Articles | Volume 25, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4887-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4887-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Sep 2021
Research article |
| 07 Sep 2021
| 07 Sep 2021
Reduction of vegetation-accessible water storage capacity after deforestation affects catchment travel time distributions and increases young water fractions in a headwater catchment
Markus Hrachowitz
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628CN Delft,
Netherlands
Michael Stockinger
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3),
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425
Jülich, Germany
Institute for Soil Physics and Rural Water Management, University of
Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna,
Austria
Miriam Coenders-Gerrits
Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628CN Delft,
Netherlands
Ruud van der Ent
Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628CN Delft,
Netherlands
Heye Bogena
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3),
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425
Jülich, Germany
Andreas Lücke
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3),
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425
Jülich, Germany
Christine Stumpp
Institute for Soil Physics and Rural Water Management, University of
Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Muthgasse 18, 1190 Vienna,
Austria
Related authors
Hatice Türk, Christine Stumpp, Markus Hrachowitz, Karsten Schulz, Peter Strauss, Günter Blöschl, and Michael Stockinger
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 3935–3956, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3935-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3935-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Using advances in transit time estimation and tracer data, we tested if fast-flow transit times are controlled solely by soil moisture or if they are also controlled by precipitation intensity. We used soil-moisture-dependent and precipitation-intensity-conditional transfer functions. We showed that a significant portion of event water bypasses the soil matrix through fast flow paths (overland flow, tile drains, preferential-flow paths) in dry soil conditions for both low- and high-intensity precipitation.
Magali Ponds, Sarah Hanus, Harry Zekollari, Marie-Claire ten Veldhuis, Gerrit Schoups, Roland Kaitna, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 3545–3568, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3545-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3545-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This research examines how future climate changes impact root zone storage, a key hydrological model parameter. Root zone storage – the soil water accessible to plants – adapts to climate but is often kept constant in models. We estimated climate-adapted storage in six Austrian Alps catchments. While storage increased, streamflow projections showed minimal change, which suggests that dynamic root zone representation is less critical in humid regions but warrants further study in arid areas.
Hatice Türk, Christine Stumpp, Markus Hrachowitz, Peter Strauss, Günter Blöschl, and Michael Stockinger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2597, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2597, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that stream flow isotope data (δ2H) were inadequate for distinguishing preferential groundwater flow. Large passive groundwater storage dampened δ2H variations, obscuring signals of fast groundwater flow and complicating the estimation of older water fractions in the streams. Further, weekly-resolution δ2H sampling yielded deceptively high model performance, highlighting the need for complementary and groundwater-level data to improve catchment-scale transit-time estimates.
Nathalie Rombeek, Markus Hrachowitz, and Remko Uijlenhoet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1502, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1502, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
On 29 October 2024 Valencia (Spain) was struck by torrential rainfall, triggering devastating floods in this area. In this study, we quantify and describe the spatial and temporal structure of this rainfall event using personal weather stations (PWSs). These PWSs provide near real-time observations at a temporal resolution of ~5 min. This study shows the potential of PWSs for real-time rainfall monitoring and potentially flood early warning systems by complementing dedicated rain gauge networks.
Muhammad Ibrahim, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Ruud van der Ent, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1703–1723, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1703-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1703-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The quantification of precipitation into evaporation and runoff is vital for water resources management. The Budyko framework, based on aridity and evaporative indices of a catchment, can be an ideal tool for that. However, recent research highlights deviations of catchments from the expected evaporative index, casting doubt on its reliability. This study quantifies deviations of 2387 catchments, finding them minor and predictable. Integrating these into predictions upholds the framework's efficacy.
Wouter R. Berghuijs, Ross A. Woods, Bailey J. Anderson, Anna Luisa Hemshorn de Sánchez, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1319–1333, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1319-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1319-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Water balances of catchments will often strongly depend on their state in the recent past, but such memory effects may persist at annual timescales. We use global data sets to show that annual memory is typically absent in precipitation but strong in terrestrial water stores and also present in evaporation and streamflow (including low flows and floods). Our experiments show that hysteretic models provide behaviour that is consistent with these observed memory behaviours.
Thiago Victor Medeiros do Nascimento, Julia Rudlang, Sebastian Gnann, Jan Seibert, Markus Hrachowitz, and Fabrizio Fenicia
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-739, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-739, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Large-sample hydrological studies often overlook the importance of detailed landscape data in explaining river flow variability. Analyzing over 4,000 European catchments, we found that geology becomes a dominant factor—especially for baseflow—when using detailed regional maps. This highlights the need for high-resolution geological data to improve river flow regionalization, particularly in non-monitored areas.
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.
Nathalie Rombeek, Markus Hrachowitz, Arjan Droste, and Remko Uijlenhoet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3207, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3207, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Rain gauge networks from personal weather stations (PWSs) have a network density 100 times higher than dedicated rain gauge networks in the Netherlands. However, PWSs are prone to several sources of error, as they are generally not installed and maintained according to international guidelines. This study systematically quantifies and describes the uncertainties arising from PWS rainfall estimates. In particular, the focus is on the highest rainfall accumulations.
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.
Hongkai Gao, Markus Hrachowitz, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Fabrizio Fenicia, Qiaojuan Xi, Jianyang Xia, Wei Shao, Ge Sun, and Hubert H. G. Savenije
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4477–4499, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4477-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4477-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The concept of the root zone is widely used but lacks a precise definition. Its importance in Earth system science is not well elaborated upon. Here, we clarified its definition with several similar terms to bridge the multi-disciplinary gap. We underscore the key role of the root zone in the Earth system, which links the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and anthroposphere. To better represent the root zone, we advocate for a paradigm shift towards ecosystem-centred modelling.
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.
Fransje van Oorschot, Ruud J. van der Ent, Andrea Alessandri, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2313–2328, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2313-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2313-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation plays a crucial role in regulating the water cycle by transporting water from the subsurface to the atmosphere via roots; this transport depends on the extent of the root system. In this study, we quantified the effect of irrigation on roots at a global scale. Our results emphasize the importance of accounting for irrigation in estimating the vegetation root extent, which is essential to adequately represent the water cycle in hydrological and climate models.
Fransje van Oorschot, Ruud J. van der Ent, Markus Hrachowitz, Emanuele Di Carlo, Franco Catalano, Souhail Boussetta, Gianpaolo Balsamo, and Andrea Alessandri
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 1239–1259, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1239-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1239-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation largely controls land hydrology by transporting water from the subsurface to the atmosphere through roots and is highly variable in space and time. However, current land surface models have limitations in capturing this variability at a global scale, limiting accurate modeling of land hydrology. We found that satellite-based vegetation variability considerably improved modeled land hydrology and therefore has potential to improve climate predictions of, for example, droughts.
Siyuan Wang, Markus Hrachowitz, Gerrit Schoups, and Christine Stumpp
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3083–3114, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3083-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3083-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that previously reported underestimations of water ages are most likely not due to the use of seasonally variable tracers. Rather, these underestimations can be largely attributed to the choices of model approaches which rely on assumptions not frequently met in catchment hydrology. We therefore strongly advocate avoiding the use of this model type in combination with seasonally variable tracers and instead adopting StorAge Selection (SAS)-based or comparable model formulations.
Pau Wiersma, Jerom Aerts, Harry Zekollari, Markus Hrachowitz, Niels Drost, Matthias Huss, Edwin H. Sutanudjaja, and Rolf Hut
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5971–5986, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5971-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5971-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We test whether coupling a global glacier model (GloGEM) with a global hydrological model (PCR-GLOBWB 2) leads to a more realistic glacier representation and to improved basin runoff simulations across 25 large-scale basins. The coupling does lead to improved glacier representation, mainly by accounting for glacier flow and net glacier mass loss, and to improved basin runoff simulations, mostly in strongly glacier-influenced basins, which is where the coupling has the most impact.
Judith Uwihirwe, Alessia Riveros, Hellen Wanjala, Jaap Schellekens, Frederiek Sperna Weiland, Markus Hrachowitz, and Thom A. Bogaard
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3641–3661, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3641-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3641-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study compared gauge-based and satellite-based precipitation products. Similarly, satellite- and hydrological model-derived soil moisture was compared to in situ soil moisture and used in landslide hazard assessment and warning. The results reveal the cumulative 3 d rainfall from the NASA-GPM to be the most effective landslide trigger. The modelled antecedent soil moisture in the root zone was the most informative hydrological variable for landslide hazard assessment and warning in Rwanda.
Judith Uwihirwe, Markus Hrachowitz, and Thom Bogaard
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1723–1742, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1723-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1723-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This research tested the value of regional groundwater level information to improve landslide predictions with empirical models based on the concept of threshold levels. In contrast to precipitation-based thresholds, the results indicated that relying on threshold models exclusively defined using hydrological variables such as groundwater levels can lead to improved landslide predictions due to their implicit consideration of long-term antecedent conditions until the day of landslide occurrence.
Elisa Ragno, Markus Hrachowitz, and Oswaldo Morales-Nápoles
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1695–1711, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1695-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1695-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We explore the ability of non-parametric Bayesian networks to reproduce maximum daily discharge in a given month in a catchment when the remaining hydro-meteorological and catchment attributes are known. We show that a saturated network evaluated in an individual catchment can reproduce statistical characteristics of discharge in about ~ 40 % of the cases, while challenges remain when a saturated network considering all the catchments together is evaluated.
Laurène J. E. Bouaziz, Emma E. Aalbers, Albrecht H. Weerts, Mark Hegnauer, Hendrik Buiteveld, Rita Lammersen, Jasper Stam, Eric Sprokkereef, Hubert H. G. Savenije, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1295–1318, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1295-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1295-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Assuming stationarity of hydrological systems is no longer appropriate when considering land use and climate change. We tested the sensitivity of hydrological predictions to changes in model parameters that reflect ecosystem adaptation to climate and potential land use change. We estimated a 34 % increase in the root zone storage parameter under +2 K global warming, resulting in up to 15 % less streamflow in autumn, due to 14 % higher summer evaporation, compared to a stationary system.
Fransje van Oorschot, Ruud J. van der Ent, Markus Hrachowitz, and Andrea Alessandri
Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 725–743, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-725-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-725-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The roots of vegetation largely control the Earth's water cycle by transporting water from the subsurface to the atmosphere but are not adequately represented in land surface models, causing uncertainties in modeled water fluxes. We replaced the root parameters in an existing model with more realistic ones that account for a climate control on root development and found improved timing of modeled river discharge. Further extension of our approach could improve modeled water fluxes globally.
Sarah Hanus, Markus Hrachowitz, Harry Zekollari, Gerrit Schoups, Miren Vizcaino, and Roland Kaitna
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 3429–3453, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3429-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3429-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the effects of climate change on runoff patterns in six Alpine catchments in Austria at the end of the 21st century. Our results indicate a substantial shift to earlier occurrences in annual maximum and minimum flows in high-elevation catchments. Magnitudes of annual extremes are projected to increase under a moderate emission scenario in all catchments. Changes are generally more pronounced for high-elevation catchments.
Artemis Roodari, Markus Hrachowitz, Farzad Hassanpour, and Mostafa Yaghoobzadeh
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1943–1967, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1943-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1943-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In a combined data analysis and modeling study in the transboundary Helmand River basin, we analyzed spatial patterns of drought and changes therein based on the drought indices as well as on absolute water deficits. Overall the results illustrate that flow deficits and the associated droughts clearly reflect the dynamic interplay between temporally varying regional differences in hydro-meteorological variables together with subtle and temporally varying effects linked to human intervention.
Laurène J. E. Bouaziz, Fabrizio Fenicia, Guillaume Thirel, Tanja de Boer-Euser, Joost Buitink, Claudia C. Brauer, Jan De Niel, Benjamin J. Dewals, Gilles Drogue, Benjamin Grelier, Lieke A. Melsen, Sotirios Moustakas, Jiri Nossent, Fernando Pereira, Eric Sprokkereef, Jasper Stam, Albrecht H. Weerts, Patrick Willems, Hubert H. G. Savenije, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1069–1095, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1069-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1069-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify the differences in internal states and fluxes of 12 process-based models with similar streamflow performance and assess their plausibility using remotely sensed estimates of evaporation, snow cover, soil moisture and total storage anomalies. The dissimilarities in internal process representation imply that these models cannot all simultaneously be close to reality. Therefore, we invite modelers to evaluate their models using multiple variables and to rely on multi-model studies.
