<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:contributor>Alan L. Flint</dc:contributor>
  <dc:contributor>James H. Thorne</dc:contributor>
  <dc:contributor>Ryan Boynton</dc:contributor>
  <dc:creator>Lorraine E. Flint</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>2013</dc:date>
  <dc:description>&lt;div id="ASec1" class="AbstractSection"&gt;&lt;p class="Heading"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Introduction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="Para"&gt;Resource managers need spatially explicit models of hydrologic response to changes in key climatic drivers across variable landscape conditions. We demonstrate the utility of a Basin Characterization Model for California (CA-BCM) to integrate high-resolution data on physical watershed characteristics with historical or projected climate data to predict watershed-specific hydrologic responses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="ASec2" class="AbstractSection"&gt;&lt;p class="Heading"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="Para"&gt;The CA-BCM applies a monthly regional water-balance model to simulate hydrologic responses to climate at the spatial resolution of a 270-m grid. The model has been calibrated using a total of 159 relatively unimpaired watersheds for the California region.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="ASec3" class="AbstractSection"&gt;&lt;p class="Heading"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="Para"&gt;As a result of calibration, predicted basin discharge closely matches measured data for validation watersheds. The CA-BCM recharge and runoff estimates, combined with estimates of snowpack and timing of snowmelt, provide a basis for assessing variations in water availability. Another important output variable,&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i class="EmphasisTypeItalic"&gt;climatic water deficit&lt;/i&gt;, integrates the combined effects of temperature and rainfall on site-specific soil moisture, a factor that plants may respond to more directly than air temperature and precipitation alone. Model outputs are calculated for each grid cell, allowing results to be summarized for a variety of planning units including hillslopes, watersheds, ecoregions, or political boundaries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="ASec4" class="AbstractSection"&gt;&lt;p class="Heading"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="Para"&gt;The ability to confidently calculate hydrologic outputs at fine spatial scales provides a new suite of hydrologic predictor variables that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as projections of changes in water availability, environmental demand, or distribution of plants and habitats. Here we present the framework of the CA-BCM model for the California hydrologic region, a test of model performance on 159 watersheds, summary results for the region for the 1981–2010 time period, and changes since the 1951–1980 time period.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</dc:description>
  <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
  <dc:identifier>10.1186/2192-1709-2-25</dc:identifier>
  <dc:language>en</dc:language>
  <dc:publisher>Springer</dc:publisher>
  <dc:title>Fine-scale hydrologic modeling for regional landscape applications: the California Basin Characterization Model development and performance</dc:title>
  <dc:type>article</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>