Modeling streamflow of the Olenek and Indigirka rivers using land surface model SWAP

The potentialities of a technique for simulating the runoff from the Olenek and Indigirka river basins located in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) under the most severe climate conditions are investigated. The technique is based on a land surface model SWAP in combination with input data based on global data sets on land surface parameters and meteorological forcing data derived from observations from meteorological stations situated within or near the river basins. To improve the calculation quality, an optimization procedure was applied to the key model parameters, including both land surface characteristics and (for the Olenek R.) the correction factors for precipitation and incoming radiation.     

Northern Dvina runoff simulation using land-surface model SWAP and global databases

The potentialities of a method for evaluating runoff from Northern Dvina basin, which is based on a model of heat and water exchange between land surface and the atmosphere (SWAP) in combination with input data based on global databases on land surface parameters and different variants of meteorological data (derived from reanalysis data; reanalysis data hybridized with ground based and satellite observations; observational data of meteorological stations situated in the river basin). In all three cases, an optimization was applied to some key model parameters, including the characteristics of the land surface and correction factors for precipitation and incoming radiation.     

Scenario Projections of Changes in Snow Water Equivalent Due to Possible Climate Changes in Different Regions of the Earth

Water Resources - The study was carried out under the international Earth System Model–Snow Model Intercomparison Project on ten experimental well-instrumented snow sites in different parts...     

Challenges in Studying and Modeling Heat and Moisture Exchange in Soil–Vegetation/Snow Cover–Surface Air Layer Systems

The current state of the art in the investigation and modeling of soil–vegetation/snow cover–surface air layer system (SVAS) is briefly reviewed. This system plays a decisive role in the formation of heat and moisture exchange between the land surface and atmosphere. The SWAP model, developed by the authors of this paper, is used to illustrate the potentialities of SVAS models in reproducing the dynamics of components of water and heat balances of the land surface under different natural conditions and at different spatial and temporal scales. The challenges and perspectives of further development of SVAS models are analyzed.     

Water Safety of the Steppe Crimea and the Possible Ways to Its Improvement

Water Resources - The level of water safety of the Steppe Crimea has been analyzed. The water safety has been shown to be mostly determined by the water availability in the fields of agricultural...     

The effect of uncertainties in precipitation global datasets on the estimates of terrestrial water balance components

The results of simulation of terrestrial water balance components are analyzed. The simulation involved six alternative datasets on precipitation and four land surface models SWAP, NSIP, NOAH, and SSiB. The calculations have been carried out for the entire land surface (except for the Antarctic Continent) with one-degree step in the space grid and three-hour time step over 1982–1995. The extent of the influence of uncertainties in the specification of precipitation and the choice of the model on simulated water balance characteristics is revealed.     

Weather noise impact on the uncertainty of simulated water balance components of river basins

Assessments of hydrological response to climatic changes are characterized by different types of uncertainties. Here, the uncertainty caused by weather noise associated with the chaotic character of atmospheric processes is considered. A technique for estimating such uncertainty in simulated water balance components based on application of the land surface model SWAP and the climate model ECHAM5 is described. The technique is applied for estimating the uncertainties in the simulated water balance components (precipitation, river runoff and evapotranspiration) of some northern river basins of Russia. It is shown that the larger the area of a basin the less the uncertainty. This dependency is smoothed by differences in natural conditions of the basins. Analysis of the spectral densities of water balance components shows that a river basin filters out high-frequency harmonics of spectral density of precipitation (corresponding to synoptic or sub-seasonal scale) during its transformation into evapotranspiration and especially into runoff.

EDITOR D. Koutsoyiannis

ASSOCIATE EDITOR H. Kreibich     

Modelling Water Balance Components of River Basins Located in Different Regions of the Globe

Water Resources - Three river basins—the Lena, Ganges, and Darling—were selected to study the possibility of reproducing water balance components of river basins, located in different...     

Scenario Forecasting of Changes in Water Balance Components in the Ob–Irtysh Basin in the Context of Possible Climate Change

Water Resources - Four global climate scenarios of the family “Special Report on Emissions Scenarios” of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which correspond to the specified...