Delineating hydrologic response units in large upland catchments and its evaluation using soil moisture simulations

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 142-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urooj Khan ◽  
Narendra Kumar Tuteja ◽  
Ashish Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Hydrologic Response ◽  
Hydrologic Response Units ◽  
Upland Catchments

scholarly journals Simulating the influence of snow surface processes on soil moisture dynamics and streamflow generation in an alpine catchment

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 4053-4071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nander Wever ◽  
Francesco Comola ◽  
Mathias Bavay ◽  
Michael Lehning
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Flux ◽  
Response Model ◽  
Hydrologic Response ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Flood Risks ◽  
Soil Water Flux

Abstract. The assessment of flood risks in alpine, snow-covered catchments requires an understanding of the linkage between the snow cover, soil and discharge in the stream network. Here, we apply the comprehensive, distributed model Alpine3D to investigate the role of soil moisture in the predisposition of the Dischma catchment in Switzerland to high flows from rainfall and snowmelt. The recently updated soil module of the physics-based multilayer snow cover model SNOWPACK, which solves the surface energy and mass balance in Alpine3D, is verified against soil moisture measurements at seven sites and various depths inside and in close proximity to the Dischma catchment. Measurements and simulations in such terrain are difficult and consequently, soil moisture was simulated with varying degrees of success. Differences between simulated and measured soil moisture mainly arise from an overestimation of soil freezing and an absence of a groundwater description in the Alpine3D model. Both were found to have an influence in the soil moisture measurements. Using the Alpine3D simulation as the surface scheme for a spatially explicit hydrologic response model using a travel time distribution approach for interflow and baseflow, streamflow simulations were performed for the discharge from the catchment. The streamflow simulations provided a closer agreement with observed streamflow when driving the hydrologic response model with soil water fluxes at 30 cm depth in the Alpine3D model. Performance decreased when using the 2 cm soil water flux, thereby mostly ignoring soil processes. This illustrates that the role of soil moisture is important to take into account when understanding the relationship between both snowpack runoff and rainfall and catchment discharge in high alpine terrain. However, using the soil water flux at 60 cm depth to drive the hydrologic response model also decreased its performance, indicating that an optimal soil depth to include in surface simulations exists and that the runoff dynamics are controlled by only a shallow soil layer. Runoff coefficients (i.e. ratio of rainfall over discharge) based on measurements for high rainfall and snowmelt events were found to be dependent on the simulated initial soil moisture state at the onset of an event, further illustrating the important role of soil moisture for the hydrological processes in the catchment. The runoff coefficients using simulated discharge were found to reproduce this dependency, which shows that the Alpine3D model framework can be successfully applied to assess the predisposition of the catchment to flood risks from both snowmelt and rainfall events.

A framework for broad-scale classification of hydrologic response units on the Boreal Plain: is topography the last thing to consider?

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1705-1714 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Devito ◽  
I. Creed ◽  
T. Gan ◽  
C. Mendoza ◽  
R. Petrone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrologic Response ◽  
Hydrologic Response Units ◽  
Broad Scale ◽  
Scale Classification

Hydrologic response of upland catchments to wildfires

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 2072-2086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Cristina Rulli ◽  
Renzo Rosso
Keyword(s):  
Hydrologic Response ◽  
Upland Catchments

scholarly journals Using Remotely Sensed Information to Improve Vegetation Parameterization in a Semi-Distributed Hydrological Model (SMART) for Upland Catchments in Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 3051
Author(s):  
Seokhyeon Kim ◽  
Hoori Ajami ◽  
Ashish Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Area Index ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Upland Catchments

Appropriate representation of the vegetation dynamics is crucial in hydrological modelling. To improve an existing limited vegetation parameterization in a semi-distributed hydrologic model, called the Soil Moisture and Runoff simulation Toolkit (SMART), this study proposed a simple method to incorporate daily leaf area index (LAI) dynamics into the model using mean monthly LAI climatology and mean rainfall. The LAI-rainfall sensitivity is governed by a parameter that is optimized by maximizing the Pearson correlation coefficient (R) between the estimated and satellite-derived LAI time series. As a result, the LAI-rainfall sensitivity is smallest for forest, shrub, and woodland regions across Australia, and increases for grasslands and croplands. The impact of the proposed method on catchment-scale simulations of soil moisture (SM), evapotranspiration (ET) and discharge (Q) in SMART was examined across six eco-hydrologically contrasted upland catchments in Australia. Results showed that the proposed method produces almost identical results compared to simulations by the satellite-derived LAI time series. In addition, the simulation results were considerably improved in nutrient/light limited catchments compared to the cases with the default vegetation parameterization. The results showed promise, with possibilities of extension to other hydrologic models that need similar specifications for inbuilt vegetation dynamics.

scholarly journals Hydrologic Response of Meadow Restoration the First Year Following Removal of Encroached Conifers

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Surfleet ◽  
Thomas Sanford ◽  
Gregory VanOosbree ◽  
John Jasbinsek
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
First Year ◽  
Hydrologic Response ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Hydrologic Change ◽  
Montane Meadow

This study examines the hydrologic response of a montane meadow the first winter following restoration by removal of encroached conifers. Hydrologic change was evaluated through statistical comparison of soil moisture and water table depths between the restored meadow, Marian Meadow, and a Control Meadow before and after restoration. Meadow water budgets and durations of water table depths during the growing season were evaluated. Electrical resistivity tomography profiles were collected to improve the spatial interpretation of subsurface water beyond well measurements. The first year following restoration Marian Meadow had a statistically significant increase in volumetric soil moisture content of 4% with depth to the water table decreasing on average by 0.15 m. The water budget for the meadows demonstrated that the hydrologic change following removal of encroached conifers was primarily due to a reduction of vegetation interception capture. Soil evapotranspiration rates in both the Control and Marian Meadows were relatively stable ranging from 268–288 mm/yr with the exception of the year following conifer removal in Marian Meadow with 318 mm/yr. The increase in soil evapotranspiration in the first post restoration year is attributed to loss of vegetation cover and higher proportions of bare soil created from the harvest operations. The duration of post-restoration water table depths during the growing season at Marian Meadow were less than or equal to 0.7 m and 0.3 m for 85 days and 50 days, respectively, indicating hydrologic conditions conducive to meadow vegetation.

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