Workshop report now available
On November 15–16, 2021, and January 19, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research (DOE BER) program hosted a two-part virtual workshop on mountain hydroclimates. The Understanding and Predictability of Integrated Mountain Hydroclimate Workshop Report, published in April 2023, is available now on the DOE BER website.
Scientists affiliated with DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility and Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program were prominent among the workshop’s officers and presenters:
- Kristen Rasmussen, an ASR principal investigator (PI), served as a workshop co-chair and co-led a session on human-atmosphere systems.
- L. Ruby Leung, who led a 2015 ARM field campaign focused on atmospheric rivers in Northern California, served as a workshop co-chair.
- Adam Varble, PI of ARM’s 2018–2019 Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) campaign in Argentina’s Sierras de Córdoba mountain range, co-led a session on atmospheric systems.
- ASR PI Andreas Prein co-led sessions on atmosphere-terrestrial-human system interactions and integrated research activities.
- Daniel Feldman, PI of ARM’s recently concluded Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (SAIL) campaign in the Colorado Rockies, presented during a session on atmosphere-terrestrial-human system interactions.
Several other ARM users and ASR scientists participated in the workshop.
The workshop defined integrated mountain hydroclimate as “the collection of system components and complex processes in mountainous regions—spanning the deep subsurface, surface, and atmosphere—that interact at multiple spatiotemporal scales in response to natural and human influences.”
A main reason for the workshop was growing concern about mountain systems’ vulnerability to climate change and human perturbations, which intersects with our reliance on them for water supply. The workshop was motivated by the pressing need to improve understanding of integrated mountain hydroclimate systems and their feedbacks and impacts on humans across scales. Gaps in mountain hydroclimate understanding, observations, and modeling currently hold back credible projections of future changes.
The workshop sought to inform and catalyze the BER Earth and Environmental Systems Sciences Division’s growing interest in enhancing predictive understanding of these mountain systems. Specifically, the workshop identified:
- knowledge gaps
- observational and modeling challenges
- short-term (1-3 years) and long-term (10 years) research opportunities
- strategies to foster collaboration and coordination.
The comprehensive spectrum of topics covered included atmosphere-surface interactions, terrestrial processes, surface and subsurface hydrology, biogeochemical cycling, and risks to water supply.
While society grapples with hydroclimate issues such as reduced snowpack, the long-term viability of the Colorado River water supply, and drought-induced depletion of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, the results of this timely workshop, much of it underpinned by ARM- and ASR-supported research, have must-read relevance. This seminal report provides a blueprint for future targeted research and efficient collaboration, both necessary to fill in the blanks in this vital area of research.