EXPECTED CHANGES IN SOIL WATER AVAILABILITY IN ARGENTINA
Alfredo J. Costa, Marcela H. Gonzalez, Mario N. Nuñez
Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera (CONICET/UBA)
Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos (FCEN-UBA)
Instituto Antartico Argentino (IAA/DNA)
Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina Ciencia y Tecnica (UCACyT)
Manuscript received on 16 April 2010, in final form on 22 May 2012
ABSTRACT
This work aims to analyze the possible regional soil water availability between 1981-1990 and 2081-2090 for southern South America. Climate change simulations of Southern South America climate were performed using the regional climate model MM5. The simulations cover a 10-year period representing present-day climate (1981-1990) and two future scenarios for the A2 and B2 greenhouse gases emission scenarios (IPCC 2001) for the period 2081-2090. Simulations of temperature, precipitation were used to estimate soil water availability. Results for 2081-90 show lower soil water availability all over subtropical Argentina. This effect is especially relevant in the northwestern region, mainly in spring and summer. The excess are mainly reduced in summer in the northeastern region.