Application of Stable Isotopic Compositions of Rainfall Runoff for Evaporation Estimation in Thailand Mekong River Basin

The Mekong River Basin comprises approximately 38% of Southeast Asia. Our study area comprises the right-bank tributaries, which drain a substantial portion of Northeast Thailand. This study aimed to estimate the evaporative losses from streams during the 2013-2015 period. The normal and warm El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases caused higher temperatures and low rainfall in the 2014-2015 period. The results show that the local meteoric water line for precipitation isotopes had seasonal variation due to variable precipitation. The enrichment of river isotopes indicated that streams lost an average of 4% of their water through evaporation. During the cooling ENSO phase, significant evaporation occurs due to the deep convection that typically occurs in tropical regions. In contrast, evaporation was low during the warm ENSO phase because of its geographic location. The El Nino year's isotope values were significantly more enriched than the La Nina year's, showing that precipitation and positive temperature anomalies affected the isotopic compositions in the continental basin. Furthermore, the deuterium excess helped distinguish the relative contributions of the wet and dry seasonal sources to the moisture origin, indicating that the predominant source of moisture is inland evaporation, with a small contribution from the ocean.

Automated summary

This study investigates the evaporative losses from right-bank tributaries in the Mekong River Basin during the period of 2013-2015. The results show that the streams lost an average of 4% of their water through evaporation, with seasonal variations in precipitation isotopes. The evaporation was influenced by the normal and warm El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases, which affected the temperature and rainfall.