SpringerLink
Log in

Trends in Monthly Natural Streamflow in Romania and Linkages to Atmospheric Circulation in the North Atlantic

  • Published:
Water Resources Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Natural and reconstructed monthly streamflow records from 172 river basins in Romania (143 with full records and 29 with less than 10 % missing values) have been analyzed for trends with the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test for the period 1956–2005. The statistical significance of trends was tested for each station on a monthly basis. Changes in the streamflow regime in Romania are demonstrated. The monthly flow presents upward trends from August to January, and predominantly downward trends from February to June. The most important changes are the increasing streamflow trends from September till November, which are well explained by the increase in autumn precipitation. The annual streamflow shows a dependence on latitude, with increasing trends in the northern part, and decreasing in the south. Strong negative correlations between the North Atlantic Oscillation and the mean annual streamflow have been found in western and southern Romania, highlighting the influence of the large-scale atmospheric circulation on Romanian annual streamflow in these areas, as well as the important orographic role of the Carpathian Mountains.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Canada)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Balteanu D, Chendes V, Sima M, Enciu P (2010) A country-wide spatial assessment of landslide susceptibility in Romania. Geomorphology 124(3–4):102–112. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.03.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bednorz E (2004) Snow cover in Eastern Europe in relation to temperature, precipitation and circulation. Int J Climatol 24:591–601. doi:10.1002/joc.1014

  • Beniston M (1997) Variations of snow depth and duration in the Swiss Alps over the last 50 years: links to changes in large-scale climatic forcings. Climatic Change 36(3–4): 281–300

  • Birsan MV, Marin L, Dumitrescu A (2013) Seasonal changes in wind speed in Romania. Rom Rep Phys 65(4):1479–1484

  • Birsan MV, Dumitrescu A (2014) Snow variability in Romania in connection to large-scale atmospheric circulation. Int J Climatol 34:134–144. doi:10.1002/joc.3671

    Google Scholar 

  • Birsan MV, Zaharia L, Chendes V, Branescu E (2012) Recent trends in streamflow in Romania (1976–2005). Rom Rep Phys 64(1):275–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Birsan MV, Zaharia L, Chendes V, Branescu E (2014a) Seasonal trends in Romanian streamflow. Hydrol Process 28(15):4496–4505. doi:10.1002/hyp.9961

    Google Scholar 

  • Birsan MV, Dumitrescu A, Micu DM, Cheval S (2014b) Changes in annual temperature extremes in the Carpathians since AD 1961. Nat Hazards 74(3):1899–1910. doi:10.1007/s11069-014-1290-5

  • Bojariu R, Dinu M (2007) Snow variability and change in Romania. In: Strasser U, Vogel M (eds) Proceedings of the Alpine Snow Workshop, Munich, 5–6 October 2006. Berchtesgaden National Park Report. 52: 64–68

  • Bojariu R, Gimeno L (2003) Predictability and numerical modelling of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Earth-Sci Rev 63:145–168. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(03)00036-9

    Google Scholar 

  • Bojariu R, Paliu D (2001) North Atlantic Oscillation projection on Romanian climate fluctuations in the cold season. In: Brunet M, Lopez D (eds) Detecting and Modelling Regional Climate Change and Associated Impacts. Springer, Berlin-Heidelberg, pp 345–356

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Busuioc A, von Storch H (1996) Changes in the winter precipitation in Romania and its relation to the large-scale circulation. Tellus A 48(4):538–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Busuioc A, Caian M, Cheval S, Bojariu R, Boroneant C, Baciu M, Dumitrescu A (2010) Climate variability and change in Romania (in Romanian). Pro Universitaria, Bucharest

    Google Scholar 

  • Busuioc A, Dobrinescu A, Birsan MV, Dumitrescu A, Orzan A (2014) Spatial and temporal variability of climate extremes in Romania and associated large-scale mechanisms. Int J Climatol. doi:10.1002/joc.4054

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheval S, Birsan MV, Dumitrescu A (2014a) Climate variability in the Carpathian Mountains Region over 1961–2010. Global Planet Change 118:85–96. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.04.005