Petra Hulsman, Hubert H. G. Savenije, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 957–982, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-957-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-957-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite observations have increasingly been used for model calibration, while model structural developments largely rely on discharge data. For large river basins, this often results in poor representations of system internal processes. This study explores the combined use of satellite-based evaporation and total water storage data for model structural improvement and spatial–temporal model calibration for a large, semi-arid and data-scarce river system.
Ralf Loritz, Markus Hrachowitz, Malte Neuper, and Erwin Zehe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 147–167, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-147-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-147-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the role and value of distributed rainfall in the runoff generation of a mesoscale catchment. We compare the performance of different hydrological models at different periods and show that a distributed model driven by distributed rainfall yields improved performances only during certain periods. We then step beyond this finding and develop a spatially adaptive model that is capable of dynamically adjusting its spatial model structure in time.
Hatice Türk, Christine Stumpp, Markus Hrachowitz, Karsten Schulz, Peter Strauss, Günter Blöschl, and Michael Stockinger
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 3935–3956, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3935-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3935-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Using advances in transit time estimation and tracer data, we tested if fast-flow transit times are controlled solely by soil moisture or if they are also controlled by precipitation intensity. We used soil-moisture-dependent and precipitation-intensity-conditional transfer functions. We showed that a significant portion of event water bypasses the soil matrix through fast flow paths (overland flow, tile drains, preferential-flow paths) in dry soil conditions for both low- and high-intensity precipitation.
Aixala Gaillard, Robert van Geldern, Johannes Arthur Christopher Barth, and Christine Stumpp
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 3853–3863, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3853-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3853-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We produced a new interpolated map of stable isotopes in groundwater in southern Germany and compared it to local precipitation. Interestingly, discrepancies were found between two components of the hydrological cycle, highlighting different recharge patterns and evaporation processes in the northern and southern part of the study area. This research provides insights into understanding different groundwater recharge patterns on a large scale and eventually for groundwater management.
Magali Ponds, Sarah Hanus, Harry Zekollari, Marie-Claire ten Veldhuis, Gerrit Schoups, Roland Kaitna, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 3545–3568, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3545-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3545-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This research examines how future climate changes impact root zone storage, a key hydrological model parameter. Root zone storage – the soil water accessible to plants – adapts to climate but is often kept constant in models. We estimated climate-adapted storage in six Austrian Alps catchments. While storage increased, streamflow projections showed minimal change, which suggests that dynamic root zone representation is less critical in humid regions but warrants further study in arid areas.
Xuan Chen, Job Augustijn van der Werf, Arjan Droste, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, and Remko Uijlenhoet
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 3447–3480, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3447-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-3447-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The review highlights the need to integrate urban land surface and hydrological models to better predict and manage compound climate events in cities. We find that inadequate representation of water surfaces, hydraulic systems and detailed building representations are key areas for improvement in future models. Coupled models show promise but face challenges at regional and neighbourhood scales. Interdisciplinary communication is crucial to enhance urban hydrometeorological simulations.
Peter Kalverla, Imme Benedict, Chris Weijenborg, and Ruud J. van der Ent
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 4335–4352, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4335-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4335-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a new version of WAM2layers (Water Accounting Model – 2 layers), a computer program that tracks how the weather brings water from one place to another. It uses data from weather and climate models, whose resolution is steadily increasing. Processing the latest data had become a challenge, and the updates presented here ensure that WAM2layers runs smoothly again. We also made it easier to use the program and to understand its source code. This makes it more transparent, reliable, and easier to maintain.
Hatice Türk, Christine Stumpp, Markus Hrachowitz, Peter Strauss, Günter Blöschl, and Michael Stockinger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2597, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2597, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that stream flow isotope data (δ2H) were inadequate for distinguishing preferential groundwater flow. Large passive groundwater storage dampened δ2H variations, obscuring signals of fast groundwater flow and complicating the estimation of older water fractions in the streams. Further, weekly-resolution δ2H sampling yielded deceptively high model performance, highlighting the need for complementary and groundwater-level data to improve catchment-scale transit-time estimates.
Roland Baatz, Patrick Davies, Paolo Nasta, and Heye Bogena
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2583–2597, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2583-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2583-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The data-driven approach enhances soil water content measurements by improving the precision of cosmic ray neutron sensors (CRNSs). This study demonstrates a new method to account for dynamics in air pressure, atmospheric humidity, and incoming neutron intensity. Soil water content measured by CRNSs showed reduced errors compared to reference measurements. The findings highlight the need for precise adjustments to better measure soil moisture for agricultural, water, and climate monitoring.
Fang Li, Heye Reemt Bogena, Johannes Keller, Bagher Bayat, Rahul Raj, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks-Franssen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2124, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2124, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a new method to improve hydrological modeling by jointly using soil moisture and groundwater level data from field sensors in a catchment in Germany. By updating the model separately for shallow and deep soil zones, we achieved more accurate predictions of soil water, groundwater depth, and evapotranspiration. Our results show that combining both data types gives more balanced and reliable outcomes than using either alone.
Heye Reemt Bogena, Frank Herrmann, Andreas Lücke, Thomas Pütz, and Harry Vereecken
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-185, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-185, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
The Wüstebach catchment in Germany’s TERENO network underwent partial deforestation in 2013 to support natural regrowth in Eifel National Park. This data paper presents 16 years (2010–2024) of estimated hourly stream-water flux data for nine macro- and micronutrients, dissolved ionic aluminum, and dissolved organic carbon, along with measured solute concentrations and discharge rates from two stations—one affected by clear-cutting and one unaffected.
Nathalie Rombeek, Markus Hrachowitz, and Remko Uijlenhoet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1502, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1502, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
On 29 October 2024 Valencia (Spain) was struck by torrential rainfall, triggering devastating floods in this area. In this study, we quantify and describe the spatial and temporal structure of this rainfall event using personal weather stations (PWSs). These PWSs provide near real-time observations at a temporal resolution of ~5 min. This study shows the potential of PWSs for real-time rainfall monitoring and potentially flood early warning systems by complementing dedicated rain gauge networks.
Luuk D. van der Valk, Oscar K. Hartogensis, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Rolf W. Hut, and Remko Uijlenhoet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1128, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1128, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Commercial microwave links (CMLs), part of mobile phone networks, transmit comparable signals as instruments specially designed to estimate evaporation. Therefore, we investigate if CMLs could be used to estimate evaporation, even though they have not been designed for this purpose. Our results illustrate the potential of using CMLs to estimate evaporation, especially given their global coverage, but also outline some major drawbacks, often a consequence of unfavourable design choices for CMLs.
Muhammad Ibrahim, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Ruud van der Ent, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1703–1723, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1703-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1703-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The quantification of precipitation into evaporation and runoff is vital for water resources management. The Budyko framework, based on aridity and evaporative indices of a catchment, can be an ideal tool for that. However, recent research highlights deviations of catchments from the expected evaporative index, casting doubt on its reliability. This study quantifies deviations of 2387 catchments, finding them minor and predictable. Integrating these into predictions upholds the framework's efficacy.
Wouter R. Berghuijs, Ross A. Woods, Bailey J. Anderson, Anna Luisa Hemshorn de Sánchez, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1319–1333, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1319-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1319-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Water balances of catchments will often strongly depend on their state in the recent past, but such memory effects may persist at annual timescales. We use global data sets to show that annual memory is typically absent in precipitation but strong in terrestrial water stores and also present in evaporation and streamflow (including low flows and floods). Our experiments show that hysteretic models provide behaviour that is consistent with these observed memory behaviours.
Thiago Victor Medeiros do Nascimento, Julia Rudlang, Sebastian Gnann, Jan Seibert, Markus Hrachowitz, and Fabrizio Fenicia
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-739, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-739, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Large-sample hydrological studies often overlook the importance of detailed landscape data in explaining river flow variability. Analyzing over 4,000 European catchments, we found that geology becomes a dominant factor—especially for baseflow—when using detailed regional maps. This highlights the need for high-resolution geological data to improve river flow regionalization, particularly in non-monitored areas.
Paolo Nasta, Günter Blöschl, Heye R. Bogena, Steffen Zacharias, Roland Baatz, Gabriëlle De Lannoy, Karsten H. Jensen, Salvatore Manfreda, Laurent Pfister, Ana M. Tarquis, Ilja van Meerveld, Marc Voltz, Yijian Zeng, William Kustas, Xin Li, Harry Vereecken, and Nunzio Romano
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 465–483, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-465-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-465-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Unsolved Problems in Hydrology (UPH) initiative has emphasized the need to establish networks of multi-decadal hydrological observatories to tackle catchment-scale challenges on a global scale. This opinion paper provocatively discusses two endmembers of possible future hydrological observatory (HO) networks for a given hypothesized community budget: a comprehensive set of moderately instrumented observatories or, alternatively, a small number of highly instrumented supersites.
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.
Luuk D. van der Valk, Oscar K. Hartogensis, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Rolf W. Hut, Bas Walraven, and Remko Uijlenhoet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2974, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2974, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Commercial microwave links (CMLs), part of mobile phone networks, transmit comparable signals as instruments specially designed to estimate evaporation. Therefore, we investigate if CMLs could be used to estimate evaporation, even though they have not been designed for this purpose. Our results illustrate the potential of using CMLs to estimate evaporation, especially given their global coverage, but also outline some major drawbacks, often a consequence of unfavourable design choices for CMLs.
Chandrakant Singh, Ruud van der Ent, Ingo Fetzer, and Lan Wang-Erlandsson
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 1543–1565, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1543-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-1543-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical rainforests risk tipping to savanna under future climate change. By analysing ecosystem root zone dynamics using hydroclimate data from Earth system models, we project the tipping risks for these rainforests. Our findings suggest that although some transition risks may be inevitable, most can still be mitigated by adapting to less severe climate change scenarios. Limiting global surface temperatures to meet the Paris Agreement targets is critical to preserving these ecosystems.
Nathalie Rombeek, Markus Hrachowitz, Arjan Droste, and Remko Uijlenhoet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3207, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3207, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Rain gauge networks from personal weather stations (PWSs) have a network density 100 times higher than dedicated rain gauge networks in the Netherlands. However, PWSs are prone to several sources of error, as they are generally not installed and maintained according to international guidelines. This study systematically quantifies and describes the uncertainties arising from PWS rainfall estimates. In particular, the focus is on the highest rainfall accumulations.
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.
Marco M. Lehmann, Josie Geris, Ilja van Meerveld, Daniele Penna, Youri Rothfuss, Matteo Verdone, Pertti Ala-Aho, Matyas Arvai, Alise Babre, Philippe Balandier, Fabian Bernhard, Lukrecija Butorac, Simon Damien Carrière, Natalie C. Ceperley, Zuosinan Chen, Alicia Correa, Haoyu Diao, David Dubbert, Maren Dubbert, Fabio Ercoli, Marius G. Floriancic, Teresa E. Gimeno, Damien Gounelle, Frank Hagedorn, Christophe Hissler, Frédéric Huneau, Alberto Iraheta, Tamara Jakovljević, Nerantzis Kazakis, Zoltan Kern, Karl Knaebel, Johannes Kobler, Jiří Kocum, Charlotte Koeber, Gerbrand Koren, Angelika Kübert, Dawid Kupka, Samuel Le Gall, Aleksi Lehtonen, Thomas Leydier, Philippe Malagoli, Francesca Sofia Manca di Villahermosa, Chiara Marchina, Núria Martínez-Carreras, Nicolas Martin-StPaul, Hannu Marttila, Aline Meyer Oliveira, Gaël Monvoisin, Natalie Orlowski, Kadi Palmik-Das, Aurel Persoiu, Andrei Popa, Egor Prikaziuk, Cécile Quantin, Katja T. Rinne-Garmston, Clara Rohde, Martin Sanda, Matthias Saurer, Daniel Schulz, Michael Paul Stockinger, Christine Stumpp, Jean-Stéphane Venisse, Lukas Vlcek, Stylianos Voudouris, Björn Weeser, Mark E. Wilkinson, Giulia Zuecco, and Katrin Meusburger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-409, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-409, 2024
Revised manuscript under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
This study describes a unique large-scale isotope dataset to study water dynamics in European forests. Researchers collected data from 40 beech and spruce forest sites in spring and summer 2023, using a standardized method to ensure consistency. The results show that water sources for trees change between seasons and vary by tree species. This large dataset offers valuable information for understanding plant water use, improving ecohydrological models, and mapping water cycles across Europe.
