scholarly journals A simple topography-driven and calibration-free runoff generation module

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 787-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongkai Gao ◽  
Christian Birkel ◽  
Markus Hrachowitz ◽  
Doerthe Tetzlaff ◽  
Chris Soulsby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Calibration Free ◽  
Rainfall Runoff Model

Abstract. Reading landscapes and developing calibration-free runoff generation models that adequately reflect land surface heterogeneities remains the focus of much hydrological research. In this study, we report a novel and simple topography-driven runoff generation parameterization – the HAND-based Storage Capacity curve (HSC), which uses a topographic index (HAND, Height Above the Nearest Drainage) to identify hydrological similarity and the extent of saturated areas in catchments. The HSC can be used as a module in any conceptual rainfall–runoff model. Further, coupling the HSC parameterization with the mass curve technique (MCT) to estimate root zone storage capacity (SuMax), we developed a calibration-free runoff generation module, HSC-MCT. The runoff generation modules of HBV and TOPMODEL were used for comparison purposes. The performance of these two modules (HSC and HSC-MCT) was first checked against the data-rich Bruntland Burn (BB) catchment in Scotland, which has a long time series of field-mapped saturation area extent. We found that HSC, HBV and TOPMODEL all perform well to reproduce the hydrograph, but the HSC module performs better in reproducing saturated area variation, in terms of correlation coefficient and spatial pattern. The HSC and HSC-MCT modules were subsequently tested for 323 MOPEX catchments in the US, with diverse climate, soil, vegetation and geological characteristics. In comparison with HBV and TOPMODEL, the HSC performs better in both calibration and validation, particularly in the catchments with gentle topography, less forest cover, and arid climate. Despite having no calibrated parameters, the HSC-MCT module performed comparably well with calibrated modules, highlighting the robustness of the HSC parameterization to describe the spatial distribution of the root zone storage capacity and the efficiency of the MCT method to estimate SuMax. This novel and calibration-free runoff generation module helps to improve the prediction in ungauged basins and has great potential to be generalized at the global scale.

scholarly journals A simple topography-driven and calibration-free runoff generation module

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongkai Gao ◽  
Christian Birkel ◽  
Markus Hrachowitz ◽  
Doerthe Tetzlaff ◽  
Chris Soulsby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Calibration Free ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Rainfall Runoff Model ◽  
Effective Visualization

Abstract. Reading landscapes and developing calibration-free runoff generation models that adequately reflect land surface heterogeneities remains the focus of much hydrological research. In this study, we report a novel and simple topography-driven runoff generation parameterization – the HAND-based Storage Capacity curve (HSC), that uses a topographic index (HAND, Height Above the Nearest Drainage) to identify hydrological similarity and the extent of saturated areas in catchments. The HSC can be used as a module in any conceptual rainfall-runoff model. Further, coupling the HSC parameterization with the Mass Curve Technique (MCT) to estimate root zone storage capacity (SuMax), we developed a calibration-free runoff generation module HSC-MCT. The runoff generation modules of HBV and TOPMODEL were used for comparison purposes. The performance of these two modules (HSC and HSC-MCT) was first checked against the data-rich Bruntland Burn (BB) catchment in Scotland, which has a long time series of field-mapped saturation area extent. We found that the HSC performed better in reproducing the spatio-temporal pattern of the observed saturated areas in the BB compared to TOPMODEL. The HSC and HSC-MCT modules were subsequently tested for 323 MOPEX catchments in the US, with diverse climate, soil, vegetation and geological characteristics. Comparing with HBV and TOPMODEL, the HSC performs better in both calibration and validation. Despite having no calibrated parameters, the HSC-MCT module performed comparably well with calibrated modules, highlighting the robustness of the HSC parameterization to describe the spatial distribution of the root zone storage capacity and the efficiency of the MCT method to estimate SuMax. Moreover, the HSC-MCT module facilitated effective visualization of the saturated area, which has the potential to be used for broader hydrological, ecological, climatological, geomorphological, and biogeochemical studies.

scholarly journals Global root zone storage capacity from satellite-based evaporation

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1459-1481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Wang-Erlandsson ◽  
Wim G. M. Bastiaanssen ◽  
Hongkai Gao ◽  
Jonas Jägermeyr ◽  
Gabriel B. Senay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Return Period ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Surface Modelling ◽  
Direct Measurements ◽  
Land Surface Modelling ◽  
Model Independent

