Evaluating soil water routing approaches in watershed-scale,ecohydrologic modelling

Soil water dynamics are central in linking and regulating natural cycles in ecohydrology, however, mathematical representation of soil water processes in models is challenging given the complexity of these interactions. To assess the impacts of soil water simulation approaches on various model outputs, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool was modified to accommodate an alternative soil water percolation method and tested at two geographically and climatically distinct, instrumented watersheds in the United States. Soil water was evaluated at the site scale via measured observations, and hydrologic and biophysical outputs were analysed at the watershed scale. Results demonstrated an improved Kling–Gupta Efficiency of up to 0.3 and a reduction in percent bias from 5 to 25% at the site scale, when soil water percolation was changed from a threshold, bucket-based approach to an alternative approach based on variable hydraulic conductivity. The primary difference between the approaches was attributed to the ability to simulate soil water content above field capacity for successive days; however, regardless of the approach, a lack of site-specific characterization of soil properties by the soils database at the site scale was found to severely limit the analysis. Differences in approach led to a regime shift in percolation from a few, high magnitude events to frequent, low magnitude events. At the watershed scale, the variable hydraulic conductivity-based approach reduced average annual percolation by 20–50 mm, directly impacting the water balance and subsequently biophysical predictions. For instance, annual denitrification increased by 14–24 kg/ha for the new approach. Overall, the study demonstrates the need for continued efforts to enhance soil water model representation for improving biophysical process simulations.     

Time–frequency analysis to profile hydrological regimes: application to Haiti

Abstract

Comprehensive characterization of its flow rates is prerequisite to a proper understanding and water management of a given hydrological region. Several studies question the soundness of stationarity in time series and suggest the need for a quantification of the events and non-stationary features in flow rate time series. In this study, we combine statistical and time–frequency (TF) analyses to characterize and classify the flow rates of an understudied region, namely Haiti. Wavelet transforms and cyclostationarity analyses were combined with principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering to identify three groups of hydrological regimes in the country, suggesting similar management: (1) relatively stable flow rates with TF behaviour; (2) periodic and strongly seasonal flow rates; and (3) unstable flow rates. We argue that the TF methodology can yield additional information in regard to flow events and multiscale behaviour, even for short records. Flow rate characterization would benefit from the exhaustive approach described here.

EDITOR Z.W. Kundzewicz ASSOCIATE EDITOR E. Toth     

灞河流域非点源污染最佳管理措施模拟研究

运用SWAT模型对水土保持、减少化肥农药施用量、减少表层土壤施肥量比例、退耕还林及综合措施对于不同非点源污染在灞河流域的消减效果进行了模拟。结果表明:(1)水保措施对N、P、DDT的削减效果最高可达44.4%,相对而言对于溶解磷的削减效果不是很明显。(2)减少施肥量措施对溶解P、总P、NO3-N的削减率相对较高,而对于其它指标的削减效果不是很明显;减少农药施用量措施对DDT的削减效果较好,削减率可达50.92%。(3)减少表层土壤施肥量占总施肥量的比例措施对溶解P、总P的削减效果较为明显,而对于其它指标的削减效果不是很明显。(4)退耕还林措施对于各项指标都有着明显的削减作用。(5)综合措施对于各项指标均有着很好的削减作用,总体看来综合措施可大大减少流域内的非点源污染负荷,对于改善流域水环境质量可起到巨大的作用。研究为灞河流域非点源污染最佳管理措施的实施提供了明确实际的决策支持。     

Rainfall,runoff and shallow groundwater response in a mixed-use,agro-forested watershed of the northeast,USA

Stream and shallow groundwater responses to rainfall are characterized by high spatial variability, but hydrologic response variability across small, agro-forested sub-catchments remains poorly understood. Conceivably, improved understanding in this regard will result in agricultural practices that more effectively limit nutrient runoff, erosion, and pollutant transport. Terrestrial hydrologic response approaches can provide valuable information on stream-aquifer connectivity in these mixed-use watersheds. A study was implemented, including eight stream and co-located shallow groundwater monitoring sites, in a small sub-catchment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in the Northeast, USA to advance this ongoing need. During the study period, 100 precipitation-receiving days (i.e., 24-hour periods, midnight to midnight) were observed. On average, the groundwater table responded more to precipitation than stream stage (level change of 0.03 vs. 0.01 m and rainfall-normalized level change estimate of 3.81 vs. 3.37). Median stream stage responses, groundwater table responses, and response ratios were significantly different between sub-catchments (n = 8; p < 0.001). Study area average precipitation thresholds for runoff and shallow groundwater flow were 2.8 and 0.6 cm, respectively. Individual sub-catchment thresholds ranged from 0.5 to 2.8 cm for runoff and 0.2 to 1.3 cm for shallow groundwater flow. Normalized response lag times between the stream and shallow groundwater ranged from −0.50 to 3.90 s·cm⁻¹, indicating that stormflow in one stream section was regulated by groundwater flow during the period of study. The observed differences in hydrologic responses to precipitation advance future modelling efforts by providing examples of how terrestrial groundwater response methods can be used to investigate sub-catchment spatial variability in stream-aquifer gradients with co-located shallow groundwater and stream stage data. Additionally, results demonstrate asynchronous stream and shallow groundwater responses on precipitation-receiving days, which may hold important implications for modelling hydrologic and biogeochemical fate and transport processes in small, agro-forested catchments.     

