scholarly journals Water and sediment fluxes in Mediterranean mountainous regions: comprehensive dataset for hydro-sedimentological analyses and modelling in a mesoscale catchment (River Isábena, NE Spain)

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1063-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Till Francke ◽  
Saskia Foerster ◽  
Arlena Brosinsky ◽  
Erik Sommerer ◽  
Jose A. Lopez-Tarazon ◽  
...  

Abstract. A comprehensive hydro-sedimentological dataset for the Isábena catchment, northeastern (NE) Spain, for the period 2010–2018 is presented to analyse water and sediment fluxes in a Mediterranean mesoscale catchment. The dataset includes rainfall data from 12 rain gauges distributed within the study area complemented by meteorological data of 12 official meteo-stations. It comprises discharge data derived from water stage measurements as well as suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs) at six gauging stations of the River Isábena and its sub-catchments. Soil spectroscopic data from 351 suspended sediment samples and 152 soil samples were collected to characterize sediment source regions and sediment properties via fingerprinting analyses. The Isábena catchment (445 km2) is located in the southern central Pyrenees ranging from 450 m to 2720 m a.s.l.; together with a pronounced topography, this leads to distinct temperature and precipitation gradients. The River Isábena shows marked discharge variations and high sediment yields causing severe siltation problems in the downstream Barasona Reservoir. The main sediment source is badland areas located on Eocene marls that are well connected to the river network. The dataset features a comprehensive set of variables in a high spatial and temporal resolution suitable for the advanced process understanding of water and sediment fluxes, their origin and connectivity and sediment budgeting and for the evaluation and further development of hydro-sedimentological models in Mediterranean mesoscale mountainous catchments. The dataset is available at http://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2018.011.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Till Francke ◽  
Saskia Foerster ◽  
Arlena Brosinsky ◽  
Erik Sommerer ◽  
Jose A. Lopez-Tarazon ◽  
...  

Abstract. A comprehensive hydro-sedimentological dataset for the Isábena catchment, NE Spain, for the period 2010–2016 is presented to analyse water and sediment fluxes in a Mediterranean meso-scale catchment. The dataset includes rainfall data from twelve rain gauges distributed within the study area complemented by meteorological data of twelve official meteo-stations. It comprises discharge data derived from water stage measurements as well as suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) at six gauging stations of the River Isábena and its sub-catchments. Soil spectroscopic data from 351 suspended sediment samples and 152 soil samples were collected to characterize sediment source regions and sediment properties via fingerprinting analyses. The Isábena catchment (445 km2) is located in the Southern Central Pyrenees ranging from 450 m to 2,720 m a.s.l., together with a pronounced topography this leads to distinct temperature and precipitation gradients. The River Isábena shows marked discharge variations and high sediment yields causing severe siltation problems in the downstream Barasona Reservoir. Main sediment source are badland areas located on Eocene marls that are well connected to the river network. The dataset features a wide set of parameters in a high spatial and temporal resolution suitable for advanced process understanding of water and sediment fluxes, their origin and connectivity, sediment budgeting and for evaluating and further developing hydro-sedimentological models in Mediterranean meso-scale mountainous catchments. The dataset is available at http://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2017.003.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne D. Erskine ◽  
M. J. Saynor ◽  
J. M. Boyden ◽  
K. G. Evans

Sediment fluxes and sinks based on total sediment load for Magela Creek in the Australian wet–dry tropics have been constructed from detailed measurements of stream suspended sediment (turbidity and suspended sand) and bed load for the 10-year period, 2001–2002 to 2010–2011. This work shows that the sediment trap efficiency of the vegetated wetlands on lower Magela is high at ~89.5%. Sediment fluxes are the lowest in the world because of low soil erosion rates and because upstream floodplains and downstream wetlands trap and store sediment. Bedload yields are less than suspended sediment yields, but the amount of silt and clay is much less than the amount of sand (suspended sand and bedload). All sand is stored upstream of the East Alligator River. Downstream connectivity of sediment movement does not occur. Therefore, sediment moves discontinuously from the upper to the lower catchment.


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 8233-8263
Author(s):  
C. Duvert ◽  
N. Gratiot ◽  
J. Némery ◽  
A. Burgos ◽  
O. Navratil

Abstract. Accurate estimates of suspended sediment yields depend on effective monitoring strategies. In mountainous environments undergoing intense seasonal precipitation, the implementation of such monitoring programs relies primarily on a rigorous study of the temporal variability of fine sediment transport. This investigation focuses on seasonal and short-term sediment variability in a subhumid region of the Mexican Volcanic Belt. Intensive hydrosedimentary monitoring was conducted during one year on four contrasting catchments (3 to 630 km2). Analyses revealed significant temporal variability in suspended sediment export over various time scales, with between 63 and 97% of the annual load exported in as little as 2% of the time. Statistical techniques were used to evaluate the sampling frequency required to get reliable annual sediment yield estimates at the four sites. A bi-daily sampling would be required at the outlet of the 630-km2 catchment, whereas in the three smaller catchments (3–12 km2), the achievement of accurate estimates would inevitably require hourly monitoring. At the larger catchment scale, analysis of the sub-daily variability of fine sediment fluxes showed that the frequency of sampling could be lowered by up to 100% (i.e. from bi-daily to daily) if considering a specific and regular sampling time in the day. In contrast, conducting a similar sampling strategy at the three smaller catchments could lead to serious misinterpretation (i.e. up to 1000% error). Our findings emphasise the importance of an analysis of the sub-daily variability of sediment fluxes in mountainous catchments. Characterising this variability may offer useful insights for improving the effectiveness of community-based monitoring strategies in rural areas of developing countries. In regions where historical records based on discrete sampling are available, it may also help assessing the quality of past flux estimates. Finally, the study confirms the global necessity of acquiring more high frequency data in small mountainous catchments, especially in poorly gauged areas.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Katharina Schmidt ◽  
Till Francke ◽  
Erwin Rottler ◽  
Theresa Blume ◽  
Johannes Schöber ◽  
...  

