Evaluation of drought and drought impacts through interdisciplinary methods

0448401 - ÚVGZ 2016 RIV CZ eng M - Monography Chapter
Trnka, Miroslav - Brázdil, Rudolf - Balek, J. - Semerádová, Daniela - Hlavinka, Petr - Možný, M. - Štěpánek, Petr - Dobrovolný, Petr - Zahradníček, Pavel - Dubrovský, Martin - Eitzinger, Josef - Fuchs, B. - Svoboda, M. - Hayes, M. - Žalud, Zdeněk
Drivers of the Soil Moisture Trends in the Czech Republic between 1961 and 2012.
Evaluation of drought and drought impacts through interdisciplinary methods. Brno: Global change research centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v. v. i, 2015 - (Trnka, M.; Hayes, M.), s. 26-29. ISBN 978-80-87902-12-7
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) EE2.3.20.0248; GA MŠMT(CZ) LD13030; GA MZe QJ1310123
Institutional support: RVO:67179843
Keywords : soil * Czech Republic * air temperature * global radiation
Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology

Soil moisture dynamics and their temporal trends in the Czech Republic are forced by various drivers. Our analysis of temporal trends indicates shifts in drought severity between 1961 and 2012 and especially in the April, May, and June period, which displayed a 50% increase in drought probability when 1961–1980 and 2001–2012 were compared. We found that increased global radiation and air temperature together with decreased relative humidity (all statistically significant with P < 0.05) led to increases in the reference evapotranspiration in all months of the growing season; this trend was particularly evident in April, May, and August, when more than 80% of the territory displayed an increased demand for soil water. These changes, in combination with the earlier end of snow cover and the earlier start of the growing season (up to 20 days in some regions), led to an increased actual evapotranspiration at the start of the growing season that tended to deplete the soil moisture earlier, leaving the soil more exposed to the impacts of rainfall variability. These results support concerns related to the potentially increased severity of drought events in Central Europe. The reported trend patterns are of particular importance with respect to the expected climate change, given the robustness and consistency of the trends shown and the fact that they can be aligned with the existing climate model projections.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0250132