Articles | Volume 18, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4751-2014
© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4751-2014
© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
01 Dec 2014
Research article |
| 01 Dec 2014
Reevaluation of transit time distributions, mean transit times and their relation to catchment topography
S. Seeger
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
M. Weiler
Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Related authors
Barbara Herbstritt, Benjamin Gralher, Stefan Seeger, Michael Rinderer, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3701–3718, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3701-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3701-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present a method to collect water vapor samples into bags in the field without an in-field analyser, followed by isotope analysis in the lab. This new method resolves even fine-scaled natural isotope variations. It combines low-cost and lightweight components for maximum spatial and temporal flexibility regarding environmental setups. Hence, it allows for sampling even in terrains that are rather difficult to access, enabling future extended isotope datasets in soil sciences and ecohydrology.
Stefan Seeger and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3393–3404, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3393-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3393-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study proposes a low-budget method to quantify the radial distribution of water transport velocities within trees at a high spatial resolution. We observed a wide spread of water transport velocities within a tree stem section, which were on average 3 times faster than the flux velocity. The distribution of transport velocities has implications for studies that use water isotopic signatures to study root water uptake and usually assume uniform or even implicitly infinite velocities.
Annette Sophie Bösmeier, Iso Himmelsbach, and Stefan Seeger
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2963–2979, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2963-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2963-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Encouraging a systematic use of flood marks for more comprehensive flood risk management, we collected a large number of marks along the Kinzig, southwestern Germany, and tested them for plausibility and temporal continuance. Despite uncertainty, the marks appeared to be an overall consistent and practical source that may also increase flood risk awareness. A wide agreement between the current flood hazard maps and the collected flood marks moreover indicated a robust local hazard assessment.
David Mennekes, Michael Rinderer, Stefan Seeger, and Natalie Orlowski
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 4513–4530, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4513-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4513-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In situ stable water isotope measurements are a recently developed method to measure water movement from the soil through the plant to the atmosphere in high resolution and precision. Here, we present important advantages of the new method in comparison to commonly used measurement methods in an experimental setup. Overall, this method can help to answer research questions such as plant responses to climate change with potentially shifting water availability or temperatures.
Stefan Seeger and Markus Weiler
Biogeosciences, 18, 4603–4627, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4603-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4603-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a setup for fully automated in situ measurements of stable water isotopes in soil and the stems of fully grown trees. We used this setup in a 12-week field campaign to monitor the propagation of a labelling pulse from the soil up to a stem height of 8 m.
We could observe trees shifting their main water uptake depths multiple times, depending on water availability.
The gained knowledge about the temporal dynamics can help to improve water uptake models and future study designs.
Maria Staudinger, Stefan Seeger, Barbara Herbstritt, Michael Stoelzle, Jan Seibert, Kerstin Stahl, and Markus Weiler
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3057–3066, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3057-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3057-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The data set CH-IRP provides isotope composition in precipitation and streamflow from 23 Swiss catchments, being unique regarding its long-term multi-catchment coverage along an alpine–pre-alpine gradient. CH-IRP contains fortnightly time series of stable water isotopes from streamflow grab samples complemented by time series in precipitation. Sampling conditions, catchment and climate information, lab standards and errors are provided together with areal precipitation and catchment boundaries.
Jana von Freyberg, Scott T. Allen, Stefan Seeger, Markus Weiler, and James W. Kirchner
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3841–3861, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3841-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3841-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We explored how the fraction of streamflow younger than ca. 3 months (Fyw) varies with landscape characteristics and climatic forcing, using an extensive isotope data set from 22 Swiss catchments. Overall, Fyw tends to be larger when catchments are wet and discharge is correspondingly higher, indicating an increase in the proportional contribution of faster flow paths at higher flows. We quantify this
discharge sensitivityof Fyw and relate it to the dominant streamflow-generating mechanisms.
Jonas Pyschik, Stefan Seeger, Barbara Herbstritt, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 525–534, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-525-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-525-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a device (named VapAuSa) that automates stable water isotope analysis. Stable water isotopes are a natural tracer that many researchers use to investigate water (re-)distribution processes in environmental systems. VapAuSa helps to analyse such environmental samples by automating a formerly tedious manual process, allowing for higher sample throughput. This enables larger sampling campaigns, as more samples can be processed before reaching their limited storage time.
Heinke Paulsen and Markus Weiler
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3503, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3503, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This technical note describes the development of the weighing Forest Floor Grid-Lysimeter. The device is needed to investigate the dynamics of the water balance components of the organic layer in forests. Quantifying precipitation, drainage, evaporation and storage. We designed a setup that can be easily rebuild and is cost-effective, which allows for customized applications. Performance metrics from laboratory results and initial field data are presented.
Robin Schwemmle, Hannes Leistert, Andreas Steinbrich, and Markus Weiler
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 5249–5262, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5249-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5249-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The new process-based hydrological toolbox model, RoGeR (https://roger.readthedocs.io/), can be used to estimate the components of the hydrological cycle and the related travel times of pollutants through parts of the hydrological cycle. These estimations may contribute to effective water resources management. This paper presents the toolbox concept and provides a simple example of providing estimations to water resources management.
Barbara Herbstritt, Benjamin Gralher, Stefan Seeger, Michael Rinderer, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3701–3718, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3701-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3701-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present a method to collect water vapor samples into bags in the field without an in-field analyser, followed by isotope analysis in the lab. This new method resolves even fine-scaled natural isotope variations. It combines low-cost and lightweight components for maximum spatial and temporal flexibility regarding environmental setups. Hence, it allows for sampling even in terrains that are rather difficult to access, enabling future extended isotope datasets in soil sciences and ecohydrology.
Stefan Seeger and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3393–3404, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3393-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3393-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study proposes a low-budget method to quantify the radial distribution of water transport velocities within trees at a high spatial resolution. We observed a wide spread of water transport velocities within a tree stem section, which were on average 3 times faster than the flux velocity. The distribution of transport velocities has implications for studies that use water isotopic signatures to study root water uptake and usually assume uniform or even implicitly infinite velocities.
Andreas Hänsler and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5069–5084, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5069-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5069-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Spatially explicit quantification of design storms is essential for flood risk assessment and planning. However, available datasets are mainly based on spatially interpolated station-based design storms. Since the spatial interpolation of the data inherits a large potential for uncertainty, we develop an approach to be able to derive spatially explicit design storms on the basis of weather radar data. We find that our approach leads to an improved spatial representation of design storms.
Anne Hartmann, Markus Weiler, Konrad Greinwald, and Theresa Blume
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 4953–4974, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4953-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4953-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Analyzing the impact of soil age and rainfall intensity on vertical subsurface flow paths in calcareous soils, with a special focus on preferential flow occurrence, shows how water flow paths are linked to the organization of evolving landscapes. The observed increase in preferential flow occurrence with increasing moraine age provides important but rare data for a proper representation of hydrological processes within the feedback cycle of the hydro-pedo-geomorphological system.
Annette Sophie Bösmeier, Iso Himmelsbach, and Stefan Seeger
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2963–2979, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2963-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2963-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Encouraging a systematic use of flood marks for more comprehensive flood risk management, we collected a large number of marks along the Kinzig, southwestern Germany, and tested them for plausibility and temporal continuance. Despite uncertainty, the marks appeared to be an overall consistent and practical source that may also increase flood risk awareness. A wide agreement between the current flood hazard maps and the collected flood marks moreover indicated a robust local hazard assessment.
Nils Hinrich Kaplan, Theresa Blume, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2671–2696, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2671-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2671-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study is analyses how characteristics of precipitation events and soil moisture and temperature dynamics during these events can be used to model the associated streamflow responses in intermittent streams. The models are used to identify differences between the dominant controls of streamflow intermittency in three distinct geologies of the Attert catchment, Luxembourg. Overall, soil moisture was found to be the most important control of intermittent streamflow in all geologies.
Benjamin Gralher, Barbara Herbstritt, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5219–5235, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5219-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5219-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We scrutinized the quickest currently available method for stable isotope analysis of matrix-bound water. Simulating common procedures, we demonstrated the limits of certain materials currently used and identified a reliable and cost-efficient alternative. Further, we calculated the optimum proportions of important protocol aspects critical for precise and accurate analyses. Our unifying protocol suggestions increase data quality and comparability as well as the method's general applicability.
David Mennekes, Michael Rinderer, Stefan Seeger, and Natalie Orlowski
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 4513–4530, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4513-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4513-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In situ stable water isotope measurements are a recently developed method to measure water movement from the soil through the plant to the atmosphere in high resolution and precision. Here, we present important advantages of the new method in comparison to commonly used measurement methods in an experimental setup. Overall, this method can help to answer research questions such as plant responses to climate change with potentially shifting water availability or temperatures.
Jan Greiwe, Markus Weiler, and Jens Lange
Biogeosciences, 18, 4705–4715, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4705-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4705-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed variability in diel nitrate patterns at three locations in a lowland stream. Comparison of time lags between monitoring sites with water travel time indicated that diel patterns were created by in-stream processes rather than transported downstream from an upstream point of origin. Most of the patterns (70 %) could be explained by assimilatory nitrate uptake. The remaining patterns suggest seasonally varying dominance and synchronicity of different biochemical processes.
