Zhao et al. (2025) Regional Variations in Drivers of Extreme Reference Evapotranspiration Across the Contiguous United States

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-09-30
• Authors: Bingjie Zhao, Christopher Horvat, Christopher Pearson, Deep Shah, Huilin Gao
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr040177

Research Groups

Not specified in abstract.

Short Summary

This study investigates the regional contributions of meteorological drivers to extreme reference evapotranspiration across the Contiguous United States (CONUS), revealing distinct spatial patterns where different atmospheric variables dominate extreme events.

Objective

• To analyze the meteorological contributions to extreme reference evapotranspiration across 339 hydrological unit code 6 basins in the CONUS, identifying dominant drivers in various regions and evaluating uncertainties introduced by data sets, variables, scales, and event severity.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Contiguous United States (CONUS), specifically 339 hydrological unit code 6 basins.
• Temporal Scale: Daily (for extreme events), with analysis considering varying temporal scales and severity levels.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Two different methods for identifying extreme events (specific methods not named). Analysis of meteorological contributions.
• Data sources: Multiple meteorological data sets (specific ones not named) were utilized to enhance robustness. Meteorological variables analyzed include air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, and humidity.

Main Results

• Distinct regional patterns in the dominant drivers of extreme daily reference evapotranspiration were identified across the CONUS.
• Air temperature is the dominant driver in the northern US.
• Solar radiation primarily drives extreme events in the southeastern US.
• Wind speed is the main driver in the southwestern US, with its influence increasing at higher severity levels or with finer temporal resolution.
• Air temperature and humidity jointly dominate the central US.
• Contributions from meteorological forcings vary with the selection of temporal scales and severity levels.
• Utilizing multiple data sets enhances the robustness of extreme event identification.

Contributions

• Provides a comprehensive regional assessment of the dominant meteorological drivers of extreme reference evapotranspiration across the CONUS.
• Identifies specific regional patterns of influence for key meteorological variables (air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, humidity) on extreme evapotranspiration.
• Highlights the sensitivity of driver contributions to temporal scales and severity levels, offering insights into the complexity of extreme event analysis.
• Demonstrates the value of using multiple data sets to improve the robustness and reliability of extreme event identification.

Funding

Not specified in abstract.

Citation

@article{Zhao2025Regional,
  author = {Zhao, Bingjie and Horvat, Christopher and Pearson, Christopher and Shah, Deep and Gao, Huilin},
  title = {Regional Variations in Drivers of Extreme Reference Evapotranspiration Across the Contiguous United States},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr040177},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr040177}
}