The relevance of hydrological research in small catchments – A perspective from long-term monitoring sites in Europe

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The usefulness of small (< 10

A recipe for why and how to set up and sustain an experimental catchment

“…This inevitably results in a large variety of catchment perceptual models (McMillan et al, 2023). So, all catchments might have the same hydrological behaviour but, ultimately, “every catchment is an exception” (Blöschl, 2024, personal communication) and worth studying. Experimental catchments that can be maintained for years or even decades offer the opportunity to exploit long‐term data essential to analyse and predict multiannual trends, hydrometeorological extremes, the effects of land use and climate change, and disturbances on the catchment hydrological response (Latron & Lana‐Renault, 2018; Tetzlaff et al, 2017), especially in sensitive and rapidly changing environments (Laudon et al, 2017). At the same time, long‐term catchment data allow assessing the coevolving climate‐vegetation‐soil interactions and the role of vegetation in modulating the effects of hydrological changes and are useful for reducing flood risk, managing water supplies, and maintaining other ecosystem services (Daly et al, 2019; Latron & Lana‐Renault, 2018; Tetzlaff et al, 2013; Tetzlaff et al, 2017; Troch et al, 2013).…”

Long-term time-scale bonds between discharge regime and catchment specific landscape traits in the Spanish Pyrenees

“…The average annual precipitation is about 720 mm, with annual precipitation varying between 500 and 1000 mm. See García-Ruiz et al (2010) and Latron and Lana-Renault (2018) for further details.…”

“…The average annual precipitation is about 720 mm, with annual precipitation varying between 500 and 1000 mm. See García-Ruiz et al (2010) and Latron and Lana-Renault (2018)…”

“…An analysis of long-term databases with information on precipitation and discharge was undertaken in this study to characterize the temporal structure response of the discharge regime in four experimental catchments located in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. This analysis follows on previous studies reported data covering few hydrological years (García-Ruiz et al, 2008, 2010Latron and Lana-Renault, 2018) or event-scale analysis (Lana-Renault et al, 2014). However, we time-localize the dominant time-scales within the complete temporal spectrum of the catchment, rather than isolating and analyzing the contribution of each single flood event.…”

Multiple Temporal Scales Assessment in the Hydrological Response of Small Mediterranean Catchments

“…The hydrological response of Es Fangar can be compared with similar catchments in terms of catchment size and climate considering the relevance of the long-term monitoring in small catchments (i.e., < 10 km 2 ) as outdoor laboratories [54]. These authors highlighted their multiple role for long-term observatories to understand extreme events (floods and drought), sites for method and model validation, testing novel measurement technologies and places for training young researchers.…”