A rainfall‐runoff model parameterized from GIS and runoff data

A guiding principle in hydrological modelling should be to keep the number of calibration parameters to a minimum. A reduced number of parameters to be calibrated, while maintaining the accuracy and detail required by modern hydrological models, will reduce parameter and model structure uncertainty and improve model diagnostics. In this study, the dynamics of runoff are derived from the distribution of distances from points in the catchments to the nearest stream. This distribution is unique for each catchment and can be determined from a geographical information system. The distribution of distances, will, when a celerity of (subsurface) flow is introduced, provide a distribution of travel times, or a unit hydrograph (UH). For spatially varying levels of saturation deficit, we have different celerities and, hence, different UHs. Runoff is derived from the superposition of the different UHs. This study shows how celerities can be estimated if we assume that recession events represent the combined UHs for different levels of saturation deficit. A new soil moisture routine which estimates saturated and unsaturated volumes of subsurface water and with only one parameter to calibrate is included in the new model. The performance of the new model is compared with that of the Swedish HBV model and is found to perform equally well for eight Norwegian catchments although the number of parameters to be calibrated in the module concerning soil moisture and runoff dynamics is reduced from seven in the HBV model to one in the new model. It is also shown that the new model has a more realistic representation of the subsurface hydrology. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Depiction of Wild Food Foraging Practices in the Media: Impact of the Great Recession

The practice of gathering and harvesting wild foods has seen renewed interest in recent decades. In addition to contributing to food security and food sovereignty, foraging plays a role in promoting socioecological resilience and creating communities of belonging. However, foraging is generally prohibited by regulations governing public lands in the United States and elsewhere. The growth in food forests suggests public policymakers and land managers’ may be interested in reconsidering this broad prohibition of foraging but require an information base to do so. While a body of research on foraging exists, news media coverage of foraging represents an additional, readily available source of input. As a consequence, framings of foraging in media coverage likely influence managers’ deliberations on this practice. The current paper uses automated content analysis to understand how the practice of gathering and consuming wild foods is framed in print and digital news media, and how these depictions have varied in a 15-year period that includes the Great Recession. Our results show that prevalent framings of foraging represent it variously as a self-provisioning practice or a source of luxury commodities and experiences, with economic uncertainty appearing to affect the frequency of each framing by news media sources. Given managers’ ease of access to them, these distinct framings may influence future regulatory landscapes of foraging.     

A small-scale field check on the Fisher–Lehmann and Bakker–Le Heux cliff degradation models

The paper considers the development of initially straight, steep rock cliffs, bounded above and below by horizontal surfaces, in which basal debris removal is zero and degradation occurs by the weathering away of fine debris from the cliff face to form a scree at its foot. Of the slope degradation models available, the two earliest and simplest, namely the Fisher–Lehmann and the Bakker–Le Heux models, are regarded as most relevant and are briefly summarized. The main purpose of the paper is to check the predictions of these models, particularly with regard to the shape of the rock surface buried beneath the scree, against field data. Such data are sparse. It is concluded that the best field case currently available, despite its small scale, is that provided by the 1·75 m deep ditch which forms part of the experimental earthwork in the chalk on Overton Down, Wiltshire. The predictions of the two models are checked against field measurements made of the stage of degradation reached on each face of the ditch by July 1968, eight years after its excavation. These stages were influenced to different degrees by the presence of a surface turf layer. For the NE face, where this influence was least, the agreement of the predictions of the Fisher–Lehmann model with the actual rock profile is excellent and that of the Bakker–Le Heux model only marginally less so. For the SW face, as expected, the agreements are somewhat less close. These results may be to some extent fortuitous because of the influence of the turves and because the scree slopes tend to be concave rather than rectilinear, as assumed. Also, the free faces decline with time in a manner intermediate between those assumed in the two models. Larger scale field checks are clearly desirable before firm general conclusions can be drawn. Rates of crest recession for the Overton Down ditch are logarithmic with time after a very rapid initial phase. Extrapolation from the early phase of this logarithmic behaviour leads to a close estimate of the time needed for the slope to develop fully. The associated ultimate crest recession is also closely predicted by equations derived from both models. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generalization of TOPMODEL for a power law transmissivity profile

A generalization of the TOPMODEL equations for a power law vertical profile of hydraulic conductivity is introduced. The exponential profile of TOPMODEL is obtained as a limit case of the new general form. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cliff retreat and talus development at the caldera wall of Mount St. Helens: Computer simulation using a mathematical model

To simulate the landform evolution at the caldera wall of Mount St. Helens, USA, a mathematical model for talus development was applied to model the topographic change during the 11years from the volcanic eruption, i.e., from formation of the cliff. Simulated results show that the topographic change is predicted to be large for about 10years after the eruption and to decline thereafter. If snow accumulation in the talus slope deposits is negligible, the talus top will not reach the cliff top within 300years after the eruption. Talus growth in Mount St. Helens was much faster than that in the Chichibu Basin, Japan. This may indicate the low strength and/or high weathering rate of the rockwall of Mount St. Helens, resulting in rapid production of debris and rapid retreat of the cliff.     