Hongkai Gao, Markus Hrachowitz, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Fabrizio Fenicia, Qiaojuan Xi, Jianyang Xia, Wei Shao, Ge Sun, and Hubert H. G. Savenije
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4477–4499, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4477-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4477-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The concept of the root zone is widely used but lacks a precise definition. Its importance in Earth system science is not well elaborated upon. Here, we clarified its definition with several similar terms to bridge the multi-disciplinary gap. We underscore the key role of the root zone in the Earth system, which links the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and anthroposphere. To better represent the root zone, we advocate for a paradigm shift towards ecosystem-centred modelling.
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.
Marius G. Floriancic, Michael P. Stockinger, James W. Kirchner, and Christine Stumpp
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3675–3694, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3675-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3675-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Alps are a key water resource for central Europe, providing water for drinking, agriculture, and hydropower production. To assess water availability in streams, we need to understand how much streamflow is derived from old water stored in the subsurface versus more recent precipitation. We use tracer data from 32 Alpine streams and statistical tools to assess how much recent precipitation can be found in Alpine rivers and how this amount is related to catchment properties and climate.
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.
Athanasios Tsiokanos, Martine Rutten, Ruud J. van der Ent, and Remko Uijlenhoet
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3327–3345, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3327-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3327-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We focus on past high-flow events to find flood drivers in the Geul. We also explore flood drivers’ trends across various timescales and develop a new method to detect the main direction of a trend. Our results show that extreme 24 h precipitation alone is typically insufficient to cause floods. The combination of extreme rainfall and wet initial conditions determines the chance of flooding. Precipitation that leads to floods increases in winter, whereas no consistent trends are found in summer.
Fransje van Oorschot, Ruud J. van der Ent, Andrea Alessandri, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2313–2328, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2313-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2313-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation plays a crucial role in regulating the water cycle by transporting water from the subsurface to the atmosphere via roots; this transport depends on the extent of the root system. In this study, we quantified the effect of irrigation on roots at a global scale. Our results emphasize the importance of accounting for irrigation in estimating the vegetation root extent, which is essential to adequately represent the water cycle in hydrological and climate models.
Luuk D. van der Valk, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Rolf W. Hut, Aart Overeem, Bas Walraven, and Remko Uijlenhoet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2811–2832, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2811-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2811-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Microwave links, often part of mobile phone networks, can be used to measure rainfall along the link path by determining the signal loss caused by rainfall. We use high-frequency data of multiple microwave links to recreate commonly used sampling strategies. For time intervals up to 1 min, the influence of sampling strategies on estimated rainfall intensities is relatively little, while for intervals longer than 5–15 min, the sampling strategy can have significant influences on the estimates.
Bart Schilperoort, César Jiménez Rodríguez, Bas van de Wiel, and Miriam Coenders-Gerrits
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 85–95, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-85-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-85-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Heat storage in the soil is difficult to measure due to vertical heterogeneity. To improve measurements, we designed a 3D-printed probe that uses fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing to measure a vertical profile of soil temperature. We validated the temperature measurements against standard instrumentation. With the high-resolution data we were able to determine the thermal diffusivity of the soil at a resolution of 2.5 cm, which is much higher compared to traditional methods.
Steven J. De Hertog, Carmen E. Lopez-Fabara, Ruud van der Ent, Jessica Keune, Diego G. Miralles, Raphael Portmann, Sebastian Schemm, Felix Havermann, Suqi Guo, Fei Luo, Iris Manola, Quentin Lejeune, Julia Pongratz, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Sonia I. Seneviratne, and Wim Thiery
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 265–291, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-265-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-265-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Changes in land use are crucial to achieve lower global warming. However, despite their importance, the effects of these changes on moisture fluxes are poorly understood. We analyse land cover and management scenarios in three climate models involving cropland expansion, afforestation, and irrigation. Results show largely consistent influences on moisture fluxes, with cropland expansion causing a drying and reduced local moisture recycling, while afforestation and irrigation show the opposite.
Lukas Strebel, Heye Bogena, Harry Vereecken, Mie Andreasen, Sergio Aranda-Barranco, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 1001–1026, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1001-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1001-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present results from using soil water content measurements from 13 European forest sites in a state-of-the-art land surface model. We use data assimilation to perform a combination of observed and modeled soil water content and show the improvements in the representation of soil water content. However, we also look at the impact on evapotranspiration and see no corresponding improvements.
Philip Meister, Anne Alexandre, Hannah Bailey, Philip Barker, Boris K. Biskaborn, Ellie Broadman, Rosine Cartier, Bernhard Chapligin, Martine Couapel, Jonathan R. Dean, Bernhard Diekmann, Poppy Harding, Andrew C. G. Henderson, Armand Hernandez, Ulrike Herzschuh, Svetlana S. Kostrova, Jack Lacey, Melanie J. Leng, Andreas Lücke, Anson W. Mackay, Eniko Katalin Magyari, Biljana Narancic, Cécile Porchier, Gunhild Rosqvist, Aldo Shemesh, Corinne Sonzogni, George E. A. Swann, Florence Sylvestre, and Hanno Meyer
Clim. Past, 20, 363–392, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-363-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-363-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents the first comprehensive compilation of diatom oxygen isotope records in lake sediments (δ18OBSi), supported by lake basin parameters. We infer the spatial and temporal coverage of δ18OBSi records and discuss common hemispheric trends on centennial and millennial timescales. Key results are common patterns for hydrologically open lakes in Northern Hemisphere extratropical regions during the Holocene corresponding to known climatic epochs, i.e. the Holocene Thermal Maximum.
Fransje van Oorschot, Ruud J. van der Ent, Markus Hrachowitz, Emanuele Di Carlo, Franco Catalano, Souhail Boussetta, Gianpaolo Balsamo, and Andrea Alessandri
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 1239–1259, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1239-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1239-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation largely controls land hydrology by transporting water from the subsurface to the atmosphere through roots and is highly variable in space and time. However, current land surface models have limitations in capturing this variability at a global scale, limiting accurate modeling of land hydrology. We found that satellite-based vegetation variability considerably improved modeled land hydrology and therefore has potential to improve climate predictions of, for example, droughts.
En Ning Lai, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Vili Virkki, Miina Porkka, and Ruud J. van der Ent
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3999–4018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3999-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3999-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This research scrutinized predicted changes in root zone soil moisture dynamics across different climate scenarios and different climate regions globally between 2021 and 2100. The Mediterranean and most of South America stood out as regions that will likely experience permanently drier conditions, with greater severity observed in the no-climate-policy scenarios. These findings underscore the impact that possible future climates can have on green water resources.
Theresa Boas, Heye Reemt Bogena, Dongryeol Ryu, Harry Vereecken, Andrew Western, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3143–3167, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3143-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3143-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In our study, we tested the utility and skill of a state-of-the-art forecasting product for the prediction of regional crop productivity using a land surface model. Our results illustrate the potential value and skill of combining seasonal forecasts with modelling applications to generate variables of interest for stakeholders, such as annual crop yield for specific cash crops and regions. In addition, this study provides useful insights for future technical model evaluations and improvements.
Siyuan Wang, Markus Hrachowitz, Gerrit Schoups, and Christine Stumpp
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3083–3114, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3083-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3083-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that previously reported underestimations of water ages are most likely not due to the use of seasonally variable tracers. Rather, these underestimations can be largely attributed to the choices of model approaches which rely on assumptions not frequently met in catchment hydrology. We therefore strongly advocate avoiding the use of this model type in combination with seasonally variable tracers and instead adopting StorAge Selection (SAS)-based or comparable model formulations.
Tanja Denager, Torben O. Sonnenborg, Majken C. Looms, Heye Bogena, and Karsten H. Jensen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 2827–2845, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2827-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2827-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study contributes to improvements in the model characterization of water and energy fluxes. The results show that multi-objective autocalibration in combination with mathematical regularization is a powerful tool to improve land surface models. Using the direct measurement of turbulent fluxes as the target variable, parameter optimization matches simulations and observations of latent heat, whereas sensible heat is clearly biased.
Steven J. De Hertog, Carmen E. Lopez-Fabara, Ruud van der Ent, Jessica Keune, Diego G. Miralles, Raphael Portmann, Sebastian Schemm, Felix Havermann, Suqi Guo, Fei Luo, Iris Manola, Quentin Lejeune, Julia Pongratz, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Sonia I. Seneviratne, and Wim Thiery
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-953, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-953, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Land cover and management changes can affect the climate and water availability. In this study we use climate model simulations of extreme global land cover changes (afforestation, deforestation) and land management changes (irrigation) to understand the effects on the global water cycle and local to continental water availability. We show that cropland expansion generally leads to higher evaporation and lower amounts of precipitation and afforestation and irrigation expansion to the opposite.
Henry Zimba, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Kawawa Banda, Bart Schilperoort, Nick van de Giesen, Imasiku Nyambe, and Hubert H. G. Savenije
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 1695–1722, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1695-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1695-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Miombo woodland plants continue to lose water even during the driest part of the year. This appears to be facilitated by the adapted features such as deep rooting (beyond 5 m) with access to deep soil moisture, potentially even ground water. It appears the trend and amount of water that the plants lose is correlated more to the available energy. This loss of water in the dry season by miombo woodland plants appears to be incorrectly captured by satellite-based evaporation estimates.
Marleen Schübl, Giuseppe Brunetti, Gabriele Fuchs, and Christine Stumpp
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 1431–1455, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1431-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1431-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Estimating groundwater recharge through the unsaturated zone is a difficult task that is fundamentally associated with uncertainties. One of the few methods available is inverse modeling based on soil water measurements. Here, we used a nested sampling algorithm within a Bayesian probabilistic framework to assess model uncertainties at 14 sites in Austria. Further, we analyzed simulated recharge rates to identify factors influencing groundwater recharge rates and their temporal variability.
Cosimo Brogi, Heye Reemt Bogena, Markus Köhli, Johan Alexander Huisman, Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen, and Olga Dombrowski
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 11, 451–469, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-11-451-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-11-451-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate monitoring of water in soil can improve irrigation efficiency, which is important considering climate change and the growing world population. Cosmic-ray neutrons sensors (CRNSs) are a promising tool in irrigation monitoring due to a larger sensed area and to lower maintenance than other ground-based sensors. Here, we analyse the feasibility of irrigation monitoring with CRNSs and the impact of the irrigated field dimensions, of the variations of water in soil, and of instrument design.
Pau Wiersma, Jerom Aerts, Harry Zekollari, Markus Hrachowitz, Niels Drost, Matthias Huss, Edwin H. Sutanudjaja, and Rolf Hut
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5971–5986, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5971-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5971-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We test whether coupling a global glacier model (GloGEM) with a global hydrological model (PCR-GLOBWB 2) leads to a more realistic glacier representation and to improved basin runoff simulations across 25 large-scale basins. The coupling does lead to improved glacier representation, mainly by accounting for glacier flow and net glacier mass loss, and to improved basin runoff simulations, mostly in strongly glacier-influenced basins, which is where the coupling has the most impact.
Judith Uwihirwe, Alessia Riveros, Hellen Wanjala, Jaap Schellekens, Frederiek Sperna Weiland, Markus Hrachowitz, and Thom A. Bogaard
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3641–3661, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3641-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3641-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study compared gauge-based and satellite-based precipitation products. Similarly, satellite- and hydrological model-derived soil moisture was compared to in situ soil moisture and used in landslide hazard assessment and warning. The results reveal the cumulative 3 d rainfall from the NASA-GPM to be the most effective landslide trigger. The modelled antecedent soil moisture in the root zone was the most informative hydrological variable for landslide hazard assessment and warning in Rwanda.
