1. Evapotranspiration Response to Climate Change in Semi-Arid Areas: Using Random Forest as Multi-Model Ensemble Method.
- Author
-
Ruiz-Aĺvarez, Marcos, Gomariz-Castillo, Francisco, and Alonso-Sarría, Francisco
- Subjects
RANDOM forest algorithms ,CLIMATE change ,ATMOSPHERIC models ,EVAPOTRANSPIRATION ,TWENTY-first century - Abstract
Large ensembles of climate models are increasingly available either as ensembles of opportunity or perturbed physics ensembles, providing a wealth of additional data that is potentially useful for improving adaptation strategies to climate change. In this work, we propose a framework to evaluate the predictive capacity of 11 multi-model ensemble methods (MMEs), including random forest (RF), to estimate reference evapotranspiration (ET 0 ) using 10 AR5 models for the scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The study was carried out in the Segura Hydrographic Demarcation (SE of Spain), a typical Mediterranean semiarid area. ET 0 was estimated in the historical scenario (1970–2000) using a spatially calibrated Hargreaves model. MMEs obtained better results than any individual model for reproducing daily ET 0 . In validation, RF resulted more accurate than other MMEs (Kling–Gupta efficiency (KGE) M = 0.903 , S D = 0.034 for KGE and M = 3.17 , S D = 2.97 for absolute percent bias). A statistically significant positive trend was observed along the 21st century for RCP8.5, but this trend stabilizes in the middle of the century for RCP4.5. The observed spatial pattern shows a larger ET 0 increase in headwaters and a smaller increase in the coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF