Modeling river runoff in Northwestern Russia with the use of land surface model SWAP and global databases

Data on the rivers of Onega, Ponoi, and Tuloma have been used to study whether the land surface model SWAP can serve as a tool to reproduce many-year series of daily runoff hydrographs of rivers in Northern Russia. The input data for the model have been derived from observational data from weather stations and global databases. It has been considered whether the model parameters obtained for one river can be used for calculations for other rivers where no data on appropriate parameters are available.     

Application of a land surface model for simulating rainfall streamflow hydrograph: 2. Comparison with hydrological models

Rainfall runoff hydrographs for 12 river basins ∼10³ km² in area, simulated using land surface model SWAP, are compared with analogous hydrographs obtained using hydrological models that took part in the International Model Parameter Estimation Experiment project and demonstrated the best results. All models were calibrated against data on daily river runoff from each basin over a 20-year period (1960–1979). Optimized model parameters were used to simulate runoff hydrographs for the following 19 years (1980–1998). The comparison of the modeled hydrographs for 12 basins in different calculational periods demonstrated that the SWAP model can simulate river runoff with an accuracy comparable with that of hydrological models.     

Physically based modeling of many-year dynamics of daily streamflow and snow water equivalent in the Lena R. basin

The applicability of a procedure, developed previously for evaluating runoff hydrographs of northern rivers, to the largest Russian river—the Lena—which flows under severe conditions of the Northeastern Siberia, is examined. The procedure is based on the land surface model SWAP in combination with input data derived from global databases of land surface parameters and meteorological forcing data derived from observations at meteorological stations located in the basins of the rivers or near them. Also studied was the ability of the model SWAP to reproduce the many-year dynamics of the values of snow water equivalent averaged over the Lena basin and their distribution over the basin area.     

Regional water balance modelling in the NOPEX area: development and application of monthly water balance models

One of the main purposes of a water balance study is to evaluate the net available water resources, both on the surface and in the subsurface. Water balance models that simulate hydrographs of river flow on the basis of available meteorological data would be a valuable tool in the hands of the planners and designers of water resources systems. In this paper, a set of simple monthly snow and water balance models has been developed and applied to regional water balance studies in the NOPEX area. The models require as input monthly areal precipitation, monthly long-term average potential evapotranspiration and monthly mean air temperature. The model outputs are monthly river flow and other water balance components, such as actual evapotranspiration, slow and fast components of river flow, snow accumulation and melting. The results suggest that the proposed model structure is suitable for water balance study purposes in seasonally snow-covered catchments located in the region.     

Investigating the ability of a land surface model to reproduce river runoff with the accuracy of hydrological models

The ability of the physically-based Soil Water-Atmosphere-Plants model, describing the processes of heat and water exchange between the land surface and the near-surface atmosphere, to reproduce hydrographs of daily river runoff is examined and compared with the Sacramento conceptual hydrological model, which has demonstrated the best performance in the International Model Parameter Estimation Experiment. Model simulations were carried out for 12 river basins with the area of ～10³ km² in the southeastern USA for the period of 1960–1998, of which the first 20 years were used to calibrate both models, while the last 19 years were used to validate them. The daily runoff hydrographs reproduced by the Soil Water-Atmosphere-Plants model, calibrated using different methods with the aim to maximize its accuracy, were compared with observational data and the results from the Sacramento model.     

Analysis of natural tracers and genetic runoff components in mixing models: Case study of small basins in Primor’e

An algorithm has been proposed for the diagnostics of the number of runoff genetic components and reliable chemical tracers in mixing models. The algorithm is applied to the analysis of data of hydrological—hydrochemical monitoring obtained during experimental studies on small watersheds in Elovyi Creek basin. The number of stable genetic runoff components and the list of tracers can vary from year to year depending on the state of moistening on the watershed.     

Effect of urbanization on runoff characteristics of the On-Cheon Stream watershed in Pusan,Korea

This study investigated the effect of urbanization on runoff from the On-Cheon Stream watershed in Pusan, Korea. This watershed has been experiencing considerable urbanization since the 1960s. There are two gauging stations in the watershed. For one of the stations there are recent flow data and for the other flow data were observed in the past. A linear reservoir model was chosen and runoff was analysed for several flood events. The linear reservoir model has been found to generate flood hydrographs accurately for both gauging stations, and its applicability to the study area has also been established. Using two methods of computing effective rainfall or rainfall excess (ϕ-index and constant percentage method), the results of runoff analyses were investigated. The ϕ-index method yielded better results than the constant percentage method. A comparison of hydrographs observed in the past with the simulation results at the Ie-Sup bridge site revealed that the peak discharge increased and the mean lag time of the study area decreased owing to urbanization over the past two decades. It is also possible to evaluate the effect of urbanization quantitatively. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of two rainfall–runoff models: effects of conceptualization on water budget components

Rainfall–runoff models with different conceptual structures for the hydrological processes can be calibrated to effectively reproduce the hydrographs of the total runoff, while resulting in water budget components that are essentially different. This finding poses an open question on the reliability of rainfall–runoff models in reproducing hydrological components other than those used for calibration. In an effort to address this question, we use data from the Glafkos catchment in western Greece to calibrate and compare the ENNS model, a research-oriented lumped model developed for the river Enns in Austria developed for the river Enns in Austria, with the operational MIKE SHE model. Model performance is assessed in the light of the conceptual/structural differences of the modelled hydrological processes, using indices calculated independently for each year, rather than for the whole calibration period, since the former are stricter. We show that even small differences in the representation of hydrological processes may impact considerably on the water budget components that are not measured (i.e. not used for model calibration). From all water budget components, direct runoff exhibits the highest sensitivity to structural differences and related model parameters.

EDITOR M.C. Acreman

ASSOCIATE EDITOR S. Huang     

River runoff evaluation for ungauged watersheds by SWAP model. 2. Application of methods of physiographic similarity and spatial geostatistics

The efficiency of the methods of spatial proximity and geostatistics, as well as physico-geographic similarity, is studied as applied to the evaluation of the key model parameters of ungauged watersheds to be used in river runoff calculation by SWAP model. The target geographic objects were 323 experimental watersheds of MOPEX project. The quality of model parameter estimates and reproduction of river runoff hydrographs was analyzed in the case of the use of different similarity methods, and the order of decisions to be made was developed for the problem of river runoff calculation from an ungauged watershed for the entire area under study.     

On the relationship between hydrographs and chemographs

The spatial representativeness of gauging stations was investigated in two low‐mountainous river basins near the city of Trier, southwest Germany. Longitudinal profiles during low and high flow conditions were sampled in order to identify sources of solutes and to characterize the alteration of flood wave properties during its travel downstream. Numerous hydrographs and chemographs of natural flood events were analysed in detail. Additionally, artificial flood events were investigated to study in‐channel transport processes. During dry weather conditions the gauging station was only representative for a short river segment upstream, owing to discharge and solute concentrations of sources contiguous to the measurement site. During artificial flood events the kinematic wave velocity was considerably faster than the movement of water body and solutes, refuting the idea of a simple mixing process of individual runoff components. Depending on hydrological boundary conditions, the wave at a specific gauge could be entirely composed of old in‐channel water, which notably reduces the spatial representativeness of a sampling site. Natural flood events were characterized by a superimposition of local overland flow, riparian water and the kinematic wave process comprising the downstream conveyance of solutes. Summer floods in particular were marked by a chronological occurrence of distinct individual runoff components originating only from a few contributing areas adjacent to the stream and gauge. Thus, the representativeness of a gauge for processes in the whole basin depends on the distance of the nearest significant source to the station. The consequence of our study is that the assumptions of mixing models are not satisfied in river basins larger than 3 km². Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Model of Mixing of Four River Runoff Recharge Sources Using Hydrochemical Tracers in the Problem of Hydrograph Separation

Methods for the analysis of the formation of river water chemistry based on mixing models are discussed. An analytical solution for a mixing model of four recharge sources is given along with the results of its adaptation based on the materials of hydrochemical and hydrological observations over 2013 and 2014 in drainage basins in Primorski Krai. The analysis and calculations revealed four components of river recharge in these years: rainwater, two types of subsoil water, and groundwater, the latter forming the base runoff. The estimates of the mixing model with four sources and its tests showed a high quality of modeling.     

DISTRIBUTED NUMERICAL RAINFALL–RUNOFF MODELLING IN AN ARID REGION USING THEMATIC MAPPER DATA AND A GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

The rainfall–runoff process consists of an excess rainfall process and a runoff concentration process. A transient one-dimensional finite difference model describing the partitioning of precipitation between surface runoff, soil moisture storage and deep percolation, through the coupling of saturated–unsaturated zones, has been implemented in a geographical information system including data on vegetation cover derived from the Landsat Thematic Mapper. The model has been used to simulate both the rainfall excess and the resultant outflow hydrographs for a small arid zone drainage basin in the Andean region of Argentina. The overall hydrograph shape, peak discharge, runoff volume and flow duration are predicted within a relative squared error of 13.2%. The spatial input data and the model structure are discussed and suggestions for applications to larger complex basins and for future refinements in the technique are presented.     

Large‐scale modelling of channel flow and floodplain inundation dynamics and its application to the Pantanal (Brazil)

For large‐scale sites, difficulties for applying coupled one‐dimensional (1D)/2D models for simulating floodplain inundation may be encountered related to data scarcity, complexity for establishing channel–floodplain connections, computational cost, long duration of floods and the need to represent precipitation and evapotranspiration processes. This paper presents a hydrologic simulation system, named SIRIPLAN, developed to accomplish this aim. This system is composed by a 1D hydrodynamic model coupled to a 2D raster‐based model, and by two modules to compute the vertical water balance over floodplain and the water exchanges between channel and floodplain. Results are presented for the Upper Paraguay River Basin (UPRB), including the Pantanal, one of the world's largest wetlands. A total of 3965 km of river channels and 140 000 km² of floodplains are simulated for a period of 11 years. Comparison of observed and calculated hydrographs at 15 gauging stations showed that the model was capable to simulate distinct, complex flow regimes along main channels, including channel‐floodplain interactions. The proposed system was also able to reproduce the Pantanal seasonal flood pulse, with estimated inundated areas ranging from 35 000 km² (dry period) to more than 120 000 km² (wet period). Floodplain inundation maps obtained with SIRIPLAN were consistent with previous knowledge of Pantanal dynamics, but comparison with inundation extent provided by a previous satellite‐based study indicates that permanently flooded areas may have been underestimated. The results obtained are promising, and further work will focus on improving vertical processes representation over floodplains and analysing model sensitivity to floodplain parameters, time step and precipitation estimates uncertainty. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Runoff Formation Model for the Amur River Basin

ECOMAG software complex was adapted to simulate river runoff in the Amur basin using data from global databases (relief, soils, landscapes). The results of model calibration and verification were used to give a statistical estimate of the efficiency of river runoff calculation over a long period based on standard data of meteorological and water management monitoring. The results of calculations using the developed runoff formation model were used in the space and time analysis of the formation conditions of 2013 flood in the Amur basin.     

Studying the effect of different approaches to estimating model parameters on the accuracy of river runoff simulation by SWAP model

Different approaches to estimating the parameters of SWAP physically based model, which describes heat and water transfer processes in the soil-vegetaion (snow) cover-atmosphere system are examined. In particular, two methods of a priori estimation of parameter values and two variants of their calibration are discussed. The parameter sets obtained by different methods were used to simulate the runoff from 12 experimental catchments in the eastern USA. The calculations were conducted for a 39-year period (1960–1998) with a 3-hour step. The results of calculations were compared with each other and with measured river runoff values in order to identify the parameter set that is optimal for runoff evaluation. A strategy is proposed for a priori parameter estimation in the case of basins where observational data are too poor to enable parameter calibration.     

A kinematic‐wave‐based distributed watershed model using FEM,GIS and remotely sensed data

For the appropriate management of water resources in a watershed, it is essential to calculate the time distribution of runoff for the given rainfall event. In this paper, a kinematic‐wave‐based distributed watershed model using finite element method (FEM), geographical information systems (GIS) and remote‐sensing‐based approach is presented for the runoff simulation of small watersheds. The kinematic wave equations are solved using FEM for overland and channel flow to generate runoff at the outlet of the watershed concerned. The interception loss is calculated by an empirical model based on leaf area index (LAI). The Green‐Ampt Mein Larson (GAML) model is used for the estimation of infiltration. Remotely sensed data has been used to extract land use (LU)/land cover (LC). GIS have been used to prepare finite element grid and input files such as Manning's roughness and slope. The developed overland flow model has been checked with an analytical solution for a hypothetical watershed. The model has been applied to a gauged watershed and an ungauged watershed. From the results, it is seen that the model is able to simulate the hydrographs reasonably well. A sensitivity analysis of the model is carried out with the calibrated infiltration parameters, overland flow Manning's roughness, channel flow Manning's roughness, time step and grid size. The present model is useful in predicting the hydrograph in small, ungauged watersheds. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Space and time regularities in variations of nitrogen compound concentrations in watercourses of the Republic of Bashkortostan

The dynamics of anthropogenic activity and anthropogenic sources of nutrients in the Republic of Bashkortostan have been analyzed. Statistical analysis of many-year data of hydrochemical monitoring have been used to establish the year-to-year and annual regularities in the variations of N compound concentrations in watercourses. Maps of the mean annual N concentration in its forms (ammonium, nitrites, and nitrates) have been constructed. The fitness of river water to different types of water use have been assessed. Probability distributions of the concentrations of hydrochemical components have been constructed for different phases of stream water regimes. The exceedance probabilities have been evaluated for MAC values of N compounds in watercourses.     

Two‐dimensional continuous simulation of spatiotemporally varied hydrological processes using the time‐area method

Distributed, continuous hydrologic models promote better understanding of hydrology and enable integrated hydrologic analyses by providing a more detailed picture of water transport processes across the varying landscape. However, such models are not widely used in routine modelling practices, due in part to the extensive data input requirements, computational demands, and complexity of routing algorithms. We developed a two‐dimensional continuous hydrologic model, HYSTAR, using a time‐area method within a grid‐based spatial data model with the goal of providing an alternative way to simulate spatiotemporally varied watershed‐scale hydrologic processes. The model calculates the direct runoff hydrograph by coupling a time‐area routing scheme with a dynamic rainfall excess sub‐model implemented here using a modified curve number method with an hourly time step, explicitly considering downstream ‘reinfiltration’ of routed surface runoff. Soil moisture content is determined at each time interval based on a water balance equation, and overland and channel runoff is routed on time‐area maps, representing spatial variation in hydraulic characteristics for each time interval in a storm event. Simulating runoff hydrographs does not depend on unit hydrograph theory or on solution of the Saint Venant equation, yet retains the simplicity of a unit hydrograph approach and the capability of explicitly simulating two‐dimensional flow routing. The model provided acceptable performance in predicting daily and monthly runoff for a 6‐year period for a watershed in Virginia (USA) using readily available geographic information about the watershed landscape. Spatial and temporal variability in simulated effective runoff depth and time area maps dynamically show the areas of the watershed contributing to the direct runoff hydrograph at the outlet over time, consistent with the variable source area overland flow generation mechanism. The model offers a way to simulate watershed processes and runoff hydrographs using the time‐area method, providing a simple, efficient, and sound framework that explicitly represents mechanisms of spatially and temporally varied hydrologic processes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

REPRODUCTION OF THE RUNOFF-RECORD OF THE RIO MOTATAN BY RAIN DATA,ESTABLISHING THE TRUE MONTHLY RUNOFF-FACTOR

Abstract

In 1950 only 10 years of streamflow observations and runoff data existed on the Rio Motatan in Western Venezuela (4,200 km² of watershed, Anden territory) with 24 raingauge stations in or near the watershed having a simultaneous record but only 3 recording stations with 30 years of observation. The “curve of dry spell”—January to April—was first determined on semilog hydrographs (logs of daily discharge vs. time) and by splitting the total flow into surface and groundwater components an abacus was established, relating the average monthly rain with the “true runoff”. (True runoff) = (observed runoff)—(part due to former month of rain) + (share in following months). For checking purposes the observed runoff record was reproduced, using data based on rain, reaching a high degree of accuracy. Then the same abacus was applied to the 20 years of isolated rain data and the corresponding runoff values were obtained. Recently seven more years of runoff data were successfully checked against the graphs.