Articles | Volume 27, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3485-2023
© 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-27-3485-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 Oct 2023
Research article |
| 06 Oct 2023
| 06 Oct 2023
Calibrating macroscale hydrological models in poorly gauged and heavily regulated basins
Dung Trung Vu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Pillar of Engineering Systems and Design, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore
Thanh Duc Dang
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
Francesca Pianosi
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Stefano Galelli
Pillar of Engineering Systems and Design, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Related authors
Dung Trung Vu, Thanh Duc Dang, Stefano Galelli, and Faisal Hossain
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2345–2364, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2345-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2345-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The lack of data on how big dams are operated in the Upper Mekong, or Lancang, largely contributes to the ongoing controversy between China and the other Mekong countries. Here, we rely on satellite observations to reconstruct monthly storage time series for the 10 largest reservoirs in the Lancang. Our analysis shows how quickly reservoirs were filled in, what decisions were made during recent droughts, and how these decisions impacted downstream discharge.
Shanti Shwarup Mahto, Simone Fatichi, and Stefano Galelli
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 2693–2712, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2693-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2693-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The MSEA-Res database offers an open-access dataset tracking absolute water storage for 186 large reservoirs across Mainland Southeast Asia from 1985 to 2023. It provides valuable insights into how reservoir storage grew by 130 % between 2008 and 2017, driven by dams in key river basins. Our data also reveal how droughts, like the 2019–2020 event, significantly impacted water reservoirs. This resource can aid water management, drought planning, and research globally.
Doris Elise Wendt, Gemma Coxon, Saskia Salwey, and Francesca Pianosi
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1645, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1645, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
Groundwater is a highly-used water source, which drought management is complicated. We introduce a socio-hydrological water resource model (SHOWER) to aid drought management in groundwater-rich managed environments. Results show which and when drought management interventions influence surface water and groundwater storage, with integrated interventions having most effect on reducing droughts. This encourages further exploration to reduce water shortages and improve future drought resilience.
Yongshin Lee, Andres Peñuela, Francesca Pianosi, and Miguel Angel Rico-Ramirez
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1429–1447, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1429-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1429-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study assesses the value of seasonal flow forecasts (SFFs) in informing decision-making for drought management in South Korea and introduces a novel method for assessing values benchmarked against historical operations. Our results showed the importance of considering flow forecast uncertainty in reservoir operations. There was no significant correlation between the forecast accuracy and value. The method for selecting a compromise release schedule was a key control of the value.
Saskia Salwey, Gemma Coxon, Francesca Pianosi, Rosanna Lane, Chris Hutton, Michael Bliss Singer, Hilary McMillan, and Jim Freer
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4203–4218, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4203-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4203-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Reservoirs are essential for water resource management and can significantly impact downstream flow. However, representing reservoirs in hydrological models can be challenging, particularly across large scales. We design a new and simple method for simulating river flow downstream of water supply reservoirs using only open-access data. We demonstrate the approach in 264 reservoir catchments across Great Britain, where we can significantly improve the simulation of reservoir-impacted flow.
Yongshin Lee, Francesca Pianosi, Andres Peñuela, and Miguel Angel Rico-Ramirez
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3261–3279, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3261-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3261-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Following recent advancements in weather prediction technology, we explored how seasonal weather forecasts (1 or more months ahead) could benefit practical water management in South Korea. Our findings highlight that using seasonal weather forecasts for predicting flow patterns 1 to 3 months ahead is effective, especially during dry years. This suggest that seasonal weather forecasts can be helpful in improving the management of water resources.
Sanchit Minocha, Faisal Hossain, Pritam Das, Sarath Suresh, Shahzaib Khan, George Darkwah, Hyongki Lee, Stefano Galelli, Konstantinos Andreadis, and Perry Oddo
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3137–3156, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3137-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3137-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Reservoir Assessment Tool (RAT) merges satellite data with hydrological models, enabling robust estimation of reservoir parameters like inflow, outflow, surface area, and storage changes around the world. Version 3.0 of RAT lowers the barrier of entry for new users and achieves scalability and computational efficiency. RAT 3.0 also facilitates open-source development of functions for continuous improvement to mobilize and empower the global water management community.
Trevor Page, Paul Smith, Keith Beven, Francesca Pianosi, Fanny Sarrazin, Susana Almeida, Liz Holcombe, Jim Freer, Nick Chappell, and Thorsten Wagener
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 2523–2534, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2523-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This publication provides an introduction to the CREDIBLE Uncertainty Estimation (CURE) toolbox. CURE offers workflows for a variety of uncertainty estimation methods. One of its most important features is the requirement that all of the assumptions on which a workflow analysis depends be defined. This facilitates communication with potential users of an analysis. An audit trail log is produced automatically from a workflow for future reference.
Donghoon Lee, Jia Yi Ng, Stefano Galelli, and Paul Block
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2431–2448, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2431-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2431-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
To fully realize the potential of seasonal streamflow forecasts in the hydropower industry, we need to understand the relationship between reservoir design specifications, forecast skill, and value. Here, we rely on realistic forecasts and simulated hydropower operations for 753 dams worldwide to unfold such relationship. Our analysis shows how forecast skill affects hydropower production, what type of dams are most likely to benefit from seasonal forecasts, and where these dams are located.
Dung Trung Vu, Thanh Duc Dang, Stefano Galelli, and Faisal Hossain
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2345–2364, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2345-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2345-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The lack of data on how big dams are operated in the Upper Mekong, or Lancang, largely contributes to the ongoing controversy between China and the other Mekong countries. Here, we rely on satellite observations to reconstruct monthly storage time series for the 10 largest reservoirs in the Lancang. Our analysis shows how quickly reservoirs were filled in, what decisions were made during recent droughts, and how these decisions impacted downstream discharge.
Andres Peñuela, Christopher Hutton, and Francesca Pianosi
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 6059–6073, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-6059-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-6059-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper we evaluate the potential use of seasonal weather forecasts to improve reservoir operation in a UK water supply system. We found that the use of seasonal forecasts can improve the efficiency of reservoir operation but only if the forecast uncertainty is explicitly considered. We also found the degree of efficiency improvement is strongly affected by the decision maker priorities and the hydrological conditions.
Elisa Bozzolan, Elizabeth Holcombe, Francesca Pianosi, and Thorsten Wagener
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 3161–3177, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-3161-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-20-3161-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We include informal housing in slope stability analysis, considering different slope properties and precipitation events (including climate change). The dominant failure processes are identified, and their relative role in slope failure is quantified. A new rainfall threshold is assessed for urbanised slopes. Instability
rulesare provided to recognise urbanised slopes most at risk. The methodology is suitable for regions with scarce field measurements and landslide inventories.
Thanh Duc Dang, A. F. M. Kamal Chowdhury, and Stefano Galelli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 397–416, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-397-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-397-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
A common problem in catchment hydrology lies in the representation of dams in numerical models. Here, we contribute to the existing literature by showing that the representation of water reservoirs can largely impact the model parameters, a result attained by comparing the parameters of a model for the upper Mekong basin built with or without reservoirs. We show that a flawed parameter estimation affects the representation of key physical processes and the downstream applications of the model.
