Publication Abstracts

Bolles et al. 2021

Bolles, K.C., A.P. Williams, E.R. Cook, B.I. Cook, and D.A. Bishop, 2021: Tree-ring reconstruction of the atmospheric ridging feature that causes flash drought in the central United States since 1500. Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, no. 4, e2020GL091271, doi:10.1029/2020GL091271.

Rapid drought intensification, or flash droughts, is often driven by anomalous atmospheric ridging and can cause severe and complex impacts on water availability and agriculture, but the full range of variability of such events in terms of intensity and frequency is unknown. New tree-ring reconstructions of May-July mid-tropospheric ridging and soil moisture anomalies back to 1500 CE in the central United States — a hotspot for flash drought — suggest that over the last five centuries, anomalies in these two variables combined to indicate flash-drought conditions in ∼17% of years and exceptionally severe flash drought in ∼4% of years, similar to frequencies in recent decades. However, over one-third of all inferred exceptional flash droughts occurred since 1900, suggesting the 20th century was highly flash-drought prone. These results may guide future work to diagnose the roles of external, oceanic, and land-surface forcing of warm-season atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate over North America.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{bo00400o,
  author={Bolles, K. C. and Williams, A. P. and Cook, E. R. and Cook, B. I. and Bishop, D. A.},
  title={Tree-ring reconstruction of the atmospheric ridging feature that causes flash drought in the central United States since 1500},
  year={2021},
  journal={Geophysical Research Letters},
  volume={48},
  number={4},
  pages={e2020GL091271},
  doi={10.1029/2020GL091271},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - bo00400o
AU  - Bolles, K. C.
AU  - Williams, A. P.
AU  - Cook, E. R.
AU  - Cook, B. I.
AU  - Bishop, D. A.
PY  - 2021
TI  - Tree-ring reconstruction of the atmospheric ridging feature that causes flash drought in the central United States since 1500
JA  - Geophys. Res. Lett.
JO  - Geophysical Research Letters
VL  - 48
IS  - 4
SP  - e2020GL091271
DO  - 10.1029/2020GL091271
ER  -

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