Climate Variability and Change—Hydrological Impacts (Proceedings of the Fifth FRIEND World
Conference held at Havana, Cuba, November 2006), IAHS Publ. 308, 2006, 350–355.
Interactions between large-scale climate and river
flow across the northern North Atlantic margin
DANIEL G. KINGSTON1, DAVID M. HANNAH1, DAMIAN
M. LAWLER1 & GLENN R. McGREGOR2
1 School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
dgk366@bham.ac.uk
2 Department of Geography, Kings College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
Abstract To assess the nature of
hydrological sensitivity to climatic change a clear understanding of the
cascade of hydroclimatological processes from atmosphere–surface–runoff is
necessary, yet this is poorly defined for the northern North Atlantic. This
research gap is addressed through a composite analysis of large-scale climatic
controls on monthly high and low river flow across this region for 1968–1997.
Analyses are structured using hydrological regions defined by cluster analysis,
and focus on the month of November. High river flow in all regions is
associated with more maritime climatic conditions, driven in northern Europe by
a stronger Atlantic pressure gradient and wind-speeds. In eastern North
America, high river flow is linked to the opposite conditions. This is
suggestive of a positive (negative) relationship between European (North
American) river flow and the North Atlantic Oscillation. Additionally, inverse
climatic associations between northern European hydrological regions (north versus south) appear linked to the
Scandinavian pattern.
Key words climate–river flow linkages;
composite analysis; hierarchical cluster analysis; North Atlantic Oscillation;
northern North Atlantic; Scandinavian pattern