Türk et al. (2026) Tracking Event‐Scale Precipitation Partitioning Reveals Comparable Roles of Event Characteristics and Seasonality in Shaping Precipitation Fate in a Forested Landscape

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

Identification

• Journal: Hydrological Processes
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-04-01
• Authors: Hatice Türk, Christine Stumpp, Michael Stockinger, Paolo Benettin
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.70466

Research Groups

Wüstebach forested headwater catchment, Germany (likely associated with a German research institution focused on hydrology or environmental science)

Short Summary

This study investigated how precipitation event characteristics and seasonality influence the partitioning of precipitation into streamflow and evapotranspiration at the event scale over a 1-year tracking period. It found that event characteristics play an equally important role as seasonality in determining the fate of precipitation, with summer/spring precipitation returning to the atmosphere faster and in greater proportion than autumn/winter precipitation.

Objective

• To analyze the effects of precipitation event characteristics (mild, moderate, intense) and season of occurrence (spring, summer, autumn, winter) on precipitation partitioning into evapotranspiration, streamflow, and storage at the event scale, using a daily time step and a 1-year tracking period for each event.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Forested headwater catchment (Wüstebach, Germany)
• Temporal Scale: Event scale, daily time step, with a 1-year (365-day) tracking period for each event.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Tracer-aided transport model based on StorAge Selection (SAS) functions.
• Data sources: Hydrometeorological data and stable water isotope data.

Main Results

• Summer and spring precipitation returned to the atmosphere more rapidly (within approximately 100 days) and in greater proportion than autumn and winter precipitation (within approximately 200 days).
• Both mild and intense precipitation events, within and across seasons, exhibited differences in the magnitude and timing of partitioning into evapotranspiration, streamflow, and storage over the 1-year tracking period.
• Intense autumn precipitation returned to the atmosphere 30% less than mild autumn events.
• Variations in precipitation partitioning observed across different event types were comparable to those observed across different seasons, indicating that event characteristics are as important as seasonality in determining the ultimate fate of precipitation.

Contributions

• This study provides critical insights into the legacy effects of precipitation event characteristics on water fluxes over extended timescales (1 year), which is relevant for understanding catchment-scale hydrological functioning.
• It quantifies the comparable importance of precipitation event characteristics and seasonality in determining precipitation partitioning using a tracer-aided transport model.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Türk2026Tracking,
  author = {Türk, Hatice and Stumpp, Christine and Stockinger, Michael and Benettin, Paolo},
  title = {Tracking Event‐Scale Precipitation Partitioning Reveals Comparable Roles of Event Characteristics and Seasonality in Shaping Precipitation Fate in a Forested Landscape},
  journal = {Hydrological Processes},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/hyp.70466},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70466}
}