scholarly journals Assessing components of the natural environment of the Upper Danube and Upper Brahmaputra river basins

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Lang ◽  
A. Kääb ◽  
J. Pechstädt ◽  
W.-A. Flügel ◽  
P. Zeil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Large River ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Hydrological Response ◽  
Brahmaputra River ◽  
Type Water

Abstract. A comprehensive understanding of the interplay between the natural environment and the human dimension is one of the prerequisites to successful and sustaining IWRM practises in large river basins such as the Upper Brahmaputra river basin or the Upper Danube river basin. These interactions, their dynamics and changes, and the likely future scenarios were investigated in the BRAHMATWINN project with a series of tools from remote sensing and geoinformatics. An integrated assessment of main components of the natural environment in the two river basins as well as in five reference catchments within those basins, has led to the delineation of hydrological response units (HRUs). HRUs are spatial units bearing a uniform behaviour in terms of the hydrological response regime, as a function of physical parameters land use, soil type, water, vegetation cover and climate. Besides the delineated HRUs which are available in a spatially exhaustive manner for all reference catchments, the following information were provided as spatial layers: (1) uniform digital surface models of both the twinned basins and the reference catchments; (2) glacier areas and the magnitude of glacier loss; (3) mountain permafrost distribution and identification of areas particularly affected by permafrost thaw; (4) a consistent land use/land cover information in all reference catchments; and (5) the vulnerabilities of wetlands and groundwater in terms of anthropogenic impact and climate change.

scholarly journals Carbon Storage Change Analysis and Emission Reduction Suggestions under Land Use Transition: A Case Study of Henan Province, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1844
Author(s):  
Dongyang Xiao ◽  
Haipeng Niu ◽  
Jin Guo ◽  
Suxia Zhao ◽  
Liangxin Fan
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Yangtze River Basin ◽  
Yellow River Basin ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Henan Province ◽  
Huai River

The significant spatial heterogeneity among river basin ecosystems makes it difficult for local governments to carry out comprehensive governance for different river basins in a special administrative region spanning multi-river basins. However, there are few studies on the construction of a comprehensive governance mechanism for multi-river basins at the provincial level. To fill this gap, this paper took Henan Province of China, which straddles four river basins, as the study region. The chord diagram, overlay analysis, and carbon emission models were applied to the remote sensing data of land use to analyze the temporal and spatial patterns of carbon storage caused by land-use changes in Henan Province from 1990 to 2018 to reflect the heterogeneity of the contribution of the four basins to human activities and economic development. The results revealed that food security land in the four basins decreased, while production and living land increased. Ecological conservation land was increased over time in the Yangtze River Basin. In addition, the conversion from food security land to production and living land was the common characteristic for the four basins. Carbon emission in Henan increased from 134.46 million tons in 1990 to 553.58 million tons in 2018, while its carbon absorption was relatively stable (1.67–1.69 million tons between 1990 and 2018). The carbon emitted in the Huai River Basin was the main contributor to Henan Province’s total carbon emission. The carbon absorption in Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin had an obvious spatial agglomeration effect. Finally, considering the current need of land spatial planning in China and the goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 set by the Chinese government, we suggested that carbon sequestration capacity should be further strengthened in Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin based on their respective ecological resource advantages. For future development in Hai River Basin and Huai River Basin, coordinating the spatial allocation of urban scale and urban green space to build an ecological city is a key direction to embark upon.

scholarly journals Distributed model of hydrological and sediment transport processes in large river basins in Southeast Asia

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 6755-6797 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Zuliziana ◽  
K. Tanuma ◽  
C. Yoshimura ◽  
O. C. Saavedra
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Suspended Sediment ◽  
River Basin ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Large River ◽  
Mekong River ◽  
Distributed Model ◽  
Mekong River Basin ◽  
Chao Phraya River ◽  
Large River Basins

Abstract. Soil erosion and sediment transport have been modeled at several spatial and temporal scales, yet few models have been reported for large river basins (e.g., drainage areas > 100 000 km2). In this study, we propose a process-based distributed model for assessment of sediment transport at a large basin scale. A distributed hydrological model was coupled with a process-based distributed sediment transport model describing soil erosion and sedimentary processes at hillslope units and channels. The model was tested on two large river basins: the Chao Phraya River Basin (drainage area: 160 000 km2) and the Mekong River Basin (795 000 km2). The simulation over 10 years showed good agreement with the observed suspended sediment load in both basins. The average Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and average correlation coefficient (r) between the simulated and observed suspended sediment loads were 0.62 and 0.61, respectively, in the Chao Phraya River Basin except the lowland section. In the Mekong River Basin, the overall average NSE and r were 0.60 and 0.78, respectively. Sensitivity analysis indicated that suspended sediment load is sensitive to detachability by raindrop (k) in the Chao Phraya River Basin and to soil detachability over land (Kf) in the Mekong River Basin. Overall, the results suggest that the present model can be used to understand and simulate erosion and sediment transport in large river basins.

scholarly journals The Impacts of Land Use Patterns on Water Quality in a Trans-Boundary River Basin in Northeast China Based on Eco-Functional Regionalization

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1872 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peixuan Cheng ◽  
Fansheng Meng ◽  
Yeyao Wang ◽  
Lingsong Zhang ◽  
Qi Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Flow Region ◽  
High Flow ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Degraded Water Quality