Fanny Sarrazin, Andreas Hartmann, Francesca Pianosi, Rafael Rosolem, and Thorsten Wagener
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4933–4964, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4933-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4933-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We propose the first large-scale vegetation–recharge model for karst regions (V2Karst), which enables the analysis of the impact of changes in climate and land cover on karst groundwater recharge. We demonstrate the plausibility of V2Karst simulations against observations at FLUXNET sites and of controlling modelled processes using sensitivity analysis. We perform virtual experiments to further test the model and gain insight into its sensitivity to precipitation pattern and vegetation cover.
Sean W. D. Turner, James C. Bennett, David E. Robertson, and Stefano Galelli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 4841–4859, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-4841-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-21-4841-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the relationship between skill and value of ensemble seasonal streamflow forecasts. Using data from a modern forecasting system, we show that skilled forecasts are more likely to provide benefits for reservoirs operated to maintain a target water level rather than reservoirs operated to satisfy a target demand. We identify the primary causes for this behaviour and provide specific recommendations for assessing the value of forecasts for reservoirs with supply objectives.
Susana Almeida, Elizabeth Ann Holcombe, Francesca Pianosi, and Thorsten Wagener
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 225–241, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-17-225-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-17-225-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Landslides threaten communities globally, yet predicting their occurrence is challenged by uncertainty about slope properties and climate change. We present an approach to identify the dominant drivers of slope instability and the critical thresholds at which slope failure may occur. This information helps decision makers to target data acquisition to improve landslide predictability, and supports policy development to reduce landslide occurrence and impacts in highly uncertain environments.
A. Hartmann, T. Gleeson, R. Rosolem, F. Pianosi, Y. Wada, and T. Wagener
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 1729–1746, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1729-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-1729-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new approach to assess karstic groundwater recharge over Europe and the Mediterranean. Cluster analysis is used to subdivide all karst regions into four typical karst landscapes and to simulate karst recharge with a process-based karst model. We estimate its parameters by a combination of a priori information and observations of soil moisture and evapotranspiration. Independent observations of recharge that present large-scale models significantly under-estimate karstic recharge.
S. Galelli and A. Castelletti
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 2669–2684, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-2669-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-2669-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Catchment hydrology | Techniques and Approaches: Modelling approaches
Technical note: How many models do we need to simulate hydrologic processes across large geographical domains?
CONCN: a high-resolution, integrated surface water–groundwater ParFlow modeling platform of continental China
Evaluating the effects of topography and land use change on hydrological signatures: a comparative study of two adjacent watersheds
Technical note: What does the Standardized Streamflow Index actually reflect? Insights and implications for hydrological drought analysis
Long short-term memory networks for enhancing real-time flood forecasts: a case study for an underperforming hydrologic model
Assessing the value of high-resolution rainfall and streamflow data for hydrological modeling: an analysis based on 63 catchments in southeast China
Catchments do not strictly follow Budyko curves over multiple decades, but deviations are minor and predictable
Scale dependency in modeling nivo-glacial hydrological systems: the case of the Arolla basin, Switzerland
Extended-range forecasting of stream water temperature with deep-learning models
Technical note: An approach for handling multiple temporal frequencies with different input dimensions using a single LSTM cell
Projections of streamflow intermittence under climate change in European drying river networks
Economic valuation of subsurface water contributions to watershed ecosystem services using a fully integrated groundwater–surface-water model
Analyzing the generalization capabilities of a hybrid hydrological model for extrapolation to extreme events
CH-RUN: a deep-learning-based spatially contiguous runoff reconstruction for Switzerland
Runoff component quantification and future streamflow projection in a large mountainous basin based on a multidata-constrained cryospheric–hydrological model
Multi-variable process-based calibration of a behavioural hydrological model
Exploring the potential processes controlling changes in precipitation–runoff relationships in non-stationary environments
A diversity-centric strategy for the selection of spatio-temporal training data for LSTM-based streamflow forecasting
Simulating the Tone River eastward diversion project in Japan carried out 4 centuries ago
Lack of robustness of hydrological models: a large-sample diagnosis and an attempt to identify hydrological and climatic drivers
Achieving water budget closure through physical hydrological process modelling: insights from a large-sample study
Heavy-tailed flood peak distributions: what is the effect of the spatial variability of rainfall and runoff generation?
A Distributed Hybrid Physics-AI Framework for Learning Corrections of Internal Hydrological Fluxes and Enhancing High-Resolution Regionalized Flood Modeling
State updating of the Xin'anjiang model: joint assimilating streamflow and multi-source soil moisture data via the asynchronous ensemble Kalman filter with enhanced error models
Improving the hydrological consistency of a process-based solute-transport model by simultaneous calibration of streamflow and stream concentrations
Leveraging a time-series event separation method to disentangle time-varying hydrologic controls on streamflow – application to wildfire-affected catchments
The significance of the leaf area index for evapotranspiration estimation in SWAT-T for characteristic land cover types of West Africa
Improved representation of soil moisture processes through incorporation of cosmic-ray neutron count measurements in a large-scale hydrologic model
Spatio-temporal patterns and trends of streamflow in water-scarce Mediterranean basins
A large-sample modelling approach towards integrating streamflow and evaporation data for the Spanish catchments
Seasonal variation in land cover estimates reveals sensitivities and opportunities for environmental models
Soil moisture and precipitation intensity control the transit time distribution of quick flow in a flashy headwater catchment
Estimating response times, flow velocities, and roughness coefficients of Canadian Prairie basins
Learning landscape features from streamflow with autoencoders
Hydrological regime index for non-perennial rivers
Constraining pesticide degradation in conceptual distributed catchment models with compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA)
On the use of streamflow transformations for hydrological model calibration
Simulation-based inference for parameter estimation of complex watershed simulators
Comparative Hydrological Modeling of Snow-Cover and Frozen Ground Impacts Under Topographically Complex Conditions
Multi-scale soil moisture data and process-based modeling reveal the importance of lateral groundwater flow in a subarctic catchment
Catchment response to climatic variability: implications for root zone storage and streamflow predictions
Assesing the Value of High-Resolution Data and Parameters Transferability Across Temporal Scales in Hydrological Modeling: A Case Study in Northern China
Hybrid hydrological modeling for large alpine basins: a semi-distributed approach
Where can rewetting of forested peatland reduce extreme flows?
Karst aquifer discharge response to rainfall interpreted as anomalous transport
HESS Opinions: Never train a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network on a single basin
Large-sample hydrology – a few camels or a whole caravan?
Comment on “Are soils overrated in hydrology?” by Gao et al. (2023)
Multi-decadal fluctuations in root zone storage capacity through vegetation adaptation to hydro-climatic variability have minor effects on the hydrological response in the Neckar River basin, Germany
Adaptation of root zone storage capacity to climate change and its effects on future streamflow in Alpine catchments: towards non-stationary model parameters
Wouter J. M. Knoben, Ashwin Raman, Gaby J. Gründemann, Mukesh Kumar, Alain Pietroniro, Chaopeng Shen, Yalan Song, Cyril Thébault, Katie van Werkhoven, Andrew W. Wood, and Martyn P. Clark
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2361–2375, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2361-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2361-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrologic models are needed to provide simulations of water availability, floods, and droughts. The accuracy of these simulations is often quantified with so-called performance scores. A common thought is that different models are more or less applicable to different landscapes, depending on how the model works. We show that performance scores are not helpful in distinguishing between different models and thus cannot easily be used to select an appropriate model for a specific place.
