Abstract
There is convincing evidence that land use/land cover (LULC) change has contributed to increasing discharge in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) but key details remain unresolved. In this study, we extend our previous work (Zhang and Schilling, 2006) to quantify how much of the increasing discharge was due to LULC change. We examined daily streamflow for the 1890-2003 period from the US Geological Survey stream gage at Keokuk, Iowa and compiled county agricultural statistics for soybean production in the watershed above the gage to quantify how much of the change in the relation of discharge to precipitation was due to increased soybean cultivation. By allowing the slope of the discharge-precipitation relationship to be a function of the area of the UMRB planted in soybean, we determined that increasing soybean acreage increased the slope of qt- Pt by 32%. With row crop expansion anticipated from ethanol production, increasing agricultural production is expected to result in increased water yield and nutrient export. Results provide important benchmarks for assessing the significance of LULC change on the regional water and climate patterns in the UMRB.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 343-345 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Journal of Hydrology |
| Volume | 387 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 15 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Agricultural hydrology
- Land cover land use change
- Mississippi River
- Row crop
- Streamflow
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Water Science and Technology
Cite this
Quantifying the effect of land use land cover change on increasing discharge in the Upper Mississippi River. / Schilling, Keith E.; Chan, Kung Sik; Liu, Hai; Zhang, You Kuan.
In: Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 387, No. 3-4, 15.06.2010, p. 343-345.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantifying the effect of land use land cover change on increasing discharge in the Upper Mississippi River
AU - Schilling, Keith E.
AU - Chan, Kung Sik
AU - Liu, Hai
AU - Zhang, You Kuan
PY - 2010/6/15
Y1 - 2010/6/15
N2 - There is convincing evidence that land use/land cover (LULC) change has contributed to increasing discharge in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) but key details remain unresolved. In this study, we extend our previous work (Zhang and Schilling, 2006) to quantify how much of the increasing discharge was due to LULC change. We examined daily streamflow for the 1890-2003 period from the US Geological Survey stream gage at Keokuk, Iowa and compiled county agricultural statistics for soybean production in the watershed above the gage to quantify how much of the change in the relation of discharge to precipitation was due to increased soybean cultivation. By allowing the slope of the discharge-precipitation relationship to be a function of the area of the UMRB planted in soybean, we determined that increasing soybean acreage increased the slope of qt- Pt by 32%. With row crop expansion anticipated from ethanol production, increasing agricultural production is expected to result in increased water yield and nutrient export. Results provide important benchmarks for assessing the significance of LULC change on the regional water and climate patterns in the UMRB.
AB - There is convincing evidence that land use/land cover (LULC) change has contributed to increasing discharge in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) but key details remain unresolved. In this study, we extend our previous work (Zhang and Schilling, 2006) to quantify how much of the increasing discharge was due to LULC change. We examined daily streamflow for the 1890-2003 period from the US Geological Survey stream gage at Keokuk, Iowa and compiled county agricultural statistics for soybean production in the watershed above the gage to quantify how much of the change in the relation of discharge to precipitation was due to increased soybean cultivation. By allowing the slope of the discharge-precipitation relationship to be a function of the area of the UMRB planted in soybean, we determined that increasing soybean acreage increased the slope of qt- Pt by 32%. With row crop expansion anticipated from ethanol production, increasing agricultural production is expected to result in increased water yield and nutrient export. Results provide important benchmarks for assessing the significance of LULC change on the regional water and climate patterns in the UMRB.
KW - Agricultural hydrology
KW - Land cover land use change
KW - Mississippi River
KW - Row crop
KW - Streamflow
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77958458240&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77958458240&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.04.019
DO - 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.04.019
M3 - Article
VL - 387
SP - 343
EP - 345
JO - Journal of Hydrology
JF - Journal of Hydrology
SN - 0022-1694
IS - 3-4
ER -