Articles | Volume 27, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2535-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-27-2535-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Energy efficiency in transient surface runoff and sediment fluxes on hillslopes – a concept to quantify the effectiveness of extreme events
Samuel Schroers
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Water Resources and River Basin Management, Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology – KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany
Ulrike Scherer
Engler-Bunte-Institut, Water Chemistry and Water Technology – KIT,
Karlsruhe, Germany
Erwin Zehe
Institute of Water Resources and River Basin Management, Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology – KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 6163–6183, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-6163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-6163-2022, 2022
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We developed software to calculate the root water uptake (RWU) of beech tree roots from soil moisture dynamics. We present our approach and compare RWU to measured sap flow in the tree stem. The study relates to two sites that are similar in topography and weather but with contrasting soils. While sap flow is very similar between the two sites, the RWU is different. This suggests that soil characteristics have substantial influence. Our easy-to-implement RWU estimate may help further studies.
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Short summary
The hydrological cycle shapes our landscape. With an accelerating change of the world's climate and hydrological dynamics, concepts of evolution of natural systems become more important. In this study, we elaborated a thermodynamic framework for runoff and sediment transport and show from model results as well as from measurements during extreme events that the developed concept is useful for understanding the evolution of the system's mass, energy, and entropy fluxes.
The hydrological cycle shapes our landscape. With an accelerating change of the world's climate...