scholarly journals Flood-initiating catchment conditions: a spatio-temporal analysis of large-scale soil moisture patterns in the Elbe river basin

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 10053-10094
Author(s):  
M. Nied ◽  
Y. Hundecha ◽  
B. Merz
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Elbe River ◽  
High Soil Moisture ◽  
Elbe River Basin ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Elbe River

Abstract. Floods are the result of a complex interaction between meteorological event characteristics and pre-event catchment conditions. While the large-scale meteorological conditions have been classified and successfully linked to floods, this is lacking for the large-scale pre-event catchment conditions. Therefore, we propose to classify soil moisture as a key variable of pre-event catchment conditions and to investigate the link between soil moisture patterns and flood occurrence in the Elbe river basin. Soil moisture is simulated using a semi-distributed conceptual rainfall-runoff model over the period 1951–2003. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis are applied successively to identify days of similar soil moisture patterns. The results show that PCA considerably reduced the dimensionality of the soil moisture data. The first principal component (PC) explains 75.71% of the soil moisture variability and represents the large-scale seasonal wetting and drying. The successive PCs express the spatial heterogeneous antecedent catchment conditions. By clustering the leading PCs, we detected large-scale soil moisture patterns which frequently occur before the onset of floods. In winter floods are initiated by overall high soil moisture content whereas in summer the flood initiating soil moisture patterns are diverse and less stable in time. The results underline the importance of large-scale pre-event catchment conditions in flood initiation.

scholarly journals Flood-initiating catchment conditions: a spatio-temporal analysis of large-scale soil moisture patterns in the Elbe River basin

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1401-1414 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Nied ◽  
Y. Hundecha ◽  
B. Merz
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Elbe River ◽  
High Soil Moisture ◽  
Elbe River Basin ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Elbe River

Abstract. Floods are the result of a complex interaction between meteorological event characteristics and pre-event catchment conditions. While the large-scale meteorological conditions have been classified and successfully linked to floods, this is lacking for the large-scale pre-event catchment conditions. Therefore, we propose classifying soil moisture as a key variable of pre-event catchment conditions and investigating the link between soil moisture patterns and flood occurrence in the Elbe River basin. Soil moisture is simulated using a semi-distributed conceptual rainfall-runoff model over the period 1951–2003. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis are applied successively to identify days of similar soil moisture patterns. The results show that PCA considerably reduced the dimensionality of the soil moisture data. The first principal component (PC) explains 75.71% of the soil moisture variability and represents the large-scale seasonal wetting and drying. The successive PCs express spatially heterogeneous catchment processes. By clustering the leading PCs, we identify large-scale soil moisture patterns which frequently occur before the onset of floods. In winter, floods are initiated by overall high soil moisture content, whereas in summer the flood-initiating soil moisture patterns are diverse and less stable in time.

scholarly journals Expected changes in water resources availability and water quality with respect to climate change in the Elbe River basin (Germany)

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 321-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Krysanova ◽  
Fred Hattermann ◽  
Anja Habeck
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Water Discharge ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Elbe River ◽  
Elbe River Basin ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Elbe River

Reliable modelling of climate–water interactions at the river basin and regional scale requires development of advanced modelling approaches at scales relevant for assessing the potential effects of climate change on the hydrological cycle. These approaches should represent the atmospheric, surface and subsurface hydrological processes and take into account their characteristic temporal and spatial scales of occurrence. The paper presents a climate change impact assessment performed for the Elbe River basin in Germany (about 100 000 km2). The method used for the study combines: (a) a statistical downscaling method driven by GCM-predicted temperature trend for producing climate scenarios, and (b) a simulation technique based on an ecohydrological semi-distributed river basin model, which was thoroughly validated in advance. The overall result of the climate impact study for the basin is that the mean water discharge and the mean groundwater recharge in the Elbe basin will be most likely decreased under the expected climate change and diffuse source pollution will be diminished. Our study confirms that the uncertainty in hydrological and water quality responses to changing climate is generally higher than the uncertainty in climate input. The method is transferable to other basins in the temperate zone.

scholarly journals Dioxin in the Elbe river basin: policy and science under the water framework directive 2000–2015 and toward 2021

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Förstner ◽  
Henner Hollert ◽  
Markus Brinkmann ◽  
Kathrin Eichbaum ◽  
Roland Weber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Elbe River ◽  
Elbe River Basin ◽  
The Elbe River ◽  
Policy And Science

scholarly journals Historical occurrence and extinction of Atlantic salmon in the River Elbe from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Jan Andreska ◽  
Lubomír Hanel
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Salmon ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Elbe River ◽  
River Elbe ◽  
Elbe River Basin ◽  
The Elbe River ◽  
Historical Methods

Abstract Data on the occurrence, biology, and historical background of the Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., (Pisces, Salmoniformes) in the Elbe river basin (Europe, North Sea drainage area) with a focus on Bohemian territory (Central Europe) from the fourteenth to twentieth centuries are summarized in this paper. Historical methods of salmon fishing in Central Europe and historical legal protection of salmon in Bohemia are presented. The salmon is a model example of species which was extirpated as a result of anthropogenic changes in the landscape and rivers in some water systems. The human activities, such as stream bed regulation, dam system construction, other migration barriers, water pollution, fisheries exploitation, that led to the extirpation of Atlantic salmon in the Elbe river basin (are discussed. The last sporadic migrating native salmon were registered in the Bohemian section of the Elbe river basin in the mid twentieth century.

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