Hydrology and change

Abstract

Since “panta rhei” was pronounced by Heraclitus, hydrology and the objects it studies, such as rivers and lakes, have offered grounds to observe and understand change and flux. Change occurs on all time scales, from minute to geological, but our limited senses and life span, as well as the short time window of instrumental observations, restrict our perception to the most apparent daily to yearly variations. As a result, our typical modelling practices assume that natural changes are just a short-term “noise” superimposed on the daily and annual cycles in a scene that is static and invariant in the long run. According to this perception, only an exceptional and extraordinary forcing can produce a long-term change. The hydrologist H.E. Hurst, studying the long flow records of the Nile and other geophysical time series, was the first to observe a natural behaviour, named after him, related to multi-scale change, as well as its implications in engineering designs. Essentially, this behaviour manifests that long-term changes are much more frequent and intense than commonly perceived and, simultaneously, that the future states are much more uncertain and unpredictable on long time horizons than implied by standard approaches. Surprisingly, however, the implications of multi-scale change have not been assimilated in geophysical sciences. A change of perspective is thus needed, in which change and uncertainty are essential parts.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz

Citation Koutsoyiannis, D., 2013. Hydrology and change. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (6), 1177–1197.     

Current Problems of Stochastic Hydrology

An attempt is made to generalize the results of studies in stochastic hydrology and discuss the future lines of investigations in accordance with the development of science and practical needs.     

Searching for Simplicity in Hydrology

The use of simplification as a route to scientific insight is reviewed with examples from hydrology and analogies from other sciences. The discussion covers a number of types of simplification: (a) simplification of the governing equations; (b) reduction of the state space, i.e. the number of dependent variables; (c) reduction of the solution space, i.e. the number of independent variables; (d) reduction of the parameter space, e.g. by freezing a slowly varying parameter; (e) simplification of the driving function e.g. Fourier analysis. The importance of scale is stressed and the possibility of apparent paradoxes between differing scales is noted. The complementary nature of deterministic and stochastic approaches is also discussed.     

Hydrology of a small wet catchment

The hydrology of a small wet forested region is studied. Catchment discharge, solar radiation, air temperature, humidity, precipitation, soil moisture, and the water elevation in a swamp were monitored for several months in 1973 and 1975. These data are used to investigate various aspects of the catchment's hydrology and in particular to study the catchment's evapotranspirational requirements. The actual evapotranspiration loss is calculated from a water budget approach. The Priestley-Taylor model is used to predict the medium to long-term evapotranspiration from the basin. The predictions based on the model are in very good agreement with the actual evapotranspirational demand. Evapotranspiration is found to play a significant role in the catchment's water balance.     

Hydrology of seasonally inundated African headwater swamps

African seasonally inundated headwater swamps, so called dambos, play a very important role in the African natural resources economy, because they act as storage reservoirs absorbing water during the rainy season and giving it up slowly during the dry season. Very little is known of the hydrology of dambos. This study, based on the observation of four Zambian dambos since 1965, provides some initial information on their behaviour.     

Power Distributions of Flooded Areas in Hydrology

An explanation is given to the fact that the cumulative number of damage cases is a decreasing function of the form Y^?2/3. This is because the inundated area S depends on precipitation volume V as S ~ V^2/3. Such dependence is confirmed by the data on the area of mushroom-shaped plumes at river mouths in the sites of river influx into the ocean.     

地震地下水动态研究中的若干问题

综合分析了近年来国内外地震地下水研究中的一些热点问题, 包括地下水动态影响因素及其相关的数据处理方法、水位同震响应及机理解释、水温同震响应及其机理、地下水反映的断层活动低频信息几个方面, 探讨了地震地下水位变动与应力应变的关系, 展望了地震地下水研究的发展方向.     

Hydrology of stockpiled industrial coal exposed to rainfall

The movement of water and particulate matter through a simulated coal pile using a rainfall–coal‐pile simulator is investigated. In conjunction with coal‐pile management practices, this study indicates that coal‐pile systems change their internal and surficial structure with successive rainstorm events. This change in coal‐pile structure alters the proportions, rates and suspended solid concentrations within surface runoff and infiltration during subsequent storm events. Results demonstrate the need to determine the optimal coal‐pile slope that minimizes water contact time, but at the same time minimizes the potential for mass wasting and rill erosion. Promotion of a compacted surface is beneficial for the minimization of solids removal, and a stormwater detention pond with potential flocculant additive is suggested as a viable remedial measure for the containment and treatment of coal‐pile runoff. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrology of Blue Lake in the Dinaric karst

The aim of this paper is to analyse hydrological measurements obtained from Blue Lake located near the town of Imotski (Croatia), during the period from 6 November 2009 at 10:26 h to 4 September 2010 at 03:26 h (7230 h or 302 days). The water depth, water temperature and electrical conductivity of the water were continuously measured during this period. The measurements were obtained with a CTD DIVER (Schlumberger Water Services). The instrument was fixed at the bottom of Blue Lake, which means that all the measured data refer to a single point of measurement. The data represent the first systematic and continuous monitoring of the hydrological parameters of this fascinating karst phenomenon. The hydrological analysis also involved daily rainfall data and daily mean air temperatures recorded at the nearby Imotski meteorological station. The rate of water level rise and fall and the hourly and daily average inflow and outflow into and from the lake were calculated using the available data. The analysis led to the conclusion that Blue Lake is mainly recharged by water coming from the karst aquifer, the dimensions and the characteristics of which have not yet been adequately studied. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.