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Trends in soil moisture content and water deficits in Argentina and the role of climate contribution

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Abstract

Soil moisture and meteorological variables are strongly related to each other through different fluxes, constituting a complex network of interactions and feedbacks. Therefore, a better understanding of the temporal and spatial variability of soil moisture and its relationship with meteorological variables acquires a particular interest, especially under climate change conditions. Based on the gap in studies addressing this topic in Argentina, this study aimed to evaluate soil moisture content (SMC) and water deficit (DEF) annual trends between 1990 and 2019 and the contribution of different meteorological variables to those trends. To this end, simulations of SMCand DEF were performed by using a hydrological balance model, driven by meteorological observations of 51 sites distributed throughout Argentina. Since precipitation (PP) and potential evapotranspiration (PE) modulate the simulated soil moisture, annual PP and PE trends were also evaluated to assess the importance of these variables on the observed soil moisture changes. Furthermore, the regional contribution of the meteorological variables to the PE trends was assessed by means of a detrended method. Trends detected in SMC and DEF suggest an increase towards drier conditions in some areas of the country. Changes in PE were the main responsible for changes in SMC and DEF and were more relevant than changes in PP. In sites located in the center and east of the country, maximum and mean temperatures had a greater impact on PE. In sites located in the west of the country, changes in PE were mainly controlled by increases in wind speed and decreases in humidity. Examining the spatio-temporal variability of soil water and the meteorological variables that influence soil water is indispensable to assess climate-induced changes and propose feasible climate change adaptation strategies.

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Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

All the analyses of data carried out in this study were developed by using the Rstudio software. The wql library was used for the statistical analysis of trends. The analysis codes are available on request.

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Funding

This work was carried out with the aid of the following projects: Universidad de Buenos Aires UBACyT 20020190200237BA; and Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT) PICT 2019–03639.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Agronomía, Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, Cátedra de Climatología y Fenología Agrícolas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Av. San Martín 4453, C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    M. Peretti & M. E. Fernández Long

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) - Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    P. C. Spennemann

  3. Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    P. C. Spennemann

Authors
  1. M. Peretti
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  2. P. C. Spennemann
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  3. M. E. Fernández Long
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design and to the final version of this manuscript. Data processing and analysis were performed by M. Peretti. The first draft of the manuscript was written by M. Peretti, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. The supervision of the findings of this research was done by M. E. Fernandez Long. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. Peretti.

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Appendix

Appendix

Tables

Table 3 Meteorological stations used in this study. Name, latitude, longitude, and height are detailed
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3 and

Table 4 Slopes of the annual trend of water deficits (DEF) (mm year−1), soil moisture content (SMC) (mm year−1), potential evapotranspiration (PE) (mm year−1), precipitation (PP) (mm year−1), mean temperature (meanT) (°C year−1), maximum temperature (maxT) (°C year−1), minimum temperature (minT) (°C year−1), solar radiation (Rs) (MJ m−2 year−1), actual vapor pressure (Ea) (hPa year−1), and wind (km h−1 year−1). Slopes marked with * indicate they were statistically significant
Full size table

4.

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Peretti, M., Spennemann, P.C. & Long, M.E.F. Trends in soil moisture content and water deficits in Argentina and the role of climate contribution. Theor Appl Climatol 152, 1189–1201 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-023-04428-x

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