Friedrich Boeing, Oldrich Rakovec, Rohini Kumar, Luis Samaniego, Martin Schrön, Anke Hildebrandt, Corinna Rebmann, Stephan Thober, Sebastian Müller, Steffen Zacharias, Heye Bogena, Katrin Schneider, Ralf Kiese, Sabine Attinger, and Andreas Marx
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5137–5161, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we deliver an evaluation of the second generation operational German drought monitor (https://www.ufz.de/duerremonitor) with a state-of-the-art compilation of observed soil moisture data from 40 locations and four different measurement methods in Germany. We show that the expressed stakeholder needs for higher resolution drought information at the one-kilometer scale can be met and that the agreement of simulated and observed soil moisture dynamics can be moderately improved.
Olga Dombrowski, Cosimo Brogi, Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen, Damiano Zanotelli, and Heye Bogena
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 5167–5193, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5167-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5167-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Soil carbon storage and food production of fruit orchards will be influenced by climate change. However, they lack representation in models that study such processes. We developed and tested a new sub-model, CLM5-FruitTree, that describes growth, biomass distribution, and management practices in orchards. The model satisfactorily predicted yield and exchange of carbon, energy, and water in an apple orchard and can be used to study land surface processes in fruit orchards at different scales.
Maik Heistermann, Heye Bogena, Till Francke, Andreas Güntner, Jannis Jakobi, Daniel Rasche, Martin Schrön, Veronika Döpper, Benjamin Fersch, Jannis Groh, Amol Patil, Thomas Pütz, Marvin Reich, Steffen Zacharias, Carmen Zengerle, and Sascha Oswald
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 2501–2519, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2501-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2501-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a dense network of cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) to measure spatio-temporal soil moisture patterns during a 2-month campaign in the Wüstebach headwater catchment in Germany. Stationary, mobile, and airborne CRNS technology monitored the root-zone water dynamics as well as spatial heterogeneity in the 0.4 km2 area. The 15 CRNS stations were supported by a hydrogravimeter, biomass sampling, and a wireless soil sensor network to facilitate holistic hydrological analysis.
Judith Uwihirwe, Markus Hrachowitz, and Thom Bogaard
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1723–1742, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1723-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1723-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This research tested the value of regional groundwater level information to improve landslide predictions with empirical models based on the concept of threshold levels. In contrast to precipitation-based thresholds, the results indicated that relying on threshold models exclusively defined using hydrological variables such as groundwater levels can lead to improved landslide predictions due to their implicit consideration of long-term antecedent conditions until the day of landslide occurrence.
Wei Qu, Heye Bogena, Christoph Schüth, Harry Vereecken, Zongmei Li, and Stephan Schulz
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2022-131, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2022-131, 2022
Publication in GMD not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
We applied the global sensitivity analysis LH-OAT to the integrated hydrology model ParFlow-CLM to investigate the sensitivity of the 12 parameters for different scenarios. And we found that the general patterns of the parameter sensitivities were consistent, however, for some parameters a significantly larger span of the sensitivities was observed, especially for the higher slope and in subarctic climatic scenarios.
Henry Zimba, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Kawawa Banda, Petra Hulsman, Nick van de Giesen, Imasiku Nyambe, and Hubert Savenije
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-114, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-114, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
We compare performance of evaporation models in the Luangwa Basin located in a semi-arid and complex Miombo ecosystem in Africa. Miombo plants changes colour, drop off leaves and acquire new leaves during the dry season. In addition, the plant roots go deep in the soil and appear to access groundwater. Results show that evaporation models with structure and process that do not capture this unique plant structure and behaviour appears to have difficulties to correctly estimating evaporation.
Lívia M. P. Rosalem, Miriam Coenders-Gerritis, Jamil A. A. Anache, Seyed M. M. Sadeghi, and Edson Wendland
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-59, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-59, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
Short summary
Short summary
We monitored the interception process on an undisturbed savanna forest and applied two interception models to evaluate their performance at different time scales and study their seasonal response. As results, both models performed well at a monthly scale and could represent the seasonal trends observed. However, they presented some limitations to predict the evaporative processes on a daily basis.
Elisa Ragno, Markus Hrachowitz, and Oswaldo Morales-Nápoles
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1695–1711, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1695-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1695-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We explore the ability of non-parametric Bayesian networks to reproduce maximum daily discharge in a given month in a catchment when the remaining hydro-meteorological and catchment attributes are known. We show that a saturated network evaluated in an individual catchment can reproduce statistical characteristics of discharge in about ~ 40 % of the cases, while challenges remain when a saturated network considering all the catchments together is evaluated.
Heye Reemt Bogena, Martin Schrön, Jannis Jakobi, Patrizia Ney, Steffen Zacharias, Mie Andreasen, Roland Baatz, David Boorman, Mustafa Berk Duygu, Miguel Angel Eguibar-Galán, Benjamin Fersch, Till Franke, Josie Geris, María González Sanchis, Yann Kerr, Tobias Korf, Zalalem Mengistu, Arnaud Mialon, Paolo Nasta, Jerzy Nitychoruk, Vassilios Pisinaras, Daniel Rasche, Rafael Rosolem, Hami Said, Paul Schattan, Marek Zreda, Stefan Achleitner, Eduardo Albentosa-Hernández, Zuhal Akyürek, Theresa Blume, Antonio del Campo, Davide Canone, Katya Dimitrova-Petrova, John G. Evans, Stefano Ferraris, Félix Frances, Davide Gisolo, Andreas Güntner, Frank Herrmann, Joost Iwema, Karsten H. Jensen, Harald Kunstmann, Antonio Lidón, Majken Caroline Looms, Sascha Oswald, Andreas Panagopoulos, Amol Patil, Daniel Power, Corinna Rebmann, Nunzio Romano, Lena Scheiffele, Sonia Seneviratne, Georg Weltin, and Harry Vereecken
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1125–1151, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1125-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1125-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Monitoring of increasingly frequent droughts is a prerequisite for climate adaptation strategies. This data paper presents long-term soil moisture measurements recorded by 66 cosmic-ray neutron sensors (CRNS) operated by 24 institutions and distributed across major climate zones in Europe. Data processing followed harmonized protocols and state-of-the-art methods to generate consistent and comparable soil moisture products and to facilitate continental-scale analysis of hydrological extremes.
Laurène J. E. Bouaziz, Emma E. Aalbers, Albrecht H. Weerts, Mark Hegnauer, Hendrik Buiteveld, Rita Lammersen, Jasper Stam, Eric Sprokkereef, Hubert H. G. Savenije, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1295–1318, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1295-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1295-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Assuming stationarity of hydrological systems is no longer appropriate when considering land use and climate change. We tested the sensitivity of hydrological predictions to changes in model parameters that reflect ecosystem adaptation to climate and potential land use change. We estimated a 34 % increase in the root zone storage parameter under +2 K global warming, resulting in up to 15 % less streamflow in autumn, due to 14 % higher summer evaporation, compared to a stationary system.
Vassilis Aschonitis, Dimos Touloumidis, Marie-Claire ten Veldhuis, and Miriam Coenders-Gerrits
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 163–177, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-163-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This work provides a global database of correction coefficients for improving the performance of the temperature-based Thornthwaite potential evapotranspiration formula and aridity indices (e.g., UNEP, Thornthwaite) that make use of this formula. The coefficients were produced using as a benchmark the ASCE-standardized reference evapotranspiration formula (formerly FAO-56) that requires temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, and relative humidity data.
Lukas Strebel, Heye R. Bogena, Harry Vereecken, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 395–411, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-395-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-395-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present the technical coupling between a land surface model (CLM5) and the Parallel Data Assimilation Framework (PDAF). This coupling enables measurement data to update simulated model states and parameters in a statistically optimal way. We demonstrate the viability of the model framework using an application in a forested catchment where the inclusion of soil water measurements significantly improved the simulation quality.
Wouter Dorigo, Irene Himmelbauer, Daniel Aberer, Lukas Schremmer, Ivana Petrakovic, Luca Zappa, Wolfgang Preimesberger, Angelika Xaver, Frank Annor, Jonas Ardö, Dennis Baldocchi, Marco Bitelli, Günter Blöschl, Heye Bogena, Luca Brocca, Jean-Christophe Calvet, J. Julio Camarero, Giorgio Capello, Minha Choi, Michael C. Cosh, Nick van de Giesen, Istvan Hajdu, Jaakko Ikonen, Karsten H. Jensen, Kasturi Devi Kanniah, Ileen de Kat, Gottfried Kirchengast, Pankaj Kumar Rai, Jenni Kyrouac, Kristine Larson, Suxia Liu, Alexander Loew, Mahta Moghaddam, José Martínez Fernández, Cristian Mattar Bader, Renato Morbidelli, Jan P. Musial, Elise Osenga, Michael A. Palecki, Thierry Pellarin, George P. Petropoulos, Isabella Pfeil, Jarrett Powers, Alan Robock, Christoph Rüdiger, Udo Rummel, Michael Strobel, Zhongbo Su, Ryan Sullivan, Torbern Tagesson, Andrej Varlagin, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Jeffrey Walker, Jun Wen, Fred Wenger, Jean Pierre Wigneron, Mel Woods, Kun Yang, Yijian Zeng, Xiang Zhang, Marek Zreda, Stephan Dietrich, Alexander Gruber, Peter van Oevelen, Wolfgang Wagner, Klaus Scipal, Matthias Drusch, and Roberto Sabia
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5749–5804, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5749-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5749-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) is a community-based open-access data portal for soil water measurements taken at the ground and is accessible at https://ismn.earth. Over 1000 scientific publications and thousands of users have made use of the ISMN. The scope of this paper is to inform readers about the data and functionality of the ISMN and to provide a review of the scientific progress facilitated through the ISMN with the scope to shape future research and operations.
Josef Fürst, Hans Peter Nachtnebel, Josef Gasch, Reinhard Nolz, Michael Paul Stockinger, Christine Stumpp, and Karsten Schulz
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4019–4034, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4019-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4019-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Rosalia is a 222 ha forested research watershed in eastern Austria to study water, energy and solute transport processes. The paper describes the site, monitoring network, instrumentation and the datasets: high-resolution (10 min interval) time series starting in 2015 of four discharge gauging stations, seven rain gauges, and observations of air and water temperature, relative humidity, and conductivity, as well as soil water content and temperature, at different depths at four profiles.
Fransje van Oorschot, Ruud J. van der Ent, Markus Hrachowitz, and Andrea Alessandri
Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 725–743, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-725-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-725-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The roots of vegetation largely control the Earth's water cycle by transporting water from the subsurface to the atmosphere but are not adequately represented in land surface models, causing uncertainties in modeled water fluxes. We replaced the root parameters in an existing model with more realistic ones that account for a climate control on root development and found improved timing of modeled river discharge. Further extension of our approach could improve modeled water fluxes globally.
Sarah Hanus, Markus Hrachowitz, Harry Zekollari, Gerrit Schoups, Miren Vizcaino, and Roland Kaitna
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 3429–3453, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3429-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3429-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the effects of climate change on runoff patterns in six Alpine catchments in Austria at the end of the 21st century. Our results indicate a substantial shift to earlier occurrences in annual maximum and minimum flows in high-elevation catchments. Magnitudes of annual extremes are projected to increase under a moderate emission scenario in all catchments. Changes are generally more pronounced for high-elevation catchments.
Artemis Roodari, Markus Hrachowitz, Farzad Hassanpour, and Mostafa Yaghoobzadeh
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1943–1967, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1943-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1943-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In a combined data analysis and modeling study in the transboundary Helmand River basin, we analyzed spatial patterns of drought and changes therein based on the drought indices as well as on absolute water deficits. Overall the results illustrate that flow deficits and the associated droughts clearly reflect the dynamic interplay between temporally varying regional differences in hydro-meteorological variables together with subtle and temporally varying effects linked to human intervention.
