Scale dependency in modeling nivo-glacial hydrological systems: the case of the Arolla basin, Switzerland

Argentin, Anne-Laure; Horton, Pascal; Schaefli, Bettina; Shokory, Jamal; Pitscheider, Felix; Repnik, Leona; Gianini, Mattia; Bizzi, Simone; Lane, Stuart N.; Comiti, Francesco

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1725-2025

Articles | Volume 29, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1725-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1725-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 29, issue 6

Research article

|

26 Mar 2025

Research article |

| 26 Mar 2025

Scale dependency in modeling nivo-glacial hydrological systems: the case of the Arolla basin, Switzerland

Anne-Laure Argentin, Pascal Horton, Bettina Schaefli, Jamal Shokory, Felix Pitscheider, Leona Repnik, Mattia Gianini, Simone Bizzi, Stuart N. Lane, and Francesco Comiti

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1725-2025-supplement

Data sets

Swiss Glacier Inventory 2016 Glacier Monitoring Switzerland (GLAMOS) https://doi.org/10.18750/inventory.2016.r2020

Spatial Climate Analyses MeteoSwiss https://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/climate/the-climate-of-switzerland/spatial-climate-analyses.html

DHM25 SwissTopo https://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/en/height-model-dhm25

GeoCover SwissTopo https://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/en/geological-model-2d-geocover

Landsat USGS https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

Model code and software

Hydrobricks: v0.7.2 P. Horton and A. L. Argentin https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11082505

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.