A Study of Soilwater and Groundwater Flow of Hillslopes – Using a Mathematical Model

1985 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Johansson

The soil and groundwater flow of a hillslope adjacent to a stream has been studied using a physically based mathematical model. Values of soil parameters have been taken from investigations of Swedish till soils. Model simulations have been made in order to calculate groundwater outflow during and after a rainfall event, and to study the response to infiltration of soil and groundwater flow in different parts of the slope. The effects of soil layering and slope configuration have also been studied. The simulated peak of groundwater outflow, occurring just after cessation of infiltration, is of the same order of magnitude as a typical streamflow peak in a small Swedish watershed. The increase of groundwater outflow during and after a rainfall event is, according to model simulation, caused by infiltration close to the stream. Hence, the soil properties of this part of the slope are of great importance to runoff generation.

1974 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 151-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. B. Lindbebo ◽  
Fr. R. Watson

Recent studies suggest the determinations of clinical laboratories must be made more precise than at present. This paper presents a means of examining benefits of improvement in precision. To do this we use a mathematical model of the effect upon the diagnostic process of imprecision in measurements and the influence upon these two of Importance of Diagnosis and Prevalence of Disease. The interaction of these effects is grossly non-linear. There is therefore no proper intuitive answer to questions involving these matters. The effects can always, however, be calculated.Including a great many assumptions the modeling suggests that improvements in precision of any determination ought probably to be made in hospital rather than screening laboratories, unless Importance of Diagnosis is extremely high.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2032
Author(s):  
Pâmela A. Melo ◽  
Lívia A. Alvarenga ◽  
Javier Tomasella ◽  
Carlos R. Mello ◽  
Minella A. Martins ◽  
...  

Landform classification is important for representing soil physical properties varying continuously across the landscape and for understanding many hydrological processes in watersheds. Considering it, this study aims to use a geomorphology map (Geomorphons) as an input to a physically based hydrological model (Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM)) in a mountainous headwater watershed. A sensitivity analysis of five soil parameters was evaluated for streamflow simulation in each Geomorphons feature. As infiltration and saturation excess overland flow are important mechanisms for streamflow generation in complex terrain watersheds, the model’s input soil parameters were most sensitive in the “slope”, “hollow”, and “valley” features. Thus, the simulated streamflow was compared with observed data for calibration and validation. The model performance was satisfactory and equivalent to previous simulations in the same watershed using pedological survey and moisture zone maps. Therefore, the results from this study indicate that a geomorphologically based map is applicable and representative for spatially distributing hydrological parameters in the DHSVM.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 4531-4545 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Zhu ◽  
C. L. Winter ◽  
Z. Wang

Abstract. Computational experiments are performed to evaluate the effects of locally heterogeneous conductivity fields on regional exchanges of water between stream and aquifer systems in the Middle Heihe River basin (MHRB) of northwestern China. The effects are found to be nonlinear in the sense that simulated discharges from aquifers to streams are systematically lower than discharges produced by a base model parameterized with relatively coarse effective conductivity. A similar, but weaker, effect is observed for stream leakage. The study is organized around three hypotheses: (H1) small-scale spatial variations of conductivity significantly affect regional exchanges of water between streams and aquifers in river basins, (H2) aggregating small-scale heterogeneities into regional effective parameters systematically biases estimates of stream–aquifer exchanges, and (H3) the biases result from slow paths in groundwater flow that emerge due to small-scale heterogeneities. The hypotheses are evaluated by comparing stream–aquifer fluxes produced by the base model to fluxes simulated using realizations of the MHRB characterized by local (grid-scale) heterogeneity. Levels of local heterogeneity are manipulated as control variables by adjusting coefficients of variation. All models are implemented using the MODFLOW (Modular Three-dimensional Finite-difference Groundwater Flow Model) simulation environment, and the PEST (parameter estimation) tool is used to calibrate effective conductivities defined over 16 zones within the MHRB. The effective parameters are also used as expected values to develop lognormally distributed conductivity (K) fields on local grid scales. Stream–aquifer exchanges are simulated with K fields at both scales and then compared. Results show that the effects of small-scale heterogeneities significantly influence exchanges with simulations based on local-scale heterogeneities always producing discharges that are less than those produced by the base model. Although aquifer heterogeneities are uncorrelated at local scales, they appear to induce coherent slow paths in groundwater fluxes that in turn reduce aquifer–stream exchanges. Since surface water–groundwater exchanges are critical hydrologic processes in basin-scale water budgets, these results also have implications for water resources management.


2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2981-3004 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Vannametee ◽  
D. Karssenberg ◽  
M. R. Hendriks ◽  
M. F. P. Bierkens

Abstract. This paper presents an evaluation of the closure relation for Hortonian runoff, proposed in Vannametee et al. (2012), that incorporates a scaling component to explicitly account for the process heterogeneity and scale effects in runoff generation for the real-world case studies. We applied the closure relation, which was embedded in an event-based lumped rainfall–runoff model, to a 15 km2 catchment in the French Alps. The catchment was disaggregated into a number of landform units, referred to as Geomorphologic Response Units (GRUs), to each of which the closure relation was applied. The scaling component in the closure relation was identified using the empirical relations between rainstorm characteristics, geometry, and local-scale measurable properties of the GRUs. Evaluation of the closure relation performance against the observed discharge shows that the hydrograph and discharge volume were quite satisfactorily simulated even without calibration. Performance of the closure relation can be mainly attributed to the use of scaling component, as it is shown that our closure relation outperforms a benchmark closure relation that lacks this scaling component. The discharge prediction is significantly improved when the closure relation is calibrated against the observed discharge, resulting in local-scale GRU-properties optimal for the predictions. Calibration was done by changing one local-scale observable, i.e. hydraulic conductivity (Ks), using a single pre-factor for the entire catchment. It is shown that the calibrated Ks values are somewhat comparable to the observed Ks values at a local scale in the study catchment. These results suggest that, in the absence of discharge observations, reasonable estimates of catchment-scale runoff responses can possibly be achieved with the observations at the sub-GRU (i.e. plot) scale. Our study provides a platform for the future development of low-dimensional, semi-distributed, physically based discharge models in ungauged catchments.


