Design storm prediction and hydrologic modeling using a web-GIS approach on a free-software platform

The aim of this work has been to implement a set of procedures useful to automatise the evaluation, the design storm prediction and the flood discharge associated with a selected risk level. For this purpose a Geographic Information System has been implemented using Grass 5.0.One of the main topics of such a system is a georeferenced database of the highest intensity rainfalls and their assigned duration recorded in Sicily. This database contains the main characteristics for more than 250 raingauges, as well as the values of intense rainfall events recorded by these raingauges. These data are managed through the combined use of the PostgreSQL and GRASS-GIS 5.0 databases. Some of the best-known probability distributions have been implemented within the Geographical Information System in order to determine the point and/or areal rain values once duration and return period have been defined. The system also includes a hydrological module necessary to compute the probable flow, for a selected risk level, at points chosen by the user.A peculiarity of the system is the possibility to querying the model using a web-interface. The assumption is that the rising needs of geographic information, and dealing with the rising importance of peoples participation in the decision process, requires new forms for the diffusion of territorial data. Furthermore, technicians as well as public administrators needs to get customized and specialist data to support planning, particularly in emergencies. In this perspective a Web-interface has been developed for the hydrologic system. The aim is to allow remote users to access a centralized database and processing-power to serve the needs of knowledge without complex hardware/software infrastructures.     

Downstream hydrologic and geomorphic effects of large dams on American rivers

The hydrology and geomorphology of large rivers in America reflect the pervasive influence of an extensive water control infrastructure including more than 75,000 dams. One hundred thirty-seven of the very large dams, each storing 1.2 km³ (10⁶ acre feet) of water or more, alter the flows of every large river in the country. The hydrologic effects of these very large dams emerge from an analysis of the stream gage records of 72 river reaches organized into 36 pairs. One member of each pair is an unregulated reach above a dam, whereas the other is a regulated reach downstream from the same structure. Comparison of the regulated and unregulated reaches shows that very large dams, on average, reduce annual peak discharges 67% (in some individual cases up to 90%), decrease the ratio of annual maximum/mean flow 60%, decrease the range of daily discharges 64%, increase the number of reversals in discharge by 34%, and reduce the daily rates of ramping as much as 60%. Dams alter the timing of high and low flows and change the timing of the yearly maximum and minimum flows, in some cases by as much as half a year. Regional variation in rivers, dams, and responses are substantial: rivers in the Great Plains and Ozark/Ouachita regions have annual maximum/mean flow ratios that are 7 times greater than ratios for rivers in the Pacific Northwest. At the same time, the ratio of storage capacity/mean annual water yield for dams is greatest for Interior Western, Ozark/Ouachita and Great Plains rivers and least for Pacific Northwest streams. Thus, in many cases those rivers with the highest annual variability have the greatest potential impact from dams because structures can exert substantial control over downstream hydrology. The hydrologic changes by dams have fostered dramatic geomorphic differences between regulated and unregulated reaches. When compared to similar unregulated reaches, regulated reaches have 32% larger low flow channels, 50% smaller high flow channels, 79% less active flood plain area, and 3.6 times more inactive flood plain area. Dams also affect the area of active areas, the functional surfaces that are functionally connected to the present regime of the river. Regulated reaches have active areas that are 72 smaller than the active areas of similar unregulated reaches. The geomorphic complexity (number of separate functional surfaces per unit of channel length) is 37% less in regulated reaches. Reductions in the size of hydrologically active functional surfaces are greatest in rivers in the Great Plains and least in Eastern streams. The largest differences in geomorphic complexity are in interior western rivers. The shrunken, simplified geomorphology of regulated large rivers has had direct effects on riparian ecology, producing spatially smaller, less diverse riparian ecosystems compared to the larger, more complex ecosystems along unregulated reaches of rivers.     