Chen Yang, Zitong Jia, Wenjie Xu, Zhongwang Wei, Xiaolang Zhang, Yiguang Zou, Jeffrey McDonnell, Laura Condon, Yongjiu Dai, and Reed Maxwell
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2201–2218, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2201-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2201-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed the first high-resolution, integrated surface water–groundwater hydrologic model of the entirety of continental China using ParFlow. The model shows good performance in terms of streamflow and water table depth when compared to global data products and observations. It is essential for water resources management and decision-making in China within a consistent framework in the changing world. It also has significant implications for similar modeling in other places in the world.
Haifan Liu, Haochen Yan, and Mingfu Guan
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2109–2132, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2109-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2109-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Land changes and landscape features critically impact water systems. Studying two watersheds in China’s Greater Bay Area, we found slope strongly influences water processes in mountainous areas. However, this relationship is weak in the lower regions of steeper watersheds. Urbanization leads to an increase in annual surface runoff, while flatter watersheds exhibit a buffering capacity against this effect. However, this buffering capacity diminishes with increasing annual rainfall intensity.
Fabián Lema, Pablo A. Mendoza, Nicolás A. Vásquez, Naoki Mizukami, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, and Ximena Vargas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1981–2002, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1981-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1981-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrological droughts affect ecosystems and socioeconomic activities worldwide. Despite the fact that they are commonly described with the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI), there is limited understanding of what they truly reflect in terms of water cycle processes. Here, we used state-of-the-art hydrological models in Andean basins to examine drivers of SSI fluctuations. The results highlight the importance of careful selection of indices and timescales for accurate drought characterization and monitoring.
Sebastian Gegenleithner, Manuel Pirker, Clemens Dorfmann, Roman Kern, and Josef Schneider
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1939–1962, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1939-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1939-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate early-warning systems are crucial for reducing the damage caused by flooding events. In this study, we explored the potential of long short-term memory networks for enhancing the forecast accuracy of hydrologic models employed in operational flood forecasting. The presented approach elevated the investigated hydrologic model’s forecast accuracy for further ahead predictions and at flood event runoff.
Mahmut Tudaji, Yi Nan, and Fuqiang Tian
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1919–1937, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1919-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1919-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Common intuition holds that higher input data resolution leads to better results. To assess the benefits of high-resolution data, we conduct simulation experiments using data with various temporal resolutions across multiple catchments and find that higher-resolution data do not always improve model performance, challenging the necessity of pursuing such data. In catchments with small areas or significant flow variability, high-resolution data is more valuable.
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.
Anne-Laure Argentin, Pascal Horton, Bettina Schaefli, Jamal Shokory, Felix Pitscheider, Leona Repnik, Mattia Gianini, Simone Bizzi, Stuart N. Lane, and Francesco Comiti
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1725–1748, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1725-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1725-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this article, we show that by taking the optimal parameters calibrated with a semi-lumped model for the discharge at a catchment's outlet, we can accurately simulate runoff at various points within the study area, including three nested and three neighboring catchments. In addition, we demonstrate that employing more intricate melt models, which better represent physical processes, enhances the transfer of parameters in the simulation, until we observe overparameterization.
Ryan S. Padrón, Massimiliano Zappa, Luzi Bernhard, and Konrad Bogner
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1685–1702, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1685-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1685-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We generate operational forecasts of daily maximum stream water temperature for 32 consecutive days at 54 stations in Switzerland with our best-performing data-driven model. The average forecast error is 0.38 °C for 1 d ahead and increases to 0.90 °C for 32 d ahead given the uncertainty in the meteorological variables influencing water temperature. Here we compare the skill of several models, how well they can forecast at new and ungauged stations, and the importance of different model inputs.
Eduardo Acuña Espinoza, Frederik Kratzert, Daniel Klotz, Martin Gauch, Manuel Álvarez Chaves, Ralf Loritz, and Uwe Ehret
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1749–1758, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1749-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1749-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Long short-term memory (LSTM) networks have demonstrated state-of-the-art performance for rainfall-runoff hydrological modelling. However, most studies focus on predictions at a daily scale, limiting the benefits of sub-daily (e.g. hourly) predictions in applications like flood forecasting. In this study, we introduce a new architecture, multi-frequency LSTM (MF-LSTM), designed to use inputs of various temporal frequencies to produce sub-daily (e.g. hourly) predictions at a moderate computational cost.
Louise Mimeau, Annika Künne, Alexandre Devers, Flora Branger, Sven Kralisch, Claire Lauvernet, Jean-Philippe Vidal, Núria Bonada, Zoltán Csabai, Heikki Mykrä, Petr Pařil, Luka Polović, and Thibault Datry
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1615–1636, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1615-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1615-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our study projects how climate change will affect the drying of river segments and stream networks in Europe, using advanced modelling techniques to assess changes in six river networks across diverse ecoregions. We found that drying events will become more frequent and intense and will start earlier or last longer, potentially turning some river sections from perennial to intermittent. The results are valuable for river ecologists for evaluating the ecological health of river ecosystem.
Tariq Aziz, Steven K. Frey, David R. Lapen, Susan Preston, Hazen A. J. Russell, Omar Khader, Andre R. Erler, and Edward A. Sudicky
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1549–1568, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1549-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1549-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study determines the value of subsurface water for ecosystem services' supply in an agricultural watershed in Ontario, Canada. Using a fully integrated water model and an economic valuation approach, the research highlights subsurface water's critical role in maintaining watershed ecosystem services. The study informs on the sustainable use of subsurface water and introduces a new method for managing watershed ecosystem services.
Eduardo Acuña Espinoza, Ralf Loritz, Frederik Kratzert, Daniel Klotz, Martin Gauch, Manuel Álvarez Chaves, and Uwe Ehret
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1277–1294, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1277-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1277-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Data-driven techniques have shown the potential to outperform process-based models in rainfall–runoff simulations. Hybrid models, combining both approaches, aim to enhance accuracy and maintain interpretability. Expanding the set of test cases to evaluate hybrid models under different conditions, we test their generalization capabilities for extreme hydrological events.
Basil Kraft, Michael Schirmer, William H. Aeberhard, Massimiliano Zappa, Sonia I. Seneviratne, and Lukas Gudmundsson
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1061–1082, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1061-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1061-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study reconstructs daily runoff in Switzerland (1962–2023) using a deep-learning model, providing a spatially contiguous dataset on a medium-sized catchment grid. The model outperforms traditional hydrological methods, revealing shifts in Swiss water resources, including more frequent dry years and declining summer runoff. The reconstruction is publicly available.
Mengjiao Zhang, Yi Nan, and Fuqiang Tian
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1033–1060, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1033-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1033-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Owing to differences in the existing published results, we conducted a detailed analysis of the runoff components and future trends in the Yarlung Tsangpo River basin and found that the contributions of snowmelt and glacier melt runoff to streamflow (both ~5 %) are limited and much lower than previous results. The streamflow in this area will continuously increase in the future, but the overestimated contribution of glacier melt could lead to an underestimation of this increasing trend.
Moritz Maximilian Heuer, Hadysa Mohajerani, and Markus Christian Casper
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-636, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-636, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a calibration approach for water balance models. The different calibration steps aim at calibrating different hydrological processes: evapotranspiration, the runoff partitioning into surface runoff, interflow and groundwater recharge, as well as the groundwater behaviour. This allows for selection of a model parameterisation that correctly predicts the discharge at catchment outlet and simultaneously correctly depicts the underlying hydrological processes.
