Water Resources Research最新文献

{"title":"Multi-Sensor Spatiotemporal Fusion for 30-m Daily Gapless Snow Cover Mapping","authors":"Jinhang Wu, Xueliang Zhang, Pengfeng Xiao, Yumeng Jia, Bo Tang, Yan Liu","doi":"10.1029/2025wr041155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr041155","url":null,"abstract":"High spatiotemporal resolution remote sensing data is crucial for monitoring heterogeneous mountainous snow cover. Although spatiotemporal fusion presents a promising approach for high-resolution snow monitoring, cloud contamination and sparse observations remain a critical constraint on its large-scale and long-term implementation. To address this issue, we propose an adaptive time-series fusion framework to generate 30-m daily gapless snow cover data based on the Enhanced Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (ESTARFM). We integrate multi-source coarse-resolution data and multi-source fine-resolution data to increase the number of valid pixels and enhance data density to capture the rapid spatiotemporal variations of snow cover. Additionally, we introduce time-series image pairs to adapt the ESTARFM method, which overcomes the spatial completeness limitation of fine-resolution data and dynamically selects the spatiotemporal information closest to the target time for each pixel. Comprehensive evaluations confirm the high accuracy of the fused results, as demonstrated by the consistency with reference data (<i>R</i> = 0.776–0.964). Furthermore, validation with ground-based snow observations shows that the fused 30-m daily snow cover data not only outperforms the widely used 500-m data in capturing the temporal dynamics of snow cover, as evidenced by its strong alignment with ground-based snow phenology metrics, but also provides new insights into the spatial distribution of mountainous snow cover. In areas with elevations below 3,500 m, slopes under 25°, or shaded slopes, the 30-m data captures small-scale, sparse, and fragmented snow cover, offering significant potential for hydrological research and practical applications that require accurate snow cover estimation.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147755156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inflow Generation for Water System Planning in Multisite Studies Using Target Synthetic Streamflow Generation","authors":"Hamid Gozini, Masoud Asadzadeh, Tricia Stadnyk, Phillip Slota","doi":"10.1029/2025wr042355","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr042355","url":null,"abstract":"Robust water-system planning under deep inflow-condition uncertainty requires synthetic streamflow scenarios that capture a wide range of target changes in magnitude, variability, and seasonality; the primary drivers of water-system operations. Targeting these properties ensures that streamflow scenarios align with site-specific operational requirements and effectively capture water-system vulnerabilities. Climate-driven projections provide scenario diversity but do not offer control over streamflow properties. Stochastic generators cannot control streamflow properties, and optimization-based frameworks that do so are computationally expensive. This study introduces a computationally efficient optimization-based framework for generating statistically credible synthetic streamflow scenarios that match target monthly mean and standard deviation at multiple inflow locations. By optimizing the parameters of a widely used streamflow generator, the framework: (a) directly targets streamflow magnitude, variability, and seasonality, (b) enforces physical and mathematical feasibility of targets scenarios, (c) uniformly covers the exposure space, avoiding redundancy and ensuring no plausible condition is overlooked. Monthly sequences are disaggregated to daily using k-nearest neighbors method. The framework is demonstrated in the Winnipeg River Basin, Canada, generating synthetic inflows across 14 locations under historical and future GCM-driven conditions. Results show that optimization improves matching of target statistics and enables uniform exposure space sampling, while preserving or modifying autocorrelation and cross-correlation structures depending on target seasonality. Beyond offering a computationally efficient alternative to prior optimization-based frameworks, the approach complements top-down method: while GCMs provide physically plausible futures, the proposed framework enables transparent, baseline-consistent, and broader exploration of uncertainty informed by top-down insights, supporting stress testing and risk-informed decision-making under deep inflow-condition uncertainty.