Yadu Pokhrel

Modeling the Effects of Aridification on Hydrologic Fluxes and Reservoir Dynamics in the U.S. Southwest Runoff deficits in the U.S. southwest are sensitive to seasonal variations in hydroclimatic supply and demand Surface water storage in major reservoirs has offset inflow—hence runoff—deficits by ...

I am excited to share our latest research to advance understanding of the effects of aridification on hydrology and reservoir dynamics in the Southwest U.S. @yadupokhrel.bsky.social

dx.doi.org/10.1029/2025...

Droughts are intensifying under climate change, making accurate prediction more critical than ever. In our new paper ‘Underestimation of Historical Terrestrial Water Storage Droughts in Global Water Models’ in AGU Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), we conducted the first global evaluation of how well global water models (GWMs) capture terrestrial water storage droughts compared to observations. Key Findings: 1) GWMs systematically underestimate drought severity and spatial extent, particularly in North America, South America, Africa, and Northern Asia. 2) The underestimation is more pronounced in recent years (2016–2019). 3) Soil moisture errors and limited representation of human interventions (e.g., groundwater extraction, irrigation, reservoir operations) are major drivers of these gaps. Future projections of water scarcity and drought risk may be more severe than currently estimated, underscoring the urgent need to improve models for better climate adaptation and water resource management.

New paper out in @agu.org Geophysical Research Letters (GRL): "Underestimation of Historical Terrestrial Water Storage Droughts in Global Water Models"

Read here: doi.org/10.1029/2025...

#Hydrology #WaterResources #TWS #droughts #Water #Modeling #GRACE

@yadupokhrel.bsky.social

Research Associate-Fixed Term - East Lansing, Michigan, United States Position Summary A postdoctoral research associate position is available in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (https://engineering.msu.edu/about/departments/cee). This is a one-yea...

Postdoc opportunity at Michigan State University - intersted candidates can apply here:
careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...

Spatio-temporal heterogeneities in hydrologic dynamics across the Asian Water Tower This study presents a multi-decadal (1979–2018) analysis of hydrologic changes across the entire Asian Water Tower (AWT) region, using high-resolution…

Excited to share our latest article on the changing hydrology of the Asian Water Tower, led by our PhD student: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New paper out in Nature Water
@naturewaterjnl.bsky.social

"Similarities and divergent patterns in hydrologic fluxes and storages simulated by global water models"

Link: nature.com/articles/s44...
Open access: rdcu.be/elFCE

@yadupokhrel.bsky.social

#Hydrology #WaterResources #Water #Modeling

Toward Understanding Parametric Controls on Runoff Sensitivity to Climate in the Community Land Model: A Case Study Over the Colorado River Headwaters Parametric controls on runoff sensitivity to climate in the land component of an Earth System Model are investigated in a snowmelt runoff regime Runoff sensitivities are dominated by interactions...

I am really happy to share our new paper of a case study over the Colorado River headwaters to understand the parametric controls on runoff sensitivity to climate in a land model. @yadupokhrel.bsky.social @agu.org WRR #ColoradoRiver

Pokhrel research group at #AGU24! @globalhydrology.bsky.social @amardeeptiwari.bsky.social