Climatic Forcing of the Andean Water Cycle

Overview

While we are well aware of the loss of tropical glacier mass, a lack of observational data and process uncertainties limit our ability to fully comprehend the climate forcing and impact to the full hydrological cycle. Major limitations include a lack of direct humidity measurements or locally verified estimations of evapotranspiration. Our research uses both observational and modeling approaches to address these problems. In cooperation with a local branch office of the Peruvian Natural Resource Institution (INRENA), we have developed an embedded network of low-cost, durable, and spatially distributed micro-logging instruments and have maintained observations in the Llanganuco valley of the Cordillera Blanca since 2004. We are also developing watershed models with more accurate parameters to better understand the diurnal to seasonal hydrological processes and fluxes.