国际水文科学研究的新进展

在介绍第七届国际水文科学大会关注热点问题的基础上,总结了近4年来国际水文科学研究的新进展,主要包括：无资料流域水文预测,不确定性、非线性和尺度问题,生态水文学,水文模型及资料获取与参数识别,气候变化的水文响应,水资源可持续利用,城市水文水资源,同位素技术和遥感技术在水文学中应用;提出未来水文学研究的展望。     

水文模式DHSVM与区域气候模式RegCM2/China嵌套模拟试验

本研究在改进水文 -土壤 -植被模式DHSVM ,用气候观测资料驱动DHSVM进行模拟试验的基础上 ,建立了区域气候模式RegCM2 /China与水文模式DHSVM的嵌套系统 ,将区域气候模式对中国和东亚地区控制试验 (目前气候情景 )和敏感性试验 (未来 2×CO2 气候情景 )结果用双线性插值方法降尺度 (downscaling)到滦河、桑干河流域的 8个气象站点 ,然后再用数字高程模式DEM插值到DHSVM的细网格点 ,驱动水文模式进行嵌套模拟试验。试验结果表明 ,滦河、桑干河流域在未来大气中CO2 浓度加倍情况下 ,地面气温呈一致的增加趋势 ,年平均气温增加2 .8℃ ;两流域未来降水也呈增加趋势 ,滦河、桑干河流域年降水量分别增加 6mm和 4 6mm ;两流域未来蒸发量有所增加 ,年均蒸发量增加 2 9mm ;未来滦河流域年径流深减少 2 7mm ,流量减少 14 .72× 10 8m3 ,桑干河流域径流深增加 2 6mm ,流量增加 12 .2 2× 10 8m3 ,两流域合计 ,流量减少 2 .5× 10 8m3 ;未来滦河、桑干河流域径流深趋向一致 ,分别为 74和 71mm ,约为全国目前平均径流深 2 84mm的 1/ 4。可见 ,两流域未来总体上仍呈现暖干化趋势。本研究发展的嵌套模式系统具有一定的预测能力 ,而且通过参数移植 ,可应用于中国其他流域     

Hydrological drivers of wetland vegetation community distribution within Everglades National Park,Florida

The influence of hydrological dynamics on vegetation distribution and the structuring of wetland environments is of growing interest as wetlands are modified by human action and the increasing threat from climate change. Hydrological properties have long been considered a driving force in structuring wetland communities. We link hydrological dynamics with vegetation distribution across Everglades National Park (ENP) using two publicly available datasets to study the probability structure of the frequency, duration, and depth of inundation events along with their relationship to vegetation distribution. This study is among the first to show hydrologic structuring of vegetation communities at wide spatial and temporal scales, as results indicate that the percentage of time a location is inundated and its mean depth are the principal structuring variables to which individual communities respond. For example, sawgrass, the most abundant vegetation type within the ENP, is found across a wide range of time inundated percentages and mean depths. Meanwhile, other communities like pine savanna or red mangrove scrub are more restricted in their distribution and found disproportionately at particular depths and inundations. These results, along with the probabilistic structure of hydropatterns, potentially allow for the evaluation of climate change impacts on wetland vegetation community structure and distribution.     

雷达测雨及其在水文水资源中的应用研究进展

在回顾国内外雷达网建设和在水文水资源学中发挥重要作用的基础上,着重对国内外的雷达降水的估测算法、雷达临近降水预报和雷达测雨信息在水文模型中的应用研究进行了探讨和分析,并就未来雷达技术应用于水文水资源学的研究进行了展望。     

Potential of the LASH model for water resources management in data-scarce basins: a case study of the Fragata River basin,southern Brazil

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to evaluate, based on a data-scarce basin in southern Brazil, the potential of the Lavras Simulation of Hydrology (LASH) model for estimating daily streamflows, annual streamflow indicators and the flow–duration curve. It was also used to simulate the different runoff components and their consistency with the basin physiographical characteristics. The statistical measures indicated that LASH can be considered suitable according to widely used classifications and when compared with other studies involving hydrological models. LASH also showed satisfactory results for annual indicators, especially for maximum and average annual streamflows, as well as for the flow–duration curve. It was found that the model was consistent with the basin characteristics when simulating runoff components. The results obtained in this study allowed us to conclude that the LASH model has the potential to aid practitioners in water resources management of basins with scarce data and similar soil and land-use conditions.