2014 ◽  
Vol 611 ◽  
pp. 325-331
Author(s):  
Ľubica Miková ◽  
Michal Kelemen ◽  
Vladislav Maxim ◽  
Jaromír Jezný

In current practice the use of mathematical models is substantially widespread, reason being the recent increase in development of programs for this purpose, with the option of model simulation in a virtual environment, proportional to the evolving computer technology. The article contains a mathematical model created using Matlab program. The simulation results are compared with scientific literature that addresses DC motors and evaluated. For simplicity, a graphical interface was created.


2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 829-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Giertz ◽  
B. Diekkrüger ◽  
G. Steup

Abstract. The aim of the study was to test the applicability of a physically-based model to simulate the hydrological processes in a headwater catchment in Benin. Field investigations in the catchment have shown that lateral processes such as surface runoff and interflow are most important. Therefore, the 1-D SVAT-model SIMULAT was modified to a semi-distributed hillslope version (SIMULAT-H). Based on a good database, the model was evaluated in a multi-criteria validation using discharge, discharge components and soil moisture data. For the validation of discharge, good results were achieved for dry and wet years. The main differences were observable in the beginning of the rainy season. A comparison of the discharge components determined by hydro-chemical measurements with the simulation revealed that the model simulated the ratio of groundwater fluxes and fast runoff components correctly. For the validation of the discharge components of single events, larger differences were observable, which was partly caused by uncertainties in the precipitation data. The representation of the soil moisture dynamics by the model was good for the top soil layer. For deeper soil horizons, which are characterized by higher gravel content, the differences between simulated and measured soil moisture were larger. A good agreement of simulation results and field investigations was achieved for the runoff generation processes. Interflow is the predominant process on the upper and the middle slopes, while at the bottom of the hillslope groundwater recharge and – during the rainy season – saturated overland flow are important processes.


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1103-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Fang ◽  
J. W. Pomeroy ◽  
C. J. Westbrook ◽  
X. Guo ◽  
A. G. Minke ◽  
...  

Abstract. The eastern Canadian Prairies are dominated by cropland, pasture, woodland and wetland areas. The region is characterized by many poor and internal drainage systems and large amounts of surface water storage. Consequently, basins here have proven challenging to hydrological model predictions which assume good drainage to stream channels. The Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling platform (CRHM) is an assembly system that can be used to set up physically based, flexible, object oriented models. CRHM was used to create a prairie hydrological model for the externally drained Smith Creek Research Basin (~400 km2), east-central Saskatchewan. Physically based modules were sequentially linked in CRHM to simulate snow processes, frozen soils, variable contributing area and wetland storage and runoff generation. Five "representative basins" (RBs) were used and each was divided into seven hydrological response units (HRUs): fallow, stubble, grassland, river channel, open water, woodland, and wetland as derived from a supervised classification of SPOT 5 imagery. Two types of modelling approaches calibrated and uncalibrated, were set up for 2007/08 and 2008/09 simulation periods. For the calibrated modelling, only the surface depression capacity of upland area was calibrated in the 2007/08 simulation period by comparing simulated and observed hydrographs; while other model parameters and all parameters in the uncalibrated modelling were estimated from field observations of soils and vegetation cover, SPOT 5 imagery, and analysis of drainage network and wetland GIS datasets as well as topographic map based and LiDAR DEMs. All the parameters except for the initial soil properties and antecedent wetland storage were kept the same in the 2008/09 simulation period. The model performance in predicting snowpack, soil moisture and streamflow was evaluated and comparisons were made between the calibrated and uncalibrated modelling for both simulation periods. Calibrated and uncalibrated predictions of snow accumulation were very similar and compared fairly well with the distributed field observations for the 2007/08 period with slightly poorer results for the 2008/09 period. Soil moisture content at a point during the early spring was adequately simulated and very comparable between calibrated and uncalibrated results for both simulation periods. The calibrated modelling had somewhat better performance in simulating spring streamflow in both simulation periods, whereas the uncalibrated modelling was still able to capture the streamflow hydrographs with good accuracy. This suggests that prediction of prairie basins without calibration is possible if sufficient data on meteorology, basin landcover and physiography are available.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110337
Author(s):  
Tea Sokač ◽  
Anita Šalić ◽  
Dajana Kučić Grgić ◽  
Monika Šabić Runjavec ◽  
Marijana Vidaković ◽  
...  

In this paper, two different types of biowaste composting processes were carried out – composting without and with bioaugmentation. All experiments were performed in an adiabatic reactor for 14 days. Composting enhanced with bioaugmentation was the better choice because the thermophilic phase was achieved earlier, making the composting time shorter. Additionally, a higher conversion of substrate (amount of substrate consumed) was also noticed in the process enhanced by bioaugmentation. A mathematical model was developed and process parameters were estimated in order to optimize the composting process. Based on good agreement between experimental data and the mathematical model simulation results, a three-level-four-factor Box-Behnken experimental design was employed to define the optimal process conditions for further studies. It was found that the air flow rate and the mass fraction of the substrate have the most significant effect on the composting process. An improvement of the composting process was achieved after altering the mentioned variables, resulting in shorter composting time and higher conversion of the substrate.


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