  • Cheval S, Busuioc A, Dumitrescu A, Birsan MV (2014b) Spatiotemporal variability of meteorological drought in Romania using the standardized precipitation index (SPI). Clim Res 60:235–248. doi:10.3354/cr01245

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulibaly P, Burn DH (2005) Spatial and temporal variability of Canadian seasonal streamflows. J Clim 18:192–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Croitoru AE, Minea I (2014) The impact of climate changes on rivers discharge in Eastern Romania. Theor Appl Climatol. doi:10.1007/s00704-014-1194-z

    Google Scholar 

  • Croitoru AE, Piticar A, Dragota CS, Burada DC (2013) Recent changes in reference evapotranspiration in Romania. Glob Planet Chang 111:127–132. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2013.09.004

    Google Scholar 

  • Dumitrescu A, Bojariu R, Birsan MV, Marin L, Manea A (2014) Recent climatic changes in Romania from observational data (1961–2013). Theor Appl Climatol. doi:10.1007/s00704-014-1290-0

    Google Scholar 

  • EEA (2008) Impacts of Europe’s changing climate - 2008 indicator-based assessment. Report N°4/2008

  • Giuntoli I, Renard B, Vidal JP, Bard A (2013) Low flows in France and their relationship to large-scale climate indices. J Hydrol 482:105–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Helsel DR, Hirsch RM (1992) Statistical Methods in Water Resources. Elsevier

  • Hurrell J and the National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff (eds) (2013) The Climate Data Guide: Hurrell North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index (PC-based). Last modified 08 Oct 2013. Retrieved from https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/hurrell-north-atlantic-oscillation-nao-index-pc-based

  • Ionita M (2015) Interannual summer streamflow variability over Romania and its connection to large-scale atmospheric circulation. Int J Climatol. doi:10.1002/joc.4278

  • Ionita M, Chelcea S, Rimbu N, Adler MJ (2014) Spatial and temporal variability of winter streamflow over Romania and its relationship to large-scale atmospheric circulation. J Hydrol 519:1339–1349. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.09.024

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendall MG (1975) Rank Correlation Methods. Charles Griffin, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingston DG, Lawler DM, McGregor GR (2006) Linkages between atmospheric circulation, climate and streamflow in the northern North Atlantic: research prospects. Prog Phys Geogr 30(2):143–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann HB (1945) Nonparametric tests against trend. Econometrica 13:245–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marin L, Birsan MV, Bojariu R, Dumitrescu A, Micu DM, Manea A (2014) An overview of annual climatic changes in Romania: trends in air temperature, precipitation, sunshine hours, cloud cover, relative humidity and wind speed during the 1961–2013 period. Carpath J Earth Environ 9(4):253–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Micu D (2009) Snow pack in the Romanian Carpathians under changing climatic conditions. Meteorol Atmos Phys 105:1–16. doi:10.1007/s00703-009-0035-6

    Google Scholar 

  • Nune R, George BA, Teluguntla P, Western AW (2014) Relating trends in streamflow to anthropogenic influences: a case study of himayat sagar catchment, India. Water Resour Manag 28(6):1579–1595. doi:10.1007/s11269-014-0567-5

    Google Scholar 

  • Rimbu N, Boroneant C, Buta C, Dima M (2002) Decadal variability of the Danube river flow in the lower basin and its relation with the North Atlantic Oscillation. Int J Climatol 22:1169–1179

    Google Scholar 

  • Rimbu N, Dima M, Lohmann G, Stefan S (2004) Impacts of the North Atlantic Oscillation and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation on Danube river flow variability. Geophys Res Lett 31:2–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Rimbu N, Stefan S, Necula C (2014) The variability of winter high temperature extremes in Romania and its relationship with large- scale atmospheric circulation. Theor Appl Climatol. doi:10.1007/s00704-014-1219-7

  • Salas JD (1993) Analysis and modeling of hydrologic time series. Chapter 19. In: Maidment DR (ed) Handbook of Hydrology, McGraw Hill