Tian Lan, Tongfang Li, Hongbo Zhang, Jiefeng Wu, Yongqin David Chen, and Chong-Yu Xu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 903–924, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-903-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-903-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study develops an integrated framework based on the novel Driving index for changes in Precipitation–Runoff Relationships (DPRR) to explore the controlling changes in precipitation–runoff relationships in non-stationary environments. According to the quantitative results of the candidate driving factors, the possible process explanations for changes in the precipitation–runoff relationships are deduced. The main contribution offers a comprehensive understanding of hydrological processes.
Everett Snieder and Usman T. Khan
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 785–798, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-785-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-785-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Improving the accuracy of flood forecasts is paramount to minimising flood damage. Machine learning (ML) models are increasingly being applied for flood forecasting. Such models are typically trained on large historic hydrometeorological datasets. In this work, we evaluate methods for selecting training datasets that maximise the spatio-temporal diversity of the represented hydrological processes. Empirical results showcase the importance of hydrological diversity in training ML models.
Joško Trošelj and Naota Hanasaki
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 753–766, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-753-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-753-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents the first distributed hydrological simulation which confirms claims raised by historians that the eastward diversion project of the Tone River in Japan was conducted 4 centuries ago to increase low flows and subsequent travelling possibilities surrounding the capital, Edo (Tokyo), using inland navigation. We showed that great steps forward can be made for improving quality of life with small human engineering waterworks and small interventions in the regime of natural flows.
Léonard Santos, Vazken Andréassian, Torben O. Sonnenborg, Göran Lindström, Alban de Lavenne, Charles Perrin, Lila Collet, and Guillaume Thirel
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 683–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-683-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-683-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work investigates how hydrological models are transferred to a period in which climate conditions are different to the ones of the period in which they were set up. The robustness assessment test built to detect dependencies between model error and climatic drivers was applied to three hydrological models in 352 catchments in Denmark, France and Sweden. Potential issues are seen in a significant number of catchments for the models, even though the catchments differ for each model.
Xudong Zheng, Dengfeng Liu, Shengzhi Huang, Hao Wang, and Xianmeng Meng
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 627–653, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-627-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-627-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Water budget non-closure is a widespread phenomenon among multisource datasets which undermines the robustness of hydrological inferences. This study proposes a Multisource Dataset Correction Framework grounded in Physical Hydrological Process Modelling to enhance water budget closure, termed PHPM-MDCF. We examined the efficiency and robustness of the framework using the CAMELS dataset and achieved an average reduction of 49 % in total water budget residuals across 475 CONUS basins.
Elena Macdonald, Bruno Merz, Viet Dung Nguyen, and Sergiy Vorogushyn
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 447–463, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-447-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-447-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Flood peak distributions indicate how likely the occurrence of an extreme flood is at a certain river. If the distribution has a so-called heavy tail, extreme floods are more likely than might be anticipated. We find heavier tails in small catchments compared to large catchments, and spatially variable rainfall leads to a lower occurrence probability of extreme floods. Spatially variable runoff does not show effects. The results can improve estimations of probabilities of extreme floods.
Ngo Nghi Truyen Huynh, Pierre-André Garambois, Benjamin Renard, François Colleoni, Jérôme Monnier, and Hélène Roux
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3665, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3665, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding and modeling flash flood-prone areas remains challenging due to limited data and scale-relevant hydrological theory. While machine learning shows promise, its integration with process-based models is difficult. We present an approach incorporating machine learning into a high-resolution hydrological model to correct internal fluxes and transfer parameters between watersheds. Results show improved accuracy, advancing development of learnable and interpretable process-based models.
Junfu Gong, Xingwen Liu, Cheng Yao, Zhijia Li, Albrecht H. Weerts, Qiaoling Li, Satish Bastola, Yingchun Huang, and Junzeng Xu
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 335–360, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-335-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-335-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our study introduces a new method to improve flood forecasting by combining soil moisture and streamflow data using an advanced data assimilation technique. By integrating field and reanalysis soil moisture data and assimilating this with streamflow measurements, we aim to enhance the accuracy of flood predictions. This approach reduces the accumulation of past errors in the initial conditions at the start of the forecast, helping to better prepare for and respond to floods.
Jordy Salmon-Monviola, Ophélie Fovet, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 127–158, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-127-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-127-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To increase the predictive power of hydrological models, it is necessary to improve their consistency, i.e. their physical realism, which is measured by the ability of the model to reproduce observed system dynamics. Using a model to represent the dynamics of water and nitrate and dissolved organic carbon concentrations in an agricultural catchment, we showed that using solute-concentration data for calibration is useful to improve the hydrological consistency of the model.
Haley A. Canham, Belize Lane, Colin B. Phillips, and Brendan P. Murphy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 27–43, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-27-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-27-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The influence of watershed disturbances has proved challenging to disentangle from natural streamflow variability. This study evaluates the influence of time-varying hydrologic controls on rainfall–runoff in undisturbed and wildfire-disturbed watersheds using a novel time-series event separation method. Across watersheds, water year type and season influenced rainfall–runoff patterns. Accounting for these controls enabled clearer isolation of wildfire effects.
Fabian Merk, Timo Schaffhauser, Faizan Anwar, Ye Tuo, Jean-Martial Cohard, and Markus Disse
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5511–5539, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5511-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5511-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Evapotranspiration (ET) is computed from the vegetation (plant transpiration) and soil (soil evaporation). In western Africa, plant transpiration correlates with vegetation growth. Vegetation is often represented using the leaf area index (LAI). In this study, we evaluate the importance of the LAI for ET calculation. We take a close look at this interaction and highlight its relevance. Our work contributes to the understanding of terrestrial water cycle processes .
Eshrat Fatima, Rohini Kumar, Sabine Attinger, Maren Kaluza, Oldrich Rakovec, Corinna Rebmann, Rafael Rosolem, Sascha E. Oswald, Luis Samaniego, Steffen Zacharias, and Martin Schrön
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5419–5441, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5419-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5419-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study establishes a framework to incorporate cosmic-ray neutron measurements into the mesoscale Hydrological Model (mHM). We evaluate different approaches to estimate neutron counts within the mHM using the Desilets equation, with uniformly and non-uniformly weighted average soil moisture, and the physically based code COSMIC. The data improved not only soil moisture simulations but also the parameterisation of evapotranspiration in the model.
Laia Estrada, Xavier Garcia, Joan Saló-Grau, Rafael Marcé, Antoni Munné, and Vicenç Acuña
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5353–5373, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5353-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5353-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrological modelling is a powerful tool to support decision-making. We assessed spatio-temporal patterns and trends of streamflow for 2001–2022 with a hydrological model, integrating stakeholder expert knowledge on management operations. The results provide insight into how climate change and anthropogenic pressures affect water resources availability in regions vulnerable to water scarcity, thus raising the need for sustainable management practices and integrated hydrological modelling.
Patricio Yeste, Matilde García-Valdecasas Ojeda, Sonia R. Gámiz-Fortis, Yolanda Castro-Díez, Axel Bronstert, and María Jesús Esteban-Parra
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5331–5352, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5331-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5331-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Integrating streamflow and evaporation data can help improve the physical realism of hydrologic models. We investigate the capabilities of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) to reproduce both hydrologic variables for 189 headwater located in Spain. Results from sensitivity analyses indicate that adding two vegetation parameters is enough to improve the representation of evaporation and that the performance of VIC exceeded that of the largest modelling effort currently available in Spain.