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"427 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147755153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydraulic Effects of Channel Realignment and Floodplain Reconnection in a Headwater Stream","authors":"M. T. Perks, N. Barber, G. L. Heritage, J. Knaggs, S. M. Reaney, H. Runeckles, N. D. Williams, D. Wishart, R. Powell","doi":"10.1029/2025wr041858","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr041858","url":null,"abstract":"Channel realignment and floodplain reconnection are increasingly used as nature-based solutions for flood management, yet their hydraulic effects remain poorly quantified in field settings of moderate-gradient, small order channels. This study examines the impact of such interventions on hydraulic response in a headwater catchment, Goldrill Beck, Cumbria, UK. Here, 1-km of a historically engineered and confined single-thread channel was restored to a more geomorphically complex configuration. Using a combination of hydrological observational data spanning pre- and post-realignment conditions and two-dimensional hydraulic modeling (LISFLOOD-FP), changes in key hydraulic metrics (flood wave transmission and celerity, reach-scale hysteresis, and peak flow attenuation) were assessed. Results indicate that realignment increased flood wave travel time (median transmission time increased from 15 to 40 min), reduced flow celerity, and altered hysteresis patterns, suggesting enhanced in-channel and floodplain storage under low to intermediate flow conditions. Realignment also improved the diversity of hydraulic biotopes and aquatic habitats, whilst increasing the wetted area by 47%. However, during more extreme events, transmission times decreased, and peak discharge was slightly elevated, highlighting limitations in attenuation potential for large floods. The findings contribute to the evidence base for renaturalization of watercourses for flood mitigation and habitat enhancement, emphasizing the role of valley morphometry, channel morphology, and floodplain roughness in influencing hydraulic responses.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147755158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Numerical Study of the Effects of Density Contrast on Flow, Turbulence, and Mixing at the Negro/Solimoes Confluence, Brazil","authors":"C. Jiang, M. Koken, G. Constantinescu, C. Gualtieri","doi":"10.1029/2025wr041934","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr041934","url":null,"abstract":"Eddy-resolving numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of density contrast between the confluent flows on hydrodynamics, coherent structures and mixing downstream of the confluence between the Negro and Solimões Rivers, Brazil, which is characterized by both a large discharge (&gt;100,000 m³/s) and a large aspect-ratio (<i>W</i>/<i>D</i> &gt; 100). The base case corresponds to real high-flow conditions observed at the confluence for which the density of the Negro River was smaller than that of the Solimões River and the ratio between the discharges in the Negro and Solimões rivers was QR = <i>Q</i>₁/<i>Q</i>₂ = 0.32. To be able to understand and isolate density contrast effects, numerical experiments are also conducted assuming negligible density effects between the incoming flows (i.e., with Richardson number Ri = 0) and with the densities reversed in the incoming streams. Despite the small density difference and very large discharges, a well-defined near-bed intrusion of heavier colder fluid develops in the Ri &gt; 0 simulations and strongly affects the tilting of the mixing interface (MI) compared to the Ri = 0 case where despite the absence of streamwise-oriented vortical cells, the MI is strongly tilted toward the Negro River side of the main confluence channel. Moreover, the presence/absence of density contrast between the incoming streams affects the position, size and sense of rotation of the main helical cells of crossflow motions and the coherence of the vertical MI vortices.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147755154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nonlinear Responses Between Watershed Hydrological Functional Connectivity and Rainfall-Runoff-Sediment","authors":"Yaojun Liu, Yu Long, Ming Lei, Taoxi Li, Qian Zeng, Yichen Yin, Gang Sun, Yichun Ma, Peiyao Xiao, Jiale Ye, Zhongwu Li","doi":"10.1029/2025wr042706","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr042706","url":null,"abstract":"Hydrological connectivity plays a critical role in influencing the runoff-sediment process within watershed, while its behavior under varying rainfall conditions remains unclear. In this study, total 221 rainfall events were classified into three types: I (long-duration light rainfall), II (short-duration storm rainfall), and III (long-duration heavy rainfall). The end-member mixing analysis was employed to assess the characteristics of runoff sources the hydrological functional connectivity index (IHC) of rainfall event was calculated. The results indicated that, type III generated significantly greater runoff and sediment yields compared to II and I. Regarding the composition of runoff sources, pre-event water was the dominant contributor for types I and II, accounting for 73.09% and 71.84%, respectively. Conversely, event water constituted the primary source for III, contributing 54.33%. The IHC for type III was 1.19, which was notably higher than that of II and I. There were significant nonlinear relationship and threshold (IHC_mean = 0.53) between IHC and the runoff-sediment, which could be used to identify key areas for soil and water conservation and to implement timely management measures. When the IHC_mean was below 0.53, events were mainly type I and II, governed by a low-connectivity pattern dominated by subsurface flow, exhibiting limited sediment transport capacity. Conversely, events were mainly type III, governed by a high-connectivity pattern driven by the coupling of surface and subsurface flows, resulting in stronger sediment transport potential. These results offer novel insights into watershed soil loss managing strategies through the lens of hydrological connectivity.