Northward flowing rivers are the most vulnerable system to a general early warming trend in terms of flood risk. In a changing climate, how well we understand the variability of precipitation and streamflow and the correspondence between them determines the appropriateness and efficiency of river engineering activities, flood control structures, and water resource management policies. Using both time and frequency domain approaches, this study investigated variations and periodicities in precipitation and discharge of two neighboring northward flowing river basins, the Red River of the North (referred to hereafter as the Red River) basin and the Little Missouri River basin in North America. Additionally, this study also characterized whether the most dominant quasiperiodic climate variation El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affected regional precipitation and streamflow. Results indicated that the southern and central Red River basin experienced significant increases in precipitation and discharge, particularly in cold season, while the Little Missouri River basin had no statistically significant change in precipitation or discharge. The global atmospheric oscillation ENSO had little effects on the regional precipitation and streamflow increases in the Red River basin. Furthermore, strong spectral coherences and prominent annual/semi‐annual periodicities in precipitation and discharge were revealed, confirming how precipitation determines frequency peaks and primary oscillation cycles of discharges in both basins. By removing broad‐scale climatic driver, this study indicated that some local forcing is most likely responsible for the excessive water abundances in the Red River basin, among which agriculture land usages stand out to be the most promising driver.

中文翻译：

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使用成对盆地方法，气候变化对北美北向河流的影响

就洪水风险而言，向北流动的河流是最普遍出现早期变暖趋势的最脆弱的系统。在不断变化的气候中，我们对降水和水流变化的了解程度以及它们之间的对应关系决定了河流工程活动，防洪结构和水资源管理政策的适当性和效率。本研究使用时域和频域方法，研究了两个相邻的向北流动的流域，北部的红河（以下简称为红河）和北部的小密苏里河流域的降水和流量变化和周期性。美国。另外，这项研究还表征了厄尔尼诺南方涛动（ENSO）最主要的准周期性气候变化是否影响了区域降水和水流。结果表明，南部和中部红河流域的降水和流量显着增加，特别是在寒冷季节，而小密苏里河流域的降水或流量没有统计学上的显着变化。全球大气振荡ENSO对红河流域的区域降水和流量增加几乎没有影响。此外，还揭示了强降水和放电的频谱相干性和突出的年/半年度周期，证实了降水如何确定两个盆地中放电的频率峰值和一次振荡周期。