scholarly journals A New Approach for Planning M.C.W.H. Systems with Annual Rainfall-Runoff Data

Author(s):  
Spyros Giakoumakis ◽  
Alexis Skalieris

In this study a new approach for planning Micro-Catchment Water Harvesting (M.C.W.H.) systems for irrigation in semi-arid regions such as the Aegean islands, is presented. M.C.W.H. is a cheap solution for constructing irrigation infrastructure with zero energy cost in regions where water is scarce. The proposed approach introduces simple linear relationships for estimating the annual volume of water Vs collected mainly from the CA (Contributing Area), stored in the root zone (Infiltration Basin, IB), according to the annual rainfall and runoff depths, after having determined the ratio of areas of micro-catchment (MC) components i.e. λ= ΑCA/ΑΙΒ and its whole area AMC This procedure was applied in Paros island of the Cyclades complex in the middle of the Aegean sea in east Mediterranean. Besides, income-cost analysis was performed via NPV method for almond, peach and apricot trees. The new approach was proved versatile and easy to use. Besides, the investment turned out to be advantageous two years after the MCs construction.

Author(s):  
Spyros Giakoumakis ◽  
Alexis Skalieris

In the present study a new approach for planning Micro-Catchment Water Harvesting (M.C.W.H.) systems for irrigation in semi-arid regions such as the Aegean islands, is presented. This is a cheap solution for constructing infrastructure with zero energy cost in regions where water is scarce. The proposed approach introduces simple linear relationships for estimating the annual volume of water Vs collected mainly from the CA (Contributing Area), stored in the root zone (Infiltration Basin, IB), according to the annual  rainfall and runoff depths, after having determined the ratio of areas of micro-catchment components, i.e., λ = ΑCA/ΑΙΒ and its whole area AMC This procedure was applied in Paros island of the Cyclades complex in the middle of the Aegean sea in east Mediterranean. Besides, income-cost analysis was performed via NPV method for almonds, peach and apricot trees.


Author(s):  
Spyros Giakoumakis ◽  
Alexis Skalieris

In this study a new approach for planning Micro-Catchment Water Harvesting (M.C.W.H.) systems for irrigation in semi-arid regions such as the Aegean islands, is presented. M.C.W.H. is a cheap solution for constructing infrastructure with zero energy cost in regions where water is scarce. The proposed approach introduces simple linear relationships for estimating the annual volume of water Vs collected mainly from the CA (Contributing Area), stored in the root zone (Infiltration Basin, IB), according to the annual  rainfall and runoff depths, after having determined the ratio of areas of micro-catchment components i.e., λ = ΑCA/ΑΙΒ and its whole area AMC This procedure was applied in Paros island of the Cyclades complex in the middle of the Aegean sea in east Mediterranean. Besides, income-cost analysis was performed via NPV method for almonds, peach and apricot trees.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 8865-8901
Author(s):  
P. Noel ◽  
A. N. Rousseau ◽  
C. Paniconi

Abstract. Subdivision of catchment into appropriate hydrological units is essential to represent rainfall-runoff processes in hydrological modelling. The commonest units used for this purpose are hillslopes (e.g. Fan and Bras, 1998; Troch et al., 2003). Hillslope width functions can therefore be utilised as one-dimensional representation of three-dimensional landscapes by introducing profile curvatures and plan shapes. An algorithm was developed to delineate and extract hillslopes and hillslope width functions by introducing a new approach to calculate an average profile curvature and plan shape. This allows the algorithm to be independent of digital elevation model resolution and to associate hillslopes to nine elementary landscapes according to Dikau (1989). This algortihm was tested on two flat and steep catchments of the province of Quebec, Canada. Results showed great area coverage for hillslope width function over individual hillslopes and entire watershed.


2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bari ◽  
K. R. J. Smettem

Abstract. A conceptual water balance model is presented to represent changes in monthly water balance following land use changes. Monthly rainfall–runoff, groundwater and soil moisture data from four experimental catchments in Western Australia have been analysed. Two of these catchments, "Ernies" (control, fully forested) and "Lemon" (54% cleared) are in a zone of mean annual rainfall of 725 mm, while "Salmon" (control, fully forested) and "Wights" (100% cleared) are in a zone with mean annual rainfall of 1125 mm. At the Salmon forested control catchment, streamflow comprises surface runoff, base flow and interflow components. In the Wights catchment, cleared of native forest for pasture development, all three components increased, groundwater levels rose significantly and stream zone saturated area increased from 1% to 15% of the catchment area. It took seven years after clearing for the rainfall–runoff generation process to stabilise in 1984. At the Ernies forested control catchment, the permanent groundwater system is 20 m below the stream bed and so does not contribute to streamflow. Following partial clearing of forest in the Lemon catchment, groundwater rose steadily and reached the stream bed by 1987. The streamflow increased in two phases: (i) immediately after clearing due to reduced evapotranspiration, and (ii) through an increase in the groundwater-induced stream zone saturated area after 1987. After analysing all the data available, a conceptual monthly model was created, comprising four inter-connecting stores: (i) an upper zone unsaturated store, (ii) a transient stream zone store, (ii) a lower zone unsaturated store and (iv) a saturated groundwater store. Data such as rooting depth, Leaf Area Index, soil porosity, profile thickness, depth to groundwater, stream length and surface slope were incorporated into the model as a priori defined attributes. The catchment average values for different stores were determined through matching observed and predicted monthly hydrographs. The observed and predicted monthly runoff for all catchments matched well with coefficients of determination (R2) ranging from 0.68 to 0.87. Predictions were relatively poor for: (i) the Ernies catchment (lowest rainfall, forested), and (ii) months with very high flows. Overall, the predicted mean annual streamflow was within ±8% of the observed values. Keywords: monthly streamflow, land use change, conceptual model, data-based approach, groundwater


2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Gaume

Abstract. This paper presents some analytical results and numerical illustrations on the asymptotic properties of flood peak distributions obtained through derived flood frequency approaches. It confirms and extends the results of previous works: i.e. the shape of the flood peak distributions are asymptotically controlled by the rainfall statistical properties, given limited and reasonable assumptions concerning the rainfall-runoff process. This result is partial so far: the impact of the rainfall spatial heterogeneity has not been studied for instance. From a practical point of view, it provides a general framework for analysis of the outcomes of previous works based on derived flood frequency approaches and leads to some proposals for the estimation of very large return-period flood quantiles. This paper, focussed on asymptotic distribution properties, does not propose any new approach for the extrapolation of flood frequency distribution to estimate intermediate return period flood quantiles. Nevertheless, the large distance between frequent flood peak values and the asymptotic values as well as the simulations conducted in this paper help quantifying the ill condition of the problem of flood frequency distribution extrapolation: it illustrates how large the range of possibilities for the shapes of flood peak distributions is.


2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Abrahart ◽  
L. M. See

Abstract. The potential of an artificial neural network to perform simple non-linear hydrological transformations is examined. Four neural network models were developed to emulate different facets of a recognised non-linear hydrological transformation equation that possessed a small number of variables and contained no temporal component. The modeling process was based on a set of uniform random distributions. The cloning operation facilitated a direct comparison with the exact equation-based relationship. It also provided broader information about the power of a neural network to emulate existing equations and model non-linear relationships. Several comparisons with least squares multiple linear regression were performed. The first experiment involved a direct emulation of the Xinanjiang Rainfall-Runoff Model. The next two experiments were designed to assess the competencies of two neural solutions that were developed on a reduced number of inputs. This involved the omission and conflation of previous inputs. The final experiment used derived variables to model intrinsic but otherwise concealed internal relationships that are of hydrological interest. Two recent studies have suggested that neural solutions offer no worthwhile improvements in comparison to traditional weighted linear transfer functions for capturing the non-linear nature of hydrological relationships. Yet such fundamental properties are intrinsic aspects of catchment processes that cannot be excluded or ignored. The results from the four experiments that are reported in this paper are used to challenge the interpretations from these two earlier studies and thus further the debate with regards to the appropriateness of neural networks for hydrological modelling.


In meteorology, Precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under the gravity, the rainfall being the principal form of precipitation in India. Rainfall is the most important meteorological parameter for hydrology, as it controls the other processes such as infiltration, runoff, detention storage, and evapotranspiration. When precipitation falls over a catchment area, these processes have to be satisfied before precipitation water becomes runoff. Infiltration is the vertically downward flow of rainfall into ground/underground through percolation inside the soil surface and depends on soil-type, porosity, and permeability. Runoff is the flow of rainwater over the land surface that happens when there is an excess of precipitation over an area. Runoff is produced when the rainwater exceeds the infiltration capacity of the soil. The most important relationships for any watershed are the relationship between rainfall and runoff. This relationship depends on some factors such as characteristics of rainfall, runoff, and infiltration. Though the abovementioned factors have a major impact on the volume of runoff, a consistent correlation between rainfall-runoff enables us to increase more confidence in sufficient time for the formulation of appropriate decision making for the local authority. The present research work was undertaken to analyze the correlation between annual rainfall and annual runoff for the years 1901-2018 over Jamshedpur of East Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. Further in this study, the correlation between infiltration and annual runoff was analyzed over the same area and the same data period. Correlation between temperature and annual runoff was also found. Through the graphical analysis, it was found that the value of annual rainfall and runoff are strongly correlated.As the value of the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) is almost equal to +1 which is a nearly perfect positive correlation, signifies that both variables move in the same direction. It also signifies that the two variables being compared have a perfect positive relationship; that means these two are strongly related. Through the study, it was also found that the infiltration and runoff are largely correlated. There was practically no correlation found between the values of temperature and runoff over the years.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Rahbeh ◽  
David Chanasyk ◽  
Shane Patterson

A combined methodology of the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM), the generation of stochastic rainfall realizations, and an historical meteorological record were used to determine the supplementary irrigation requirement for an experimental site located in northern Alberta. The site receives an annual rainfall of approximately 500 mm yr -1, and contains a fluctuating water table. The simulated results showed maximum irrigation requirements of 270 mm, however, half that amount can be required during an average or wet growing season of mean rainfall of 350 and 500 mm, respectively. The irrigation requirements were influenced by rainfall amount and distribution, downward flux and the subsequent fluctuation of the water table and the depth of water table at the beginning of the growing season, which was influenced by the winter season precipitation. The simulated results suggested that a water table less than 2 m deep from the ground surface can significantly reduce the irrigation requirements. Therefore, the winter precipitation and initial depth of the water table are suitable indicators of the likely requirement of irrigation during the growing season.


1977 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hadjichristodoulou

SUMMARYThere were significant differences in dry matter yield among five forage oat varieties tested at ten environments during 1970–75. The correlation coefficients between annual rainfall and DM yield varied with variety from 0·69 to 0·88, late varieties tending to give higher yields. Lateness, and high varietal response to annual rainfall and improved environmental conditions, can be used as selection criteria in semi-arid regions. Late varieties had higher DM and lower crude protein contents, and forage produced under lower rainfall conditions tended to have more DM and crude protein.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasileios Kourakos ◽  
Andreas Efstratiadis ◽  
Ioannis Tsoukalas

<p>Hydrological calibrations with historical data are often deemed insufficient for deducing safe estimations about a model structure that imitates, as closely as possible, the anticipated catchment behaviour. Ιn order to address this issue, we investigate a promising strategy, using as drivers synthetic time series, which preserve the probabilistic properties and dependence structure of the observed data. The key idea is calibrating a model on the basis of synthetic rainfall-runoff data, and validating against the full observed data sample. To this aim, we employed a proof of concept on few representative catchments, by testing several lumped conceptual hydrological models with alternative parameterizations and across two time-scales, monthly and daily. Next, we attempted to reinforce the validity of the recommended methodology by employing monthly stochastic calibrations in 100 MOPEX catchments. As before, a number of different hydrological models were used, for the purpose of proving that calibration with stochastic inputs is independent of the chosen model. The results highlight that in most cases the new approach leads to stronger parameter identifiability and stable predictive capacity across different temporal windows, since the model is trained over much extended hydroclimatic conditions.</p>


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