ROBIN: Reference observatory of basins for international hydrological climate change detection

Area of Science:

• Hydrology
• Climate Science
• Environmental Monitoring

Background:

• Global warming is altering the water cycle, necessitating adaptation strategies.
• Understanding hydrological responses to climate variability is crucial for adaptation.
• Observed streamflow data is vital for climate models but often obscured by human influences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a global network of near-natural streamflow data to overcome limitations in trend identification.
• To enable more confident attribution of streamflow trends to climate variability.
• To support climate change detection studies and inform international climate policy.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Reference Observatory of Basins for INternational hydrological climate change detection (ROBIN) network.
• Compilation of streamflow data from national reference hydrological networks (RHNs) focusing on catchments with limited human influence.
• Creation of freely available global RHN datasets and associated code libraries.

Main Results:

• Establishment of a global RHN dataset comprising over 3,000 catchments.
• Provision of code libraries to facilitate data analysis and scientific endeavors.
• Creation of a valuable resource for understanding climate-driven hydrological changes.

Conclusions:

• The ROBIN dataset provides a robust foundation for advancing hydrological climate change detection.
• Removing human influences from streamflow data allows for clearer identification of climate-driven trends.
• This resource will support crucial adaptation strategies and international climate policy development.