Stefan Seeger and Markus Weiler
Biogeosciences, 18, 4603–4627, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4603-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4603-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a setup for fully automated in situ measurements of stable water isotopes in soil and the stems of fully grown trees. We used this setup in a 12-week field campaign to monitor the propagation of a labelling pulse from the soil up to a stem height of 8 m.
We could observe trees shifting their main water uptake depths multiple times, depending on water availability.
The gained knowledge about the temporal dynamics can help to improve water uptake models and future study designs.
Andreas Hänsler and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-366, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-366, 2021
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
Spatially explicit quantification on design storms are essential for flood risk assessment. However this information can be only achieved from substantially long records of rainfall measurements, usually only available for a few stations. Hence, design storms estimates from these few stations are then spatially interpolated leading to a major source of uncertainty. Therefore we defined a methodology to extend spatially explicit weather radar data to be used for the estimation of design storms.
Anne Hartmann, Markus Weiler, Konrad Greinwald, and Theresa Blume
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-242, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-242, 2021
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
Our field observation-based examination of flow path evolution, soil formation and vegetation succession across ten millennia on calcareous parent material shows how water flow paths and subsurface water storage are linked to the organization of evolving landscapes. We provide important but rare data and observations for a proper handling of hydrologic processes and their role within the feedback cycle of the hydro-pedo-geomorphological system.
Axel Schaffitel, Tobias Schuetz, and Markus Weiler
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 2127–2142, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-2127-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-2127-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents FluSM, an algorithm to derive the water balance from soil moisture and metrological measurements. This data-driven water balance framework uses soil moisture as an input and therefore is applicable for cases with unclear processes and lacking parameters. In a case study, we apply FluSM to derive the water balance of 15 different permeable pavements under field conditions. These findings are of special interest for urban hydrology.
Robin Schwemmle, Dominic Demand, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2187–2198, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2187-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2187-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A better understanding of the reasons why model performance is unsatisfying represents a crucial part for meaningful model evaluation. We propose the novel diagnostic efficiency (DE) measure and diagnostic polar plots. The proposed evaluation approach provides a diagnostic tool for model developers and model users and facilitates interpretation of model performance.
Michael Rinderer, Jaane Krüger, Friederike Lang, Heike Puhlmann, and Markus Weiler
Biogeosciences, 18, 1009–1027, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1009-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1009-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We quantified the lateral and vertical subsurface flow (SSF) and P concentrations of three beech forest plots with contrasting soil properties during sprinkling experiments. Vertical SSF was 2 orders of magnitude larger than lateral SSF, and both consisted mainly of pre-event water. P concentrations in SSF were high during the first 1 to 2 h (nutrient flushing) but nearly constant thereafter. This suggests that P in the soil solution was replenished fast by mineral or organic sources.
Merle Koelbing, Tobias Schuetz, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-24, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-24, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Based on a unique and comprehensive data set of urban micro-meteorological variables, which were observed with a mobile climate station, we developed a new method to transfer mesoscale reference potential evapotranspiration to the urban microscale in street canyons. Our findings can be transferred easily to existing urban hydrologic models to improve modelling results with a more precise estimate of potential evapotranspiration on street level.
Anne Hartmann, Markus Weiler, and Theresa Blume
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3189–3204, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3189-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3189-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Our analysis of soil physical and hydraulic properties across two soil chronosequences of 10 millennia in the Swiss Alps provides important observation of the evolution of soil hydraulic behavior. A strong co-evolution of soil physical and hydraulic properties was revealed by the observed change of fast-draining coarse-textured soils to slow-draining soils with a high water-holding capacity in correlation with a distinct change in structural properties and organic matter content.
Daniel Beiter, Markus Weiler, and Theresa Blume
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5713–5744, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5713-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5713-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the interactions between streams and their adjacent hillslopes in terms of water flow. It could be revealed that soil structure has a strong influence on how hillslopes connect to the streams, while the groundwater table tells us a lot about when the two connect. This observation could be used to improve models that try to predict whether or not hillslopes are in a state where a rain event will be likely to produce a flood in the stream.
Maria Staudinger, Stefan Seeger, Barbara Herbstritt, Michael Stoelzle, Jan Seibert, Kerstin Stahl, and Markus Weiler
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 3057–3066, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3057-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3057-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The data set CH-IRP provides isotope composition in precipitation and streamflow from 23 Swiss catchments, being unique regarding its long-term multi-catchment coverage along an alpine–pre-alpine gradient. CH-IRP contains fortnightly time series of stable water isotopes from streamflow grab samples complemented by time series in precipitation. Sampling conditions, catchment and climate information, lab standards and errors are provided together with areal precipitation and catchment boundaries.
Nils Hinrich Kaplan, Theresa Blume, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5453–5472, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5453-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5453-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In recent decades the demand for detailed information of spatial and temporal dynamics of the stream network has grown in the fields of eco-hydrology and extreme flow prediction. We use temporal streamflow intermittency data obtained at various sites using innovative sensing technology as well as spatial predictors to predict and map probabilities of streamflow intermittency. This approach has the potential to provide intermittency maps for hydrological modelling and management practices.
Michael Stoelzle, Maria Staudinger, Kerstin Stahl, and Markus Weiler
Proc. IAHS, 383, 43–50, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-383-43-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-383-43-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The role of recharge and catchment storage is crucial to understand streamflow drought sensitivity. Here we introduce a model experiment with recharge stress tests as complement to climate scenarios to quantify the streamflow drought sensitivities of catchments in Switzerland. We identified a pre-drought period of 12 months as maximum storage-memory for the study catchments. From stress testing, we found up to 200 days longer summer streamflow droughts and minimum flow reductions of 50 %–80 %.
Anne Hartmann, Ekaterina Semenova, Markus Weiler, and Theresa Blume
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3271–3288, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-3271-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-3271-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Our field observation-based examination of flow path evolution, soil formation, and vegetation succession across 10 millennia shows how water flow paths and subsurface water storage are linked to the organization of evolving landscapes.
The increase found in water storage and preferential flow paths with increasing soil age shows the effect of the complex interaction of vegetation and soil development on flow paths, water balance, and runoff formation during landscape evolution.
Mirko Mälicke, Sibylle K. Hassler, Theresa Blume, Markus Weiler, and Erwin Zehe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2633–2653, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2633-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2633-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We could show that distributed soil moisture time series bear a considerable amount of information about dynamic changes in soil moisture. We developed a new method to describe spatial patterns and analyze their persistency. By combining uncertainty propagation with information theory, we were able to calculate the information content of spatial similarity with respect to measurement uncertainty. This does help to understand when and why the soil is drying in an organized manner.
Axel Schaffitel, Tobias Schuetz, and Markus Weiler
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 501–517, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-501-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-501-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This paper contains detailed information about the instrumentation of permeable pavements with soil moisture sensors and the performance of infiltration experiments on these surfaces. The collected data are beneficial for studying urban water and energy cycles. They contain valuable information about the hydrological behavior of permeable pavements and urban subsurface heat anomalies. Due to the lack of similar data, we are convinced that the dataset is of great scientific value.
Michael Stoelzle, Tobias Schuetz, Markus Weiler, Kerstin Stahl, and Lena M. Tallaksen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 849–867, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-849-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-849-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
During dry weather, different delayed sources of runoff (e.g. from groundwater, wetlands or snowmelt) modulate the magnitude and variability of streamflow. Hydrograph separation methods often do not distinguish these delayed contributions and mostly pool them into only two components (i.e. quickflow and baseflow). We propose a method that uncovers multiple components and demonstrates how they better reflect streamflow generation processes of different flow regimes.
Fabian Ries, Lara Kirn, and Markus Weiler
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 245–255, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-245-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-245-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Pluvial or flash floods generated by heavy precipitation events cause large economic damage and loss of life worldwide. As discharge observations from such extreme occurrences are rare, data from artificial sprinkling experiments offer valuable information on runoff generation processes, overland and subsurface flow rates, and response times. A extensive data set from 132 large-scale sprinkling experiments in Germany is described and presented in this paper.
Dominic Demand, Theresa Blume, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 4869–4889, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4869-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4869-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents an analysis of 135 soil moisture profiles for identification of the spatial and temporal preferential flow occurrence in a complex landscape. Especially dry conditions and high rainfall intensities were found to increase preferential flow occurrence in soils. This results in a seasonal pattern of preferential flow with a higher occurrence in summer. During this time grasslands showed increased flow velocities, whereas forest sites exhibited a higher amount of bypass flow.
Nils Hinrich Kaplan, Ernestine Sohrt, Theresa Blume, and Markus Weiler
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1363–1374, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1363-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1363-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Different sensing techniques including time-lapse imagery, electric conductivity and stage measurements were used to generate a combined dataset of the presence and absence of streamflow within a large number of nested sub-catchments in the Attert catchment, Luxembourg. The first sites of observation were established in 2013 and successively extended to a total number of 182 in 2016. The dataset can be used to improve understanding of the temporal and spatial dynamics of the stream network.
