Basin-Scale Water-Balance (BSWB) Dataset

News & Media

ETH Life (07.12.2012): Neue Professoren an der ETH Zürich

ETH Life (07.12.2012): New professors at the ETH Zurich appointed

The Telegraph (14.11.2012): Droughts steady since 1950s

Nature Geoscience, Research highlights (31.08.2012): Dry heat

NZZ (29.08.2012): Die Crux mit den Extremen

NZZ Online (10.08.2012): Permanente Dürre in den USA?

ETH Life (17.07.2012): Bodenfeuchte und Hitzetage global untersucht; Soil moisture and hot days examined globally

Schweizer Bauer (17.07.2012): Forschung: Längere Trockenheit sagt Hitzewellen voraus

Tages Anzeiger (16.07.2012): ETH-Forscherinnen können Hitzewellen voraussagen

Los Angeles Times (16.07.2012): Dry spells may predict heat waves

ScienceDaily (27.05.2012): More Summer Heatwaves Likely in Europe: Predictability of European Summer Heat from Spring and Winter Rainfall

ETH Klimablog (10.05.2012): IPCC Sonderbericht zu Änderungen in Klimaextremen (IPCC SREX in Kürze)

WCRP 4th reanalysis meeting (09.05.2012): Brigitte Mueller makes presentation as EGU young ambassador [EGU ambassadors]

ETH Life (29.03.2012): IPCC-Sonderbericht zu Klimaextremen; IPCC Special Report on Extreme Events and Disasters

ETH Klimablog (29.03.2012): Rigorose Qualitätskontrollen beim neusten IPCC-Sonderbericht

SciNevNet (28.03.2012): IPCC predicts rise in extreme climate events

Aqua & Gas (03/2012): On ne peut pas définir la sécheresse indépendamment du milieu impacté

Environmental Health Perspectives (01.02.2012): Managing the Risks of Extreme Weather: IPCC Special Report

ETH Globe (12/2011): Ab drei Grad wird's kritisch - Trockenheit und Landwirtschaft

Le Temps (26.11.2011): Vivre au sec, mode d'emploi

IPCC SREX Summary for Policymakers (18.11.2011): Release of IPCC SREX Summary for Policymakers; Core writing team; Video

ETH Connect (09/2011): Ein Frühwarnsystem für magere Jahre

NFP61 DROUGHT-CH (08.06.2011): Video on DROUGHT-CH project [French; English sub-titles; German sub-titles]

Le Temps (16.05.2011): Mieux prédire les grandes canicules

SF Einstein (05.05.2011): Ein Frühling wie Sommer

SNF Journal Horizonte/Horizons (03/2011): Wenn die Atmosphäre zum Backofen wird ; Mieux prédire les canicules

NZZ (15.12.2010): Dürren bereiten den Boden für Hitzewellen

ETH Life (13.12.2010): Der Boden ist schuld; Soil responsible for heat waves

Nature Geoscience, News and Views (12.12.2010): Extreme heat rooted in dry soils

ETH Globe (11/2010): Vom Klimamodell zum Klimaservice

ETH Life (06.09.2010): Das Wald-Paradoxon bei Hitzewellen; The forest paradox during heatwaves

ETH Life (22.07.2010): Einfluss der Temperatur auf den «CO₂-Atem»

Le Temps (22.07.2010): La Suisse doit adopter un système d'alertes sécheresse

3Sat (nano) (15.09.2009): Der Boden schützt uns bald nicht mehr vor Hitze. Die Schweiz durchzieht ihr Land mit Messstationen

ETH Life (22.08.2008): Der Bodenfeuchte auf den Grund gehen

SNF Journal Horizonte/Horizons (12/2008): Ein Klimaschlüssel liegt im Boden; Une clé du climat se cache dans le sol

Monthly variations in terrestrial water storage for major river basins

Available river basins (without sub-basins). Click on the map to access data download.

Data description

This diagnostic data set (BSWB) contains time series of monthly variations in terrestrial water storage for 37 major mid-latitude river basins. The data was derived by means of combined atmospheric and terrestrial water-balances using atmospheric water vapor flux convergence and change in atmospheric water vapor content from the ECMWF ERA-40 and ERA-interim reanalysis or the ECMWF operational analysis (ECMWFop), as well as conventional river runoff (from the Global Runoff Data Centre, the U.S. Geological Survey or local sources). A study for the Mississippi basin (Seneviratne et al. 2004) has demonstrated the validity of this approach, and found that it agreed well with in-situ observations of soil moisture, groundwater and snow in Illinois.

For more detailed information on the data, see Mueller et al. 2011, Hirschi et al. 2006a and Seneviratne et al. 2004. The ECMWFop derived BSWB data is described in Hirschi et al. 2006b.

BSWB data for the various river basins is freely available for download.

References

Mueller, B., M. Hirschi and S. I. Seneviratne (2011). New diagnostic estimates of variations in terrestrial water storage based on ERA-Interim data. Hydrological Processes, 25, 996–1008. [pdf]
Hirschi, M., S. I. Seneviratne and C. Schär (2006a). Seasonal variations in terrestrial water storage for major midlatitude river basins. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 7, 39–60. [pdf]
Hirschi, M., P. Viterbo and S. I. Seneviratne (2006b). Basin-scale water-balance estimates of terrestrial water storage variations from ECMWF operational forecast analysis. Geophysical Research Letters, 33, doi:10.1029/2006GL027659.[pdf]
Seneviratne, S. I., P. Viterbo, D. Lüthi and C. Schär (2004). Inferring changes in terrestrial water storage using ERA-40 reanalysis data: The Mississippi river basin. Journal of Climate, 17, 2039-2057. [pdf]

Acknowledgments

The following institutions are gratefully acknowledged for providing data: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF, Reading, UK), Global Runoff Data Centre (GRCD, 56068 Koblenz, Germany), and U.S. Geological Survey.

Contact

Brigitte Mueller, Dr. Martin Hirschi and Prof. Sonia I. Seneviratne