Daniel T. Myers, David Jones, Diana Oviedo-Vargas, John Paul Schmit, Darren L. Ficklin, and Xuesong Zhang
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5295–5310, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5295-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5295-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how streamflow and water quality models respond to land cover data collected by satellites during the growing season versus the non-growing season. The land cover data showed more trees during the growing season and more built areas during the non-growing season. We next found that the use of non-growing season data resulted in a higher modeled nutrient export to streams. Knowledge of these sensitivities would be particularly important when models inform water resource management.
Hatice Türk, Christine Stumpp, Markus Hrachowitz, Karsten Schulz, Peter Strauss, Günter Blöschl, and Michael Stockinger
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-359, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-359, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
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 are also controlled by precipitation intensity. We used soil moisture-dependent and precipitation intensity-conditional transfer functions. We showed that 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.
Kevin R. Shook, Paul H. Whitfield, Christopher Spence, and John W. Pomeroy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5173–5192, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5173-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5173-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Recent studies suggest that the velocities of water running off landscapes in the Canadian Prairies may be much smaller than generally assumed. Analyses of historical flows for 23 basins in central Alberta show that many of the rivers responded more slowly and that the flows are much slower than would be estimated from equations developed elsewhere. The effects of slow flow velocities on the development of hydrological models of the region are discussed, as are the possible causes.
Alberto Bassi, Marvin Höge, Antonietta Mira, Fabrizio Fenicia, and Carlo Albert
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4971–4988, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4971-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4971-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The goal is to remove the impact of meteorological drivers in order to uncover the unique landscape fingerprints of a catchment from streamflow data. Our results reveal an optimal two-feature summary for most catchments, with a third feature associated with aridity and intermittent flow that is needed for challenging cases. Baseflow index, aridity, and soil or vegetation attributes strongly correlate with learnt features, indicating their importance for streamflow prediction.
Pablo Fernando Dornes and Rocío Noelia Comas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-338, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-338, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
The Desaguadero-Salado-Chadiluevú-Curacó (DSCC) River is a semiarid river which is severely dammed in its tributaries which collect the snowmelt runoff. This runoff feeds mostly gravitational irrigation systems of very low efficiency. As a result, the DSCC River does not have natural runoff. The proposed Hydrological Regime Index (HRI) is able to discriminate and quantify regime alterations under permanent and non-permanent flow conditions and with low and high impoundment conditions.
Sylvain Payraudeau, Pablo Alvarez-Zaldivar, Paul van Dijk, and Gwenaël Imfeld
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2840, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2840, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our study focuses on the rising concern of pesticides damaging aquatic ecosystems, which puts drinking water, the environment, and human health at risk. We provided more accurate estimates of how pesticides break down and spread in small water systems, helping to improve pesticide management practices. By using unique chemical markers in our analysis, we enhanced the accuracy of our predictions, offering important insights for better protection of water sources and natural ecosystems.
Guillaume Thirel, Léonard Santos, Olivier Delaigue, and Charles Perrin
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4837–4860, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4837-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4837-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We discuss how mathematical transformations impact calibrated hydrological model simulations. We assess how 11 transformations behave over the complete range of streamflows. Extreme transformations lead to models that are specialized for extreme streamflows but show poor performance outside the range of targeted streamflows and are less robust. We show that no a priori assumption about transformations can be taken as warranted.
Robert Hull, Elena Leonarduzzi, Luis De La Fuente, Hoang Viet Tran, Andrew Bennett, Peter Melchior, Reed M. Maxwell, and Laura E. Condon
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4685–4713, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4685-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4685-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Large-scale hydrologic simulators are a needed tool to explore complex watershed processes and how they may evolve with a changing climate. However, calibrating them can be difficult because they are costly to run and have many unknown parameters. We implement a state-of-the-art approach to model calibration using neural networks with a set of experiments based on streamflow in the upper Colorado River basin.
Nan Wu, Ke Zhang, Amir Naghibi, Hossein Hashemi, Zhongrui Ning, Qinuo Zhang, Xuejun Yi, Haijun Wang, Wei Liu, Wei Gao, and Jerker Jarsjö
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-324, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-324, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
The hydrology of cold regions in the human population is poorly understood due to complex motion and limited data, hindering streamflow analysis. Using existing models, we compared runoff from an extended model with snowmelt and frozen ground, validating its reliability and integration. This study focuses on the effects of snowmelt and frozen ground on runoff, affecting precipitation type, surface-groundwater partitioning, and evapotranspiration.
Jari-Pekka Nousu, Kersti Leppä, Hannu Marttila, Pertti Ala-aho, Giulia Mazzotti, Terhikki Manninen, Mika Korkiakoski, Mika Aurela, Annalea Lohila, and Samuli Launiainen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4643–4666, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4643-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4643-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used hydrological models, field measurements, and satellite-based data to study the soil moisture dynamics in a subarctic catchment. The role of groundwater was studied with different ways to model the groundwater dynamics and via comparisons to the observational data. The choice of groundwater model was shown to have a strong impact, and representation of lateral flow was important to capture wet soil conditions. Our results provide insights for ecohydrological studies in boreal regions.
Nienke Tempel, Laurène Bouaziz, Riccardo Taormina, Ellis van Noppen, Jasper Stam, Eric Sprokkereef, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4577–4597, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4577-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4577-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores the impact of climatic variability on root zone water storage capacities and, thus, on hydrological predictions. Analysing data from 286 areas in Europe and the US, we found that, despite some variations in root zone storage capacity due to changing climatic conditions over multiple decades, these changes are generally minor and have a limited effect on water storage and river flow predictions.
Mahmut Tudaji, Yi Nan, and Fuqiang Tian
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2966, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2966, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We assessed the value of high-resolution data and parameters transferability across temporal scales based on 7 catchments in northern China. We found that higher resolution data does not always improve model performance, questioning the need for such data; Model parameters are transferable across different data resolutions, but not across computational time steps. It is recommended to utilize smaller computational time step when building hydrological models even without high-resolution data.
Bu Li, Ting Sun, Fuqiang Tian, Mahmut Tudaji, Li Qin, and Guangheng Ni
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4521–4538, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4521-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4521-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper developed hybrid semi-distributed hydrological models by employing a process-based model as the backbone and utilizing deep learning to parameterize and replace internal modules. The main contribution is to provide a high-performance tool enriched with explicit hydrological knowledge for hydrological prediction and to improve understanding about the hydrological sensitivities to climate change in large alpine basins.
Maria Elenius, Charlotta Pers, Sara Schützer, and Berit Arheimer
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-271, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-271, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
Simulations of peatland rewetting in Sweden under various conditions of climate, local hydrology and rewetting practices showed insubstantial changes in landscape flow extremes due to mixing with runoff from various landcover. The impact on local hydrological extremes are governed by groundwater levels prior to rewetting and reduced tree cover, hence wetland allocation and management practices are crucial if the purpose is to reduce flow extremes in peatland streams.
Dan Elhanati, Nadine Goeppert, and Brian Berkowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4239–4249, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4239-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4239-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A continuous time random walk framework was developed to allow modeling of a karst aquifer discharge response to measured rainfall. The application of the numerical model yielded robust fits between modeled and measured discharge values, especially for the distinctive long tails found during recession times. The findings shed light on the interplay of slow and fast flow in the karst system and establish the application of the model for simulating flow and transport in such systems.
Frederik Kratzert, Martin Gauch, Daniel Klotz, and Grey Nearing
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4187–4201, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4187-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4187-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Recently, a special type of neural-network architecture became increasingly popular in hydrology literature. However, in most applications, this model was applied as a one-to-one replacement for hydrology models without adapting or rethinking the experimental setup. In this opinion paper, we show how this is almost always a bad decision and how using these kinds of models requires the use of large-sample hydrology data sets.
Franziska Clerc-Schwarzenbach, Giovanni Selleri, Mattia Neri, Elena Toth, Ilja van Meerveld, and Jan Seibert
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4219–4237, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4219-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4219-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We show that the differences between the forcing data included in three CAMELS datasets (US, BR, GB) and the forcing data included for the same catchments in the Caravan dataset affect model calibration considerably. The model performance dropped when the data from the Caravan dataset were used instead of the original data. Most of the model performance drop could be attributed to the differences in precipitation data. However, differences were largest for the potential evapotranspiration data.
Ying Zhao, Mehdi Rahmati, Harry Vereecken, and Dani Or
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4059–4063, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4059-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4059-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Gao et al. (2023) question the importance of soil in hydrology, sparking debate. We acknowledge some valid points but critique their broad, unsubstantiated views on soil's role. Our response highlights three key areas: (1) the false divide between ecosystem-centric and soil-centric approaches, (2) the vital yet varied impact of soil properties, and (3) the call for a scale-aware framework. We aim to unify these perspectives, enhancing hydrology's comprehensive understanding.
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.
Magali Ponds, Sarah Hanus, Harry Zekollari, Marie-Claire ten Veldhuis, Gerrit Schoups, Roland Kaitna, and Markus Hrachowitz
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-260, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-260, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for HESS
Short summary
Short summary
This research examines how future climate changes impact root zone storage, a crucial hydrological model parameter. Root zone storage—the soil water accessible to plants—adapts to climate but is often treated as constant in models. We estimated climate-adapted storage for six Austrian Alps catchments. Although storage increased, streamflow projections showed minimal change, indicating that dynamic root zone representation is less critical in humid regions but warrants more study in arid areas.
Cited articles
Biancamaria, S., Lettenmaier, D. P., and Pavelsky, T. M.: The SWOT mission
and its capabilities for land hydrology, Springer International Publishing, 117–147, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32449-4_6, 2016. a
Bierkens, M. F. P.: Global hydrology 2015: State, trends, and directions,
Water Resour. Res., 51, 4923–4947, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015wr017173, 2015. a, b
Birkinshaw, S. J., O'Donnell, G. M., Moore, P., Kilsby, C. G., Fowler, H. J.,
and Berry, P. A. M.: Using satellite altimetry data to augment flow
estimation techniques on the Mekong River, Hydrol. Process., 24,
3811–3825, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7811, 2010. a
Biswas, N. K., Hossain, F., Bonnema, M., Lee, H., and Chishtie, F.: Towards a
global Reservoir Assessment Tool for predicting hydrologic impacts and
operating patterns of existing and planned reservoirs, Environ. Model. Softw., 140, 105043, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105043, 2021. a
Bonnema, M. and Hossain, F.: Inferring reservoir operating patterns across the Mekong Basin using only space observations, Water Resour. Res., 53,
3791–3810, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016wr019978, 2017. a, b
Bose, I., Jayasinghe, S., Meechaiya, C., Ahmad, S. K., Biswas, N., and Hossain, F.: Developing a baseline characterization of river bathymetry and
time-Varying height for Chindwin River in Myanmar using SRTM and
Landsat data, J. Hydrol. Eng., 26, 05021030,
https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)he.1943-5584.0002126, 2021. a
Chow, V. T.: Open-channel hydraulic, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, ISBN 007085906X, ISBN 9780070859067, 1959. a
Chowdhury, A. K., Dang, T. D., Nguyen, H. T. T., Koh, R., and Galelli, S.: The Greater Mekong's climate-water-energy nexus: How ENSO-triggered
regional droughts affect power supply and CO2 emissions, Earth's Future,
9, e2020ef001814, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020ef001814, 2021. a
Chuphal, D. S. and Mishra, V.: Increased hydropower but with an elevated risk
of reservoir operations in India under the warming climate, iScience, 26, 105986, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.105986, 2023. a
Costa-Cabral, M. C., Richey, J. E., Goteti, G., Lettenmaier, D. P.,
Feldkötter, C., and Snidvongs, A.: Landscape structure and use, climate, and water movement in the Mekong River Basin, Hydrol. Process., 22,
1731–1746, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6740, 2007. a
Critical-Infrastructure-Systems-Lab: VICRes, GitHub [code], https://github.com/Critical-Infrastructure-Systems-Lab/VICRes (last access: 29 September 2023), 2023. a
Dahiti: Database for Hydrological Time Series of Inland Waters (DAHITI), https://dahiti.dgfi.tum.de/ (last access: 29 September 2023), 2023. a
Dan, L., Ji, J., Xie, Z., Chen, F., Wen, G., and Richey, J. E.: Hydrological
projections of climate change scenarios over the 3H region of China: A
VIC model assessment, J. Geogr. Res., 117, D11102,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011jd017131, 2012. a
Dang, T. D., Chowdhury, A. K., and Galelli, S.: On the representation of water reservoir storage and operations in large-scale hydrological models:
implications on model parameterization and climate change impact assessments, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 397–416, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-397-2020, 2020a. a, b, c, d, e
Dang, T. D., Vu, D. T., Chowdhury, A. K., and Galelli, S.: A software package
for the representation and optimization of water reservoir operations in the
VIC hydrologic model, Environ. Model. Softw., 126, 104673,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2020.104673, 2020b. a, b
Dawson, C. W., Abrahart, R. J., and See, L. M.: HydroTest: Further
development of a web resource for the standardised assessment of hydrological
models, Environ. Model. Softw., 25, 1481–1482, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.01.001, 2010. a
Döll, P., Berkhoff, K., Bormann, H., Fohrer, N., Gerten, D., Hagemann, S., and Krol, M.: Advances and visions in large-scale hydrological modelling:
findings from the 11th Workshop on large-scale hydrological modelling,
Adv. Geosci., 18, 51–56, https://doi.org/10.5194/adgeo-18-51-2008, 2008. a
dtvu2205: 210520, GitHub [code and data st], https://github.com/dtvu2205/210520 (last access: 29 September 2023), 2023. a
Du, T. L. T., Lee, H., Bui, D. D., Arheimer, B., Li, H.-Y., Olsson, J., Darby, S. E., Sheffield, J., Kim, D., and Hwang, E.: Streamflow prediction in
“geopolitically ungauged” basins using satellite observations and
regionalization at subcontinental scale, J. Hydrol., 588, 125016,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125016, 2020. a
