Research

15 pages, 16905 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigation of Spatial and Temporal Variability of Hydrological Drought in Slovenia Using the Standardised Streamflow Index (SSI)

by Lenka Zalokar, Mira Kobold and Mojca Šraj

Water 2021, 13(22), 3197; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223197 - 11 Nov 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2687

Abstract

Drought is a complex phenomenon with high spatial and temporal variability. Water scarcity has become a growing problem in Slovenia in recent decades. Therefore, the spatial and temporal variability of hydrological drought was investigated in this study by analysing the Standardized Streamflow Index [...] Read more.

Drought is a complex phenomenon with high spatial and temporal variability. Water scarcity has become a growing problem in Slovenia in recent decades. Therefore, the spatial and temporal variability of hydrological drought was investigated in this study by analysing the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI). Monthly discharge data series from 46 gauging stations for the period 1961–2016 were used to calculate SSI values at five different time scales (1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months). The results indicate that the frequency and intensity of droughts in Slovenia has increased in recent decades at most of the analysed gauging stations and at all time scales considered. Spring and summer periods were identified as critical in terms of water deficit. SSI values vary independently from the location of the gauging station, confirming that drought is a regional phenomenon, even in a small country such as Slovenia. However, SSI values vary considerably depending on the time scale chosen. This was also confirmed by the results of the hierarchical clustering of the number of extreme droughts, as various time scales resulted in a different distribution of gauging stations by individual groups. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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20 pages, 2877 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Component Combination Test to Investigate Improvement of the IHACRES and GR4J Rainfall–Runoff Models

by Mun-Ju Shin and Chung-Soo Kim

Water 2021, 13(15), 2126; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13152126 - 02 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2244

Abstract

Rainfall–runoff models are not perfect, and the suitability of a model structure depends on catchment characteristics and data. It is important to investigate the pros and cons of a rainfall–runoff model to improve both its high- and low-flow simulation. The production and routing [...] Read more.

Rainfall–runoff models are not perfect, and the suitability of a model structure depends on catchment characteristics and data. It is important to investigate the pros and cons of a rainfall–runoff model to improve both its high- and low-flow simulation. The production and routing components of the GR4J and IHACRES models were combined to create two new models. Specifically, the GR_IH model is the combination of the production store of the GR4J model and the routing store of the IHACRES model (vice versa in the IH_GR model). The performances of the new models were compared to those of the GR4J and IHACRES models to determine components improving the performance of the two original models. The suitability of the parameters was investigated with sensitivity analysis using 40 years’ worth of spatiotemporally different data for five catchments in Australia. These five catchments consist of two wet catchments, one intermediate catchment, and two dry catchments. As a result, the effective rainfall production and routing components of the IHACRES model were most suitable for high-flow simulation of wet catchments, and the routing component improved the low-flow simulation of intermediate and one dry catchments. Both effective rainfall production and routing components of the GR4J model were suitable for low-flow simulation of one dry catchment. The routing component of the GR4J model improved the low- and high-flow simulation of wet and dry catchments, respectively, and the effective rainfall production component improved both the high- and low-flow simulations of the intermediate catchment relative to the IHACRES model. This study provides useful information for the improvement of the two models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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18 pages, 1819 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hillslope Contribution to the Clark Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph: Application to the Seolmacheon Basin, Korea

by Chulsang Yoo, Huy Phuong Doan, Changhyun Jun and Wooyoung Na

Water 2021, 13(12), 1707; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121707 - 20 Jun 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2571

Abstract

In this study, the time–area curve of an ellipse is analytically derived by considering flow velocities within both channel and hillslope. The Clark IUH is also derived analytically by solving the continuity equation with the input of the derived time–area curve to the [...] Read more.

In this study, the time–area curve of an ellipse is analytically derived by considering flow velocities within both channel and hillslope. The Clark IUH is also derived analytically by solving the continuity equation with the input of the derived time–area curve to the linear reservoir. The derived Clark IUH is then evaluated by application to the Seolmacheon basin, a small mountainous basin in Korea. The findings in this study are summarized as follows. (1) The time–area curve of a basin can more realistically be derived by considering both the channel and hillslope velocities. The role of the hillslope velocity can also be easily confirmed by analyzing the derived time–area curve. (2) The analytically derived Clark IUH shows the relative roles of the hillslope velocity and the storage coefficient. Under the condition that the channel velocity remains unchanged, the hillslope velocity controls the runoff peak flow and the concentration time. On the other hand, the effect of the storage coefficient can be found in the runoff peak flow and peak time, as well as in the falling limb of the runoff hydrograph. These findings are also confirmed in the analysis of rainfall–runoff events of the Seolmacheon basin. (3) The effect of the hillslope velocity varies considerably depending on the rainfall events, which is also found to be mostly dependent upon the maximum rainfall intensity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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26 pages, 4813 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Distributed-Framework Basin Modeling System: II. Hydrologic Modeling System

by Gang Chen, Wenjuan Hua, Xing Fang, Chuanhai Wang and Xiaoning Li

Water 2021, 13(5), 744; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050744 - 09 Mar 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3037

Abstract

A distributed-framework hydrologic modeling system (DF-HMS) is a primary and significant component of a distributed-framework basin modeling system (DFBMS), which simulates the hydrological processes and responses after rainfall at the basin scale, especially for non-homogenous basins. The DFBMS consists of 11 hydrological feature [...] Read more.

A distributed-framework hydrologic modeling system (DF-HMS) is a primary and significant component of a distributed-framework basin modeling system (DFBMS), which simulates the hydrological processes and responses after rainfall at the basin scale, especially for non-homogenous basins. The DFBMS consists of 11 hydrological feature units (HFUs) involving vertical and horizontal geographic areas in a basin. Appropriate hydrologic or hydraulic methods are adopted for different HFUs to simulate corresponding hydrological processes. The digital basin generation model is first developed to determine the essential information for hydrologic and hydraulic simulation. This paper mainly describes two significant HFUs contained in the DF-HMS for hydrologic modeling: Hilly sub-watershed and plain overland flow HFUs. A typical hilly area application case study in the Three Gorges area is introduced, which demonstrates DF-HMS’s good performance in comparison with the observed streamflow at catchment outlets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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16 pages, 11920 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Distributed-Framework Basin Modeling System: I. Overview and Model Coupling

by Chuanhai Wang, Wenjuan Hua, Gang Chen, Xing Fang and Xiaoning Li

Water 2021, 13(5), 678; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050678 - 02 Mar 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2714

Abstract

To better simulate the river basin hydrological cycle and to solve practical engineering application issues, this paper describes the distributed-framework basin modeling system (DFBMS), which concatenate a professional hydrological model system, a geographical integrated system, and a database management system. DFBMS has two [...] Read more.

To better simulate the river basin hydrological cycle and to solve practical engineering application issues, this paper describes the distributed-framework basin modeling system (DFBMS), which concatenate a professional hydrological model system, a geographical integrated system, and a database management system. DFBMS has two cores, which are the distributed-frame professional modeling system (DF-PMS) and the double-object sharing structure (DOSS). An area/region that has the same mechanism of runoff generation and/or movement is defined as one type of hydrological feature unit (HFU). DF-PMS adopts different kinds of HFUs to simulate the whole watershed hydrological cycle. The HFUs concept is the most important component of DF-PMS, enabling the model to simulate the hydrological process with empirical equations or physical-based submodules. Based on the underlying source code, the sharing uniform data structure, named DOSS, is proposed to accomplish the integration of a hydrological model and geographical information system (GIS), which is a new way of exploring temporal GIS. DFBMS has different numerical schemes including conceptual and distributed models. The feasibility and practicability of DFBMS are proven through its application in different study areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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21 pages, 3670 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Distributed-Framework Basin Modeling System: Ⅲ. Hydraulic Modeling System

by Xiaoning Li, Chuanhai Wang, Gang Chen, Xing Fang, Pingnan Zhang and Wenjuan Hua

Water 2021, 13(5), 649; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050649 - 28 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2058

Abstract

A distributed-framework basin modeling system (DFBMS) was developed to simulate the runoff generation and movement on a basin scale. This study is part of a series of papers on DFBMS that focuses on the hydraulic calculation methods in runoff concentration on underlying surfaces [...] Read more.

A distributed-framework basin modeling system (DFBMS) was developed to simulate the runoff generation and movement on a basin scale. This study is part of a series of papers on DFBMS that focuses on the hydraulic calculation methods in runoff concentration on underlying surfaces and flow movement in river networks and lakes. This paper introduces the distributed-framework river modeling system (DF-RMS) that is a professional modeling system for hydraulic modeling. The DF-RMS contains different hydrological feature units (HFUs) to simulate the runoff movement through a system of rivers, storage units, lakes, and hydraulic structures. The river network simulations were categorized into different types, including one-dimensional river branch, dendritic river network, loop river network, and intersecting river network. The DF-RMS was applied to the middle and downstream portions of the Huai River Plain in China using different HFUs for river networks and lakes. The simulation results showed great consistency with the observed data, which proves that DF-RMS is a reliable system to simulate the flow movement in river networks and lakes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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20 pages, 6437 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Distributed-Framework Basin Modeling System: IV. Application in Taihu Basin

by Gang Chen, Chuanhai Wang, Xing Fang, Xiaoning Li, Pingnan Zhang and Wenjuan Hua

Water 2021, 13(5), 611; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050611 - 26 Feb 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2089

Abstract

This paper presents the application of a distributed-framework basin modeling system (DFBMS) in Taihu Basin, China. The concepts of professional modeling systems and system integration/coupling have been summarized in the first three series papers. This study builds a hydrologic and hydrodynamic model for [...] Read more.

This paper presents the application of a distributed-framework basin modeling system (DFBMS) in Taihu Basin, China. The concepts of professional modeling systems and system integration/coupling have been summarized in the first three series papers. This study builds a hydrologic and hydrodynamic model for Taihu Basin, which is in the lowland plain areas with numerous polder areas. Digital underlying surface area data agree with the survey results from the water resource development and utilization. The runoff generated in each cell was calculated with the model based on the digital underlying surface data. According to the hydrological feature units (HFU) concept from the DFBMS, Taihu Basin was conceptualized into six different HFUs. The basic data of rainfall, evaporation, water surface elevation (WSE), discharge, tide level, and water resources for consumption and discharge in 2000 were used to calibrate the model. The simulated results of WSE and discharge matched the observed data well. The observed data of 1998, 1999, 2002, and 2003 were used to validate the model, with good agreement with the simulation results. Finally, the basic data from 2003 were used to simulate and evaluate the management scheme of water diversion from the Yangtze River to Taihu Lake. Overall, the DFBMS application in Taihu Basin showed good performance and proved that the proposed structure for DFBMS was effective and reliable. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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25 pages, 3337 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

A Comparative Assessment of Hydrological Models in the Upper Cauvery Catchment

by Robyn Horan, R Gowri, Pawan S. Wable, Helen Baron, Virginie D. J. Keller, Kaushal K. Garg, Pradeep P. Mujumdar, Helen Houghton-Carr and Gwyn Rees

Water 2021, 13(2), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13020151 - 11 Jan 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3593

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of the predictive capability of three hydrological models, and a mean ensemble of these models, in a heavily influenced catchment in Peninsular India: GWAVA (Global Water AVailability Assessment) model, SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) and VIC (Variable Infiltration [...] Read more.

This paper presents a comparison of the predictive capability of three hydrological models, and a mean ensemble of these models, in a heavily influenced catchment in Peninsular India: GWAVA (Global Water AVailability Assessment) model, SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) and VIC (Variable Infiltration Capacity) model. The performance of the three models and their ensemble were investigated in five sub-catchments in the upstream reaches of the Cauvery river catchment. Model performances for monthly streamflow simulations from 1983–2005 were analysed using Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, Kling-Gupta efficiency and percent bias. The predictive capability for each model was compared, and the ability to accurately represent key catchment hydrological processes is discussed. This highlighted the importance of an accurate spatial representation of precipitation for input into hydrological models, and that comprehensive reservoir functionality is paramount to obtaining good results in this region. The performance of the mean ensemble was analysed to determine whether the application of a multi-model ensemble approach can be useful in overcoming the uncertainties associated with individual models. It was demonstrated that the ensemble mean has a better predictive ability in catchments with reservoirs than the individual models, with Nash-Sutcliffe values between 0.49 and 0.92. Therefore, utilising multiple models could be a suitable methodology to offset uncertainty in input data and poor reservoir operation functionality within individual models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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14 pages, 4031 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of the Mean Daily Air Temperature Calculation on the Rainfall-Runoff Modelling

by Nejc Bezak, Lazar Cerović and Mojca Šraj

Water 2020, 12(11), 3175; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113175 - 13 Nov 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1886

Abstract

Conceptual rainfall-runoff models besides precipitation and discharge data generally require estimates of the mean daily air temperature as input data. For the estimation of the mean daily air temperature, there are different methods available. The paper presents an evaluation of the impact of [...] Read more.

Conceptual rainfall-runoff models besides precipitation and discharge data generally require estimates of the mean daily air temperature as input data. For the estimation of the mean daily air temperature, there are different methods available. The paper presents an evaluation of the impact of the mean daily air temperature calculation on the rainfall-runoff modelling results. Additionally, other measured variables and rating curve uncertainty were assessed. Differences in the mean daily air temperature values were evaluated for the 33 meteorological stations in Slovenia and additional investigations were conducted for four selected meso-scale catchments located in different climates. The results of the application of four equations for the mean air temperature calculation yielded the mean absolute error values between 0.56–0.80 °C. However, the results of rainfall-runoff modelling showed that these differences had an almost negligible impact on the model results. Differences in the mean simulated discharge values were no larger than 1%, while differences in the maximum discharge values were a bit larger, but did not exceed 5%. A somewhat larger impact on the model results was observed when precipitation and water level measurements’ uncertainty was included. However, among all analysed input data uncertainties, the rating curve uncertainty can be regarded as the most influential with differences in the simulated mean discharge values in the range of 3% and differences in the maximum discharge values up to 14%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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19 pages, 3561 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long-Term Modelling of an Agricultural and Urban River Catchment with SWMM Upgraded by the Evapotranspiration Model UrbanEVA

by Frauke Kachholz and Jens Tränckner

Water 2020, 12(11), 3089; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113089 - 04 Nov 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2964

Abstract

Evapotranspiration (ET) has a decisive effect on groundwater recharge and thus also affects the base flow of the receiving water. This applies above all to low-lying areas with a low depth to groundwater (GW), as is often the case in the north German [...] Read more.

Evapotranspiration (ET) has a decisive effect on groundwater recharge and thus also affects the base flow of the receiving water. This applies above all to low-lying areas with a low depth to groundwater (GW), as is often the case in the north German lowlands. In order to analyze this relation, a coupled rainfall-runoff and hydraulic stream model was set up using the software SWMM-UrbanEVA, a version of the software SWMM that was upgraded by a detailed ET module. A corresponding model was set up for the same site but with the conventional software SWMM to compare the water balance and hydrographs. The total amount of ET calculated with the SWMM software is 7% higher than that computed with the upgraded version in the period considered. Therefore, less water is available for soil infiltration and lateral groundwater flow to the stream. This generally leads to a slight underestimation of base flows, with the exception of a notably wet summer month when the base flows were highly overestimated. Nevertheless, the base flow hydrograph shows a good adaptation to observed values (MAE = 0.014 m³s⁻¹, R = 0.88, NSE = 0.81) but gives worse results compared to SWMM-UrbanEVA. The latter is very well able to reflect the GW-fed base flow in the sample stream in average (MAE = 0.011 m³s⁻¹) and in its dynamics (R = 0.93, NSE = 0.85). By applying the UrbanEVA upgrade, SWMM is applicable to model the seasonal dynamics of near-natural river basins. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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13 pages, 2609 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Nonhomogeneous Soil Characteristics on the Hydrologic Response: A Case Study

by JiHyeong Hwang, HyungKeun Lee and Khil Lee

Water 2020, 12(9), 2416; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092416 - 28 Aug 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1658

Abstract

This study examined how different nonhomogeneous soil characteristics affected hydrologic responses in rainfall-runoff models. The cell-based FLO-2D and lumped Hydrologic Engineering Center Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) were setup. Then, water loss parameters of both the Green-Ampt infiltration approach and curve number method were [...] Read more.

This study examined how different nonhomogeneous soil characteristics affected hydrologic responses in rainfall-runoff models. The cell-based FLO-2D and lumped Hydrologic Engineering Center Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) were setup. Then, water loss parameters of both the Green-Ampt infiltration approach and curve number method were prescribed and applied in three different ways: (i) a separate value for each cell (mosaic; (ii) a representative as a most frequent occurring value for a large area (predominant); (iii) and a representative as an arithmetic mean value for a watershed (arithmetic mean). The spatial variability of nonhomogeneous catchment parameters was disregarded in lumped models, while each cell had distinct surface parameters in the distributed models. This study shows that the hydrologic response was meaningfully different in different representations. For the study site, the mosaic method was recommended for distributed models, and arithmetic mean was recommended for lumped models. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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13 pages, 6433 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rainfall-Runoff Modeling of the Nested Non-Homogeneous Sava River Sub-Catchments in Slovenia

by Katarina Lavtar, Nejc Bezak and Mojca Šraj

Water 2020, 12(1), 128; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010128 - 31 Dec 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4557

Abstract

Rainfall-runoff modeling is nowadays applied for water resources management, water system design, real-time forecasting, flood design and can be carried out by using different types of hydrological models. In this study, we focused on lumped conceptual hydrological models and their performance in diverse [...] Read more.

Rainfall-runoff modeling is nowadays applied for water resources management, water system design, real-time forecasting, flood design and can be carried out by using different types of hydrological models. In this study, we focused on lumped conceptual hydrological models and their performance in diverse sub-catchments of the Sava River in Slovenia, related to their size and non-homogeneity. We evaluated the difference between modeled and measured discharges of selected discharge gauging stations, using different model performance criteria that are usually applied in hydrology, connecting the results to geospatial analysis of geological and hydrogeological characteristics, land use, runoff potential, proportion of agglomeration and various meteorological variables. Better model performance was obtained for catchments with a higher runoff potential and with less variations in meteorological variables. Regarding the number of used parameters, the results indicated that the tested Genie Rural 6-parameter Journalier (GR6J) model with 6 parameters performed better than the Genie Rural 4-parameter Journalier (GR4J) model with 4 parameters, especially in the case of larger sub-catchments. These results illustrate the comprehensive nature of lumped models. Thus, they yield good performance in case of the catchments with indistinguishable characteristics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling Hydrologic Response of Non-homogeneous Catchments)

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