Laurène J. E. Bouaziz, Fabrizio Fenicia, Guillaume Thirel, Tanja de Boer-Euser, Joost Buitink, Claudia C. Brauer, Jan De Niel, Benjamin J. Dewals, Gilles Drogue, Benjamin Grelier, Lieke A. Melsen, Sotirios Moustakas, Jiri Nossent, Fernando Pereira, Eric Sprokkereef, Jasper Stam, Albrecht H. Weerts, Patrick Willems, Hubert H. G. Savenije, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1069–1095, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1069-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1069-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We quantify the differences in internal states and fluxes of 12 process-based models with similar streamflow performance and assess their plausibility using remotely sensed estimates of evaporation, snow cover, soil moisture and total storage anomalies. The dissimilarities in internal process representation imply that these models cannot all simultaneously be close to reality. Therefore, we invite modelers to evaluate their models using multiple variables and to rely on multi-model studies.
Petra Hulsman, Hubert H. G. Savenije, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 957–982, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-957-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-957-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite observations have increasingly been used for model calibration, while model structural developments largely rely on discharge data. For large river basins, this often results in poor representations of system internal processes. This study explores the combined use of satellite-based evaporation and total water storage data for model structural improvement and spatial–temporal model calibration for a large, semi-arid and data-scarce river system.
César Dionisio Jiménez-Rodríguez, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Bart Schilperoort, Adriana del Pilar González-Angarita, and Hubert Savenije
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 619–635, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-619-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-619-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
During rainfall events, evaporation from tropical forests is usually ignored. However, the water retained in the canopy during rainfall increases the evaporation despite the high-humidity conditions. In a tropical wet forest in Costa Rica, it was possible to depict vapor plumes rising from the forest canopy during rainfall. These plumes are evidence of forest evaporation. Also, we identified the conditions that allowed this phenomenon to happen using time-lapse videos and meteorological data.
Theresa Boas, Heye Bogena, Thomas Grünwald, Bernard Heinesch, Dongryeol Ryu, Marius Schmidt, Harry Vereecken, Andrew Western, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 573–601, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-573-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-573-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we were able to significantly improve CLM5 model performance for European cropland sites by adding a winter wheat representation, specific plant parameterizations for important cash crops, and a cover-cropping and crop rotation subroutine to its crop module. Our modifications should be applied in future studies of CLM5 to improve regional yield predictions and to better understand large-scale impacts of agricultural management on carbon, water, and energy fluxes.
Ralf Loritz, Markus Hrachowitz, Malte Neuper, and Erwin Zehe
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 147–167, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-147-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-147-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the role and value of distributed rainfall in the runoff generation of a mesoscale catchment. We compare the performance of different hydrological models at different periods and show that a distributed model driven by distributed rainfall yields improved performances only during certain periods. We then step beyond this finding and develop a spatially adaptive model that is capable of dynamically adjusting its spatial model structure in time.
Bart Schilperoort, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, César Jiménez Rodríguez, Christiaan van der Tol, Bas van de Wiel, and Hubert Savenije
Biogeosciences, 17, 6423–6439, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6423-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6423-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
With distributed temperature sensing (DTS) we measured a vertical temperature profile in a forest, from the forest floor to above the treetops. Using this temperature profile we can see which parts of the forest canopy are colder (thus more dense) or warmer (and less dense) and study the effect this has on the suppression of turbulent mixing. This can be used to improve our knowledge of the interaction between the atmosphere and forests and improve carbon dioxide flux measurements over forests.
Liang Guo, Ruud J. van der Ent, Nicholas P. Klingaman, Marie-Estelle Demory, Pier Luigi Vidale, Andrew G. Turner, Claudia C. Stephan, and Amulya Chevuturi
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 6011–6028, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-6011-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-6011-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Precipitation over East Asia simulated in the Met Office Unified Model is compared with observations. Moisture sources of EA precipitation are traced using a moisture tracking model. Biases in moisture sources are linked to biases in precipitation. Using the tracking model, changes in moisture sources can be attributed to changes in SST, circulation and associated evaporation. This proves that the method used in this study is useful to identify the causes of biases in regional precipitation.
Justus G. V. van Ramshorst, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Bart Schilperoort, Bas J. H. van de Wiel, Jonathan G. Izett, John S. Selker, Chad W. Higgins, Hubert H. G. Savenije, and Nick C. van de Giesen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5423–5439, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5423-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5423-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In this work we present experimental results of a novel actively heated fiber-optic (AHFO) observational wind-probing technique. We utilized a controlled wind-tunnel setup to assess both the accuracy and precision of AHFO under a range of operational conditions (wind speed, angles of attack and temperature differences). AHFO has the potential to provide high-resolution distributed observations of wind speeds, allowing for better spatial characterization of fine-scale processes.
Jie Tian, Zhibo Han, Heye Reemt Bogena, Johan Alexander Huisman, Carsten Montzka, Baoqing Zhang, and Chansheng He
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4659–4674, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4659-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4659-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Large-scale profile soil moisture (SM) is important for water resource management, but its estimation is a challenge. Thus, based on in situ SM observations in a cold mountain, a strong relationship between the surface SM and subsurface SM is found. Both the subsurface SM of 10–30 cm and the profile SM of 0–70 cm can be estimated from the surface SM of 0–10 cm accurately. By combing with the satellite product, we improve the large-scale profile SM estimation in the cold mountains finally.
Benjamin Fersch, Till Francke, Maik Heistermann, Martin Schrön, Veronika Döpper, Jannis Jakobi, Gabriele Baroni, Theresa Blume, Heye Bogena, Christian Budach, Tobias Gränzig, Michael Förster, Andreas Güntner, Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen, Mandy Kasner, Markus Köhli, Birgit Kleinschmit, Harald Kunstmann, Amol Patil, Daniel Rasche, Lena Scheiffele, Ulrich Schmidt, Sandra Szulc-Seyfried, Jannis Weimar, Steffen Zacharias, Marek Zreda, Bernd Heber, Ralf Kiese, Vladimir Mares, Hannes Mollenhauer, Ingo Völksch, and Sascha Oswald
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2289–2309, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2289-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2289-2020, 2020
D. Alex R. Gordon, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Brent A. Sellers, S. M. Moein Sadeghi, and John T. Van Stan II
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4587–4599, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4587-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4587-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Where plants exist, rain must pass through canopies to reach soils. We studied how rain interacts with dogfennel – a highly problematic weed that is abundant in pastures, grasslands, rangelands, urban forests and along highways. Dogfennels evaporated large portions (approx. one-fifth) of rain and drained significant (at times > 25 %) rain (and dew) down their stems to their roots (via stemflow). This may explain how dogfennel survives and even invades managed landscapes during extended droughts.
Andreas Link, Ruud van der Ent, Markus Berger, Stephanie Eisner, and Matthias Finkbeiner
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 1897–1912, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1897-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1897-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This work provides a global dataset on the fate of land evaporation for a fine-meshed grid of source and receptor cells. The dataset was created through a global run of the numerical moisture-tracking model WAM-2layers. The dataset could be used for investigations into average annual, seasonal, and interannual sink and source regions of atmospheric moisture from land masses for most of the regions in the world and comes with example scripts for the readout and plotting of the data.
Cited articles
Ala-aho, P., Tetzlaff, D., McNamara, J. P., Laudon, H., and Soulsby, C.: Using
isotopes to constrain water flux and age estimates in snow-influenced
catchments using the STARR (Spatially distributed Tracer-Aided RainfallRunoff)
model, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 5089–5110,
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-5089-2017, 2017.
Angermann, L., Jackisch, C., Allroggen, N., Sprenger, M., Zehe, E., Tronicke, J., Weiler, M., and Blume, T.: Form and function in hillslope hydrology: characterization of subsurface flow based on response observations, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3727–3748, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3727-2017, 2017.
Arrouays, D., Lagacherie, P., and Hartemink, A. E.: Digital soil mapping across the globe, Geoderma Regional, 9, 1–4, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2017.03.002, 2017.
Arsenault, R., Poissant, D., and Brissette, F.: Parameter dimensionality reduction of a conceptual model for streamflow prediction in Canadian, snowmelt dominated ungauged basins, Adv. Water Resour., 85, 27–44, 2015.
Benettin, P., Van Der Velde, Y., Van Der Zee, S. E., Rinaldo, A., and Botter, G.: Chloride circulation in a lowland catchment and the formulation of transport by travel time distributions, Water Resour. Res., 49, 4619–4632, 2013.
Benettin, P., Kirchner, J. W., Rinaldo, A., and Botter, G.: Modeling chloride transport using travel time distributions at Plynlimon, Wales, Water Resour. Res., 51, 3259–3276, 2015a.
Benettin, P., Rinaldo, A., and Botter, G.: Tracking residence times in hydrological systems: Forward and backward formulations, Hydrol. Process., 29, 5203–5213, 2015b.
Benettin, P., Soulsby, C., Birkel, C., Tetzlaff, D., Botter, G., and Rinaldo, A.: Using SAS functions and high-resolution isotope data to unravel travel time distributions in headwater catchments, Water Resour. Res., 53, 1864–1878, 2017.
Berkowitz, B. and Zehe, E.: Surface water and groundwater: unifying conceptualization and quantification of the two “water worlds”, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1831–1858, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1831-2020, 2020.
Bertuzzo, E., Thomet, M., Botter, G., and Rinaldo, A.: Catchment-scale herbicides transport: Theory and application, Adv. Water Resour., 52, 232–242, 2013.
Beven, K.: A manifesto for the equifinality thesis. Journal of hydrology, 320, 18–36, 2006.
Beven, K. J.: Preferential flows and travel time distributions: defining adequate hypothesis tests for hydrological process models, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1537–1547, 2010.
Beven, K. and Germann, P.: Macropores and water flow in soils revisited, Water Resour. Res., 49, 3071–3092, 2013.
Birkel, C. and Soulsby, C.: Linking tracers, water age and conceptual models to identify dominant runoff processes in a sparsely monitored humid tropical catchment, Hydrol. Process., 30, 4477–4493, 2016.
Birkel, C., Tetzlaff, D., Dunn, S. M., and Soulsby, C.: Using lumped conceptual rainfall–runoff models to simulate daily isotope variability with fractionation in a nested mesoscale catchment, Adv. Water Resour., 34, 383–394, 2011a.
Birkel, C., Soulsby, C., and Tetzlaff, D.: Modelling catchment-scale water storage dynamics: Reconciling dynamic storage with tracer-inferred passive storage, Hydrol. Process., 25, 3924–3936, 2011b.
Birkel, C., Soulsby, C., and Tetzlaff, D.: Conceptual modelling to assess how the interplay of hydrological connectivity, catchment storage and tracer dynamics controls nonstationary water age estimates, Hydrol. Process., 29, 2956–2969, 2015.
Blöschl, G., Bierkens, M. F., Chambel, A., et al.: Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) – a community perspective, Hydrolog. Sci. J., 64, 1141–1158, 2019.
Bogena, H. R., Bol, R., Borchard, N., Brüggemann, N., Diekkrüger, B., Drüe, C., Groh, J., Gottselig, N., Huisman, J. A., Lücke, A., and Missong, A.: A terrestrial observatory approach to the integrated investigation of the effects of deforestation on water, energy, and matter fluxes, Sci. China Earth Sci., 58, 61–75, 2015.
Bogena, H.R., Montzka, C., Huisman, J.A., Graf, A., Schmidt, M., Stockinger, M., Von Hebel, C., Hendricks-Franssen, H.J., Van der Kruk, J., Tappe, W. and Lücke, A.: The TERENO-Rur Hydrological Observatory: A multiscale multi-compartment research platform for the advancement of hydrological science, Vadose Zone J., 17, 1–22, https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2018.03.0055, 2018.
Bogena, H. R., Stockinger, M., and Luecke, A.: Long-term stable
water isotope data for the investigation of deforestation effects on the
hydrological system of the Wüstebach catchment, Germany, Hydrol. Process., 35,
e14006, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14006, 2020.