Abstract. This study presents an "Earth observation-based" method for estimating root zone storage capacity – a critical, yet uncertain parameter in hydrological and land surface modelling. By assuming that vegetation optimises its root zone storage capacity to bridge critical dry periods, we were able to use state-of-the-art satellite-based evaporation data computed with independent energy balance equations to derive gridded root zone storage capacity at global scale. This approach does not require soil or vegetation information, is model independent, and is in principle scale independent. In contrast to a traditional look-up table approach, our method captures the variability in root zone storage capacity within land cover types, including in rainforests where direct measurements of root depths otherwise are scarce. Implementing the estimated root zone storage capacity in the global hydrological model STEAM (Simple Terrestrial Evaporation to Atmosphere Model) improved evaporation simulation overall, and in particular during the least evaporating months in sub-humid to humid regions with moderate to high seasonality. Our results suggest that several forest types are able to create a large storage to buffer for severe droughts (with a very long return period), in contrast to, for example, savannahs and woody savannahs (medium length return period), as well as grasslands, shrublands, and croplands (very short return period). The presented method to estimate root zone storage capacity eliminates the need for poor resolution soil and rooting depth data that form a limitation for achieving progress in the global land surface modelling community.

scholarly journals Global root zone storage capacity from satellite-based evaporation

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Wang-Erlandsson ◽  
W. G. M. Bastiaanssen ◽  
H. Gao ◽  
J. Jägermeyr ◽  
G. B. Senay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Return Period ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Surface Modelling ◽  
Evergreen Forests ◽  
Direct Measurements ◽  
Land Surface Modelling

Abstract. This study presents an "earth observation-based" method for estimating root zone storage capacity – a critical, yet uncertain parameter in hydrological and land surface modelling. By assuming that vegetation optimises its root zone storage capacity to bridge critical dry periods, we were able to use state-of-the-art satellite-based evaporation data computed with independent energy balance equations to derive gridded root zone storage capacity at global scale. This approach does not require soil or vegetation information, is model-independent, and is in principle scale-independent. In contrast to traditional look-up table approaches, our method captures the variability in root zone storage capacity within land cover types, including in rainforests where direct measurements of root depths otherwise are scarce. Implementing the estimated root zone storage capacity in the global hydrological model STEAM improved evaporation simulation overall, and in particular during the least evaporating months in sub-humid to humid regions with moderate to high seasonality. We find that evergreen forests are able to create a large storage to buffer for severe droughts (with a return period of 10–20 years), in contrast to short vegetation and crops (which seem to adapt to a drought return period of about 2 years). The presented method to estimate root zone storage capacity reduces the dependency on soil and rooting depth data of poor resolution that form a limitation for achieving progress in the global land surface modelling community.

scholarly journals A global analysis of satellite derived and DGVM surface soil moisture products

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 4281-4312
Author(s):  
K. T. Rebel ◽  
R. A. M. de Jeu ◽  
P. Ciais ◽  
N. Viovy ◽  
S. L. Piao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Rain Event ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Surface Climate ◽  
Soil Moisture Availability

Abstract. Soil moisture availability is important in regulating photosynthesis and controlling land surface-climate feedbacks at both the local and global scale. Recently, global remote-sensing datasets for soil moisture have become available. In this paper we assess the possibility of using remotely sensed soil moisture (AMSR-E) to evaluate the results of the process-based vegetation model ORCHIDEE during the period 2003–2004. We find that the soil moisture products of AMSR-E and ORCHIDEE correlate well, in particular when considering the root zone soil moisture of ORCHIDEE. However, the root zone soil moisture in ORCHIDEE consistently overestimated the temporal autocorrelation relative to AMSR-E and in situ measurements. This may be due to the different vertical depth of the two products, to the uncertainty in precipitation forcing in ORCHIDEE, and to the fact that the structure of ORCHIDEE consisting of a single-layer deep soil, does not allow simulation of the proper cascade of time scales that characterize soil drying after each rain event. We conclude that assimilating soil moisture in ORCHIDEE using AMSR-E with the current hydrological model may significantly improve the soil moisture dynamics in ORCHIDEE.

scholarly journals Derivation of the Spatial Distribution of Free Water Storage Capacity Based on Topographic Index

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1407
Author(s):  
Bingxing Tong ◽  
Zhijia Li ◽  
Cheng Yao ◽  
Jingfeng Wang ◽  
Yingchun Huang
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Free Water ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Topographic Index ◽  
Water Storage Capacity

Free water storage capacity, an important characteristic of land surface related to runoff process, has a significant influence on runoff generation and separation. It is thus necessary to derive reasonable spatial distribution of free water storage capacity for rainfall-runoff simulation, especially in distributed modeling. In this paper, a topographic index based approach is proposed for the derivation of free water storage capacity spatial distribution. The topographic index, which can be obtained from digital elevation model (DEM), are used to establish a functional relationship with free water storage capacity in the proposed approach. In this case, the spatial variability of free water storage capacity can be directly estimated from the characteristics of watershed topography. This approach was tested at two medium sized watersheds, including Changhua and Chenhe, with the drainage areas of 905 km2 and 1395 km2, respectively. The results show that locations with larger values of free water storage capacity generally correspond to locations with higher topographic index values, such as riparian region. The estimated spatial distribution of free water storage capacity is also used in a distributed, grid-based Xinanjiang model to simulate 10 flood events for Chenhe Watershed and 17 flood events for Changhua Watershed. Our analysis indicates that the proposed approach based on topographic index can produce reasonable spatial variability of free water storage capacity and is more suitable for flood simulation.

scholarly journals A hydrological model for root zone water storage simulation on a global scale

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganquan Mao ◽  
Junguo Liu
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Distribution Model ◽  
Lumped Model ◽  
Zone Water ◽  
Strong Capacity

Abstract. The soil water stored in the root zone is a critical variable for many applications as it plays key role in several hydrological and atmospheric processes. Many studies have been done to obtain reliable soil water information in the root zone layer. However, most of them are mainly focused on the soil moisture in a certain depth rather than the water stored in the entire rooting system. In this work, a hydrological model is developed to simulate the root zone water storage (RZWS) on a global scale. The model is based on a well validated lumped model and has been extended now to a distribution model. To reflect the natural spatial heterogeneity of the plant rooting system across the world, a key variable that influencing the RZWS, i.e. root zone storage capacity (RZSC), is integrated into the model. The newly developed model is evaluated on runoff and RZWS simulation across ten major basins. The evaluation of runoff indicates the strong capacity of the model for monthly simulation with a good performance on time series and distribution depiction. Results also show the ability of the model for RZWS dynamics mimicing in most of the regions. This model may offer benefits for many applications due to its ability for RZWS simulation. However, attentions need to also be paid for application as the high latitude regions are not investigated by this work due to the incomplete latitudinal coverage of the RZSC. Therefore, the performance of the model in such regions are not justified.

scholarly journals Comparison Pan Evaporation Data with Global Land-surface Evaporation GLEAM in Java and Bali Island Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Trinah Wati ◽  
Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan ◽  
Fatkhuroyan Fatkhuroyan
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Mean Absolute Error ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Pan Evaporation ◽  
Surface Evaporation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Global Land ◽  
Daily Scale

This paper evaluates the variability of pan evaporation (Epan) data in Java and Bali during 2003-2012 and compares to GLEAM (Global Land-surface Evaporation: the Amsterdam Methodology) data version v3.b namely actual evaporation (E) and potential evaporation (Ep) in the same period with statistical method. Gleam combines a wide range of remotely sensed observations to the estimation of terrestrial evaporation and root-zone soil moisture at a global scale (0.25-degree). The aim is to assess the accuracy of Gleam data by examining correlation, mean absolute error, Root mean square error and mean error between Epan and Gleam data in Java and Bali Island. The result shows the correlation between Epan with Ep Gleam is higher than Epan with E Gleam. Generally, the accuracy of Gleam data is a good performance to estimate the land evaporation in Java and Bali at annual and monthly scale. In daily scale, the correlation is less than 0.50 both between Epan with E Gleam and between Epan with Ep Gleam. In daily scale, the average errors ranging from 0.15 to 3.09 mm according to RMSE, MAE, and ME.The result of this study is essential in providing valuable recommendation for choosing alternative evaporation data in regional or local scale from satellite data.

scholarly journals Incorporating Advanced Scatterometer Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture Products into the Calibration of a Conceptual Semi-Distributed Hydrological Model

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 3366
Author(s):  
Martin Kubáň ◽  
Juraj Parajka ◽  
Rui Tong ◽  
Isabella Pfeil ◽  
Mariette Vreugdenhil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Retrieval Algorithm ◽  
Multiple Objective ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Distributed Hydrological Model ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Alpine Catchments

