Effects of Drought and Cloud-Water Interception on Groundwater Recharge and Wildfire Hazard in Hawaiʻi
American Sāmoa | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 from 12:00-1:15 p.m.Hawaiʻi | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 from 1:00-2:15 p.m.Palau | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 from 8:00-9:15 a.m.CNMI & Guam | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 from 9:00-10:15 a.m.FSM | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 from 9:00-10:15 a.m. (Weno) / 10:00-11:15 a.m. (Palikir)RMI | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 from 11:00 a.m. -12:15 p.m. New Zealand | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 from 11:00 a.m. -12:15 p.m.
A Webinar Via Zoom By the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network (Pacific RISCC)
Webinar Details:![]()
Title:
Effects of Drought and Cloud-Water Interception on Groundwater Recharge and Wildfire Hazard in Hawaiʻi
Webinar Description:
Changes and extremes in climate, as reflected in drought, can have profound effects on freshwater availability, and wildfire frequency, severity, duration, and extent through change in the biomass and moisture content of living and dead vegetation. Contributions of cloud-water interception to precipitation in the cloud forests of the main Hawaiian Islands are substantial and vary widely with location and vegetation type. However, cloud-water interception may be reduced during drought, in areas where the future climate becomes drier, or where changes in vegetation type and structure diminish the capture of cloud water. This talk shares results from a study aimed at providing information for evaluating the effects of drought and cloud-water interception on freshwater availability and wildfire hazard in Hawaiʻi for recent and future climate conditions.
Speaker details:
Dr. Alan Mair is a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Islands Water Science Center. Alan’s research focuses on quantifying the effects of climate and land-cover variability on freshwater availability in the Hawaiian Islands and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands. He received his PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Management from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, specializing in watershed hydrology, where he also completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Water Resources Research Center and Department of Geology and Geophysics.
Relevant Links:
Mair, A., Oki, D.S., Kāne, H.L., Johnson, A.G., and Rotzoll, K., 2024, Effects of drought and cloud-water interception on groundwater recharge and wildfire hazard for recent and future climate conditions, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2023–5141, 98 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20235141.
Mair, A., 2024, Mean annual groundwater recharge rates for Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi, for a set of drought and land-cover conditions: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9DDP1C6.
Mair, A., 2024, Frequency characteristics of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and climatic water deficit for Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi, for a set of rainfall and land-cover conditions: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9HGHWS4.