Borchardt, H.: Einfluss periglazialer Deckschichten auf Abflusssteuerung am Beispiel des anthropogen überprägten Wüstebaches (Nationalpark Eifel), PhD diss., Lehrstuhl für Physische Geogr. und Geoökologie, Fak. für Georessourcen und Materialtechnik, Rheinisch-Westfälische Tech. Hochsch. Aachen, Aaachen, Germany, 2012.
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.
Bouaziz, L., Weerts, A., Schellekens, J., Sprokkereef, E., Stam, J., Savenije, H., and Hrachowitz, M.: Redressing the balance: quantifying net intercatchment groundwater flows, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 6415–6434, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-6415-2018, 2018.
Bouaziz, L., Steele-Dunne, S. C., Schellekens, J., Weerts, A., Stam, J., Sprokkereef, E., Winsemius, H. C., Savenije, H. H. G., and Hrachowitz, M.: Improved understanding of the link between catchment-scale vegetation accessible storage and satellite-derived Soil Water Index, Water Resour. Res., 56, e2019WR026365, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026365, 2020.
Bouaziz, L. J. E., Fenicia, F., Thirel, G., de Boer-Euser, T., Buitink, J., Brauer, C. C., De Niel, J., Dewals, B. J., Drogue, G., Grelier, B., Melsen, L. A., Moustakas, S., Nossent, J., Pereira, F., Sprokkereef, E., Stam, J., Weerts, A. H., Willems, P., Savenije, H. H. G., and Hrachowitz, M.: Behind the scenes of streamflow model performance, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 1069–1095, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1069-2021, 2021.
Brand, W. A., Coplen, T. B., Vogl, J., Rosner, M., and Prohaska, T.: Assessment of international reference materials for isotope-ratio analysis (IUPAC Technical Report), Pure Appl. Chem., 86, 425–467, 2014.
Brooks, J. R., Barnard, H. R., Coulombe, R., and McDonnell, J. J.: Ecohydrologic separation of water between trees and streams in a Mediterranean climate, Nat. Geosci., 3, 100–104, 2010.
Brooks, P. D., Chorover, J., Fan, Y., Godsey, S. E., Maxwell, R. M., McNamara, J. P., and Tague, C.: Hydrological partitioning in the critical zone: Recent advances and opportunities for developing transferable understanding of water cycle dynamics, Water Resour. Res., 51, 6973–6987, 2015.
Brunner, I., Herzog, C., Dawes, M. A., Arend, M., and Sperisen, C.: How tree roots respond to drought, Front. Plant Sci., 6, 547, 2015.
Brutsaert, W.: Daily evaporation from drying soil: Universal parameterization with similarity, Water Resour. Res., 50, 3206–3215, 2014.
Cain, M. R., Ward, A. S., and Hrachowitz, M.: Ecohydrologic separation alters interpreted hydrologic stores and fluxes in a headwater mountain catchment, Hydrol. Process., 33, 2658–2675, 2019.
Coenders-Gerrits, A. M. J., Van der Ent, R. J., Bogaard, T. A., Wang-Erlandsson, L., Hrachowitz, M., and Savenije, H. H. G.: Uncertainties in transpiration estimates. Nature, 506, E1-E2, 2014.
Collins, D. B. G. and Bras, R. L.: Plant rooting strategies in water-limited ecosystems, Water Resour. Res., 43, W06407, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005541, 2007.
Condon, L. E., Markovich, K. H., Kelleher, C. A., McDonnell, J. J., Ferguson, G., and McIntosh, J. C.: Where is the bottom of a watershed?, Water Resour. Res., 56, e2019WR026010, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026010, 2020.
Cornelissen, T., Diekkrüger, B., and Bogena, H. R.: Significance of scale and lower boundary condition in the 3D simulation of hydrological processes and soil moisture variability in a forested headwater catchment, J. Hydrol., 516, 140–153, 2014.
Coxon, G., Freer, J., Wagener, T., Odoni, N. A., and Clark, M.: Diagnostic evaluation of multiple hypotheses of hydrological behaviour in a limits-of-acceptability framework for 24 UK catchments, Hydrol. Process., 28, 6135–6150, 2014.
Creed, I. F., Spargo, A. T., Jones, J. A., Buttle, J. M., Adams, M. B., Beall, F. D., Booth, E. G., Campbell, J. L., Clow, D., Elder, K., and Green, M. B.: Changing forest water yields in response to climate warming: Results from long-term experimental watershed sites across North America, Glob. Change Biol., 20, 3191–3208, 2014.
Criss, R. E. and Winston, W. E.: Do Nash values have a value? Discussion and alternate proposals, Hydrol. Process., 22, 2723–2725, 2008.
Dawson, J. J., Tetzlaff, D., Speed, M., Hrachowitz, M., and Soulsby, C.: Seasonal controls on DOC dynamics in nested upland catchments in NE Scotland, Hydrol. Process., 25, 1647–1658, 2011.
deBoer-Euser, T., McMillan, H. K., Hrachowitz, M., Winsemius, H. C., and Savenije, H. H. G.: Influence of soil and climate on root zone storage capacity, Water Resour. Res., 52, 2009–2024, 2016.
Donohue, R. J., Roderick, M. L., and McVicar, T. R.: On the importance of including vegetation dynamics in Budyko's hydrological model, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 983–995, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-11-983-2007, 2007.
Donohue, R. J., Roderick, M. L., and McVicar, T. R.: Roots, storms and soil pores: Incorporating key ecohydrological processes into Budyko's hydrological model, J. Hydrol., 436, 35–50, 2012.
Douinot, A., Tetzlaff, D., Maneta, M., Kuppel, S., Schulte-Bisping, H., and Soulsby, C.: Ecohydrological modelling with EcH2O-iso to quantify forest and grassland effects on water partitioning and flux ages, Hydrol. Process., 33, 2174–2191, 2019.
Eagleson, P. S. (Ed.): Land surface processes in atmospheric
general circulation models, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1982.
Ellison, D., Morris, C. E., Locatelli, B., Sheil, D., Cohen, J., Murdiyarso, D., Gutierrez, V., Van Noordwijk, M., Creed, I. F., Pokorny, J. and Gaveau, D.: Trees, forests and water: Cool insights for a hot world, Global Environ. Chang., 43, 51–61, 2017.
Etmann, M.: Dendrologische Aufnahmen im Wassereinzugsgebiet Oberer Wüstebach anhand verschiedener Mess- und Schätzverfahren, MSc thesis, Institut für Landschaftsökologie, Univ. of Münster, Münster, Germany, 2009.
Euser, T., Winsemius, H. C., Hrachowitz, M., Fenicia, F., Uhlenbrook, S., and Savenije, H. H. G.: A framework to assess the realism of model structures using hydrological signatures, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 1893–1912, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1893-2013, 2013.
Euser, T., Hrachowitz, M., Winsemius, H. C., and Savenije, H. H.: The effect of forcing and landscape distribution on performance and consistency of model structures, Hydrol. Process., 29, 3727–3743, 2015.
Evaristo, J. and McDonnell, J. J.: Prevalence and magnitude of groundwater use by vegetation: a global stable isotope meta-analysis. Sci. Rep.-UK, 7, 1–12, 2017.
Evaristo, J., Kim, M., van Haren, J., Pangle, L. A., Harman, C. J., Troch, P. A., and McDonnell, J. J.: Characterizing the fluxes and age distribution of soil water, plant water, and deep percolation in a model tropical ecosystem, Water Resour. Res., 55, 3307–3327, 2019.
Fan, Y., Miguez-Macho, G., Jobbágy, E. G., Jackson, R. B., and Otero-Casal, C.: Hydrologic regulation of plant rooting depth, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 114, 10572–10577, 2017.
Fenicia, F., Savenije, H. H. G., Matgen, P., and Pfister, L.: Understanding catchment behavior through stepwise model concept improvement, Water Resour. Res., 44, W01402, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005563, 2008.
Fenicia, F., Wrede, S., Kavetski, D., Pfister, L., Hoffmann, L., Savenije, H. H., and McDonnell, J. J.: Assessing the impact of mixing assumptions on the estimation of streamwater mean residence time, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1730–1741, 2010.
Fovet, O., Ruiz, L., Hrachowitz, M., Faucheux, M., and Gascuel-Odoux, C.: Hydrological hysteresis and its value for assessing process consistency in catchment conceptual models, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 105–123, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-105-2015, 2015.
Freer, J., Beven, K., and Ambroise, B.: Bayesian estimation of uncertainty in runoff prediction and the value of data: An application of the GLUE approach, Water Resour. Res., 32, 2161–2173, 1996.
Gallart, F., von Freyberg, J., Valiente, M., Kirchner, J. W., Llorens, P., and Latron, J.: Technical note: An improved discharge sensitivity metric for young water fractions, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1101–1107, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1101-2020, 2020a.
Gallart, F., Valiente, M., Llorens, P., Cayuela, C., Sprenger, M., and Latron, J.: Investigating young water fractions in a small Mediterranean mountain catchment: both precipitation forcing and sampling frequency matter, Hydrol. Process., 34, 3618–3634, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13806, 2020b.
Gao, H., Hrachowitz, M., Schymanski, S. J., Fenicia, F., Sriwongsitanon, N., and Savenije, H. H. G.: Climate controls how ecosystems size the root zone storage capacity at catchment scale, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 7916–7923, 2014.
Gao, H., Ding, Y., Zhao, Q., Hrachowitz, M., and Savenije, H. H.: The importance of aspect for modelling the hydrological response in a glacier catchment in Central Asia, Hydrol. Process., 31, 2842–2859, 2017.
Gentine, P., D'Odorico, P., Lintner, B. R., Sivandran, G., and Salvucci, G.: Interdependence of climate, soil, and vegetation as constrained by the Budyko curve, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L19404, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL053492, 2012.
Gerrits, A. M. J., Savenije, H. H. G., Veling, E. J. M., and Pfister, L.: Analytical derivation of the Budyko curve based on rainfall characteristics and a simple evaporation model, Water Resour. Res., 45, W04403, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008WR007308, 2009.
Graf, A., Bogena, H. R., Drüe, C., Hardelauf, H., Pütz, T., Heinemann, G., and Vereecken, H.: Spatiotemporal relations between water budget components and soil water content in a forested tributary catchment, Water Resour. Res., 50, 4837–4857, 2014.
Gumbel, E. J.: The return period of flood flows, Ann. Math. Stat., 12, 163–190, 1941.
Guswa, A. J.: The influence of climate on root depth: A carbon cost-benefit analysis, Water Resour. Res., 44, W02427, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007WR006384, 2008.
Harman, C. and Troch, P. A.: What makes Darwinian hydrology “Darwinian”? Asking a different kind of question about landscapes, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 417–433, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-417-2014, 2014.
Harman, C. J.: Time-variable transit time distributions and transport: Theory and application to storage-dependent transport of chloride in a watershed, Water Resour. Res., 51, 1–30, 2015.
Hartmann, A., Jasechko, S., Gleeson, T., Wada, Y., Andreo, B., Barberá, J. A., Brielmann, H., Bouchaou, L., Charlier, J.B., Darling, W.G., Filippini, M., Garvelmann, J., Goldscheider, N., Kralik, M., Kunstmann, H., Ladouche, B., Lange, J., Lucianetti, G., Martin, J. F., Mudarra, M., Sanchez, D., Stumpp, C., Zagana, E., and Wagener, T.: Risk of groundwater contamination widely underestimated because of fast flow into aquifers, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 118, e2024492118, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2024492118, 2021.
Heidbüchel, I., Yang, J., Musolff, A., Troch, P., Ferré, T., and Fleckenstein, J. H.: On the shape of forward transit time distributions in low-order catchments, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2895–2920, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2895-2020, 2020.
Hengl, T., Mendes de Jesus, J., Heuvelink, G. B., Ruiperez Gonzalez, M., Kilibarda, M., Blagotić, A., Shangguan, W., Wright, M. N., Geng, X., Bauer-Marschallinger, B., Guevara, M. A., Vargas, R., MacMillan, R., Batjes, N., Leenaars, J., Ribeiro, E., Wheeler, I., Mantel, S., and Kempen, B.: SoilGrids250m: Global gridded soil information based on machine learning, PLoS one, 12, e0169748, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169748, 2017.