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"141 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147755157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PULSE: A Novel Potential Underlying Water Use Efficiency-Based Method for Latent Heat and Surface Energy Imbalance Correction","authors":"Pushpendra Raghav, Mukesh Kumar","doi":"10.1029/2025wr042766","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr042766","url":null,"abstract":"Evapotranspiration (ET) plays a critical role in water and energy budgets over the land surface. Eddy Covariance (EC) is the most widely used technique to measure ET at ecosystem scale, providing insights into land–atmosphere interactions and serving as a benchmark for Earth System Models (ESMs). However, ET measurements at EC flux sites suffer from a fundamental limitation: the persistent issue of surface energy budget non-closure. It is essential to correct EC-measured ET fluxes for energy imbalance, both for improved system understanding and diagnostic benchmarking. Here, we introduce PULSE, a new correction approach based on the concept of potential underlying water use efficiency. We implement the method at &gt;250 flux sites globally, and evaluate its performance using a data-driven framework and an ecosystem conductance model. We also benchmark PULSE against existing energy closure correction methods, including the Bowen ratio-based flux correction method (OFC) and Available Energy-based correction (AEC) method. Our results demonstrate that PULSE not only identifies and corrects ET fluxes for energy imbalance but also produces more physically consistent estimates. PULSE is simple, robust, avoids arbitrary assumptions such as Bowen ratio constancy, and is broadly applicable across diverse EC sites.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"147 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147755155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Suspended Sediment Pulses and Sediment-Discharge Relationships in Earthquake-Affected Rivers Along the Tibetan Plateau Margins","authors":"Ya Zhou, Lei Huang, Rui Wang, Maoyin Hu, Vijay P. Singh, Hongwei Fang","doi":"10.1029/2025wr042351","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr042351","url":null,"abstract":"Large earthquakes along the Tibetan Plateau margins trigger widespread landslides that deliver substantial sediment to river networks, driving intense and long-lasting landscape change. However, identifying and modeling the fluvial sediment responses to large earthquakes remains challenging. In this study, we develop an earthquake-affected sediment transport model that couples fluvial transport with time-varying sediment supply, using multi-year time series of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and flow discharge (<i>Q</i>) from three rivers affected by the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan, 2017 Mw 6.4 Nyingchi, and 2017 Mw 6.5 Jiuzhaigou earthquakes. The model represents enhanced sediment supply by seismic landslide inputs and rainfall-driven mass movement, and fluvial transport by <i>Q</i>-based transport capacity and channel sediment scouring and deposition. The results show that incorporating dynamic supply terms is indispensable to reproduce post-seismic SSC pulses and complex SSC–<i>Q</i> hysteresis. The proposed model explains 78%–90% of long-term SSC variance and outperforms traditional rating-curve approaches by 7%–74%. The model framework may have particular relevance for understanding the role of large, long-lasting seismic landslides in regulating post-seismic sediment regimes for other earthquake-affected regions.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147739554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Runoff Capture by Sea Level Rise Alters the Area, Geometry, and Quantity of Coastal Catchments","authors":"James W. Heiss, Christopher J. Russoniello","doi":"10.1029/2025wr042166","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr042166","url":null,"abstract":"Coastal catchments, which drain directly to the sea, mediate material fluxes across the land-sea interface and support species diversity and economic activity in coastal zones. Here, we explore the evolution of coastal catchment divides at the local to global scale from 2000 to 2120 under multiple SLR scenarios using state-of-the-art digital terrain and hydrographic models. We show that coastal catchment area loss due to inundation is partly counteracted by inland migration of coastal catchment boundaries and new coastal catchment formation. Encroaching shorelines intercept runoff from interior watersheds. Runoff within these