Editor A. Castellarin; Associate editor Y. Gyasi-Agyei     

国际水文计划发展与中国水资源研究体系构建

国际水文研究计划(International Hydrological Program; IHP) 是国际水资源研究展示的大舞台,其发展是国际水资源研究发展的集成体现。国际水文计划的研究历程和发展态势表明,水资源研究已从单学科研究过渡到了多学科的集成研究。随着社会因子的增加,水资源研究已经成为一项系统工程。从水资源研究的发展来看,中国水资源研究整体上要滞后于国际水资源研究的步伐,但发展态势较好。中国水资源研究体系应具有显著的圈层结构特征,变化环境中的-水资源研究体系过程与机理是水循环研究的核心,构成了圈层结构的内圈;基于生态水文过程的水资源保育与保障体系是中国水资源研究体系的第二圈层;基于自然-人工二元演化模式的水资源配置体系,基于现代理、化、生技术和信息技术的节水体系以及基于市场机制的水资源高效利用的激励体系构成了水资源研究体系的第三圈层。在上述三个圈层研究的基础上,进行基于现代信息技术和管理技术的水资源综合决策和集成管理研究,以及基于现代传媒技术的水资源教育与培训体系构成了中国水资源研究体系的最高层次,是圈层结构中的外圈层。     

Characterization of surface water and groundwater in the Damascus Ghotta basin: hydrochemical and environmental isotopes approaches

The hydrochemistry of major ions and environmental isotope compositions (¹⁸O, ²H and tritium) of water samples have been used to investigate the characteristics of rainfalls, surface water and groundwater in the Damascus Ghotta basin. The groundwater salinity in the Damascus Ghotta basin gradually increases, as the groundwater moves from western to south-eastern and north-eastern parts of the basin. A strong relationship exists between the Barada river and the surrounded groundwaters, mainly in terms of recharge by infiltration of surface waters. The groundwater quality in the Adra region has clearly become less saline as a result of establishment of the sewage-water-treatment station in this area since 1997. The uncommon depleted stable isotope concentrations in the vicinity of Al-Ateibeh Lake and Adra valley could be interpreted as a result of sub-flow recharge from the Cenomanian–Turonian aquifer, mostly prolonged along the Damascus Fault, which forms direct contact between this complex and the Quaternary alluvium aquifers. The extensive exploitation of water from the Cenomanian–Turonian aquifer for drinking water supply would shortly be reflected by a gradual decline of the groundwater table in the Damascus Ghotta basin. Amelioration of water quality in the Damascus basin still requires further management strategies and efforts to be taken within the forthcoming years.     

The human role in changing fluvial systems: Retrospect, inventory and prospect

Historical and modern scientific contexts are provided for the 2006 Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium on the Human Role in Changing Fluvial Systems. The 2006 symposium provides a synthesis of research concerned with human impacts on fluvial systems — including hydrologic and geomorphic changes to watersheds — while also commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1955 Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth Symposium [Thomas, Jr., W. L. (Ed.), 1956a. Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth. Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago. 1193 pp]. This paper examines the 1955 symposium from the perspective of human impacts on rivers, reviews current inquiry on anthropogenic interactions in fluvial systems, and anticipates future directions in this field.Although the 1955 symposium did not have an explicit geomorphic focus, it set the stage for many subsequent anthropogeomorphic studies. The 1955 conference provided guidance to geomorphologists by recommending and practicing interdisciplinary scholarship, through the use of diverse methodologies applied at extensive temporal and geographical scales, and through its insistence on an integrated understanding of human interactions with nature. Since 1956, research on human impacts to fluvial systems has been influenced by fundamental changes in why the research is done, what is studied, how river studies are conducted, and who does the research. Rationales for river research are now driven to a greater degree by institutional needs, environmental regulations, and aquatic restoration. New techniques include a host of dating, spatial imaging, and ground measurement methods that can be coupled with analytical functions and digital models. These new methods have led to a greater understanding of channel change, variations across multiple temporal and spatial scales, and integrated watershed perspectives; all changes that are reflected by the papers in this volume. These new methods also bring a set of technical demands for the training of geomorphologists. The 2006 Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium complements the 1956 symposium by providing a more specific and updated view of river systems coupled with human interactions. The symposium focuses on linkages between human land use, structures, and channel modification with geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology. The emergence of sustainability as a central policy guideline in environmental management should generate greater interest in geomorphic perspectives, especially as they pertain to human activities. The lack of theories of anthropogeomorphic change, however, presents a challenge for the next generation of geomorphologists in this rapidly growing subfield.