Barbara Herbstritt, Benjamin Gralher, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 3007–3019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3007-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3007-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a novel technique for the precise, quasi real-time observation of water-stable isotopes in gross precipitation and throughfall from tree canopies in parallel. Various processes (e.g. rainfall intensity, evapotranspiration, exchange with ambient vapour) thereby control throughfall intensity and isotopic composition. The achieved temporal resolution now competes with common meteorological measurements, thus enabling new ways to employ water-stable isotopes in forested catchments.
Jobin Joseph, Christoph Külls, Matthias Arend, Marcus Schaub, Frank Hagedorn, Arthur Gessler, and Markus Weiler
SOIL, 5, 49–62, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-49-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-49-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
By coupling an OA-ICOS with hydrophobic but gas-permeable membranes placed at different depths in acidic and calcareous soils, we investigated the contribution of abiotic and biotic components to total soil CO2 release. In calcareous Gleysol, CO2 originating from carbonate dissolution contributed to total soil CO2 concentration at detectable degrees, probably due to CO2 evasion from groundwater. Inward diffusion of atmospheric CO2 was found to be pronounced in the topsoil layers at both sites.
Mirko Mälicke, Sibylle K. Hassler, Markus Weiler, Theresa Blume, and Erwin Zehe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2018-396, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2018-396, 2018
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we use time dependent variograms to identify periods of organized soil moisture during drying. We could identify emerging spatial patterns which imply periods of terrestrial control on soil moisture organization. The coupling of time dependent variograms with density based clustering is a new approach to detect similarity in spatial patterns. The presented method is useful to describe states of organization and improve kriging workflows by extending their prerequisites.
Jana von Freyberg, Scott T. Allen, Stefan Seeger, Markus Weiler, and James W. Kirchner
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3841–3861, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3841-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3841-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We explored how the fraction of streamflow younger than ca. 3 months (Fyw) varies with landscape characteristics and climatic forcing, using an extensive isotope data set from 22 Swiss catchments. Overall, Fyw tends to be larger when catchments are wet and discharge is correspondingly higher, indicating an increase in the proportional contribution of faster flow paths at higher flows. We quantify this
discharge sensitivityof Fyw and relate it to the dominant streamflow-generating mechanisms.
Natalie Orlowski, Lutz Breuer, Nicolas Angeli, Pascal Boeckx, Christophe Brumbt, Craig S. Cook, Maren Dubbert, Jens Dyckmans, Barbora Gallagher, Benjamin Gralher, Barbara Herbstritt, Pedro Hervé-Fernández, Christophe Hissler, Paul Koeniger, Arnaud Legout, Chandelle Joan Macdonald, Carlos Oyarzún, Regine Redelstein, Christof Seidler, Rolf Siegwolf, Christine Stumpp, Simon Thomsen, Markus Weiler, Christiane Werner, and Jeffrey J. McDonnell
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3619–3637, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3619-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3619-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
To extract water from soils for isotopic analysis, cryogenic water extraction is the most widely used removal technique. This work presents results from a worldwide laboratory intercomparison test of cryogenic extraction systems. Our results showed large differences in retrieved isotopic signatures among participating laboratories linked to interactions between soil type and properties, system setup, extraction efficiency, extraction system leaks, and each lab’s internal accuracy.
Jakob Sohrt, Heike Puhlmann, and Markus Weiler
SOIL Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2018-13, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2018-13, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
We sampled concentrations of phosphorus (P) in laterally flowing water in the organic layer of three beech forest sites. Sampling frequency was in the range to minutes to ours with the intent of capturing short term variability of this parameter and the underlying mechanisms, which were analyzed with a modeling approach. While site affiliation was found to be a strong influence on P concentrations in lateral flow, some universal effects – like antecedent soil moisture – could also be determined.
Daphné Freudiger, David Mennekes, Jan Seibert, and Markus Weiler
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 805–814, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-805-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-805-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
To understand glacier changes in the Swiss Alps at the large scale, long-term datasets are needed. To fill the gap between the existing glacier inventories of the Swiss Alps between 1850 and 1973, we digitized glacier outlines from topographic historical maps of Switzerland for the time periods ca. 1900 and ca. 1935. We found that > 88 % of the digitized glacier area was plausible compared to four inventories. The presented dataset is therefore valuable information for long-term glacier studies.
Michael P. Schwab, Julian Klaus, Laurent Pfister, and Markus Weiler
Biogeosciences, 15, 2177–2188, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2177-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-2177-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We studied the diel fluctuations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in a small stream in Luxembourg. We identified an increased proportion of DOC from terrestrial sources as responsible for the peaks in DOC in the afternoon. Warmer water temperatures in the riparian zone in the afternoon increased the amount of water flowing towards the stream. Consequently, an increased amount of DOC-rich water from the riparian zone was entering the stream.
Jan Seibert, Marc J. P. Vis, Irene Kohn, Markus Weiler, and Kerstin Stahl
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2211–2224, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-2211-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-2211-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
In many glacio-hydrological models glacier areas are assumed to be constant over time, which is a crucial limitation. Here we describe a novel approach to translate mass balances as simulated by the (glacio)hydrological model into glacier area changes. We combined the Δh approach of Huss et al. (2010) with the bucket-type model HBV and introduced a lookup table approach, which also allows periods with advancing glaciers to be represented, which is not possible with the original Huss method.
Sibylle Kathrin Hassler, Markus Weiler, and Theresa Blume
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 13–30, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-13-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-13-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We use sap velocity measurements from 61 trees on 132 days to gain knowledge about the controls of landscape-scale transpiration, distinguishing tree-, stand- and site-specific controls on sap velocity and sap flow patterns and examining their dynamics during the vegetation period. Our results show that these patterns are not exclusively determined by tree characteristics. Thus, including site characteristics such as geology and aspect could be beneficial for modelling or management purposes.
Willem J. van Verseveld, Holly R. Barnard, Chris B. Graham, Jeffrey J. McDonnell, J. Renée Brooks, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 5891–5910, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5891-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5891-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
How stream water responds immediately to a rainfall or snow event, while the average time it takes water to travel through the hillslope can be years or decades and is poorly understood. We assessed this difference by combining a 24-day sprinkler experiment (a tracer was applied at the start) with a process-based hydrologic model. Immobile soil water, deep groundwater contribution and soil depth variability explained this difference at our hillslope site.
Michael P. Schwab, Julian Klaus, Laurent Pfister, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-416, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-416, 2017
Revised manuscript not accepted
Lisa Angermann, Conrad Jackisch, Niklas Allroggen, Matthias Sprenger, Erwin Zehe, Jens Tronicke, Markus Weiler, and Theresa Blume
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3727–3748, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3727-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3727-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the temporal dynamics and response velocities of lateral preferential flow at the hillslope. The results are compared to catchment response behavior to infer the large-scale implications of the observed processes. A large portion of mobile water flows through preferential flow paths in the structured soils, causing an immediate discharge response. The study presents a methodological approach to cover the spatial and temporal domain of these highly heterogeneous processes.
Conrad Jackisch, Lisa Angermann, Niklas Allroggen, Matthias Sprenger, Theresa Blume, Jens Tronicke, and Erwin Zehe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3749–3775, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3749-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3749-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Rapid subsurface flow in structured soils facilitates fast vertical and lateral redistribution of event water. We present its in situ exploration through local measurements and irrigation experiments. Special emphasis is given to a coherent combination of hydrological and geophysical methods. The study highlights that form and function operate as conjugated pairs. Dynamic imaging through time-lapse GPR was key to observing both and to identifying hydrologically relevant structures.
Maik Renner, Sibylle K. Hassler, Theresa Blume, Markus Weiler, Anke Hildebrandt, Marcus Guderle, Stanislaus J. Schymanski, and Axel Kleidon
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 2063–2083, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2063-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-2063-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We estimated forest transpiration (European beech) along a steep valley cross section. Atmospheric demand, obtained by the thermodynamic limit of maximum power, is the dominant control of transpiration at all sites.
To our surprise we find that transpiration is rather similar across sites with different aspect (north vs. south) and different stand structure due to systematically varying sap velocities. Such a compensation effect is highly relevant for modeling and upscaling of transpiration.
Katharina F. Gimbel, Heike Puhlmann, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 1301–1317, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1301-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1301-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
It is usually assumed that soil properties are not affected by drought events. We used dye tracer experiments to test this assumption on six forest soils, which were forced into drought conditions. The results of this study show clear evidence for changes in infiltration pathways. In addition, most soils developed soil water repellency. Overall, the results suggest that the past climatic conditions are more important than the actual soil moisture status regarding hydrophobicity and infiltration.
Tobias Schuetz, Chantal Gascuel-Odoux, Patrick Durand, and Markus Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 843–857, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-843-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-843-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify the spatio-temporal impact of distinct nitrate sinks and sources on stream network nitrate dynamics in an agricultural headwater. By applying a data-driven modelling approach, we are able to fully distinguish between mixing and dilution processes, and biogeochemical in-stream removal processes along the stream network. In-stream nitrate removal is estimated by applying a novel transfer coefficient based on energy availability.
