TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weng, Wei
A1  - Lüdeke, Matthias K. B.
A1  - Zemp, Delphine Clara
A1  - Lakes, Tobia
A1  - Kropp, Jürgen
T1  - Aerial and surface rivers
BT  - downwind impacts on water availability from land use changes in Amazonia
JF  - Hydrology and earth system sciences : HESS
N2  - The abundant evapotranspiration provided by the Amazon forests is an important component of the hydrological cycle, both regionally and globally. Since the last century, deforestation and expanding agricultural activities have been changing the ecosystem and its provision of moisture to the atmosphere. However, it remains uncertain how the ongoing land use change will influence rainfall, runoff, and water availability as findings from previous studies differ. Using moisture tracking experiments based on observational data, we provide a spatially detailed analysis recognizing potential teleconnection between source and sink regions of atmospheric moisture. We apply land use scenarios in upwind moisture sources and quantify the corresponding rainfall and runoff changes in downwind moisture sinks. We find spatially varying responses of water regimes to land use changes, which may explain the diverse results from previous studies. Parts of the Peruvian Amazon and western Bolivia are identified as the sink areas most sensitive to land use change in the Amazon and we highlight the current water stress by Amazonian land use change on these areas in terms of the water availability. Furthermore, we also identify the influential source areas where land use change may considerably reduce a given target sink's water reception (from our example of the Ucayali River basin outlet, rainfall by 5–12 % and runoff by 19–50 % according to scenarios). Sensitive sinks and influential sources are therefore suggested as hotspots for achieving sustainable land–water management.
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-911-2018
SN  - 1027-5606
SN  - 1607-7938
VL  - 22
IS  - 1
SP  - 911
EP  - 927
PB  - Copernicus
CY  - Göttingen
ER  -