Spatiotemporal variability of extreme precipitation events and their impacts on soil moisture and water table depth in Argentina’s core crop region

ABSTRACT

This study reassesses the spatiotemporal variability of and changes in extreme precipitation events (EPEs) and examines the response of soil moisture and water table depth to EPEs in Argentina’s core crop region. Standardized nonparametric indices are applied to precipitation, soil moisture, and groundwater. The temporal variability of EPEs exhibits a decadal cycle and inter-annual modes with dominant frequencies between 2.5 and 4 years related to El Niño Southern Oscillation periodicities. The soil moisture and water table depth respond to precipitation variability replicating both decadal and inter-annual EPE variability. The response of soil moisture to EPEs attenuates in time as soil depth increases. Water table depth responds to EPEs with an average delay of 10 months. In recent decades, soil moisture increases (water table depth becomes shallower) rapidly when reacting to excess precipitation, while soil moisture decreases (water table depth deepens) slowly during and after drought events.

KEYWORDS:

• extreme precipitation events
• soil moisture
• water table depth
• Argentina’s core crop region

Editor A. Fiori; Associate Editor B. Bonaccorso

Editor A. Fiori; Associate Editor B. Bonaccorso

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and recommendations that improved this article. AB has received funding from the Education and Training Program of the World Meteorological Organization for the completion of a master’s degree in water resources engineering at FICH-UNL, Argentina.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2023.2192874

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion of Argentina, under Grants PICT-2019-2019-03982 and PICT-2019-2019-00481; by the Universidad Nacional del Litoral, under Grant CAI+D-2020-50620190100082LI; and by the Argentine National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, under Grant PIP 11220200102257CO Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas.