To overcome the computational cost of numerical models, we propose a deep-learning approach inspired by hydraulic models that can simulate the spatio-temporal evolution of floods. We show that the model can rapidly predict dike breach floods over different topographies and breach locations, with limited use of ground-truth data.

We found that, in the 0–30 cm soil layer, soil water retention and soil water content in normal Kobresia meadow (NM) were higher than those in biocrust meadow (BM), whereas the 30–40 cm layer's soil water retention and soil water content in NM were lower than those in BM. The topsoil infiltration rate in BM was lower than that in NM. Our findings revealed that the establishment of biocrust did not improve soil water retention and infiltration.

Ski resorts are a key socio-economic asset of several mountain areas. Grooming and snowmaking are routinely used to manage the snow cover on ski pistes, but despite vivid debate, little is known about their impact on water resources downstream. This study quantifies, for the pilot ski resort La Plagne in the French Alps, the impact of grooming and snowmaking on downstream river flow. Hydrological impacts are mostly apparent at the seasonal scale and rather neutral on the annual scale.

Streamflow recession, shaped by landscape and rainfall, is not well understood. This study examines their combined impact using data from 19 mountainous rivers. Longer, gentler hillslopes promote flow and reduce nonlinearity, while larger catchments with more rainfall show increased landscape heterogeneity. In small catchments, the exponent decreases with rainfall, indicating less landscape and runoff variation. Further research is needed to validate these findings across diverse regions.

Understanding groundwater travel time (groundwater age) is crucial for tracking flow and contaminants. While groundwater age is usually inferred from age tracers, this study utilised two machine learning techniques with common groundwater chemistry data. The results of both methods correspond to traditional approaches. They are useful where hydrochemistry data exist but age tracer data are limited. These methods could help enhance our knowledge, aiding in sustainable freshwater management.

Hydraulic properties of soil include the ability of water to move through the soil and the amount of water that is held in the soil in dry or wet conditions. In this work, we further investigate a protocol used to evaluate such hydraulic properties. We propose a modified version of the protocol, with which we show (i) how the data obtained with this protocol are influenced by the soil hydraulic properties and (ii) how one can use it to estimate these properties.

Many remote sensing products for precipitation, evapotranspiration, and water storage variations exist. However, when these are used with in situ runoff data in water balance closure studies, no single combination of products consistently outperforms others. We analyzed the water balance closure using different products in catchments worldwide and related the results to catchment characteristics. Our results can help identify the dataset combinations best suited for use in different catchments.

Climate models are central to climate change impact studies. Some models project a future deemed too hot by many. We looked at how including hot models may skew the result of impact studies. Applied to hydrology, this study shows that hot models do not systematically produce hydrological outliers.