A. Hartmann, J. Kobler, M. Kralik, T. Dirnböck, F. Humer, and M. Weiler
Biogeosciences, 13, 159–174, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-159-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-159-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We consider the time period before and after a wind disturbance in an Austrian karst system. Using a process-based flow and solute transport simulation model we estimate impacts on DIN and DOC. We show that DIN increases for several years, while DOC remains within its pre-disturbance variability. Simulated transit times indicate that impact passes through the hydrological system within some months but with a small fraction exceeding transit times of even a year.
M. Sprenger, T. H. M. Volkmann, T. Blume, and M. Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 2617–2635, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2617-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-2617-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We present a novel approach that includes information about the pore water stable isotopic composition in inverse model approaches to estimate soil hydraulic parameters. Different approaches are presented and their adequacy regarding the model efficiency, realism and parameter identifiability are discussed. The advantages of the new approach are shown by an application of the inverse estimated parameters to infer the water balance and the transit time for three different study sites.
M. Staudinger, M. Weiler, and J. Seibert
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 1371–1384, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-1371-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-1371-2015, 2015
K. F. Gimbel, K. Felsmann, M. Baudis, H. Puhlmann, A. Gessler, H. Bruelheide, Z. Kayler, R. H. Ellerbrock, A. Ulrich, E. Welk, and M. Weiler
Biogeosciences, 12, 961–975, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-961-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-961-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper introduces a novel rainfall reduction experiment to investigate drought effects on soil-forest-understory-ecosystems. An annual drought with a return period of 40 years was imposed, while other ecosystem variables (humidity, air & soil temperature) remained unaffected. The first year of drought showed considerable changes in soil moisture dynamics, which affected leaf stomatal conductance of understory species as well as evapotranspiration rates of the forest understory ecosystem.
E. Zehe, U. Ehret, L. Pfister, T. Blume, B. Schröder, M. Westhoff, C. Jackisch, S. J. Schymanski, M. Weiler, K. Schulz, N. Allroggen, J. Tronicke, L. van Schaik, P. Dietrich, U. Scherer, J. Eccard, V. Wulfmeyer, and A. Kleidon
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 4635–4655, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4635-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4635-2014, 2014
J. Schwerdtfeger, M. S. Johnson, E. G. Couto, R. S. S. Amorim, L. Sanches, J. H. Campelo Jr., and M. Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 4407–4422, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4407-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4407-2014, 2014
B. Merz, J. Aerts, K. Arnbjerg-Nielsen, M. Baldi, A. Becker, A. Bichet, G. Blöschl, L. M. Bouwer, A. Brauer, F. Cioffi, J. M. Delgado, M. Gocht, F. Guzzetti, S. Harrigan, K. Hirschboeck, C. Kilsby, W. Kron, H.-H. Kwon, U. Lall, R. Merz, K. Nissen, P. Salvatti, T. Swierczynski, U. Ulbrich, A. Viglione, P. J. Ward, M. Weiler, B. Wilhelm, and M. Nied
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 14, 1921–1942, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-1921-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-1921-2014, 2014
D. Freudiger, I. Kohn, K. Stahl, and M. Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 2695–2709, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-2695-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-2695-2014, 2014
R. S. Smith, R. D. Moore, M. Weiler, and G. Jost
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 1835–1856, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-1835-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-1835-2014, 2014
T. H. M. Volkmann and M. Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 1819–1833, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-1819-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-1819-2014, 2014
M. Gassmann, C. Stamm, O. Olsson, J. Lange, K. Kümmerer, and M. Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 5213–5228, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-5213-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-5213-2013, 2013
A. Hartmann, M. Weiler, T. Wagener, J. Lange, M. Kralik, F. Humer, N. Mizyed, A. Rimmer, J. A. Barberá, B. Andreo, C. Butscher, and P. Huggenberger
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 3305–3321, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-3305-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-3305-2013, 2013
N. Dietermann and M. Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 2657–2668, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-2657-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-2657-2013, 2013
J. Garvelmann, S. Pohl, and M. Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 1415–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1415-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1415-2013, 2013
M. Stoelzle, K. Stahl, and M. Weiler
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 817–828, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-817-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-817-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Catchment hydrology | Techniques and Approaches: Modelling approaches
A diversity-centric strategy for the selection of spatio-temporal training data for LSTM-based streamflow forecasting
Simulating the Tone River eastward diversion project in Japan carried out 4 centuries ago
Lack of robustness of hydrological models: a large-sample diagnosis and an attempt to identify hydrological and climatic drivers
Achieving water budget closure through physical hydrological process modelling: insights from a large-sample study
Heavy-tailed flood peak distributions: what is the effect of the spatial variability of rainfall and runoff generation?
State updating of the Xin'anjiang model: joint assimilating streamflow and multi-source soil moisture data via the asynchronous ensemble Kalman filter with enhanced error models
Improving the hydrological consistency of a process-based solute-transport model by simultaneous calibration of streamflow and stream concentrations
Leveraging a time-series event separation method to disentangle time-varying hydrologic controls on streamflow – application to wildfire-affected catchments
The significance of the leaf area index for evapotranspiration estimation in SWAT-T for characteristic land cover types of West Africa
Improved representation of soil moisture processes through incorporation of cosmic-ray neutron count measurements in a large-scale hydrologic model
Spatio-temporal patterns and trends of streamflow in water-scarce Mediterranean basins
A large-sample modelling approach towards integrating streamflow and evaporation data for the Spanish catchments
Technical note: An approach for handling multiple temporal frequencies with different input dimensions using a single LSTM cell
Seasonal variation in land cover estimates reveals sensitivities and opportunities for environmental models
Estimating response times, flow velocities, and roughness coefficients of Canadian Prairie basins
Learning landscape features from streamflow with autoencoders
On the use of streamflow transformations for hydrological model calibration
Simulation-based inference for parameter estimation of complex watershed simulators
Multi-scale soil moisture data and process-based modeling reveal the importance of lateral groundwater flow in a subarctic catchment
Catchment response to climatic variability: implications for root zone storage and streamflow predictions
Hybrid hydrological modeling for large alpine basins: a semi-distributed approach
Karst aquifer discharge response to rainfall interpreted as anomalous transport
HESS Opinions: Never train a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network on a single basin
Large-sample hydrology – a few camels or a whole caravan?
Comment on “Are soils overrated in hydrology?” by Gao et al. (2023)
Projections of streamflow intermittence under climate change in European drying river networks
Multi-decadal fluctuations in root zone storage capacity through vegetation adaptation to hydro-climatic variability have minor effects on the hydrological response in the Neckar River basin, Germany
Technical note: What does the Standardized Streamflow Index actually reflect? Insights and implications for hydrological drought analysis
Extended range forecasting of stream water temperature with deep learning models
Projected future changes in the cryosphere and hydrology of a mountainous catchment in the upper Heihe River, China
On the importance of plant phenology in the evaporative process of a semi-arid woodland: could it be why satellite-based evaporation estimates in the miombo differ?
Analyzing the generalization capabilities of hybrid hydrological models for extrapolation to extreme events
Regionalization of GR4J model parameters for river flow prediction in Paraná, Brazil
Evolution of river regimes in the Mekong River basin over 8 decades and the role of dams in recent hydrological extremes
Skill of seasonal flow forecasts at catchment scale: an assessment across South Korea
To what extent do flood-inducing storm events change future flood hazards?
When ancient numerical demons meet physics-informed machine learning: adjoint-based gradients for implicit differentiable modeling
Assessing the value of high-resolution rainfall and streamflow data for hydrological modeling: An analysis based on 63 catchments in southeast China
Runoff component quantification and future streamflow projection in a large mountainous basin based on a multidata-constrained cryospheric-hydrological model
Assessing the impact of climate change on high return levels of peak flows in Bavaria applying the CRCM5 large ensemble
Impacts of climate and land surface change on catchment evapotranspiration and runoff from 1951 to 2020 in Saxony, Germany
Quantifying and reducing flood forecast uncertainty by the CHUP-BMA method
Developing a tile drainage module for the Cold Regions Hydrological Model: lessons from a farm in southern Ontario, Canada
To bucket or not to bucket? Analyzing the performance and interpretability of hybrid hydrological models with dynamic parameterization
Widespread flooding dynamics under climate change: characterising floods using grid-based hydrological modelling and regional climate projections
HESS Opinions: The sword of Damocles of the impossible flood
Scale-dependency in modeling nivo-glacial hydrological systems: the case of the Arolla basin, Switzerland
Evaluating the effects of topography and land use change on hydrological signatures: a comparative study of two adjacent watersheds
Metamorphic testing of machine learning and conceptual hydrologic models
The influence of human activities on streamflow reductions during the megadrought in central Chile
Everett Snieder and Usman T. Khan
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 785–798, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-785-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-785-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Improving the accuracy of flood forecasts is paramount to minimising flood damage. Machine learning (ML) models are increasingly being applied for flood forecasting. Such models are typically trained on large historic hydrometeorological datasets. In this work, we evaluate methods for selecting training datasets that maximise the spatio-temporal diversity of the represented hydrological processes. Empirical results showcase the importance of hydrological diversity in training ML models.
Joško Trošelj and Naota Hanasaki
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 753–766, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-753-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-753-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents the first distributed hydrological simulation which confirms claims raised by historians that the eastward diversion project of the Tone River in Japan was conducted 4 centuries ago to increase low flows and subsequent travelling possibilities surrounding the capital, Edo (Tokyo), using inland navigation. We showed that great steps forward can be made for improving quality of life with small human engineering waterworks and small interventions in the regime of natural flows.