  • Stahl K, Hisdal H, Hannaford J, Tallaksen LM, van Lanen HAJ, Sauquet E, Demuth S, Fendekova M, Jódar J (2010) Streamflow trends in Europe: evidence from a dataset of near-natural catchments. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 14:2367–2382. doi:10.5194/hess-14-2367-2010

    Google Scholar 

  • Stahl K, Tallaksen LM, Hannaford J, van Lanen HAJ (2012) Filling the white space on maps of European runoff trends: estimates from a multi-model ensemble. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 16:2035–2047. doi:10.5194/hess-16-2035-2012

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanescu VA, Ungureanu V (1997) Hydrological regimes in the FRIEND-AMHY area: space variability and stability. In: FRIEND 97 – Regional Hydrology: Concepts and Models for Sustainable Water Resource Management. IAHS Publ. n° 246, pp 67–75

  • Stefan S, Ghioca M, Rimbu N, Boroneant C (2004) Study of meteorological and hydrological drought in southern Romania from observational data. Int J Climatol 24(7):871–881

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabari H, Abghari H, Hosseinzadeh Talaee P (2013) Impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation on streamflow in Western Iran. Hydrol Process. doi:10.1002/hyp.9960

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomozeiu R, Busuioc A, Stefan S (2002) Changes in seasonal mean of maximum air temperature in Romania and their connection with large-scale circulation. Int J Climatol 22(10):1181–1196

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomozeiu R, Stefan S, Busuioc A (2005) Winter precipitation variability and large-scale circulation patterns in Romania. Theor Appl Climatol 79:239–254. doi:10.1007/s00704-004-0082-3

    Google Scholar 

  • Trigo RM, Pozo-Vázquez D, Osborn TJ, Castro-Díez Y, Gámiz-Fortis S, Esteban-Parra MJ (2004) North Atlantic oscillation influence on precipitation, river flow and water resources in the Iberian Peninsula. Int J Climatol 24:925–944

    Google Scholar 

  • Vicente-Serrano S, Cuadrat J (2007) North Atlantic oscillation control of droughts in north-east Spain: evaluation since 1600 AD. Clim Chang 85:357–379

    Google Scholar 

  • Viviroli D, Archer DR, Buytaert W, Fowler HJ, Greenwood GB, Hamlet AF, Huang Y, Koboltschnig G, Litaor MI, López-Moreno JI, Lorentz S, Schädler B, Schreier H, Schwaiger K, Vuille M, Woods R (2011) Climate change and mountain water resources: overview and recommendations for research, management and policy. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 15:471–504. doi:10.5194/hess-15-471-2011

    Google Scholar 

  • Wanner H, Brönnimann S, Casty C, Gyalistras D, Luterbacher J, Schmutz C, Stephenson DB, Xoplaki E (2001) North Atlantic Oscillation – concepts and studies. Surv Geophys 22:321–382. doi:10.1023/A:1014217317898

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuo D, Xu Z, Wu W, Zhao J, Zhao F (2014) Identification of streamflow response to climate change and human activities in the Wei River Basin, China. Water Resour Manag 28(3):833–851. doi:10.1007/s11269-014-0519-0

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Mrs. ing. Emilia Branescu from the Database and GIS Department of INHGA is kindly acknowledged for her valuable help on streamflow data. INHGA is Romania’s representative at WMO for the Hydrology domain. The comments and suggestions of two anonymous referees led to an improvement of the original manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Meteo Romania (National Meteorological Administration), Sos. Bucuresti-Ploiesti 97, 013686, Bucharest, Romania

    Marius-Victor Birsan

Authors
  1. Marius-Victor Birsan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marius-Victor Birsan.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Table 1. supplementary material

(PDF 20 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Birsan, MV. Trends in Monthly Natural Streamflow in Romania and Linkages to Atmospheric Circulation in the North Atlantic. Water Resour Manage 29, 3305–3313 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-015-0999-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-015-0999-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation