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Stochastic soil water balance under seasonal climates.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Feng, X; Porporato, A; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I
Published in: Proceedings. Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
February 2015

The analysis of soil water partitioning in seasonally dry climates necessarily requires careful consideration of the periodic climatic forcing at the intra-annual timescale in addition to daily scale variabilities. Here, we introduce three new extensions to a stochastic soil moisture model which yields seasonal evolution of soil moisture and relevant hydrological fluxes. These approximations allow seasonal climatic forcings (e.g. rainfall and potential evapotranspiration) to be fully resolved, extending the analysis of soil water partitioning to account explicitly for the seasonal amplitude and the phase difference between the climatic forcings. The results provide accurate descriptions of probabilistic soil moisture dynamics under seasonal climates without requiring extensive numerical simulations. We also find that the transfer of soil moisture between the wet to the dry season is responsible for hysteresis in the hydrological response, showing asymmetrical trajectories in the mean soil moisture and in the transient Budyko's curves during the 'dry-down' versus the 'rewetting' phases of the year. Furthermore, in some dry climates where rainfall and potential evapotranspiration are in-phase, annual evapotranspiration can be shown to increase because of inter-seasonal soil moisture transfer, highlighting the importance of soil water storage in the seasonal context.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Proceedings. Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2946

ISSN

1364-5021

Publication Date

February 2015

Volume

471

Issue

2174

Start / End Page

20140623

Related Subject Headings

  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 49 Mathematical sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 09 Engineering
  • 02 Physical Sciences
  • 01 Mathematical Sciences
 

Citation

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Feng, X., Porporato, A., & Rodriguez-Iturbe, I. (2015). Stochastic soil water balance under seasonal climates. Proceedings. Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences, 471(2174), 20140623. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2014.0623
Feng, Xue, Amilcare Porporato, and Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe. “Stochastic soil water balance under seasonal climates.Proceedings. Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences 471, no. 2174 (February 2015): 20140623. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2014.0623.
Feng X, Porporato A, Rodriguez-Iturbe I. Stochastic soil water balance under seasonal climates. Proceedings Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences. 2015 Feb;471(2174):20140623.
Feng, Xue, et al. “Stochastic soil water balance under seasonal climates.Proceedings. Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences, vol. 471, no. 2174, Feb. 2015, p. 20140623. Epmc, doi:10.1098/rspa.2014.0623.
Feng X, Porporato A, Rodriguez-Iturbe I. Stochastic soil water balance under seasonal climates. Proceedings Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences. 2015 Feb;471(2174):20140623.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings. Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2946

ISSN

1364-5021

Publication Date

February 2015

Volume

471

Issue

2174

Start / End Page

20140623

Related Subject Headings

  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 49 Mathematical sciences
  • 40 Engineering
  • 09 Engineering
  • 02 Physical Sciences
  • 01 Mathematical Sciences