Léonard Santos, Vazken Andréassian, Torben O. Sonnenborg, Göran Lindström, Alban de Lavenne, Charles Perrin, Lila Collet, and Guillaume Thirel
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 683–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-683-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-683-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work investigates how hydrological models are transferred to a period in which climate conditions are different to the ones of the period in which they were set up. The robustness assessment test built to detect dependencies between model error and climatic drivers was applied to three hydrological models in 352 catchments in Denmark, France and Sweden. Potential issues are seen in a significant number of catchments for the models, even though the catchments differ for each model.
Xudong Zheng, Dengfeng Liu, Shengzhi Huang, Hao Wang, and Xianmeng Meng
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 627–653, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-627-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-627-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Water budget non-closure is a widespread phenomenon among multisource datasets which undermines the robustness of hydrological inferences. This study proposes a Multisource Dataset Correction Framework grounded in Physical Hydrological Process Modelling to enhance water budget closure, termed PHPM-MDCF. We examined the efficiency and robustness of the framework using the CAMELS dataset and achieved an average reduction of 49 % in total water budget residuals across 475 CONUS basins.
Elena Macdonald, Bruno Merz, Viet Dung Nguyen, and Sergiy Vorogushyn
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 447–463, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-447-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-447-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Flood peak distributions indicate how likely the occurrence of an extreme flood is at a certain river. If the distribution has a so-called heavy tail, extreme floods are more likely than might be anticipated. We find heavier tails in small catchments compared to large catchments, and spatially variable rainfall leads to a lower occurrence probability of extreme floods. Spatially variable runoff does not show effects. The results can improve estimations of probabilities of extreme floods.
Junfu Gong, Xingwen Liu, Cheng Yao, Zhijia Li, Albrecht H. Weerts, Qiaoling Li, Satish Bastola, Yingchun Huang, and Junzeng Xu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 335–360, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-335-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-335-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our study introduces a new method to improve flood forecasting by combining soil moisture and streamflow data using an advanced data assimilation technique. By integrating field and reanalysis soil moisture data and assimilating this with streamflow measurements, we aim to enhance the accuracy of flood predictions. This approach reduces the accumulation of past errors in the initial conditions at the start of the forecast, helping to better prepare for and respond to floods.
Jordy Salmon-Monviola, Ophélie Fovet, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 127–158, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-127-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-127-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To increase the predictive power of hydrological models, it is necessary to improve their consistency, i.e. their physical realism, which is measured by the ability of the model to reproduce observed system dynamics. Using a model to represent the dynamics of water and nitrate and dissolved organic carbon concentrations in an agricultural catchment, we showed that using solute-concentration data for calibration is useful to improve the hydrological consistency of the model.
Haley A. Canham, Belize Lane, Colin B. Phillips, and Brendan P. Murphy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 27–43, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-27-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-27-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The influence of watershed disturbances has proved challenging to disentangle from natural streamflow variability. This study evaluates the influence of time-varying hydrologic controls on rainfall–runoff in undisturbed and wildfire-disturbed watersheds using a novel time-series event separation method. Across watersheds, water year type and season influenced rainfall–runoff patterns. Accounting for these controls enabled clearer isolation of wildfire effects.
Fabian Merk, Timo Schaffhauser, Faizan Anwar, Ye Tuo, Jean-Martial Cohard, and Markus Disse
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5511–5539, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5511-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5511-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Evapotranspiration (ET) is computed from the vegetation (plant transpiration) and soil (soil evaporation). In western Africa, plant transpiration correlates with vegetation growth. Vegetation is often represented using the leaf area index (LAI). In this study, we evaluate the importance of the LAI for ET calculation. We take a close look at this interaction and highlight its relevance. Our work contributes to the understanding of terrestrial water cycle processes .
Eshrat Fatima, Rohini Kumar, Sabine Attinger, Maren Kaluza, Oldrich Rakovec, Corinna Rebmann, Rafael Rosolem, Sascha E. Oswald, Luis Samaniego, Steffen Zacharias, and Martin Schrön
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5419–5441, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5419-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5419-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study establishes a framework to incorporate cosmic-ray neutron measurements into the mesoscale Hydrological Model (mHM). We evaluate different approaches to estimate neutron counts within the mHM using the Desilets equation, with uniformly and non-uniformly weighted average soil moisture, and the physically based code COSMIC. The data improved not only soil moisture simulations but also the parameterisation of evapotranspiration in the model.
Laia Estrada, Xavier Garcia, Joan Saló-Grau, Rafael Marcé, Antoni Munné, and Vicenç Acuña
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5353–5373, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5353-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5353-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrological modelling is a powerful tool to support decision-making. We assessed spatio-temporal patterns and trends of streamflow for 2001–2022 with a hydrological model, integrating stakeholder expert knowledge on management operations. The results provide insight into how climate change and anthropogenic pressures affect water resources availability in regions vulnerable to water scarcity, thus raising the need for sustainable management practices and integrated hydrological modelling.
Patricio Yeste, Matilde García-Valdecasas Ojeda, Sonia R. Gámiz-Fortis, Yolanda Castro-Díez, Axel Bronstert, and María Jesús Esteban-Parra
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5331–5352, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5331-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5331-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Integrating streamflow and evaporation data can help improve the physical realism of hydrologic models. We investigate the capabilities of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) to reproduce both hydrologic variables for 189 headwater located in Spain. Results from sensitivity analyses indicate that adding two vegetation parameters is enough to improve the representation of evaporation and that the performance of VIC exceeded that of the largest modelling effort currently available in Spain.
Eduardo Acuña Espinoza, Frederik Kratzert, Daniel Klotz, Martin Gauch, Manuel Álvarez Chaves, Ralf Loritz, and Uwe Ehret
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3355, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3355, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks have demonstrated state-of-the-art performance for rainfall-runoff hydrological modeling. However, most studies focus on daily-scale predictions, limiting the benefits of sub-daily (e.g. hourly) predictions in applications like flood forecasting. In this study, we introduce a new architecture, multi-frequency LSTM (MF-LSTM), designed to use input of various temporal frequencies to produce sub-daily (e.g. hourly) predictions at a moderate computational cost.
Daniel T. Myers, David Jones, Diana Oviedo-Vargas, John Paul Schmit, Darren L. Ficklin, and Xuesong Zhang
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5295–5310, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5295-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5295-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how streamflow and water quality models respond to land cover data collected by satellites during the growing season versus the non-growing season. The land cover data showed more trees during the growing season and more built areas during the non-growing season. We next found that the use of non-growing season data resulted in a higher modeled nutrient export to streams. Knowledge of these sensitivities would be particularly important when models inform water resource management.
Kevin R. Shook, Paul H. Whitfield, Christopher Spence, and John W. Pomeroy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5173–5192, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5173-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5173-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Recent studies suggest that the velocities of water running off landscapes in the Canadian Prairies may be much smaller than generally assumed. Analyses of historical flows for 23 basins in central Alberta show that many of the rivers responded more slowly and that the flows are much slower than would be estimated from equations developed elsewhere. The effects of slow flow velocities on the development of hydrological models of the region are discussed, as are the possible causes.
Alberto Bassi, Marvin Höge, Antonietta Mira, Fabrizio Fenicia, and Carlo Albert
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4971–4988, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4971-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4971-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The goal is to remove the impact of meteorological drivers in order to uncover the unique landscape fingerprints of a catchment from streamflow data. Our results reveal an optimal two-feature summary for most catchments, with a third feature associated with aridity and intermittent flow that is needed for challenging cases. Baseflow index, aridity, and soil or vegetation attributes strongly correlate with learnt features, indicating their importance for streamflow prediction.
Guillaume Thirel, Léonard Santos, Olivier Delaigue, and Charles Perrin
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4837–4860, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4837-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4837-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We discuss how mathematical transformations impact calibrated hydrological model simulations. We assess how 11 transformations behave over the complete range of streamflows. Extreme transformations lead to models that are specialized for extreme streamflows but show poor performance outside the range of targeted streamflows and are less robust. We show that no a priori assumption about transformations can be taken as warranted.
Robert Hull, Elena Leonarduzzi, Luis De La Fuente, Hoang Viet Tran, Andrew Bennett, Peter Melchior, Reed M. Maxwell, and Laura E. Condon
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4685–4713, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4685-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4685-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Large-scale hydrologic simulators are a needed tool to explore complex watershed processes and how they may evolve with a changing climate. However, calibrating them can be difficult because they are costly to run and have many unknown parameters. We implement a state-of-the-art approach to model calibration using neural networks with a set of experiments based on streamflow in the upper Colorado River basin.
Jari-Pekka Nousu, Kersti Leppä, Hannu Marttila, Pertti Ala-aho, Giulia Mazzotti, Terhikki Manninen, Mika Korkiakoski, Mika Aurela, Annalea Lohila, and Samuli Launiainen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4643–4666, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4643-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4643-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used hydrological models, field measurements, and satellite-based data to study the soil moisture dynamics in a subarctic catchment. The role of groundwater was studied with different ways to model the groundwater dynamics and via comparisons to the observational data. The choice of groundwater model was shown to have a strong impact, and representation of lateral flow was important to capture wet soil conditions. Our results provide insights for ecohydrological studies in boreal regions.
