The Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Region and Implications for the Water Budget of the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Abstract The hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean region is analyzed focusing on climatology and interannual to interdecadal variability, in particular long-term changes related to the well-established North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) teleconnection. Recent atmospheric reanalyses and observational datasets are used: precipitation, evaporation, and moisture flux from 50 yr of NCEP's and 15 yr of ECMWF's reanalyses; precipitation from the Climate Prediction Center Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) and the East Anglia University Climate Research Unit (CRU) datasets; and evaporation from the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee (UWM) Comprehensive Ocean–Atmosphere Data Set (COADS). A budget analysis is performed to study contributions to the freshwater flux into the Mediterranean Sea, including atmospheric as well as river discharge inputs. The total river discharge is derived using historical time series from Mediterranean Hydrological Cycle Observing System (MED-HYCOS) and Global Runoff Data Center (G...