Abstract. Climatic changes are expected to fundamentally alter discharge and sediment dynamics in glaciated high alpine areas, e.g. through glacier retreat, prolonged snow-free periods and more frequent intense rainfall events in summer. However, how exactly these hydrological changes will affect sediment dynamics is not yet known. In the present study, we aim to pinpoint areas and processes most relevant to recent sediment and discharge dynamics on different spatial and temporal scales in the Ötztal Alpine Region in Tyrol, Austria. Therefore, we analyze observed discharge and relatively long suspended sediment time series of up to 15 years from three gauges in a nested catchment setup. The catchments range from 100 to almost 800 km2 in size with 10 to 30 % glacier cover and span an elevation range of 930 to 3772 m a.s.l.. The investigation of satellite-based snow cover maps, glacier inventories, mass balances and precipitation data complement the analysis. Our results indicate that mean annual specific discharge and suspended sediment fluxes are highest in the most glaciated sub-catchment and both fluxes correlate significantly with annual glacier mass balances. Furthermore, both discharge and suspended sediment loads show a distinct seasonality with low values during winter and high values during summer. However, the spring onset of sediment transport is almost synchronous at the three gauges, contrary to the spring rise in discharge, which occurs earlier further downstream. A spatio-temporal analysis of snow cover evolution indicates that the spring increase in sediment fluxes at all gauges coincides with the onset of snow melt above 2500 m elevation. Zones above this elevation include glacier tongues and recently deglaciated areas, which seem to be crucial for the sediment dynamics in the catchment. Precipitation events in summer were associated with peak sediment concentrations and fluxes, but on average accounted for only 21 % of the annual sediment yields of the years 2011 to 2020. We conclude that glaciers and the areas above 2500 m elevation play a dominant role for discharge and sediment dynamics in the Ötztal area, while precipitation events play a secondary role. Our study extends the scientific knowledge on current hydro-sedimentological changes in glaciated high alpine areas and provides a baseline for investigations on projected future changes in hydro-sedimentological system dynamics.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 703-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Duvert ◽  
N. Gratiot ◽  
J. Némery ◽  
A. Burgos ◽  
O. Navratil

Abstract. Accurate estimates of suspended sediment yields depend on effective monitoring strategies. In mountainous environments undergoing intense seasonal precipitation, the implementation of such monitoring programs relies primarily on a rigorous study of the temporal variability of fine sediment transport. This investigation focuses on seasonal and short-term variability in suspended sediment flux in a subhumid region of the Mexican Volcanic Belt. Intensive monitoring was conducted during one year in four contrasting catchments (3 to 630 km2). Analyses revealed significant temporal variability in suspended sediment export over various time scales, with between 63 and 97% of the annual load exported in as little as 2% of the time. Statistical techniques were used to evaluate the sampling frequency required to get reliable estimates of annual sediment yield at the four sites. A bi-daily sampling scheme would be required at the outlet of the 630 km2 catchment, whereas in the three smaller catchments (3–12 km2), accurate estimates would inevitably require hourly monitoring. At the larger catchment scale, analysis of the sub-daily variability of fine sediment fluxes showed that the frequency of sampling could be lowered by up to 100% (i.e. from bi-daily to daily) if a specific and regular sampling time in the day was considered. In contrast, conducting a similar sampling strategy at the three smaller catchments could lead to serious misinterpretation (i.e. up to 1000% error). Our findings emphasise the importance of an analysis of the sub-daily variability of sediment fluxes in mountainous catchments. Characterising this variability may offer useful insights for improving the effectiveness of community-based monitoring strategies in rural areas of developing countries. In regions where historical records based on discrete sampling are available, it may also help assessing the quality of past flux estimates. Finally, the study confirms the global necessity of acquiring more high frequency data in small mountainous catchments, especially in poorly gauged areas.


Geomorphology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 109 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 210-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. López-Tarazón ◽  
R.J. Batalla ◽  
D. Vericat ◽  
T. Francke

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Bartczak ◽  
Ryszard Glazik ◽  
Sebastian Tyszkowski

Abstract The article presents the results of research into the transformation of series of hydro-meteorological data for determining dry periods with the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardised Discharge Index (SDI). Time series from eight precipitation stations and five series of river discharge data in Eastern Kujawy (central Poland) were analysed for 1951–2010. The frequency distribution of the series for their convergence with the normal distribution was tested with the Shapiro–Wilk test and homogeneity with the Bartlett's test. The transformation of the series was done with the Box–Cox technique, which made it possible to homogenise the series in terms of variance. In Poland, the technique has never been used to determine the SPI. After the transformation the distributions of virtually all series complied with the normal distribution and were homogeneous. Moreover, a statistically significant correlation between the δ transformation parameter and the skewness of the series of monthly precipitation was observed. It was similar for the series of mean monthly discharges in the winter half-year and the hydrological year. The analysis indicates an alternate occurrence of dry and wet periods both in case of precipitation and run-offs. Drought periods coincided with low flow periods. Thus, the fluctuations tend to affect the development of agriculture more than long-term ones.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document