Nienke Tempel, Laurène Bouaziz, Riccardo Taormina, Ellis van Noppen, Jasper Stam, Eric Sprokkereef, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4577–4597, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4577-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4577-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores the impact of climatic variability on root zone water storage capacities and, thus, on hydrological predictions. Analysing data from 286 areas in Europe and the US, we found that, despite some variations in root zone storage capacity due to changing climatic conditions over multiple decades, these changes are generally minor and have a limited effect on water storage and river flow predictions.
Bu Li, Ting Sun, Fuqiang Tian, Mahmut Tudaji, Li Qin, and Guangheng Ni
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4521–4538, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4521-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4521-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper developed hybrid semi-distributed hydrological models by employing a process-based model as the backbone and utilizing deep learning to parameterize and replace internal modules. The main contribution is to provide a high-performance tool enriched with explicit hydrological knowledge for hydrological prediction and to improve understanding about the hydrological sensitivities to climate change in large alpine basins.
Dan Elhanati, Nadine Goeppert, and Brian Berkowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4239–4249, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4239-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4239-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A continuous time random walk framework was developed to allow modeling of a karst aquifer discharge response to measured rainfall. The application of the numerical model yielded robust fits between modeled and measured discharge values, especially for the distinctive long tails found during recession times. The findings shed light on the interplay of slow and fast flow in the karst system and establish the application of the model for simulating flow and transport in such systems.
Frederik Kratzert, Martin Gauch, Daniel Klotz, and Grey Nearing
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4187–4201, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4187-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4187-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Recently, a special type of neural-network architecture became increasingly popular in hydrology literature. However, in most applications, this model was applied as a one-to-one replacement for hydrology models without adapting or rethinking the experimental setup. In this opinion paper, we show how this is almost always a bad decision and how using these kinds of models requires the use of large-sample hydrology data sets.
Franziska Clerc-Schwarzenbach, Giovanni Selleri, Mattia Neri, Elena Toth, Ilja van Meerveld, and Jan Seibert
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4219–4237, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4219-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4219-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We show that the differences between the forcing data included in three CAMELS datasets (US, BR, GB) and the forcing data included for the same catchments in the Caravan dataset affect model calibration considerably. The model performance dropped when the data from the Caravan dataset were used instead of the original data. Most of the model performance drop could be attributed to the differences in precipitation data. However, differences were largest for the potential evapotranspiration data.
Ying Zhao, Mehdi Rahmati, Harry Vereecken, and Dani Or
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4059–4063, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4059-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4059-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Gao et al. (2023) question the importance of soil in hydrology, sparking debate. We acknowledge some valid points but critique their broad, unsubstantiated views on soil's role. Our response highlights three key areas: (1) the false divide between ecosystem-centric and soil-centric approaches, (2) the vital yet varied impact of soil properties, and (3) the call for a scale-aware framework. We aim to unify these perspectives, enhancing hydrology's comprehensive understanding.
Louise Mimeau, Annika Künne, Alexandre Devers, Flora Branger, Sven Kralisch, Claire Lauvernet, Jean-Philippe Vidal, Núria Bonada, Zoltán Csabai, Heikki Mykrä, Petr Pařil, Luka Polović, and Thibault Datry
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-272, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-272, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
Our study projects how climate change will affect drying of river segments and stream networks in Europe, using advanced modeling techniques to assess changes in six river networks across diverse ecoregions. We found that drying events will become more frequent, intense and start earlier or last longer, potentially turning some river sections from perennial to intermittent. The results are valuable for river ecologists in evaluating the ecological health of river ecosystem.
Siyuan Wang, Markus Hrachowitz, and Gerrit Schoups
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4011–4033, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4011-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4011-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Root zone storage capacity (Sumax) changes significantly over multiple decades, reflecting vegetation adaptation to climatic variability. However, this temporal evolution of Sumax cannot explain long-term fluctuations in the partitioning of water fluxes as expressed by deviations ΔIE from the parametric Budyko curve over time with different climatic conditions, and it does not have any significant effects on shorter-term hydrological response characteristics of the upper Neckar catchment.
Fabián Lema, Pablo A. Mendoza, Nicolás A. Vásquez, Naoki Mizukami, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, and Ximena Vargas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-221, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-221, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrological droughts affect ecosystems and socioeconomic activities worldwide. Despite they are commonly described with the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI), there is limited understanding of what it truly reflects in terms of water cycle processes. Here, we used state-of-the-art hydrological models in Andean basins to examine drivers of SSI fluctuations. The results highlight the importance of careful selection of indices and time scales for accurate drought characterization and monitoring.
Ryan S. Padrón, Massimiliano Zappa, Luzi Bernhard, and Konrad Bogner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2591, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2591, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We generate operational forecasts of daily maximum stream water temperature for the next month at 54 stations in Switzerland with our best performing data-driven model. The average forecast error is 0.38 °C for 1 day ahead and increases to 0.90 °C for 1 month ahead given the uncertainty in the meteorological variables influencing water temperature. Here we compare the skill of several models, how well they can forecast at new and ungauged stations, and the importance of different model inputs.
Zehua Chang, Hongkai Gao, Leilei Yong, Kang Wang, Rensheng Chen, Chuntan Han, Otgonbayar Demberel, Batsuren Dorjsuren, Shugui Hou, and Zheng Duan
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3897–3917, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3897-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3897-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
An integrated cryospheric–hydrologic model, FLEX-Cryo, was developed that considers glaciers, snow cover, and frozen soil and their dynamic impacts on hydrology. We utilized it to simulate future changes in cryosphere and hydrology in the Hulu catchment. Our projections showed the two glaciers will melt completely around 2050, snow cover will reduce, and permafrost will degrade. For hydrology, runoff will decrease after the glacier has melted, and permafrost degradation will increase baseflow.
Henry M. Zimba, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Kawawa E. Banda, Petra Hulsman, Nick van de Giesen, Imasiku A. Nyambe, and Hubert H. G. Savenije
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3633–3663, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3633-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3633-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The fall and flushing of new leaves in the miombo woodlands co-occur in the dry season before the commencement of seasonal rainfall. The miombo species are also said to have access to soil moisture in deep soils, including groundwater in the dry season. Satellite-based evaporation estimates, temporal trends, and magnitudes differ the most in the dry season, most likely due to inadequate understanding and representation of the highlighted miombo species attributes in simulations.
Eduardo Acuna Espinoza, Ralf Loritz, Frederik Kratzert, Daniel Klotz, Martin Gauch, Manuel Álvarez Chaves, Nicole Bäuerle, and Uwe Ehret
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2147, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2147, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Data-driven techniques have shown the potential to outperform process-based models in rainfall-runoff simulations. Hybrid models, combining both approaches, aim to enhance accuracy and maintain interpretability. Expanding the set of test cases to evaluate hybrid models under different conditions we test their generalization capabilities for extreme hydrological events.
Louise Akemi Kuana, Arlan Scortegagna Almeida, Emílio Graciliano Ferreira Mercuri, and Steffen Manfred Noe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3367–3390, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3367-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3367-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The authors compared regionalization methods for river flow prediction in 126 catchments from the south of Brazil, a region with humid subtropical and hot temperate climate. The regionalization method based on physiographic–climatic similarity had the best performance for predicting daily and Q95 reference flow. We showed that basins without flow monitoring can have a good approximation of streamflow using machine learning and physiographic–climatic information as inputs.
Huy Dang and Yadu Pokhrel
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3347–3365, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3347-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3347-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
By examining basin-wide simulations of a river regime over 83 years with and without dams, we present evidence that climate variation was a key driver of hydrologic variabilities in the Mekong River basin (MRB) over the long term; however, dams have largely altered the seasonality of the Mekong’s flow regime and annual flooding patterns in major downstream areas in recent years. These findings could help us rethink the planning of future dams and water resource management in the MRB.
Yongshin Lee, Francesca Pianosi, Andres Peñuela, and Miguel Angel Rico-Ramirez
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3261–3279, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3261-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3261-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Following recent advancements in weather prediction technology, we explored how seasonal weather forecasts (1 or more months ahead) could benefit practical water management in South Korea. Our findings highlight that using seasonal weather forecasts for predicting flow patterns 1 to 3 months ahead is effective, especially during dry years. This suggest that seasonal weather forecasts can be helpful in improving the management of water resources.
Mariam Khanam, Giulia Sofia, and Emmanouil N. Anagnostou
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3161–3190, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3161-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3161-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Flooding worsens due to climate change, with river dynamics being a key in local flood control. Predicting post-storm geomorphic changes is challenging. Using self-organizing maps and machine learning, this study forecasts post-storm alterations in stage–discharge relationships across 3101 US stream gages. The provided framework can aid in updating hazard assessments by identifying rivers prone to change, integrating channel adjustments into flood hazard assessment.
