A Dissipative Hydrological Model for the Hotan Oasis (DHMHO)

Abstract

Various hydrological models have been designed to simulate moisture transformation in the water-cycle system between atmospheric water, surface water, soil water and groundwater. But few have been designed specially for oases in arid desert areas where the ecology and the environment are vulnerable because of unwise water-land resources utilization. In order to analyze the moisture transformation in the Hotan Oasis in the Taklimakan Desert in China, and hence to provide scientific references for the rational exploitation and allocation of the limited water-land resources, for the purpose of ensuring that the vulnerable ecology and environment there can be gradually improved and the social economy there can develop sustainably, a dissipative hydrological model for the Hotan Oasis (DHMHO) was developed. It was an outcome of years of systematic study on the moisture transformation in arid areas and on the water-land conditions in the Hotan Oasis. Based on statistics, DHMHO introduces two empirical equations whereby we dynamically calibrated model parameters with monthly data from year 1971 to 1995. Then the calibrated parameters were used to model the moisture movement from 1996 to 2003 and thereafter rationality check and error analysis were conducted. The error analysis results show that the absolute relative errors between simulated and observed groundwater depth values are almost (11 of 12 points) within 20%, and C. Zhao et al. those in annual watershed outflow simulation are mostly (six of eight points) within 20% with an average annual Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency Coefficient (NSEC) of 0.80. With DHMHO and IPCC assessment, we also simulated the moisture transformation and dissipation in the Hotan Oasis from the year 2011 to 2020. Results show details of the water resources in the Hotan Oasis in the next decade and hence are expected to provide scientific references for establishing rational exploitation and allocation policies on the local water-land resources in the future.

Analysis of land cover change and its driving forces in a desert oasis landscape of Xinjiang, northwest China

“…Although the warmer and wetter climate of the Hotan Oasis (Fig. 6a, b) was favorable to oasis expansion, the high evaporation rate and frequent flooding of Hotan River accelerated soil salinization across the basin (Zhao, et al, 2009;Huang and Shen, 2010).…”

Dynamics of major hydro-climatic variables in the headwater catchment of the Tarim River Basin, Xinjiang, China

“…Water is mainly recharged by alpine glaciers and snow-melt water, and precipitation in the mainstream area of the river does not generate water flow. The Tarim River is thus regarded as a typical dissipation-only inland river with a unique dissipative aquatic ecosystem (Feng et al, 2005;Zhao et al, 2009).…”

Modeling of hydrological processes in arid agricultural regions

“…The model was successfully applied to the oasis in the Akesu River Basin in north-west China [88] . Zhao et al [77] developed a similar model and applied it to the Hotan Oasis (DHMHO). They are both conceptual models without detailed descriptions of soil water dynamics in the saturatedunsaturated zone.…”