Speaker: Dr. Jeffrey McDonnell
Abstract:
The catchment annual water balance (i.e., input minus output equals change in storage) is the most important equation in hydrology. But recent studies using stable isotope tracers show a much more complex terrestrial water cycle than simple hydrometric observations suggest. At scales from global to microscopic, the water cycle appears highly compartmentalized and poorly mixed at timescales well beyond the annual measurements of input and output. This presentation summarizes recent work and attempts to describe how this stored inventory of old water links to streamflow and transpiration outputs.