Yalan Song, Wouter J. M. Knoben, Martyn P. Clark, Dapeng Feng, Kathryn Lawson, Kamlesh Sawadekar, and Chaopeng Shen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3051–3077, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3051-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3051-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Differentiable models (DMs) integrate neural networks and physical equations for accuracy, interpretability, and knowledge discovery. We developed an adjoint-based DM for ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for hydrological modeling, reducing distorted fluxes and physical parameters from errors in models that use explicit and operation-splitting schemes. With a better numerical scheme and improved structure, the adjoint-based DM matches or surpasses long short-term memory (LSTM) performance.
Mahmut Tudaji, Yi Nan, and Fuqiang Tian
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1438, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1438, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Common intuition holds that higher input data resolution leads to better results. To assess the benefits of high-resolution data, we conducted simulation experiments using data with various temporal resolutions across multiple catchments, and found that higher resolution data does not always improve model performance, challenging the necessity of pursuing such data. In catchments with small areas or significant flow variability, high-resolution data is more valuable.
Mengjiao Zhang, Yi Nan, and Fuqiang Tian
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1464, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1464, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our study conducted a detailed analysis of runoff component and future trend in the Yarlung Tsangpo River basin owing to the existed differences in the published results, and find that the contributions of snowmelt and glacier melt runoff to streamflow were limited, both for ~5 % which were much lower than previous results. The streamflow there will continuously increase in the future, but the overestimated contribution from glacier melt would lead to an underestimation on such increasing trend.
Florian Willkofer, Raul R. Wood, and Ralf Ludwig
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2969–2989, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2969-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2969-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Severe flood events pose a threat to riverine areas, yet robust estimates of the dynamics of these events in the future due to climate change are rarely available. Hence, this study uses data from a regional climate model, SMILE, to drive a high-resolution hydrological model for 98 catchments of hydrological Bavaria and exploits the large database to derive robust values for the 100-year flood events. Results indicate an increase in frequency and intensity for most catchments in the future.
Maik Renner and Corina Hauffe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2849–2869, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2849-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Climate and land surface changes influence the partitioning of water balance components decisively. Their impact is quantified for 71 catchments in Saxony. Germany. Distinct signatures in the joint water and energy budgets are found: (i) past forest dieback caused a decrease in and subsequent recovery of evapotranspiration in the affected regions, and (ii) the recent shift towards higher aridity imposed a large decline in runoff that has not been seen in the observation records before.
Zhen Cui, Shenglian Guo, Hua Chen, Dedi Liu, Yanlai Zhou, and Chong-Yu Xu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2809–2829, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2809-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2809-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ensemble forecasting facilitates reliable flood forecasting and warning. This study couples the copula-based hydrologic uncertainty processor (CHUP) with Bayesian model averaging (BMA) and proposes the novel CHUP-BMA method of reducing inflow forecasting uncertainty of the Three Gorges Reservoir. The CHUP-BMA avoids the normal distribution assumption in the HUP-BMA and considers the constraint of initial conditions, which can improve the deterministic and probabilistic forecast performance.
Mazda Kompanizare, Diogo Costa, Merrin L. Macrae, John W. Pomeroy, and Richard M. Petrone
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2785–2807, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2785-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2785-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A new agricultural tile drainage module was developed in the Cold Region Hydrological Model platform. Tile flow and water levels are simulated by considering the effect of capillary fringe thickness, drainable water and seasonal regional groundwater dynamics. The model was applied to a small well-instrumented farm in southern Ontario, Canada, where there are concerns about the impacts of agricultural drainage into Lake Erie.
Eduardo Acuña Espinoza, Ralf Loritz, Manuel Álvarez Chaves, Nicole Bäuerle, and Uwe Ehret
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2705–2719, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2705-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2705-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrological hybrid models promise to merge the performance of deep learning methods with the interpretability of process-based models. One hybrid approach is the dynamic parameterization of conceptual models using long short-term memory (LSTM) networks. We explored this method to evaluate the effect of the flexibility given by LSTMs on the process-based part.
Adam Griffin, Alison L. Kay, Paul Sayers, Victoria Bell, Elizabeth Stewart, and Sam Carr
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2635–2650, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2635-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2635-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Widespread flooding is a major problem in the UK and is greatly affected by climate change and land-use change. To look at how widespread flooding changes in the future, climate model data (UKCP18) were used with a hydrological model (Grid-to-Grid) across the UK, and 14 400 events were identified between two time slices: 1980–2010 and 2050–2080. There was a strong increase in the number of winter events in the future time slice and in the peak return periods.
Alberto Montanari, Bruno Merz, and Günter Blöschl
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2603–2615, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2603-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2603-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Floods often take communities by surprise, as they are often considered virtually
impossibleyet are an ever-present threat similar to the sword suspended over the head of Damocles in the classical Greek anecdote. We discuss four reasons why extremely large floods carry a risk that is often larger than expected. We provide suggestions for managing the risk of megafloods by calling for a creative exploration of hazard scenarios and communicating the unknown corners of the reality of floods.
Anne-Laure Argentin, Pascal Horton, Bettina Schaefli, Jamal Shokory, Felix Pitscheider, Leona Repnik, Mattia Gianini, Simone Bizzi, Stuart Lane, and Francesco Comiti
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1687, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1687, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this article, we show that by taking the optimal parameters calibrated with a semi-lumped model for the discharge at a catchment's outlet, we can accurately simulate runoff at various points within the study area, including three nested and three neighboring catchments. In addition, we demonstrate that employing more intricate melt models, which better represent physical processes, enhances the transfer of parameters in the simulation, until an overparametrization limit is reached.
Haifan Liu, Haochen Yan, and Mingfu Guan
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-136, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-136, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
In mountainous areas, the relationship between slope and annual hydrological processes is pronounced. However, at lower elevations, this relationship is weak in steeper watersheds. In addition, urbanization leads to an increase in annual surface runoff in all watersheds, especially in steep-slope watersheds. Flatter watersheds exhibit a buffering capacity against urbanization. However, this buffering capacity is diminishing as annual rainfall intensity increases.
Peter Reichert, Kai Ma, Marvin Höge, Fabrizio Fenicia, Marco Baity-Jesi, Dapeng Feng, and Chaopeng Shen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2505–2529, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2505-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2505-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We compared the predicted change in catchment outlet discharge to precipitation and temperature change for conceptual and machine learning hydrological models. We found that machine learning models, despite providing excellent fit and prediction capabilities, can be unreliable regarding the prediction of the effect of temperature change for low-elevation catchments. This indicates the need for caution when applying them for the prediction of the effect of climate change.
Nicolás Álamos, Camila Alvarez-Garreton, Ariel Muñoz, and Álvaro González-Reyes
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2483–2503, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2483-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2483-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we assess the effects of climate and water use on streamflow reductions and drought intensification during the last 3 decades in central Chile. We address this by contrasting streamflow observations with near-natural streamflow simulations. We conclude that while the lack of precipitation dominates streamflow reductions in the megadrought, water uses have not diminished during this time, causing a worsening of the hydrological drought conditions and maladaptation conditions.
Cited articles
Beven, K. J. and Binley, A.: The future of distributed models: model calibration and uncertainty prediction, Hydrol. Process., 6, 279–298, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.3360060305, 1992.
Birkel, C., Soulsby, C., Tetzlaff, D., Dunn, S. M., and Spezia, L.: High-frequency storm event isotope sampling reveals time-variant transit time distributions and influence of diurnal cycles, Hydrol. Process., 26, 308–316, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8210, 2012.
Böhner, J. and Selige, T.: Spatial prediction of soil attributes using terrain analysis and climate regionalisation, Göttinger Geographische Abhandlungen, 115, 13–28, available at: http://www.saga-gis.org/en/about/references.html (last access: 12 February 2014), 2006.
Botter, G., Bertuzzo, E., and Rinaldo, A.: Transport in the hydrologic response: Travel time distributions, soil moisture dynamics, and the old water paradox, Water Resour. Res., 46, W03514, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009WR008371, 2010.
Botter, G., Bertuzzo, E., and Rinaldo, A.: Catchment residence and travel time distributions: The master equation, Geophys, Res. Lett., 38, L11403, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047666, 2011.
Capell, R., Tetzlaff, D., Hartley, A. J., and Soulsby, C.: Linking metrics of hydrological function and transit times to landscape controls in a heterogeneous mesoscale catchment, Hydrol. Process., 26, 405–420, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8139, 2012.
Conrad, O., Wichmann, V., Olaya, V., and Ringeler, A.: SAGA GIS (version 2.1), http://www.saga-gis.org (last access: 6 May 2014), 2013.
Deb, K., Pratap, A., Agarwal, S., and Meyarivan, T.: A fast and elitist multiobjective genetic algorithm: NSGA-II, IEEE T. Evolut. Comput., 6, 182–197, https://doi.org/10.1109/4235.996017, 2002.
Delhomme, J. P.: Kriging in the hydrosciences, Adv. Water Resour., 1, 251–266, https://doi.org/10.1016/0309-1708(78)90039-8, 1978.
Gupta, H. V., Kling, H., Yilmaz, K. K., and Martinez, G. F.: Decomposition of the mean squared error and NSE performance criteria: implications for improving hydrological modelling, J. Hydrol., 377, 80–91, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.08.003, 2009.