Hrachowitz, M.: Model results underlying the paper “Reduction of vegetation-accessible water storage capacity after deforestation affects catchment travel time distributions and increases young water fractions in a headwater catchment”, 4TU.ResearchData [data set], https://doi.org/10.4121/14626050.v1, 2021.
Hrachowitz, M. and Clark, M. P.: HESS Opinions: The complementary merits of competing modelling philosophies in hydrology, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3953–3973, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-3953-2017, 2017.
Hrachowitz, M., Soulsby, C., Tetzlaff, D., Dawson, J. J. C., Dunn, S. M., and Malcolm, I. A.: Using long-term data sets to understand transit times in contrasting headwater catchments, J. Hydrol., 367, 237–248, 2009.
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.
Hrachowitz, M., Fovet, O., Ruiz, L., Euser, T., Gharari, S., Nijzink,
R., Freer, J., Savenije, H., and Gascuel-Odoux, C.: Process consistency in models: The importance of system signatures, expert knowledge, and process complexity, Water Resour. Res., 50, 7445–7469, 2014.
Hrachowitz, M., Fovet, O., Ruiz, L., and Savenije, H. H. G.: Transit time distributions, legacy contamination and variability in biogeochemical
Hrachowitz, M., Benettin, P., Van Breukelen, B. M., Fovet, O.,
Howden, N. J., Ruiz, L., Van der Velde, Y., and Wade, A. J.: Transit times – The link between hydrology and water quality at the catchment scale, WIRES Water, 3, 629–657, 2016.
Hulsman, P., Winsemius, H. C., Michailovsky, C. I., Savenije, H. H. G., and Hrachowitz, M.: Using altimetry observations combined with GRACE to select parameter sets of a hydrological model in a data-scarce region, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3331–3359, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-3331-2020, 2020.
Hulsman, P., Savenije, H. H. G., and Hrachowitz, M.: Learning from satellite observations: increased understanding of catchment processes through stepwise model improvement, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 957–982, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-957-2021, 2021a.
Hulsman, P., Hrachowitz, M., and Savenije, H. H.: Improving the representation of long-term storage variations with conceptual hydrological models in data-scarce regions, Water Resour. Res. 57, e2020WR028837, 2021b.
Hwang, T., Band, L., and Hales, T. C.: Ecosystem processes at the watershed scale: Extending optimality theory from plot to catchment, Water Resour. Res., 45, W11425, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009WR007775, 2009.
Jaramillo, F. and Destouni, G.: Developing water change spectra and distinguishing change drivers worldwide, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 8377–8386, 2014.
Jaramillo, F., Cory, N., Arheimer, B., Laudon, H., van der Velde, Y., Hasper, T. B., Teutschbein, C., and Uddling, J.: Dominant effect of increasing forest biomass on evapotranspiration: interpretations of movement in Budyko space, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 567–580, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-567-2018, 2018.
Jasechko, S.: Plants turn on the tap, Nat. Clim. Change, 8, 562–563, 2018.
Jothityangkoon, C., M. Sivapalan, and D. L. Farmer: Process controls of water balance variability in a large semi-arid catchment: Downward approach to hydrological model development, J. Hydrol., 254, 174–198, 2001.
Kirchner, J. W.: Getting the right answers for the right reasons: Linking measurements, analyses, and models to advance the science of hydrology, Water Resour. Res., 42, W03S04, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004362, 2006.
Kirchner, J. W.: Aggregation in environmental systems – Part 1: Seasonal tracer cycles quantify young water fractions, but not mean transit times, in spatially heterogeneous catchments, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 279–297, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-279-2016, 2016.
Klaus, J., Zehe, E., Elsner, M., Külls, C., and McDonnell, J. J.: Macropore flow of old water revisited: experimental insights from a tile-drained hillslope, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 103–118, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-103-2013, 2013.
Kleidon, A.: Global datasets of rooting zone depth inferred from inverse methods, J. Climate, 17, 2714–2722, 2004.
Knighton, J., Souter-Kline, V., Volkman, T., Troch, P. A., Kim, M.,
Harman, C., Morris, C., Buchanan, B., and Walter, M. T.: Seasonal and topographic variations in ecohydrological separation within a small, temperate, snow-influenced catchment, Water Resour. Res., 55, 6417–6435, 2019.
Knighton, J., Singh, K., and Evaristo, J.: Understanding Catchment-Scale Forest Root Water Uptake Strategies Across the Continental United States Through Inverse Ecohydrological Modeling, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2019GL085937, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085937, 2020.
Kuppel, S., Tetzlaff, D., Maneta, M. P., and Soulsby, C.: EcH2O-iso 1.0: water isotopes and age tracking in a process-based, distributed ecohydrological model, Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 3045–3069, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-3045-2018, 2018a.
Kuppel, S., Tetzlaff, D., Maneta, M. P., and Soulsby, C.: What can we learn
from multi-data calibration of a process-based ecohydrological model?,
Environ. Modell. Softw., 101, 301–316, 2018b.
Kuppel, S., Tetzlaff, D., Maneta, M. P., and Soulsby, C.: Critical zone storage controls on the water ages of ecohydrological outputs, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL088897, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088897, 2020.
Laio, F., D'Odorico, P., and Ridolfi, L.: An analytical model to relate the vertical root distribution to climate and soil properties, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L18401, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027331, 2006.
Loritz, R., Hassler, S. K., Jackisch, C., Allroggen, N., van Schaik, L., Wienhöfer, J., and Zehe, E.: Picturing and modeling catchments by representative hillslopes, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 1225–1249, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1225-2017, 2017.
Małoszewski, P. and Zuber, A.: Determining the turnover time of groundwater systems with the aid of environmental tracers: 1. Models and their applicability, J. Hydrol., 57, 207–231, 1982.
Maxwell, R. M., Condon, L. E., Kollet, S. J., Maher, K., Haggerty, R., and Forrester, M. M.: The imprint of climate and geology on the residence times of groundwater, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 701–708, 2016.
Maxwell, R. M., Condon, L. E., Danesh-Yazdi, M., and Bearup, L. A.: Exploring source water mixing and transient residence time distributions of outflow and evapotranspiration with an integrated hydrologic model and Lagrangian particle tracking approach. Ecohydrology, 12, e2042, https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2042, 2019.
Mezentsev, V.: Back to the computation of total evaporation. Meteorologia i Gidologia, 5. 24–26, 1995.
McDonnell, J. J., McGuire, K., Aggarwal, P., Beven, K. J., Biondi, D., Destouni, G., Dunn, S., James, A., Kirchner, J., Kraft, P. J. H. P., and Lyon, S.: How old is streamwater? Open questions in catchment transit time conceptualization, modelling and analysis, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1745–1754, 2010.
McGuire, K. J. and McDonnell, J. J.: A review and evaluation of catchment transit time modeling, J. Hydrol., 330, 543–563, 2006.
McMillan, H., Tetzlaff, D., Clark, M., and Soulsby, C.: Do time-variable tracers aid the evaluation of hydrological model structure? A multimodel approach, Water Resour. Res., 48, W05501, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR011688, 2012.
McMurtrie, R. E., Iversen, C. M., Dewar, R. C., Medlyn, B. E., Näsholm, T., Pepper, D. A., and Norby, R. J.: Plant root distributions and nitrogen uptake predicted by a hypothesis of optimal root foraging, Ecol. Evol., 2, 1235–1250, 2012.
Milly, P. C. and Dunne, K. A.: Sensitivity of the global water cycle to the water-holding capacity of land, J. Climate, 7, 506–526, 1994.
Mianabadi, A., Coenders-Gerrits, M., Shirazi, P., Ghahraman, B., and Alizadeh, A.: A global Budyko model to partition evaporation into interception and transpiration, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 4983–5000, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4983-2019, 2019.
Montanari, A. and Toth, E.: Calibration of hydrological models in the spectral domain: An opportunity for scarcely gauged basins?, Water Resour. Res., 43, W05434, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005184, 2007.
Morán-Tejeda, E., Zabalza, J., Rahman, K., Gago-Silva, A., López-Moreno, J. I., Vicente-Serrano, S., Lehmann, A., Tague, C., and Beniston, M.: Hydrological impacts of climate and land-use changes in a mountain watershed: Uncertainty estimation based on model comparison, Ecohydrology, 8, 1396–1416, 2015.
Nash, J. E. and Sutcliffe, J. V.: River flow forecasting through conceptual models: part 1 – A discussion of principles, J. Hydrol., 10, 282–290, 1970.
Nijzink, R., Hutton, C., Pechlivanidis, I., Capell, R., Arheimer, B., Freer, J., Han, D., Wagener, T., McGuire, K., Savenije, H., and Hrachowitz, M.: The evolution of root-zone moisture capacities after deforestation: a step towards hydrological predictions under change?, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 4775–4799, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-4775-2016, 2016a.
Nijzink, R. C., Samaniego, L., Mai, J., Kumar, R., Thober, S., Zink, M., Schäfer, D., Savenije, H. H. G., and Hrachowitz, M.: The importance of topography-controlled sub-grid process heterogeneity and semi-quantitative prior constraints in distributed hydrological models, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 1151–1176, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1151-2016, 2016b.
Penna, D., Hopp, L., Scandellari, F., Allen, S. T., Benettin, P., Beyer, M., Geris, J., Klaus, J., Marshall, J. D., Schwendenmann, L., Volkmann, T. H. M., von Freyberg, J., Amin, A., Ceperley, N., Engel, M., Frentress, J., Giambastiani, Y., McDonnell, J. J., Zuecco, G., Llorens, P., Siegwolf, R. T. W., Dawson, T. E., and Kirchner, J. W.: Ideas and perspectives: Tracing terrestrial ecosystem water fluxes using hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes challenges and opportunities from an interdisciplinary perspective, Biogeosciences, 15, 6399–6415, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-6399-2018, 2018.
Penna, D., Geris, J., Hopp, L., and Scandellari, F.: Water sources for root water uptake: Using stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen as a research tool in agricultural and agroforestry systems. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 291, 106790, 2020.
Remondi, F., Kirchner, J. W., Burlando, P., and Fatichi, S.: Water flux tracking with a distributed hydrological model to quantify controls on the spatio‐temporal variability of transit time distributions, Water Resour. Res., 54, 3081–3099, 2018.
Renner, M., Brust, K., Schwärzel, K., Volk, M., and Bernhofer, C.: Separating the effects of changes in land cover and climate: a hydro-meteorological analysis of the past 60 yr in Saxony, Germany, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 389–405, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-389-2014, 2014.
Richter, D.: Ergebnisse methodischer Untersuchungen zur Korrektur des systematische Meßfehlers des Hellmann-Niederschlagmessers, in: Berichte des Deutschen Wetterdienstes, vol. 194, 93 pp, LRG (Lysimeter Research Group), Selbstverlag des Deutschen Wetterdienstes, Offenbach am Main, Germany, 1995.
Richter, F.: Bodenkarte zur Standorterkundung. Verfahren Quellgebiet Wüstebachtal (Forst), Geologischer Dienst Nordrhein-Westfalen, Krefeld, Germany, 2008.
Rinaldo, A., Benettin, P., Harman, C. J., Hrachowitz, M., McGuire, K. J., Van Der Velde, Y., Bertuzzo, E., and Botter, G.: Storage selection functions: A coherent framework for quantifying how catchments store and release water and solutes, Water Resour. Res., 51, 4840–4847, 2015.
Rodriguez, N. B. and Klaus, J.: Catchment travel times from composite StorAge Selection functions representing the superposition of streamflow generation processes, Water Resour. Res., 55, 9292–9314, 2019.
Rodriguez, N. B., McGuire, K. J., and Klaus, J.: Time-varying storage–water age relationships in a catchment with a mediterranean climate, Water Resour. Res., 54, 3988–4008, 2018.
Rodriguez-Iturbe, I., D'Odorico, P., Laio, F., Ridolfi, L., and Tamea, S.: Challenges in humid land ecohydrology: Interactions of water table and unsaturated zone with climate, soil, and vegetation, Water Resour. Res., 43, W09301, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007WR006073, 2007.