Durand, M., Gleason, C. J., Garambois, P. A., Bjerklie, D., Smith, L. C., Roux, H., Rodriguez, E., Bates, P. D., Pavelsky, T. M., Monnier, J., Chen, X., Baldassarre, G. D., Fiset, J.-M., Flipo, N., d. M. Frasson, R. P., Fulton, J., Goutal, N., Hossain, F., Humphries, E., Minear, J. T., Mukolwe, M. M., Neal, J. C., Ricci, S., Sanders, B. F., Schumann, G., Schubert, J. E., and Vilmin, L.: An intercomparison of remote sensing river discharge estimation algorithms from measurements of river height, width, and slope, Water Resour. Res., 52, 4527–4549, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015wr018434, 2016. a
Efstratiadis, A. and Koutsoyiannis, D.: One decade of multi-objective
calibration approaches in hydrological modelling: A review, Hydrolog. Sci. J., 55, 58–78, https://doi.org/10.1080/02626660903526292, 2010. a
Egüen, M., Aguilar, C., Herrero, J., Millares, A., and Polo, M. J.: On the influence of cell size in physically-based distributed hydrological modelling to assess extreme values in water resource planning, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 12, 1573–1582, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-12-1573-2012, 2012. a
Engineering ToolBox: Manning's roughness coefficients,
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/mannings-roughness-d_799.html (last access: 22 December 2022), 2004. a
Franchini, M. and Pacciani, M.: Comparative analysis of several conceptual
rainfall-runoff models, J. Hydrol., 122, 161–219, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(91)90178-k, 1991. a
Funk, C., Peterson, P., Landsfeld, M., Pedreros, D., Verdin, J., Shukla, S.,
Rowland, G. H. J., Harrison, L., and Michaelsen, A. H. J.: The climate
hazards infrared precipitation with stations – a new environmental record for monitoring extremes, Sci. Data, 2, 150066, https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2015.66, 2015. a
Galelli, S., Dang, T. D., Ng, J. Y., Chowdhury, A. K., and Arias, M. E.:
Opportunities to curb hydrological alterations via dam re-operation in the
Mekong, Nat. Sustainabil., 5, 1058–1069, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00971-z, 2022. a
Gao, H., Birkett, C., and Lettenmaier, D. P.: Global monitoring of large
reservoir storage from satellite remote sensing, Water Resour. Res., 48, w09504, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012wr012063, 2012. a
Gleason, C. J. and Smith, L. C.: Toward global mapping of river discharge using satellite images and at-many-stations hydraulic geometry, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111, 4788–4791, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1317606111, 2014. a
Grill, G., Lehner, B., Thieme, M., Geenen, B., Tickner, D., Antonelli, F.,
Babu, S., Borrelli, P., Cheng, L., Crochetiere, H., Macedo, H. E.,
Filgueiras, R., Goichot, M., Higgins, J., Hogan, Z., Lip, B., McClain, M. E.,
Meng, J., Mulligan, M., Nilsson, C., Olden, J. D., Opperman, J. J., Petry,
P., Liermann, C. R., Sáenz, L., Salinas-Rodríguez, S., Schelle, P., Schmitt, R. J. P., Snider, J., Tan, F., Tockner, K., Valdujo, P. H., van Soesbergen, A., and Zarfl, C.: Mapping the world's free-flowing rivers, Nature, 59, 215–221, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9, 2019. a
Haddeland, I., Skaugen, T., and Lettenmaier, D. P.: Anthropogenic impacts on
continental surface water fluxes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, l08406,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2006gl026047, 2006. a
Haddeland, I., Heinke, J., Biemans, H., Eisner, S., Florke, M., Hanasaki, N.,
Konzmann, M., and Ludwig, F.: Global water resources affected by human
interventions and climate change, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111, 3251–3256,
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1222475110, 2014. a
Hagemann, M. W., Gleason, C. J., and Durand, M. T.: BAM: Bayesian
AMHG-Manning inference of discharge using remotely sensed stream width,
slope, and height, Water Resour. Res., 53, 9692–9707, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017wr021626, 2017. a
Hecht, J. S., Lacombe, G., Arias, M. E., Dang, T. D., and Pimanh, T.:
Hydropower dams of the Mekong River Basin: A review of their
hydrological impactss, J. Hydrol., 568, 285–300, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.10.045, 2019. a
Hrachowitz, M., Savenije, H. H. G., Blöschl, G., McDonnell, J. J., Sivapalan,
M., Pomeroy, J. W., Arheimer, B., Blume, T., Clark, M. P., Ehret, U.,
Fenicia, F., Freer, J. E., Gelfan, A., Gupta, H. V., Hughes, D. A., Hut,
R. W., Montanari, A., Pande, S., Tetzlaff, D., Troch, P. A., Uhlenbrook, S.,
Wagener, T., Winsemius, H. C., Woods, R. A., Zehe, E., and Cudennec, C.: A
decade of Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB) – a review, Hydrolog. Sci. J., 58, 1198–1255, https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2013.803183, 2013. a
Huang, Q., Long, D., Du, M., Han, Z., and Han, P.: Daily continuous river
discharge estimation for ungauged basins using a hydrologic model calibrated
by satellite altimetry: Implications for the SWOT mission, Water Resour. Res., 56, e2020wr027309, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020wr027309, 2020. a
International Rivers: The environmental and social impacts of Lancang dams,
https://archive.internationalrivers.org/sites/default/files/attached-files/ir_lancang_dams_researchbrief_final.pdf
(last access: 22 April 2023), 2014. a
Johnson, K.: China commits to share year-round water data with Mekong River Commission, Reuters,
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mekong-river/china-commits-to-share-year-round-water-data-with-mekong
(last access: 22 December 2022), 2020. a
JPL: SWOT: Surface Water and Ocean Topography,
https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/ (last access: 22 December 2022), 2022. a
Kabir, T., Pokhrel, Y., and Felfelani, F.: On the precipitation-induced
uncertainties in process-based hydrological modeling in the Mekong River
Basin, Water Resour. Res., 58, e2021wr030828, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021wr030828, 2022. a, b, c
Khan, S. I., Hong, Y., Vergara, H. J., Gourley, J. J., Brakenridge, G. R.,
Groeve, T. D., Flamig, Z. L., Policelli, F., and Yong, B.: Microwave satellite data for hydrologic modeling in ungauged basins, IEEE Geosci. Remote Sens. Lett., 9, 663–667, https://doi.org/10.1109/lgrs.2011.2177807, 2012. a
Liang, X., Lettenmaier, D. P., Wood, E. F., and Burges, S. J.: A simple
hydrologically based model of land surface water and energy fluxes for
general circulation models, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 99, 14415–14428, https://doi.org/10.1029/94jd00483, 2014. a
Lima, F. N., Fernandes, W., and Nascimento, N.: Joint calibration of a
hydrological model and rating curve parameters for simulation of flash flood
in urban areas, Brazil. J. Water Resour., 24, https://doi.org/10.1590/2318-0331.241920180066, 2019. a, b
Liu, G., Schwartz, F. W., Tseng, K.-H., and Shum, C. K.: Discharge and
water-depth estimates for ungauged rivers: Combining hydrologic, hydraulic,
and inverse modeling with stage and water-area measurements from satellites,
Water Resour. Res., 51, 6017–6035, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015wr016971, 2015. a
Lohmann, D., Nolte-Holube, R., and Raschke, E.: A large-scale horizontal
routing model to be coupled to land surface parametrization schemes, Tellus A, 48, 708–721, https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v48i5.12200, 1996. a
Lohmann, D., Raschke, E., Nijssen, B., and Lettenmaier, D. P.: Regional scale
hydrology: I. Formulation of the VIC-2L model coupled to a routing
model, Hydrolog. Sci. J., 43, 131–141, https://doi.org/10.1080/02626669809492107, 1998. a
MRC: The flow of the Mekong, Mekong River Commission Secretariat, Vientiane, https://www.mrcmekong.org/assets/Publications/report-management-develop/MRC-IM-No2-the-flow-of-the-mekong.pdf (last access: 22 December 2022), 2009. a
