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Urban water storage capacity inferred from observed evapotranspiration recession
  • +13
  • Harro Joseph Jongen,
  • Gert-Jan Steeneveld,
  • Jason Beringer,
  • Andreas Christen,
  • Krzysztof Fortuniak,
  • Jinkyu Hong,
  • Je-Woo Hong,
  • Cor MJ Jacobs,
  • Leena Järvi,
  • Fred Meier,
  • Włodzimierz Pawlak,
  • Matthias Roth,
  • Natalie Theeuwes,
  • Erik Velasco,
  • Ryan J. Teuling,
  • Nektarios Chrysoulakis
Harro Joseph Jongen
Wageningen University, The Netherlandsn, Wageningen University, The Netherlandsn, Wageningen University, The Netherlandsn

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Gert-Jan Steeneveld
Wageningen University, The Netherlands, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
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Jason Beringer
University of Western Australia, University of Western Australia, University of Western Australia
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Andreas Christen
University of Freiburg, University of Freiburg, University of Freiburg
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Krzysztof Fortuniak
University of Lodz, University of Lodz, University of Lodz
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Jinkyu Hong
Yonsei University, Yonsei University, Yonsei University
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Je-Woo Hong
Yonsei University, Yonsei University, Yonsei University
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Cor MJ Jacobs
Wageningen-UR, Alterra, Wageningen-UR, Alterra, Wageningen-UR, Alterra
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Leena Järvi
University of Helsinki, University of Helsinki, University of Helsinki
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Fred Meier
Technische Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin
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Włodzimierz Pawlak
University of Lodz, University of Lodz, University of Lodz
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Matthias Roth
National University of Singapore, National University of Singapore, National University of Singapore
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Natalie Theeuwes
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI)
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Erik Velasco
Independent, Independent, Independent
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Ryan J. Teuling
Wageningen University, Wageningen University, Wageningen University
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Nektarios Chrysoulakis
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas
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Abstract

Water storage plays an important role in mitigating heat and flooding in urban areas. Assessment of the water storage capacity of cities remains challenging due to the inherent heterogeneity of the urban surface. Traditionally, effective storage has been estimated from runoff. Here, we present a novel approach to estimate effective water storage capacity from recession rates of observed evaporation during precipitation-free periods. We test this approach for cities at neighborhood scale with eddy-covariance based latent heat flux observations from fourteen contrasting sites with different local climate zones, vegetation cover and characteristics, and climates. Based on analysis of 583 drydowns, we find storage capacities to vary between 1.3-28.4 mm, corresponding to e-folding timescales of 1.8-20.1 days. This makes the storage capacity at least one order of magnitude smaller than the observed values for natural ecosystems, reflecting an evaporation regime characterised by extreme water limitation.
16 Feb 2022Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 49 issue 3. 10.1029/2021GL096069