A finite-element model of overland and channel flow for assessing the hydrologic impact of land-use change

Ross, B. B.; Contractor, D. N.; Shanholtz, V. O.

doi:10.1016/0022-1694(79)90101-x

Cited by 61 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The basic conceptualisation of PREVAH includes an HBV model component (Bergström, 1976;Lindström et al, 1997) that is implemented with the semi-distributed approach of hydrological response units (HRUs; Ross et al, 1979;Gurtz et al, 1999). Further modules supplement the model structure, each of which representing an individual process of the hydrological cycle, e.g.…”

Section: Hydrological Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does climate change affect mesoscale catchments in Switzerland? – a framework for a comprehensive assessment

et al. 2010

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Abstract. Within the framework of this study we identify mesoscale catchments in Switzerland that exhibit sensitivity towards a change in climate with a focus on alterations of the water balance and peak flow conditions. For this study, the hydrological modelling system PREVAH is used, which is a semi-distributed and conceptual yet process-oriented model forced with hourly meteorological input on basis of a spatial resolution of 500×500 m 2 . We calibrate the model where measured discharge records are available and transfer the calibrated model parameters to ungauged catchments through regionalisation, to arrive at a comprehensive set of model parameters for the entire area of Switzerland. To assess future changes, we apply an extensive set of 16 Regional Climate Models (RCMs) to the catchments. The RCM data are downscaled to a dense network of meteorological stations for the period from 2021 to 2050 using the Delta Change Approach. This downscaling method incorporates a bias correction of the RCM output and provides change rates and values for precipitation and temperature.In the present paper we describe the application of a calibration and regionalisation procedure developed previously for Northern Alpine catchments to Southern catchments. The necessity to differentiate between a Northern and a Southern Alpine region, with their distinct climatologic and physiogeographic features, has proved true as the calibrated parameter sets show systematic differences between those regions, e.g. for the runoff forming parameters percolation rate (PERC) or storage time for quick runoff (KOH). For the Southern Alpine area, we calibrated two thirds of the available catchments, i.e. 23 out of 36, successfully for standard and flood conditions according to a combined model score of a linear and logarithmic Nash-Sutcliffe-Efficiency (NSE, NSE ln ) and a mean annual volumetric deviation (VD a ). TheCorrespondence to: N. Köplin (nina.koeplin@giub.unibe.ch) rate of successfully calibrated catchments is rather small in comparison with the results for the Northern Alpine catchments, where 140 out of 159 calibrations have been successful, and the distribution of the Southern catchments is more irregular. However, as the median NSE and NSE ln as well as the range of VD a show an overall good model fit, a successful regionalisation may be expected. Next steps are the regionalisation of the Southern Alpine model parameters and the application of climate scenarios to the complete set of catchments, i.e. about 200 Swiss mesoscale catchments with an average area of 150 km 2 . Thus we can identify process-based relationships between climate sensitivity and catchment characteristics and provide quantitative information on future water balance and peak flow conditions of Swiss mesoscale catchments.

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Section: Hydrological Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does climate change affect mesoscale catchments in Switzerland? – a framework for a comprehensive assessment

et al. 2010

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“…The standard spatial discretization of PREVAH relies on the aggregation of grid elements into hydrological response units (HRUs) (Ross et al, 1979;Flügel, 1997;Kouwen et al, 1993). HRUs are clusters of grid elements, representing areas of the basin where similar hydrological behaviour is expected.…”

Section: Hru Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Runoff modelling of the glacierized Alpine Upper Salzach basin (Austria): multi‐criteria result validation

Koboltschnig

Schöner

Zappa

et al. 2008

Hydrological Processes

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Abstract:Snow cover and glaciers are the most important long-term forms of water storage and, hence, the main sources of runoff during the ablation period for many alpine headwater basins. We therefore investigated the application of the conceptual, distributed hydrological precipitation runoff evapotranspiration hydrological response unit model (PREVAH) to the alpine glacierized headwater basin of the Upper Salzach (593 km 2 , 5% glacierized) river in Austria. Hourly meteorological data from 17 stations for a 6-year period were available for the calibration and validation of the hourly runoff simulations. Multi-criteria validation included hourly discharge, snow covered area (SCA), and glacier mass balances. SCA maps were generated from optical satellite images for six dates. These maps were compared to simulated maps of SCA to (1) calculate differences in SCA, (2) calculate altitudinal differences, and (3) show the ability to accurately model snow cover on different aspects. The differences between observed and simulated SCA for glacierized areas were between 1 and 9% during June and July, and between 10 and 36% during August and September observations. In general, the model overestimated SCA, which is the result of PREVAH not including redistribution of snow by wind or avalanches. The temporal variability of the simulated mass balance agreed well with observations from surrounding glaciers. Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency Criteria (R 2 ) of the hourly discharge simulations were between 0Ð83 and 0Ð89 with the exception of the extreme summer of 2003 which had an R 2 of 0Ð74. Contributions of glacier melt (firn/ice melt) to annual total runoff were between 1 and 4%. Again, the exception was 2003, when glaciers contributed 15% of the annual runoff and 60% to the August runoff alone.

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“…Another well-established methodology involves the explicit definition of hydrological response units (HRUs), which can be identified according to geological, ecological, pedological, and/or topographical criteria (e.g. Ross et al, 1979;Flügel, 1995). For example, Markart et al (2011) developed a method for assessing surface runoff coefficients and surface roughness in the case of extreme precipitation events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping dominant runoff processes: an evaluation of different approaches using similarity measures and synthetic runoff simulations

Antonetti

Buss

Scherrer

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The identification of landscapes with similar hydrological behaviour is useful for runoff and flood predictions in small ungauged catchments. An established method for landscape classification is based on the concept of dominant runoff process (DRP). The various DRP-mapping approaches differ with respect to the time and data required for mapping. Manual approaches based on expert knowledge are reliable but time-consuming, whereas automatic GIS-based approaches are easier to implement but rely on simplifications which restrict their application range. To what extent these simplifications are applicable in other catchments is unclear. More information is also needed on how the different complexities of automatic DRP-mapping approaches affect hydrological simulations.In this paper, three automatic approaches were used to map two catchments on the Swiss Plateau. The resulting maps were compared to reference maps obtained with manual mapping. Measures of agreement and association, a class comparison, and a deviation map were derived. The automatically derived DRP maps were used in synthetic runoff simulations with an adapted version of the PREVAH hydrological model, and simulation results compared with those from simulations using the reference maps.The DRP maps derived with the automatic approach with highest complexity and data requirement were the most similar to the reference maps, while those derived with simplified approaches without original soil information differed significantly in terms of both extent and distribution of the DRPs. The runoff simulations derived from the simpler DRP maps were more uncertain due to inaccuracies in the input data and their coarse resolution, but problems were also linked with the use of topography as a proxy for the storage capacity of soils.The perception of the intensity of the DRP classes also seems to vary among the different authors, and a standardised definition of DRPs is still lacking. Furthermore, we argue not to use expert knowledge for only model building and constraining, but also in the phase of landscape classification.

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A finite-element model of overland and channel flow for assessing the hydrologic impact of land-use change

Cited by 61 publications

References 4 publications

How does climate change affect mesoscale catchments in Switzerland? – a framework for a comprehensive assessment

How does climate change affect mesoscale catchments in Switzerland? – a framework for a comprehensive assessment

Runoff modelling of the glacierized Alpine Upper Salzach basin (Austria): multi‐criteria result validation

Mapping dominant runoff processes: an evaluation of different approaches using similarity measures and synthetic runoff simulations

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