三峡库区万州区山湾堰塘沉积物特征及演化历史

万州特有的阶梯状地貌特征是万州地区河流地貌演化及水平地层特殊地质环境共同作用的结果,通过系统的野外地质调查、勘探和资料收集,结合2008年堰塘的湖中钻探,对该堰塘沉积物进行系统取样与分析,并进行了沉积物年龄与成分的测定.结果表明山湾陡崖的崩塌与阶地抬升及区域构造运动一致.绘制了山湾滑坡崩塌堆积物各期次沉积剖面,共分为10个崩塌旋回.结合沉积物测年,研究了山湾滑坡体沉积物沉积速率,得出了山湾危岩陡崖后退速率为0.31~0.37 m/ka.      

A new methodology for measuring coastline recession using buffering and non‐linear least squares estimation

Coastline recession is one of the best indicators of coastal erosion. Three methods for computing coastline recession – the baseline approach, the dynamic segmentation approach and the area‐based approach – have been used, each of which has one or more drawbacks. To overcome these problems, a new methodology for measuring coastline recession is proposed, using buffering and non‐linear least squares estimation. The proposed method was compared with the three existing methods with respect to two simulated cases and two real coastlines. Test results confirmed that the new method is more reliable than the three other methods, all of which are susceptible to variability of recession, scale, number of line segments, length of coastlines and direction of the baseline. The proposed method, incorporating two physically meaningful values – magnitude and variability of coastline recession according to the mean and standard deviation of coastline offsets, respectively – presents itself as an effective alternative method of assessing coastline recession.     

Interpretation of epikarstic cave drip water recession curves: a case study from Velika Pasica Cave,central Slovenia

ABSTRACT

Recession curves are widely used in hydrological studies and projects, such as in rivers, streams or springs. However, no cave drip water has been analysed with recession curves. In this paper, four cave drips were monitored in the Velika Pasica Cave, in order to discover the water flow and storage properties of the epikarst. Various methods were applied in the recession analysis, combining the hydrological characteristics of the four drips: for the slow water in the epikarst, the matching strip method was the identified as the appropriate model for the drip water recession analysis. According to the recession coefficient k, the water flow in the epikarst was divided into fast flow, intermediate flow and slow flow. The volume of water retained in the reservoir (the epikarst storage) could be presented as a function of its specific recession coefficient.

EDITOR D.Koutsoyiannis; ASSOCIATE EDITOR X. Chen     

Estimation of groundwater residence time and recession rate in watershed of the Loess Plateau

Groundwater residence time is an important indicator of hydrological cycle and essential for water resources development and utilization. In this paper, groundwater residence time in non-flood season, flood season and water year has been determined from daily streamflow hydrograph of ten hydrological stations in Wudinghe River Basin located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin. Results have showed that: baseflow recession constant in Wudinghe River Basin ranges from 0.72 to 0.94 with a larger recession rate in flood season than that in non-flood season. Spatially, the recession rate of baseflow in loess area is the biggest, but is the smallest in the sandy area. The half-residence time of groundwater varies from 1.8 to 45.5 days while overall residence time of groundwater is between 34 and 342 days in different sub-basins of the Wudinghe River Basin. The annual average overall residence time of groundwater decreases from 117 days in the upper reaches to 73 days in the lower reaches.     

Potential mechanistic causes of increased baseflow across northern Eurasia catchments underlain by permafrost

Warming in the Arctic is occurring at twice the rate of the global average, resulting in permafrost thaw and a restructuring of the Arctic hydrologic cycle as indicated by increased stream discharge during low-flow periods. In these cold regions, permafrost thaw is postulated to increase low-flow discharge, or baseflow, through either: (a) localized increases in groundwater storage and discharge to streams due to increased aquifer transmissivity from thickening of the freeze–thaw layer above permafrost known as the active layer or (b) long-term increases in regional groundwater circulation via enhancement of groundwater–surface water interactions due to extensive permafrost loss over decades. While increasing baseflow has been observed throughout northern Eurasia, the precise mechanistic causes remain elusive. In this study, we differentiate between where these two subsurface physical mechanisms of baseflow increase are occurring by performing a baseflow recession analysis using daily streamflow records from 1913 to 2003 for 139 stations in northern Eurasia underlain by varying permafrost areal extents. Results indicate that from 1913 to 2003, the majority of catchments underlain by continuous permafrost have an increasing trend in their recession flow intercepts, a proxy for increasing active layer thickness. Alternatively, the majority of catchments underlain by permafrost types that are less spatially extensive (e.g., discontinuous, sporadic, isolated, or no permafrost) have decreasing trends in their recession flow intercepts, indicating that a potential increase in active layer thickness is not the driving factor of baseflow variations in these catchments. This may indicate that in catchments underlain by continuous permafrost, active layer thickening correlates with increases in baseflow, whereas, in other catchments with less extensive permafrost, increases in baseflow may be caused by wholesale permafrost loss and vertical talik expansion that enhances regional groundwater circulation. The results of this work may inform our understanding of the subsurface mechanisms responsible for the changing Arctic hydrologic cycle.