This study presents a new model to estimate the monthly mean stream temperature of ungauged rivers over multiple years in an Alpine country. Contrary to the other approaches developed to date, which are usually based on standard regression techniques, our model makes use of the understanding that we have about the physics controlling stream temperature. On top of its accuracy being comparable to that of the other models, it can be used to gain some knowledge about the stream temperature dynamics

Hydrological data collection is a challenge for the scientific community, especially as some events e.g. floods occur in un-gauged rivers or infrequently. Some such events are however recorded by satellites. Using satellite remote sensing in estimating surface water parameters has its limitations, but recent improvements in sensor specifications, expansion in research methods and knowledge of satellite data have increased its utilization. The review is on modelling and mapping with RS.

This study documents the age of water that contributes to rivers in upper catchments using the radioactive tracer tritium. River water in the upper Ovens Valley (Australia) is several years to decades old and water from different parts of the catchment (e.g., soil, regolith, and groundwater) is mobilised at different flow conditions. The results indicate that these rivers are buffered against short term climate variability but are susceptible to longer-term climate and land use changes

This study explores the magnitude of energy and water fluxes in an inland dune ecosystem in the Netherlands. We parameterized the Penman-Monteith evapotranspiration model for four different surfaces: bare sand, moss, grass and heather. The knowledge presented in this paper will help improve the simulations of water recharge in sand dunes by hydrological models, and allow the quantification of the cost and benefit of nature conservation in terms of groundwater recharge.

The paper presents an index of summer flood damage in Switzerland from 1800 to 2009 and explores the influence of solar forcing, climate variability and low-frequency atmospheric circulation on flood frequencies. The flood damage index provides evidence that the 1817-1851, 1881-1927, 1977-1990 and 2005-present flood clusters are mostly in phase with palaeoclimate proxies and solar activity minima. Floods are influenced by atmospheric instability related to the principal summer mode.

GlobWat is a freely distributed, global soil water balance model that is used by FAO to assess water use in irrigated agriculture, the main factor behind scarcity of freshwater in an increasing number of regions. The model is based on spatially distributed high-resolution data sets that are consistent at global level and is calibrated and validated against information published in global databases. The paper describes methodology, input and output data, calibration and validation of the model.

We developed a new formulation of USLE, named Soil Moisture for Erosion (SM4E), that directly incorporates soil moisture information. SM4E is applied here by using modeled data and satellite observations obtained from the Advanced SCATterometer (ASCAT). SM4E is found to outperform USLE and USLE-MM models in silty–clay soil in central Italy. Through satellite data, there is the potential of applying SM4E for large-scale monitoring and quantification of the soil erosion process.

We present two new methods for uniform flow computation, named LHRM and INCM. We also present the calibration and first validation from laboratory experimental data, second validation by field discharge hydrographs estimated by measured water level data, and the third validation from a 3-D solution of CFX code applied to a reach of the Alzette River.

The impacts of climate model uncertainty and geological model uncertainty on hydraulic head, stream flow, travel time and capture zones are evaluated. Six versions of a physically based and distributed hydrological model, each containing a unique interpretation of the geological structure of the model area, are forced by 11 climate model projections. Geology is the dominating uncertainty source for travel time and capture zones, while climate dominates for hydraulic heads and steam flow.

We investigate precipitation characteristics prior to 4000 annual floods in Switzerland since 1961. The floods were preceded by heavy precipitation, but in most catchments extreme precipitation occurred only during the last 3 days prior to the flood events. Precipitation sums for earlier time periods (like e.g. 4-14 days prior to floods) were mostly average and do not correlate with the return period of the floods.

One of the most promising alternatives to improve the efficiency in water usage is the implementation of scarcity-based pricing policies based on the opportunity cost of water at the basin scale. Time series of the marginal value of water at selected locations (reservoirs) are obtained using a stochastic hydro-economic model and then post-processed to define step water pricing policies.

A conceptual model of groundwater flow processes and mixing was developed using a combination of hydrogeochemistry, isotopes and multivariate analysis. The implementation to the case of Guadalajara showed that groundwater was classified into four groups: cold groundwater, hydrothermal water, polluted groundwater and mixed groundwater. A multivariate mixing model was used to calculate the proportion of different fluids in sampled well water. The result helps authorities in decision making.

This study investigated the effect of uncertainties in data and calculation methods on hydrological signatures. We present a widely applicable method to evaluate signature uncertainty and show results for two example catchments. The uncertainties were often large (i.e. typical intervals of ±10–40% relative uncertainty) and highly variable between signatures. It is therefore important to consider uncertainty when signatures are used for hydrological and ecohydrological analyses and modelling.

This paper further develops the method of quantile regression (QR) to generate probabilistic river stage forecasts. Besides the forecast itself, this study uses the rate of rise of the river stage in the last 24 and 48h and the forecast error 24 and 48h before as predictors in QR configurations. When compared to just using the forecast as an independent variable, adding the latter four predictors significantly improved the forecasts, as measured by the Brier skill score and the CRPS.

We present an interrupted-flow centrifugation technique to characterise the vertical hydraulic properties of dual porosity, low permeability media. Use of large core samples (100mm diameter) enables hydraulic-conductivity-scale issues in dual porosity media to be overcome. Elevated centrifugal force also enables simulating in situ total stress conditions. The methodology is an important tool to assess the ability of dual porosity aquitards to protect underlying aquifer systems.

A new methodology is proposed in this paper, focusing on improving the applicability of the operational weather radar data to urban hydrology with rain gauge data. The proposed methodology employed a simple yet effective technique to extract additional information (called local singularity structure) from radar data, which was generally ignored in related works. The associated improvement can be particularly seen in capturing storm peak magnitudes, which is critical for urban applications.

Surface moisture is an important control for the development of clouds and precipitation on the Tibetan Plateau. While dry surface conditions do not provided enough water for the development of precipitation and convection, wet surface conditions lead to increased cloud cover and a decrease in solar irradiation, which also reduces convection development. It was found that intermediate soil moistures are associated with the strongest convection.