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Atmospheric water balance of the Upper Colorado River Basin

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dc.contributor.authorRasmussen, James L., author
dc.contributor.authorRiehl, Herbert, advisor
dc.contributor.authorMarlatt, William E., committee member
dc.contributor.authorDils, Robert E., committee member
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-27T21:21:01Z
dc.date.available2023-01-27T21:21:01Z
dc.date.issued1968-01
dc.description.abstractThe atmospheric branch of the hydrologic cycle is investigated to determine the wintertime accumulation of water over the Upper Colorado River Basin. The parameter precipitation minus evaporation is computed as a residual from the atmospheric water balance equation. The study covers the seven winter seasons 1957 through 1963. The results show that the periods of evaporation as well as the periods of heavy precipitation determine the seasonal water balance of the basin. The seasonal course of daily evaporation rate is determined. The evaporation rate varies by a factor of two over the winter season. Further, a strong decay with time of evaporation rate is observed during the early and mid-winter months. A less pronounced decay is obtained during March and April. The basin precipitation data obtained from the atmospheric water balance computation are compared to a basin precipitation estimate independently obtained using data from fourteen rain gauges. The conclusion is reached that the gauge data underestimate the basin precipitation by about fifty per cent. Much of this bias is shown to be due to the lack of sampling over the high elevation regions where the precipitation is greatest. The wintertime accumulation of water over the basin is shown to be highly related to the April through March runoff from the basin. The relationship shows that the accumulated water is apportioned by a ratio of one to four between runoff and evaporation respectively. Finally the application of the atmospheric water balance computation to the problem of runoff forecasting is discussed.
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/236189
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relationCatalog record number (MMS ID): 991004448739703361
dc.relationGB665.R37
dc.relation.ispartof1950-1979
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subject.lcshRunoff -- Colorado River Watershed (Colo.-Mexico)
dc.titleAtmospheric water balance of the Upper Colorado River Basin
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineAtmospheric Science
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

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