supporting

confidence: 88%

ERA5 and ERA-Interim Data Processing for the GlobWat Global Hydrological Model

Abdollahi

Alidoost

Panahi

et al. 2022

Water

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“…The study conducted by Safarianzengir et al 33 highlighted a strong correlation between the decline in groundwater and a decreasing trend in snowfall in Iran (2000–2019). Recent observations also reported a decline in snowfall in different parts of Iran during the last decades 34 – 36 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Decline in Iran’s groundwater recharge

Noori,

Maghrebi,

Jessen

et al. 2023

Nat Commun

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Groundwater recharge feeds aquifers supplying fresh-water to a population over 80 million in Iran—a global hotspot for groundwater depletion. Using an extended database comprising abstractions from over one million groundwater wells, springs, and qanats, from 2002 to 2017, here we show a significant decline of around −3.8 mm/yr in the nationwide groundwater recharge. This decline is primarily attributed to unsustainable water and environmental resources management, exacerbated by decadal changes in climatic conditions. However, it is important to note that the former’s contribution outweighs the latter. Our results show the average annual amount of nationwide groundwater recharge (i.e., ~40 mm/yr) is more than the reported average annual runoff in Iran (i.e., ~32 mm/yr), suggesting the surface water is the main contributor to groundwater recharge. Such a decline in groundwater recharge could further exacerbate the already dire aquifer depletion situation in Iran, with devastating consequences for the country’s natural environment and socio-economic development.

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“…Terrestrial open-surface water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, ponds, streams, and rivers, play a crucial role as water resources for agriculture, industrial production, and both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems [1][2][3]. Climate change and human activities have significant effects on water resources, impacting both quantity and quality [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comprehensive Assessment of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Effects on Surface Water Resources in the Lake Urmia Basin, Iran

Kazemi Garajeh,

Akbari,

Aghaei Chaleshtori

et al. 2024

Remote Sensing

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In recent decades, the depletion of surface water resources within the Lake Urmia Basin (LUB), Iran, has emerged as a significant environmental concern. Both anthropogenic activities and climate change have influenced the availability and distribution of surface water resources in this area. This research endeavors to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on surface water resources across the LUB. Various critical climatic and anthropogenic factors affecting surface water bodies, such as air temperature (AT), cropland (CL), potential evapotranspiration (PET), snow cover, precipitation, built-up areas, and groundwater salinity, were analyzed from 2000 to 2021 using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform. The JRC-Global surface water mapping layers V1.4, with a spatial resolution of 30 m, were employed to monitor surface water patterns. Additionally, the Mann–Kendall (MK) non-parametric trend test was utilized to identify statistically significant trends in the time series data. The results reveal negative correlations of −0.56, −0.89, −0.09, −0.99, and −0.79 between AT, CL, snow cover, built-up areas, and groundwater salinity with surface water resources, respectively. Conversely, positive correlations of 0.07 and 0.12 were observed between precipitation and PET and surface water resources, respectively. Notably, the findings indicate that approximately 40% of the surface water bodies in the LUB have remained permanent over the past four decades. However, there has been a loss of around 30% of permanent water resources, transitioning into seasonal water bodies, which now account for nearly 13% of the total. The results of our research also indicate that December and January are the months with the most water presence over the LUB from 1984 to 2021. This is because these months align with winter in the LUB, during which there is no water consumption for the agriculture sector. The driest months in the study area are August, September, and October, with the presence of water almost at zero percent. These months coincide with the summer and autumn seasons in the study area. In summary, the results underscore the significant impact of human activities on surface water resources compared to climatic variables.

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Changing Causes of Drought in the Urmia Lake Basin—Increasing Influence of Evaporation and Disappearing Snow Cover

Cited by 24 publications

References 70 publications

ERA5 and ERA-Interim Data Processing for the GlobWat Global Hydrological Model

ERA5 and ERA-Interim Data Processing for the GlobWat Global Hydrological Model

Decline in Iran’s groundwater recharge

A Comprehensive Assessment of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Effects on Surface Water Resources in the Lake Urmia Basin, Iran

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