Tuesday, 28 November 2023
A new study from the University of Nottingham and other international partners has tested the accuracy of global water models and whether they agree with each other.
In a study recently published in Nature Water, the University of Nottingham has worked together with an international team, led by the University of Potsdam, to test the extent to which global water models agree with each other and with observed data taken from rivers and groundwater sources around the world.
Using a new approach, the researchers show in which climate regions of the world the models agree and where they differ.
Global water models are essential tools for understanding the water cycle, including to help understand the impacts of climate change.
Our society is experiencing many of these impacts through changes in water extremes such as increasing droughts and floods, which pose growing threats to people and ecosystems.
But there are also changes in general water availability, for example soil moisture, which is relevant for agriculture, or groundwater recharge, which is important for the sustainable use of groundwater.
Inconsistencies between the results of different global water models make such model-based conclusions uncertain. These differences have not yet been fully quantified and previous evaluation approaches have provided limited information on how the models could be improved.
The study is the first to use large-scale relationships between climatic and hydrological variables to reveal differences between models and in comparison to observational data.
Relationships between climatic and hydrological variables – so-called functional relationships – provide an overview of how the global water cycle functions.
Looking at such relationships in the models and comparing these to what we see in the real environment, the research team was able to answer questions like how much groundwater depends on precipitation. Answers to such questions are enormously important but are often missing for large areas of the world.
Professor Simon Gosling, co-author of the study, explains: “Global water models are incredibly useful tools for helping understand inequities in patterns of global water supply, and the effects of extremes like river flooding on society.
“It is important, therefore, that we know how well the models do their job, because the quality of the models mirrors the scientific community’s understanding of how global hydrology works. In this study we take a more holistic view than done in past studies, by looking at different parts of the hydrological cycle that interact with each other, and then seeing whether these interactions in the models are the same as what we see in the real world.
Our results show that there are opportunities to enhance scientific understanding of processes like energy balances and groundwater recharge, especially in dry and/or cold regions of the world."
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More information is available from Professor Simon Gosling on simon.gosling@nottingham.ac.uk
Faith Pring - Media Relations Manager
Email: faith.pring@nottingham.ac.uk
Phone: 0115 748 4411
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About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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