Hydrologic Implications of Different Large-Scale Meteorological Model Forcing Datasets in Mountainous Regions

Process-based hydrologic models require extensive meteorological forcing data, including data on precipitation, temperature, shortwave and longwave radiation, humidity, surface pressure, and wind speed. Observations of precipitation and temperature are more common than other variables; consequently, radiation, humidity, pressure, and wind speed often must be either estimated using empirical relationships with precipitation and temperature or obtained from numerical weather prediction models. This study examines two climate forcing datasets using different methods to estimate radiative energy fluxes and humidity and investigates the effects of the choice of forcing data on hydrologic simulations over the mountainous upper Colorado River basin (293 472 km(2)). Comparisons of model simulations forced by two climate datasets illustrate that the methods used to estimate shortwave radiation impact hydrologic states and fluxes, particularly at high elevation (e.g., ~20% difference in runoff above 3000-m elevation), substantially altering the timing of snowmelt and runoff (~20 days difference) and the partitioning of precipitation between evapotranspiration and runoff. The different forcing datasets also exhibit differences in hydrologic sensitivity to interannual temperature at high elevation. The results suggest that the choice of forcing dataset is an important consideration when conducting climate impact assessments and the subsequent applications of these assessments for water resources planning and management.