Articles | Volume 27, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3083-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3083-2023
Research article
 | 
24 Aug 2023
Research article |  | 24 Aug 2023

Stable water isotopes and tritium tracers tell the same tale: no evidence for underestimation of catchment transit times inferred by stable isotopes in StorAge Selection (SAS)-function models

Siyuan Wang, Markus Hrachowitz, Gerrit Schoups, and Christine Stumpp

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Cited articles

Ajami, N. K., Gupta, H., Wagener, T., and Sorooshian, S.: Calibration of a semi-distributed hydrologic model for streamflow estimation along a river system, J. Hydrol., 298, 112–135, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.03.033, 2004. 
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Asadollahi, M., Stumpp, C., Rinaldo, A., and Benettin, P.: Transport and water age dynamics in soils: A comparative study of spatially integrated and spatially explicit models, Water Resour. Res., 56, e2019WR025539, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025539, 2020. 
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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.
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