Roebroek, C. T. J., Melsen, L. A., Hoek van Dijke, A. J., Fan, Y., and Teuling, A. J.: Global distribution of hydrologic controls on forest growth, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4625–4639, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-4625-2020, 2020.
Savenije, H. H. G. and Hrachowitz, M.: HESS Opinions “Catchments as meta-organisms a new blueprint for hydrological modelling”, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 1107–1116, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-1107-2017, 2017.
Sawicz, K., Wagener, T., Sivapalan, M., Troch, P. A., and Carrillo, G.: Catchment classification: empirical analysis of hydrologic similarity based on catchment function in the eastern USA, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 2895–2911, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-2895-2011, 2011.
Seneviratne, S. I., Wilhelm, M., Stanelle, T., van den Hurk, B., Hagemann, S., Berg, A., Cheruy, F., Higgins, M. E., Meier, A., Brovkin, V., Claussen, M., Ducharne, A., Dufresne, J. M., Findell, K., Ghattas, J., Lawrence, D., Malyshev, S., Rummukainen, M., and Smith, B.: Impact of soil moisture-climate feedbacks on CMIP5 projections: First results from the GLACE-CMIP5 experiment, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 5212–5217, 2013.
Schenk, H. J.: Vertical vegetation structure below ground: scaling from root to globe. In Progress in botany (pp. 341–373). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2005.
Schenk, H. J. and Jackson, R. B.: Rooting depths, lateral root spreads and below-ground/above-ground allometries of plants in water-limited ecosystems, J. Ecol., 90, 480–494, 2002.
Schenk, H. J. and Jackson, R. B.: Global distribution of root
profiles in terrestrial ecosystems, ORNL DAAC, Oakridge, Tennessee, USA, 2003.
Schmid, I. and Kazda, M.: Vertical distribution and radial growth of coarse roots in pure and mixed stands of Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies, Can. J. Forest Res., 31, 539–548, 2001.
Schymanski, S. J., Sivapalan, M., Roderick, M. L., Beringer, J., and Hutley, L. B.: An optimality-based model of the coupled soil moisture and root dynamics, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 12, 913–932, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-12-913-2008, 2008.
Shamir, E., Imam, B., Gupta, H. V., and Sorooshian, S.: Application of temporal streamflow descriptors in hydrologic model parameter estimation, Water Resour. Res., 41, W06021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004WR003409, 2005.
Sivandran, G. and Bras, R. L.: Identifying the optimal spatially and temporally invariant root distribution for a semiarid environment, Water Resour. Res., 48, W12525, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012WR012055, 2012.
Speich, M. J. R., Lischke, H., and Zappa, M.: Testing an optimality-based model of rooting zone water storage capacity in temperate forests, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 4097–4124, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-4097-2018, 2018.
Speich, M. J. R., Zappa, M., Scherstjanoi, M., and Lischke, H.: FORests and HYdrology under Climate Change in Switzerland v1.0: a spatially distributed model combining hydrology and forest dynamics, Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 537–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-537-2020, 2020.
Soulsby, C., Tetzlaff, D., and Hrachowitz, M.: Are transit times useful process-based tools for flow prediction and classification in ungauged basins in montane regions?, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1685–1696, 2010.
Speed, M., Tetzlaff, D., Soulsby, C., Hrachowitz, M., and Waldron, S.: Isotopic and geochemical tracers reveal similarities in transit times in contrasting mesoscale catchments, Hydrol. Process., 24, 1211–1224, 2010.
Sprenger, M., Leistert, H., Gimbel, K., and Weiler, M.: Illuminating hydrological processes at the soil-vegetation-atmosphere interface with water stable isotopes, Rev. Geophys., 54, 674–704, 2016.
Sprenger, M., Tetzlaff, D., Buttle, J., Laudon, H., and Soulsby, C.: Water ages in the critical zone of long-term experimental sites in northern latitudes, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3965–3981, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3965-2018, 2018.
Sprenger, M., Llorens, P., Cayuela, C., Gallart, F., and Latron, J.: Mechanisms of consistently disjunct soil water pools over (pore) space and time, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 2751–2762, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-2751-2019, 2019a.
Sprenger, M., Stumpp, C., Weiler, M., Aeschbach, W., Allen, S. T., Benettin, P., Dubbert, M., Hartmann, A., Hrachowitz, M., Kirchner, J.W., McDonnell, J. J., Orlowski, N., Penna, D., Pfahl, S., Rinderer, M., Rodriguez, N., Schmidt, M., and Werner, C.: The demographics of water: a review of water ages in the critical zone, Rev. Geophys., 57, 800–834, 2019b.
Stockinger, M. P., Bogena, H. R., Lücke, A., Diekkrüger, B., Weiler, M., and Vereecken, H.: Seasonal soil moisture patterns: Controlling transit time distributions in a forested headwater catchment, Water Resour. Res., 50, 5270–5289, 2014.
Stockinger, M. P., Lücke, A., McDonnell, J. J., Diekkrüger, B., Vereecken, H., and Bogena, H. R.: Interception effects on stable isotope driven streamwater transit time estimates, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 5299–5308, 2015.
Stockinger, M. P., Bogena, H. R., Lücke, A., Diekkrüger, B., Cornelissen, T., and Vereecken, H.: Tracer sampling frequency influences estimates of young water fraction and streamwater transit time distribution, J. Hydrol., 541, 952–964, 2016.
Stockinger, M. P., Lücke, A., Vereecken, H., and Bogena, H. R.: Accounting for seasonal isotopic patterns of forest canopy intercepted precipitation in streamflow modeling, J. Hydrol., 555, 31–40, 2017.
Stockinger, M. P., Bogena, H. R., Lücke, A., Stumpp, C., and Vereecken, H.: Time variability and uncertainty in the fraction of young water in a small headwater catchment, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 4333–4347, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4333-2019, 2019.
Teuling, A. J.: A hot future for European droughts, Nat. Clim. Change, 8, 364–365, 2018.
Teuling, A. J. and van Dijke, A. J. H.: Forest age and water yield, Nature, 578, E16–E18, 2020.
Tron, S., Perona, P., Gorla, L., Schwarz, M., Laio, F., and Ridolfi, L.: The signature of randomness in riparian plant root distributions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 7098–7106, 2015.
Turc, L.: Le bilan d'eau des sols. Relations entre les precipitations, l'evaporation et l'ecoulement, Ann. Agron., 5, 491–596, 1954.
Van Der Velde, Y., Torfs, P. J. J. F., Van Der Zee, S. E. A. T. M., and Uijlenhoet, R.: Quantifying catchment-scale mixing and its effect on time-varying travel time distributions, Water Resour. Res., 48, W06536, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011WR011310, 2012.
Van der Velde, Y., Vercauteren, N., Jaramillo, F., Dekker, S. C., Destouni, G., and Lyon, S. W.: Exploring hydroclimatic change disparity via the Budyko framework, Hydrol. Process., 28, 4110–4118, 2014.
van der Velde, Y., Heidbüchel, I., Lyon, S. W., Nyberg, L., Rodhe, A., Bishop, K., and Troch, P. A.: Consequences of mixing assumptions for time-variable travel time distributions, Hydrol. Process., 29, 3460–3474, 2015.
von Freyberg, J., Allen, S. T., Seeger, S., Weiler, M., and Kirchner, J. W.: Sensitivity of young water fractions to hydro-climatic forcing and landscape properties across 22 Swiss catchments, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3841–3861, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3841-2018, 2018.
van Oorschot, F., van der Ent, R. J., Hrachowitz, M., and Alessandri, A.: Climate-controlled root zone parameters show potential to improve water flux simulations by land surface models, Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 725–743, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-725-2021, 2021.
Wang-Erlandsson, L., Bastiaanssen, W. G. M., Gao, H., Jägermeyr, J., Senay, G. B., van Dijk, A. I. J. M., Guerschman, J. P., Keys, P. W., Gordon, L. J., and Savenije, H. H. G.: Global root zone storage capacity from satellite-based evaporation, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 1459–1481, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-1459-2016, 2016.
Wang-Erlandsson, L., Fetzer, I., Keys, P. W., van der Ent, R. J., Savenije, H. H. G., and Gordon, L. J.: Remote land use impacts on river flows through atmospheric teleconnections, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 4311–4328, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-4311-2018, 2018.
Wehrli, K., Guillod, B. P., Hauser, M., Leclair, M., and Seneviratne, S. I.: Identifying Key Driving Processes of Major Recent Heat Waves, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 11746–11765, 2019.
Weiler, M. and McDonnell, J. J.: Conceptualizing lateral preferential flow and flow networks and simulating the effects on gauged and ungauged hillslopes, Water Resour. Res., 43, W03403, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR004867, 2007.
Weiler, M. and Naef, F.: An experimental tracer study of the role of macropores in infiltration in grassland soils, Hydrol. Process., 17, 477–493, 2003.
Wiekenkamp, I., Huisman, J. A., Bogena, H. R., Graf, A., Lin, H. S., Drüe, C., and Vereecken, H.: Changes in measured spatiotemporal patterns of hydrological response after partial deforestation in a headwater catchment, J. Hydrol., 542, 648–661, 2016.
Wiekenkamp, I., Huisman, J. A., Bogena, H. R., and Vereecken, H.: Effects of deforestation on water flow in the vadose zone, Water, 12, 35, https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010035, 2020.
Wilusz, D. C., Harman, C. J., and Ball, W. P.: Sensitivity of catchment transit times to rainfall variability under present and future climates, Water Resour. Res., 53, 10231–10256, 2017.
Yadav, M., Wagener, T., and Gupta, H. V.: Regionalization of constraints on expected watershed response behavior for improved predictions in ungauged basins, Adv. Water Resour., 30, 1756–1774, 2007.
Yang, Y., Donohue, R. J., and McVicar, T. R.: Global estimation of effective plant rooting depth: Implications for hydrological modeling, Water Resour. Res., 52, 8260–8276, 2016.
Yilmaz, K. K., Gupta, H. V., and Wagener, T.: A process-based diagnostic approach to model evaluation: Application to the NWS distributed hydrologic model, Water Resour. Res., 44, W09417, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007WR006716, 2008.
Zacharias, S., Bogena, H., Samaniego, L., Mauder, M., Fuß, R., Pütz, T., Frenzel, M., Schwank, M., Baessler, C., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Bens, O., Borg, E., Brauer, A., Dietrich, P., Hajnsek, I., Helle, G., Kiese, R., Kunstmann, H., Klotz, S., Munch, J., Papen, H., Priesack, E., Schmid, H., Steinbrecher, R., Rosenbaum, U., Teutsch, G., and Vereecken, H.: A network of terrestrial environmental observatories in Germany, Vadose Zone J., 10, 955–973, 2011.
Zehe, E., Lee, H., and Sivapalan, M.: Dynamical process upscaling for deriving catchment scale state variables and constitutive relations for meso-scale process models, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 10, 981–996, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-10-981-2006, 2006.
Zehe, E., Elsenbeer, H., Lindenmaier, F., Schulz, K., and Blöschl, G.: Patterns of predictability in hydrological threshold systems, Water Resour. Res., 43, W07434, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005589, 2007.
Zhang, M., Liu, N., Harper, R., Li, Q., Liu, K., Wei, X., and Liu, S.: A global review on hydrological responses to forest change across multiple spatial scales: Importance of scale, climate, forest type and hydrological regime, J. Hydrol., 546, 44–59, 2017.
Zuber, A.: On the interpretation of tracer data in variable flow systems, J. Hydrol., 86, 45–57, 1986.
Short summary
Deforestation affects how catchments store and release water. Here we found that deforestation in the study catchment led to a 20 % increase in mean runoff, while reducing the vegetation-accessible water storage from about 258 to 101 mm. As a consequence, fractions of young water in the stream increased by up to 25 % during wet periods. This implies that water and solutes are more rapidly routed to the stream, which can, after contamination, lead to increased contaminant peak concentrations.
Deforestation affects how catchments store and release water. Here we found that deforestation...