The relationships between land use patterns and water quality in trans-boundary watersheds remain elusive due to the heterogeneous natural environment. We assess the impact of land use patterns on water quality at different eco-functional regions in the Songhua River basin during two hydrological seasons in 2016. The partial least square regression indicated that agricultural activities associated with most water quality pollutants in the region with a relative higher runoff depth and lower altitude. Intensive grazing had negative impacts on water quality in plain areas with low runoff depth. Forest was related negatively with degraded water quality in mountainous high flow region. Patch density and edge density had major impacts on water quality contaminants especially in mountainous high flow region; Contagion was related with non-point source pollutants in mountainous normal flow region; landscape shape index was an effective indicator for anions in some eco-regions in high flow season; Shannon’s diversity index contributed to degraded water quality in each eco-region, indicating the variation of landscape heterogeneity influenced water quality regardless of natural environment. The results provide a regional based approach of identifying the impact of land use patterns on water quality in order to improve water pollution control and land use management.

scholarly journals Land Use/Cover Change Effects on River Basin Hydrological Processes Based on a Modified Soil and Water Assessment Tool: A Case Study of the Heihe River Basin in Northwest China’s Arid Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Jin ◽  
Yanxiang Jin ◽  
Xufeng Mao
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Hydrological Processes ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Distributed Models ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Increasing Trends

Land use/cover change (LUCC) affects canopy interception, soil infiltration, land-surface evapotranspiration (ET), and other hydrological parameters during rainfall, which in turn affects the hydrological regimes and runoff mechanisms of river basins. Physically based distributed (or semi-distributed) models play an important role in interpreting and predicting the effects of LUCC on the hydrological processes of river basins. However, conventional distributed (or semi-distributed) models, such as the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT), generally assume that no LUCC takes place during the simulation period to simplify the computation process. When applying the SWAT, the subject river basin is subdivided into multiple hydrologic response units (HRUs) based on the land use/cover type, soil type, and surface slope. The land use/cover type is assumed to remain constant throughout the simulation period, which limits the ability to interpret and predict the effects of LUCC on hydrological processes in the subject river basin. To overcome this limitation, a modified SWAT (LU-SWAT) was developed that incorporates annual land use/cover data to simulate LUCC effects on hydrological processes under different climatic conditions. To validate this approach, this modified model and two other models (one model based on the 2000 land use map, called SWAT 1; one model based on the 2009 land use map, called SWAT 2) were applied to the middle reaches of the Heihe River in northwest China; this region is most affected by human activity. Study results indicated that from 1990 to 2009, farmland, forest, and urban areas all showed increasing trends, while grassland and bare land areas showed decreasing trends. Primary land use changes in the study area were from grassland to farmland and from bare land to forest. During this same period, surface runoff, groundwater runoff, and total water yield showed decreasing trends, while lateral flow and ET volume showed increasing trends under dry, wet, and normal conditions. Changes in the various hydrological parameters were most evident under dry and normal climatic conditions. Based on the existing research of the middle reaches of the Heihe River, and a comparison of the other two models from this study, the modified LU-SWAT developed in this study outperformed the conventional SWAT when predicting the effects of LUCC on the hydrological processes of river basins.

scholarly journals A Physically Based Runoff Model Analysis of the Querétaro River Basin

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Javier Villa Alvarado ◽  
Eladio Delgadillo-Ruiz ◽  
Carlos Alberto Mastachi-Loza ◽  
Enrique González-Sosa ◽  
Ramos Salinas Norma Maricela
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Rainfall Runoff ◽  
Strong Base ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Runoff Model

Today the knowledge of physical parameters of a basin is essential to know adequately the rainfall-runoff process; it is well known that the specific characteristics of each basin such as temperature, geographical location, and elevation above sea level affect the maximum discharge and the basin time response. In this paper a physically based model has been applied, to analyze water balance by evaluating the volume rainfall-runoff using SHETRAN and hydrometric data measurements in 2003. The results have been compared with five ETp different methodologies in the Querétaro river basin in central Mexico. With these results the main effort of the authorities should be directed to better control of land-use changes and to working permanently in the analysis of the related parameters, which will have a similar behavior to changes currently being introduced and presented in observed values in this basin. This methodology can be a strong base for sustainable water management in a basin, the prognosis and effect of land-use changes, and availability of water and also can be used to determine application of known basin parameters, basically depending on land-use, land-use changes, and climatological database to determine the water balance in a basin.

scholarly journals Integrated assessment of the impacts of climate variability and anthropogenic activities on river runoff: a case study in the Hutuo River Basin, China

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 416-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abubaker Omer ◽  
Weiguang Wang ◽  
Amir K. Basheer ◽  
Bin Yong
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Runoff Reduction ◽  
Sustainable Water Resources Management

Understanding the linear and nonlinear responses of runoff to environmental change is crucial to optimally manage water resources in river basins. This study proposes a generic framework-based hydrological model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)) and two approaches, to comprehensively assess the impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate variability on runoff over the representative Hutuo River Basin (HRB), China. Results showed that SWAT performed well in capturing the runoff trend in HRB; however, it exhibited better performance for the calibration period than for the validation. During 1961–2000, about 26.06% of the catchment area was changed, mainly from forest to farmland and urban, and the climate changed to warmer and drier. The integrated effects of the anthropogenic activities and climate variability decreased annual runoff in HRB by 96.6 mm. Direct human activities were responsible for 52.16% of runoff reduction. Climate (land use) decreased runoff by 45.30% (2.06%), whereas the combined (land use + climate) impact resulted in more runoff decrease, by 47.84%. Land use–climate interactive effect is inherent in HRB and decreased runoff by 1.02%. The proposed framework can be applied to improve the current understanding of runoff variation in river basins, for supporting sustainable water resources management strategies.

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