The role of soil moisture is widely accepted as a significant factor in the mass and energy balance of catchments as a controller in surface and subsurface runoff generation. The paper examines the potential of a new dataset based on advanced scatterometer satellite remote sensing of soil moisture (ASCAT) for multiple objective calibrations of a dual-layer, conceptual, semi-distributed hydrological model. The surface and root zone soil moisture indexes based on ASCAT data were implemented into calibration of the hydrological model. Improvements not only in the instrument specifications, i.e., better temporal and spatial sampling, but also in the higher radiometric accuracy and retrieval algorithm, were applied. The analysis was performed in 209 catchments situated in different physiographic and climate zones of Austria for the period 2007–2018. We validated the model for two validation periods. The results show that multiple objective calibrations have a substantial positive effect on constraining the model parameters. The combined use of soil moisture and discharges in the calibration improved the soil moisture simulation in more than 73% of the catchments, except for the catchments with higher forest cover percentages. Improvements also occurred in the runoff model efficiency, in more than 27% of the catchments, mostly in the watersheds with a lower mean elevation and a higher proportion of farming land use, as well as in the Alpine catchments where the runoff is not significantly influenced by snowmelt and glacier runoff.

scholarly journals Effects of drainage treatment and stand growth on changes in runoff components from a forested watershed

2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (No. 7) ◽  
pp. 307-313
Author(s):  
V. Černohous ◽  
F. Šach ◽  
D. Kacálek
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Overland Flow ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Base Flow ◽  
Forested Watershed ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Forest Environment ◽  
Variable Source ◽  
Positive Ratio ◽  
Long Time

Runoff generation under various natural conditions has often been studied in forested watersheds for a long time. In 1967, Hewlett designed a variable source area model. The model is based on the expansion and shrinkage of variable source areas and consequent changes in a drainage network during a discharge event. The runoff investigation was carried out in a forested watershed situated in the summit area of the Orlické hory Mts. The watershed has a drainage area of 32.6 ha with the land-surface elevation ranging from 880 to 940 m a.s.l. Runoff components, their amounts and ratios were calculated using a simple graphical-mathematical method of the hydrograph recession limb analysis according to a reservoir model representing the particular components (base flow, subsurface flow and overland flow, in other words slow, accelerated and rapid flows). Comparing the amount of slow and rapid runoff constituents (89.5–99.4% and 0.6–10.5%, respectively), the greater amount of slowly moving water confirmed that overland flow was absent under conditions of forest environment. Not even the drainage treatment altered this positive ratio of the runoff constituents. During the third period, under stabilized hydrology and stand conditions, the accelerated and rapid runoff increased again, however maximally by 10% and 4%, respectively, not reaching the initial size of the calibration period.

Evaluating Historical Impacts of Surface Reservoir Storage on Catchment Memory Across the US

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Condon ◽  
Jen Steyaert ◽  
Rachel Spinti
Keyword(s):  
Flood Control ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Reservoir Storage ◽  
The Us ◽  
Operating Policies ◽  
Surface Reservoir ◽  
Storage Structures

<p>Today there are tens of thousands of storage structures in the US ranging from Hoover Dam, with a capacity more than 34 million cubic meters, to small structures less than 2 m tall.  While there exists a myriad of water management tools that capture storage operations for local to regional systems, national and global scale hydrologic models struggle to incorporate this storage. Large scale earth system simulations generally exclude management operations or rely on generic operating policies due to lack of data.  Reservoir storage capacity is much more easily obtained and can tell us about the potential for regulation of a system, but without evaluating actual operations we can’t capture the actual influence of human storage on catchment dynamics.  Here we use the National Inventory of Dams to evaluate the evolution of total storage capacity across the US over the last century. Consistent with previous work we show spatial trends in storage volume relative to streamflow and storage purpose (i.e. flood control as opposed to water supply). To quantify the actual impact of operations on hydrologic regimes though, reservoir capacity is not sufficient. Therefore, we also assemble a dataset of reservoir inflows, outflows and changes in storage focusing on large reservoirs in the western US.  Using these timeseries we can isolate the historical regulation imposed by reservoirs and their impact catchment memory. Furthermore, we compare our historical observations to generic operating policies to evaluate how well storage dynamics are captured by existing models and the potential for these tools to over or underestimate reservoir impacts.</p>

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