Estimating evapotranspiration from small watersheds using a water and energy balance approach

Meteorological and environmental data measured in semiarid watersheds during the summer monsoon and winter periods were used to study the interrelationships among flux, meteorological and soil water variables, and to evaluate the effects of these variables on the daily estimation of actual evapotranspiration (AET). The relationship between AET and potential evapotranspiration (PET) as a function of soil water content, as suggested by Thornthwaite–Mather and by Morton, was studied to determine its applicability to the study area. Furthermore, multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis was employed to evaluate the order of importance of the meteorological and soil water factors involved. The results of MLR analysis showed that the combined effects of available energy, soil water content and wind speed were responsible for more than 70% of the observed variations in AET during the summer monsoon period. The analyses also indicate that the combined effects of available energy, vapour pressure deficit and wind speed were responsible for more than 70% of the observed variations in AET during the winter period. However, the test results of two different approaches, using the relationships between AET and PET as a function of soil water content, indicated some inadequacy. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

红水河梯级水电站水库地震监测台网的建设与发展

水库地震监测是我国地震监测的重要组成部分。文中阐述了红水河梯级水电站水库地震监测台网的建设发展历程,详细介绍了天生桥一级、龙滩、岩滩、大化及大藤峡水库专用地震监测台网的建设和发展,并对比分析了库区蓄水前后的地震活动记录,讨论了水库地震监测台网面临的升级改造及运行管理等问题,建议采用流域化统一管理。     

基于DEM小流域复杂网络的黄土高原地貌自动识别研究

地貌识别,对于人类建设,地质构造研究,环境治理等相关领域都有着重要意义。传统的基于像素单元或面向对象的地貌识别方法存在局限性。由于流域小单元具有表面形态的完整性,在地貌演化中具有明确的地理意义,基于流域小单元的地貌识别成为了该领域的一个新热点。然而,基于传统地形因子的地貌识别方法使用的因子往往较为单一或者在地学描述上存在重复性,目前尚无针对流域小单元进行空间结构描述和拓扑关系特征量化的地貌识别研究。基于此,本文基于DEM进行水文分析并通过坡谱方法解决了小流域稳定面积难以确定的问题,在黄土高原样区提取了181个稳定小流域。根据复杂网络理论和地貌学原理提出了流域加权复杂网络的概念和相应的8个定量指标用于流域空间结构的模拟和量化描述。最后采用了基于决策树的XGBoost机器学习算法进行地貌识别,实验对于黄土高原主要地貌类型的识别显现出较好的效果,Kappa系数为86.00%,总体精度达到了88.33%。对于地貌形态特征明显的地貌,复杂网络方法其顾及空间结构和拓扑特征的特性导致了其较高的识别性能,精度和召回率都在90%～100%之间。通过与前人的研究进行对比,其识别结果亦呈现出较高的精度,这些...     

Impact of model development,calibration and validation decisions on hydrological simulations in West Lake Erie Basin

Watershed simulation models are used extensively to investigate hydrologic processes, landuse and climate change impacts, pollutant load assessments and best management practices (BMPs). Developing, calibrating and validating these models require a number of critical decisions that will influence the ability of the model to represent real world conditions. Understanding how these decisions influence model performance is crucial, especially when making science‐based policy decisions. This study used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model in West Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) to examine the influence of several of these decisions on hydrological processes and streamflow simulations. Specifically, this study addressed the following objectives (1) demonstrate the importance of considering intra‐watershed processes during model development, (2) compare and evaluated spatial calibration versus calibration at outlet and (3) evaluate parameter transfers across temporal and spatial scales. A coarser resolution (HUC‐12) model and a finer resolution model (NHDPlus model) were used to support the objectives. Results showed that knowledge of watershed characteristics and intra‐watershed processes are critical to produced accurate and realistic hydrologic simulations. The spatial calibration strategy produced better results compared to outlet calibration strategy and provided more confidence. Transferring parameter values across spatial scales (i.e. from coarser resolution model to finer resolution model) needs additional fine tuning to produce realistic results. Transferring parameters across temporal scales (i.e. from monthly to yearly and daily time‐steps) performed well with a similar spatial resolution model. Furthermore, this study shows that relying solely on quantitative statistics without considering additional information can produce good but unrealistic simulations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship of topography to surface water chemistry with particular focus on nitrogen and organic carbon solutes within a forested watershed in Hokkaido,Japan

We studied the relationships between streamwater chemistry and the topography of subcatchments in the Dorokawa watershed in Hokkaido Island, northern Japan, to examine the use of topography as a predictor of streamwater chemistry in a watershed with relatively moderate terrain compared with other regions of Japan. Topographic characteristics of the Dorokawa watershed and its subcatchments were expressed as topographic index (TI) values, which ranged from 4·5 to 20·4 for individual grid cells (50 × 50 m²), but averaged from 6·4 to 7·4 for the 20 subcatchments. Streamwater samples for chemical analyses were collected four times between June and October 2002 from 20 locations in the watershed. The pH of water that passed through the watershed increased from ～5·0 to 7·0, with major increases in Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ and marked decreases in NO₃^? and SO . Distinctive spatial patterns were observed for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), and NO₃^? concentrations of streamwater across the watershed. Statistical analyses indicated significant linear relationships between the average TI values of subcatchments and DOC, DON, and NO₃^? concentrations. Furthermore, the proportion of DOC in streamwaters in the wet season increased with TI values relative to other nitrogen species, whereas NO₃^? concentrations decreased with TI. The gradients of soil wetness and the presence of wetlands explained many of the observed spatial and temporal patterns of DOC, DON, and NO₃^? concentrations in the surface waters of the Dorokawa watershed. Our results suggest that the TI is especially useful for predicting the spatial distribution of DOC, DON and NO₃^? in the surface waters of Hokkaido, where topographical relief is moderate and wetlands more common than in other regions of Japan. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.