MRC – Mekong River Commission: Discharge Time-series, https://portal.mrcmekong.org/time-series/discharge/ (last access: 22 December 2022), 2022. a
Nazemi, A. and Wheater, H. S.: On inclusion of water resource management in
Earth system models – Part 1: Problem definition and representation of
water demand, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 33–61, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-33-2015, 2015a. a
Nazemi, A. and Wheater, H. S.: On inclusion of water resource management in
Earth system models – Part 2: Representation of water supply and allocation and opportunities for improved modeling, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 63–90, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-63-2015, 2015b. a
Papa, F., Bala, S. K., Pandey, R. K., Durand, F., Gopalakrishna, V. V., Rahman, A., and Rossow, W. B.: Ganga-Brahmaputra river discharge from Jason-2 radar altimetry: An update to the long-term satellite-derived estimates of continental freshwater forcing flux into the Bay of Bengal, J. Geophys. Res., 117, c11021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012jc008158, 2012. a
Park, D. and Markus, M.: Analysis of a changing hydrologic flood regime using
the Variable Infiltration Capacity model, J. Hydrol., 515, 627–280, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.05.004, 2014. a
Pianosi, F., Beven, K., Freer, J., Hall, J. W., Rougier, J., Stephenson, D. B., and Wagener, T.: Sensitivity analysis of environmental models: A systematic review with practical workflow, Environ. Model. Softw., 79,
214–232, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.02.008, 2016. a
Reed, P. M., Hadka, D., Herman, J. D., Kasprzyk, J. R., and Kollat, J. B.:
Evolutionary multiobjective optimization in water resources: The past,
present, and future, Adv. Water Resour., 51, 438–456, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.01.005, 2013. a, b
Ren-Jun, Z.: The Xinanjiang model applied in China, J. Hydrol., 135, 371–381, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(92)90096-e, 1992. a
Shin, S., Pokhrel, Y., Yamazaki, D., Huang, X., Torbick, N., Qi, J.,
Pattanakiat, S., Ngo-Duc, T., and Nguyen, T. D.: High resolution modeling of
river-floodplain-reservoir inundation dynamics in the Mekong River Basin, Water Resour. Res., 56, e2019wr026449, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019wr026449, 2020. a
Steyaert, J. C., Condon, L. E., Turner, S. W. D., and Voisin, N.: ResOpsUS, a dataset of historical reservoir operations in the contiguous United
States, Sci. Data, 9, 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01134-7, 2022. a
Sun, W., Fan, J., Wang, G., Ishidaira, H., Bastola, S., Yu, J., Fu, Y. H.,
Kiem, A. S., Zuo, D., and Xu, Z.: Calibrating a hydrological model in a
regional river of the Qinghai–Tibet plateau using river water width
determined from high spatial resolution satellite images, Remote Sens. Environ., 214, 100–114, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.05.020, 2018. a
Tarpanelli, A., Paris, A., Sichangi, A. W., OLoughlin, F., and Papa, F.: Water resources in Africa: The role of earth observation data and hydrodynamic modeling to derive river discharge, Surv. Geophys., 44, 97–122,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-022-09744-x, 2022. a
Tatsumi, K. and Yamashiki, Y.: Effect of irrigation water withdrawals on water and energy balance in the Mekong River Basin using an improved VIC land surface model with fewer calibration parameters, Agr. Water Manage., 159, 92–106, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2015.05.011, 2015. a
Todini, E.: The ARNO rainfall–runoff model, J. Hydrol., 175, 339–382, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(96)80016-3, 1996. a
USGS – United States Geological Survey: Space Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM, https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ (last access: 22 December 2022), 2022. a
van Vliet, M. T. H., Wiberg, D., Leduc, S., and Riahi, K.: Power-generation
system vulnerability and adaptation to changes in climate and water resources, Nat. Clim. Change, 6, 375–380, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2903, 2016. a
Vegad, U. and Mishra, V.: Ensemble streamflow prediction considering the
influence of reservoirs in India, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 6361–6378, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-6361-2022, 2022. a
Vu, D. T.: Codes and data of satellite observations reveal 13 years of
reservoir filling strategies, operating rules, and hydrological alterations
in the Upper Mekong River Basin, Zenodo [code and data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6299041, 2022. a
Vu, D. T., Dang, T. D., Galelli, S., and Hossain, F.: Satellite observations
reveal 13 years of reservoir filling strategies, operating rules, and
hydrological alterations in the Upper Mekong River basin, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2345–2364, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-2345-2022, 2022. a, b, c, d, e, f
Wagener, T. and Pianosi, F.: What has Global Sensitivity Analysis ever
done for us? A systematic review to support scientific advancement and to
inform policy-making in earth system modelling, Earth-Sci. Rev., 194, 1–18, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.04.006, 2019. a
Wi, S., Ray, P., M.C.Demaria, E., Steinschneider, S., and Brown, C.: A
user-friendly software package for VIC hydrologic model development,
Environ. Model. Softw., 98, 35–53, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2017.09.006, 2017. a
WLE Mekong: Greater Mekong dam observatory,
https://wle-mekong.cgiar.org/changes/our-research/greater-mekong-dams-observatory/
(last access: 22 December 2022), 2022. a
Xiong, J., Guo, S., and Yin, J.: Discharge estimation using integrated
satellite data and hybrid model in the Midstream Yangtze River, Remote
Sens., 13, 2272, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13122272, 2021. a
Xue, X., Zhang, K., Hong, Y., and Gourley, J. J.: New multisite cascading
calibration approach for hydrological models: Case study in the Red
River Basin using the VIC model, J. Hydrol. Eng., 21, 05015019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-3735-2019, 2015.
a
Yeste, P., Ojeda, M. G.-V., Gámiz-Fortis, S. R., Castro-Díez, Y., and
Esteban-Parra, M. J.: Integrated sensitivity analysis of a macroscale
hydrologic model in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, J. Hydrol., 590, 125230, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125230, 2020. a, b
Yun, X., Tang, Q., Wang, J., Liu, X., Zhang, Y., Lu, H., Wang, Y., Zhang, L.,
and Chen, D.: Impacts of climate change and reservoir operation on streamflow
and flood characteristics in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin, J. Hydrol., 590, 125472, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125472, 2020. a
Zhai, K., Wu, X., Qin, Y., and Du, P.: Comparison of surface water extraction
performances of different classic water indices using OLI and TM
imageries in different situations, Geospat. Inform. Sci., 18, 34–42, https://doi.org/10.1080/10095020.2015.1017911, 2015. a
Zhang, S., Gao, H., and Naz, B. S.: Monitoring reservoir storage in South
Asia from multisatellite remote sensing, Water Resour. Res., 50, 8927–8943, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014wr015829, 2014. a
Short summary
The calibration of hydrological models over extensive spatial domains is often challenged by the lack of data on river discharge and the operations of hydraulic infrastructures. Here, we use satellite data to address the lack of data that could unintentionally bias the calibration process. Our study is underpinned by a computational framework that quantifies this bias and provides a safe approach to the calibration of models in poorly gauged and heavily regulated basins.
The calibration of hydrological models over extensive spatial domains is often challenged by the...