Heidbüchel, I., Troch, P. A., Lyon, S. W., and Weiler, M.: The master transit time distribution of variable flow systems, Water Resour. Res., 48, W06520, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR011293, 2012.
Heidbüchel, I., Troch, P. A., and Lyon, S. W.: Separating physical and meteorological controls of variable transit times in zero-order catchments, Water Resour. Res., 49, 7644–7657, https://doi.org/10.1002/2012WR013149, 2013.
Hrachowitz, M., Soulsby, C., Tetzlaff, D., Dawson, J. J. C., and Malcolm, I. A.: Regionalization of transit time estimates in montane catchments by integrating landscape controls, Water Resour. Res., 45, W05421, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008WR007496, 2009.
Hrachowitz, M., Soulsby, C., Tetzlaff, D., Malcolm, I. A., and Schoups, G.: Gamma distribution models for transit time estimation in catchments: physical interpretation of parameters and implications for time-variant transit time assessment, Water Resour. Res., 46, W10536, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009148, 2010.
Hrachowitz, M., Savenije, H., Bogaard, T. A., Tetzlaff, D., and Soulsby, C.: What can flux tracking teach us about water age distribution patterns and their temporal dynamics?, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 533–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-533-2013, 2013.
Jakeman, A. J. and Hornberger, G.: How much complexity is warranted in a rainfall-runoff model?, Water Resour. Res., 29, 2637–2649, https://doi.org/10.1029/93WR00877, 1993.
Kirchner, J. W., Feng, X., and Neal, C.: Fractal stream chemistry and its implications for contaminant transport in catchments, Nature, 403, 524–527, https://doi.org/10.1038/35000537, 2000.
Kirchner, J. W., Tetzlaff, D., and Soulsby, C.: Comparing chloride and water isotopes as hydrological tracers in two Scottish catchments, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1631–1645, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7676, 2010.
Kling, H., Fuchs, M., and Paulin, M.: Runoff conditions in the upper Danube basin under an ensemble of climate change scenarios, J. Hydrol., 424–425, 264–277, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.01.011, 2012.
Lyon, S. W., Desilets, S. L. E., and Troch, P. A.: A tale of two isotopes: differences in hydrograph separation for a runoff event when using δD versus δ18O, Hydrol. Process., 23, 2095–2101, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7326, 2009.
Lyon, S. W., Laudon, H., Seibert, J., Mörth, M., Tetzlaff, D., and Bishop, K. H.: Controls on snowmelt water mean transit times in northern boreal catchments, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1672–1684, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7577, 2010.
Małoszewski, P. and Zuber, A.: Determining the turnover time of groundwater systems with the aid of environmental tracers, J. Hydrol., 57, 207–231, 1982.
Małoszewski, P., Rauert, W., Stichler, W., and Herrmann, A.: Application of flow models in an alpine catchment area using tritium and deuterium data, J. Hydrol., 66, 319–330, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(83)90193-2, 1983.
McDonnell, J. J., McGuire, K. J., Aggarwal, P. K., Beven, K. J., Biondi, D., Destouni, G., Dunn, S. M., James, A., Kirchner, J. W., Kraft, P., Lyon, S. W., Maloszewski, P., Newman, B., Pfister, L., Rinaldo, A., Rodhe, A., Sayama, T., Seibert, J., Solomon, K., Soulsby, C., Stewart, M. K., Tetzlaff, D., Tobin, C., Troch, P. A., Weiler, M., Western, A., Wörman, A., and Wrede, S.: How old is streamwater? Open questions in catchment transit time conceptualization, modelling and analysis, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1745–1754, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7796, 2010.
McGuire, K. J. and McDonnell, J. J.: A review and evaluation of catchment transit time modeling, J. Hydrol., 330, 543–563, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.04.020, 2006.
McGuire, K. J., McDonnell, J. J., Weiler, M., Kendall, C., McGlynn, B. L., Welker, J. M., and Seibert, J.: The role of topography on catchment-scale water residence time, Water Resour. Res., 41, W05002, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004WR003657, 2005.
Mueller, M. H., Weingartner, R., and Alewell, C.: Importance of vegetation, topography and flow paths for water transit times of base flow in alpine headwater catchments, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 1661–1679, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1661-2013, 2013.
Pebesma, E. J.: Multivariable geostatistics in S: the gstat package, Comput. Geosci., 30, 683–691, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2004.03.012, 2004.
Rinaldo, A., Beven, K. J., Bertuzzo, E., Nicotina, L., Davies, J., Fiori, A., Russo, D., and Botter, G.: Catchment travel time distributions and water flow in soils, Water Resour. Res., 47, W07537, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR010478, 2011.
Roa-García, M. C. and Weiler, M.: Integrated response and transit time distributions of watersheds by combining hydrograph separation and long-term transit time modeling, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 14, 1537–1549, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-14-1537-2010, 2010.
Sicart, J. and Hock, R.: Sky longwave radiation on tropical Andean glaciers: parameterization and sensitivity to atmospheric variables, J. Glaciol., 56, 854–860, https://doi.org/10.3189/002214310794457182, 2010.
Siegenthaler, U. and Oeschger, H.: Correlation of 18O in precipitation with temperature and altitude, Nature, 285, 314–317, https://doi.org/10.1038/285314a0,1980.
Soulsby, C. and Tetzlaff, D.: Towards simple approaches for mean residence time estimation in ungauged basins using tracers and soil distributions, J. Hydrol., 363, 60–74, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.10.001, 2008.
Soulsby, C., Piegat, K., Seibert, J., and Tetzlaff, D.: Catchment-scale estimates of flow path partitioning and water storage based on transit time and runoff modelling, Hydrol. Process., 25, 3960–3976, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8324, 2011.
Stewart, M. K. and McDonnell, J. J.: Modeling base flow soil water residence times from deuterium concentrations, Water Resour. Res., 27, 2681–2693, https://doi.org/10.1029/91WR01569, 1991.
Stewart, M. K., Morgenstern, U., and McDonnell, J. J.: Truncation of stream residence time: how the use of stable isotopes has skewed our concept of streamwater age and origin, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1646–1659, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7576, 2010.
Stewart, M. K., Morgenstern, U., McDonnell, J. J., and Pfister, L.: The "hidden streamflow" challenge in catchment hydrology: a call to action for stream water transit time analysis, Hydrol. Process., 26, 2061–2066, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9262, 2012.
Strasser, U. and Marke, T.: ESCIMO.spread – a spreadsheet-based point snow surface energy balance model to calculate hourly snow water equivalent and melt rates for historical and changing climate conditions, Geosci. Model Dev., 3, 643–652, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-3-643-2010, 2010.
Taylor, S., Feng, X., Kirchner, J. W., Osterhuber, R., Klaue, B., and Renshaw, C. E.: Isotopic evolution of a seasonal snowpack and its melt, Water Resour. Res., 37, 759–769, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000WR900341, 2001.
Tetzlaff, D., Seibert, J., McGuire, K. J., Laudon, H., Burns, D. A., Dunn, S. M., and Soulsby, C.: How does landscape structure influence catchment transit time across different geomorphic provinces?, Hydrol. Process., 23, 945–953, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7240, 2009a.
Tetzlaff, D., Seibert, J., and Soulsby, C.: Inter-catchment comparison to assess the influence of topography and soils on catchment transit times in a geomorphic province; the Cairngorm mountains, Scotland, Hydrol. Process., 1886, 1874–1886, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7318, 2009b.
Trautmann, H., Steuer, D., and Mersmann O.: mco: Multi criteria optimization algorithms and related functions, http://cran.r-project.org/package=mco (last access: 7 October 2013), 2013.
Troch, P. A., Carrillo, G., Sivapalan, M., Wagener, T., and Sawicz, K.: Climate-vegetation-soil interactions and long-term hydrologic partitioning: signatures of catchment co-evolution, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 2209–2217, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-2209-2013, 2013.
Unnikrishna, P., McDonnell, J. J., and Kendall, C.: Isotope variations in a Sierra Nevada snowpack and their relation to meltwater, J. Hydrol., 260, 38–57, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(01)00596-0, 2002.
van der Velde, Y., de Rooij, G. H., Rozemeijer, J. C., van Geer, F. C., and Broers, H. P.: Nitrate response of a lowland catchment: On the relation between stream concentration and travel time distribution dynamics, Water Resour. Res., 46, W11534, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009105, 2010.
Viviroli, D., Zappa, M., Gurtz, J., and Weingartner, R.: An introduction to the hydrological modelling system PREVAH and its pre- and post-processing-tools, Environ. Modell. Softw., 24, 1209–1222, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.04.001, 2009a.
Viviroli, D., Zappa, M., Schwanbeck, J., Gurtz, J., and Weingartner, R.: Continuous simulation for flood estimation in ungauged mesoscale catchments of Switzerland – Part I: Modelling framework and calibration results, J. Hydrol., 377, 191–207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.08.023, 2009b.
Weiler, M., McGlynn, B. L., McGuire, K. J., and McDonnell, J. J.: How does rainfall become runoff? A combined tracer and runoff transfer function approach, Water Resour. Res., 39, 1315, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003WR002331, 2003.