shoreline runoff capture windows bypasses stream networks and discharges directly to the ocean, resulting in net coastal catchment growth along 14% of the world coastline within a century, even under high sea level rise scenarios. The rate of coastal catchment expansion and formation by shoreline runoff capture is nearly one-half the rate of coastal catchment area loss from inundation by sea level rise, indicating that shoreline runoff capture plays a key role in coastal catchment evolution. Contrary to the notion of static watershed divides, these results reveal a counterintuitive tendency of geologically rapid expansion and reshaping of coastal catchments in future decades. The findings have important implications for watershed and coastal water quality management, as the dynamic response of coastal drainage boundaries occurs on timescales relevant to coastal planning and decision making.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147751626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deep Learning Reveals the Role of Climate Drivers in Shaping Hydrological Droughts","authors":"Kumar Puran Tripathy, Ashok Mishra","doi":"10.1029/2025wr042855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr042855","url":null,"abstract":"Hydrological drought (HD), marked by prolonged low streamflow and depleted water storage, presents major challenges for water resource management. We introduce an interpretable deep learning framework that combines an attention-augmented Long Short-Term Memory network with Expected Gradients analysis to identify key drivers of HD across the contiguous United States (CONUS). Leveraging an 83-year (1940–2022) ERA5 data set, the model incorporates monthly precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, temperature, surface pressure, soil moisture, snow depth, and the Niño-3.4 index to predict HD intensity in 547 minimally disturbed catchments from the GAGES-II database. Our analysis reveals three distinct HD mechanisms: (a) rapid-onset droughts driven by short-term hydroclimatic memory, (b) gradually evolving droughts shaped by cumulative hydroclimatic stress, and (c) climatically reinforced droughts, predominantly in arid regions, where large-scale teleconnections such as La Niña amplify moisture deficits. Spatial patterns indicate that short-term memory–driven HDs dominate humid eastern US catchments, gradually evolving HDs are prevalent in the central Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, and climatically reinforced HDs are most frequent in the arid Southwest. Arid catchments are strongly affected by ENSO-driven precipitation deficits; semi-arid zones experience multiple drivers, including temperature anomalies and persistent precipitation deficits; subhumid catchments are primarily controlled by precipitation deficits and SM depletion; and humid regions face abrupt drought onset from sharp precipitation declines, often compounded by snowmelt timing in snow-dominated areas. This framework offers a robust foundation for seasonal drought forecasting and adaptive water management strategies.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147744097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identifying Priority Vegetation Zones for Floodplain Wetland Management Based on Hydrological and Meteorological Drivers","authors":"Yang Liu, Zhonghua Yang, Yao Yue, Jianhua Liu","doi":"10.1029/2025wr040279","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr040279","url":null,"abstract":"While hydrology and meteorology influence floodplain wetland vegetation, their relative contributions and spatial patterns remain poorly quantified. Hydrological conditions, in particular, can be altered by anthropogenic activities such as damming. To improve the understanding of potential for human control of floodplain wetland vegetation, this study quantitatively assessed the drivers of vegetation dynamics in the Poyang Lake wetland from 2000 to 2023 through trend analysis and statistical modeling. Significantly increasing trends are detected in 58% of the wetland. Major abrupt changes in vegetation trends occurred in 2006, 2010 and 2019, coinciding with extreme hydrological and meteorological events. Hydrological factors are the primary drivers (61%), with average water level emerging as the most critical factor, indicating substantial potential for human regulation. Spatially, northern and central regions are more prone to hydrological regulation, while higher-elevation boundaries and eastern/southwestern regions respond primarily to meteorological factors. Scenario analysis of a proposed water conservancy project reveals that water level regulation produces distinct vegetation responses: lower-elevation areas experience suppression from prolonged inundation, while intermediate zones benefit from extended water availability. These findings provide a scientific basis for adaptive conservation that prioritizes hydrological interventions in hydrologically-controllable zones while maintaining natural processes in climate-sensitive regions.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147753448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}