Articles | Volume 29, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4093-2025
© Author(s) 2025. 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-29-4093-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
04 Sep 2025
Research article |
| 04 Sep 2025
| 04 Sep 2025
Multi-instrumental monitoring of snowmelt infiltration in Vallon de Nant, Swiss Alps
Judith Eeckman
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Geography and Sustainability, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Brian De Grenus
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Floreana Marie Miesen
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
James Thornton
Mountain Research Initiative, c/o University of Bern, Switzerland
Philip Brunner
Center for Hydrogeology and Geothermics (CHYN), University of Neuchatel, Switzerland
Nadav Peleg
Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Expertise Center for Climate Extremes, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
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An upgraded version of a numerical solver is introduced to better capture the three-dimensional interactions between surface water and groundwater. Built using open-source software, it adds new features to handle the complexity of real environments, including the representation of subsurface geology and the simulation of diverse dynamic processes, such as solute transport and heat transfer, in both domains. A test case and a full description of the novel features are provided in this paper.
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Climate change is escalating the risks related to hydro-meteorological extremes. This preface introduces a special issue originating from a European Geosciences Union (EGU) session. It highlights the challenges posed by these extremes, ranging from hazard assessment to mitigation strategies, and covers both water excess events like floods, landslides, and coastal hazards and water deficit events such as droughts and fire weather. The collection aims to advance understanding, improve resilience, and inform policy-making.
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 863–886, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-863-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-863-2025, 2025
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Alexandre Gauvain, Ronan Abhervé, Alexandre Coche, Martin Le Mesnil, Clément Roques, Camille Bouchez, Jean Marçais, Sarah Leray, Etienne Marti, Ronny Figueroa, Etienne Bresciani, Camille Vautier, Bastien Boivin, June Sallou, Johan Bourcier, Benoit Combemale, Philip Brunner, Laurent Longuevergne, Luc Aquilina, and Jean-Raynald de Dreuzy
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HydroModPy is an open-source toolbox that makes it easier to study and model groundwater flow at catchment scale. By combining mapping tools with groundwater modeling, it automates the process of building, analyzing and deploying aquifer models. This allows researchers to simulate groundwater flow that sustains stream baseflows, providing insights for the hydrology community. Designed to be accessible and customizable, HydroModPy supports sustainable water management, research, and education.
Tabea Cache, Milton Salvador Gomez, Tom Beucler, Jovan Blagojevic, João Paulo Leitao, and Nadav Peleg
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5443–5458, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5443-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5443-2024, 2024
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Thomas Hermans, Pascal Goderniaux, Damien Jougnot, Jan H. Fleckenstein, Philip Brunner, Frédéric Nguyen, Niklas Linde, Johan Alexander Huisman, Olivier Bour, Jorge Lopez Alvis, Richard Hoffmann, Andrea Palacios, Anne-Karin Cooke, Álvaro Pardo-Álvarez, Lara Blazevic, Behzad Pouladi, Peleg Haruzi, Alejandro Fernandez Visentini, Guilherme E. H. Nogueira, Joel Tirado-Conde, Majken C. Looms, Meruyert Kenshilikova, Philippe Davy, and Tanguy Le Borgne
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Although invisible, groundwater plays an essential role for society as a source of drinking water or for ecosystems but is also facing important challenges in terms of contamination. Characterizing groundwater reservoirs with their spatial heterogeneity and their temporal evolution is therefore crucial for their sustainable management. In this paper, we review some important challenges and recent innovations in imaging and modeling the 4D nature of the hydrogeological systems.
Michael Schirmer, Adam Winstral, Tobias Jonas, Paolo Burlando, and Nadav Peleg
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Rain is highly variable in time at a given location so that there can be both wet and dry climate periods. In this study, we quantify the effects of this natural climate variability and other sources of uncertainty on changes in flooding events due to rain on snow (ROS) caused by climate change. For ROS events with a significant contribution of snowmelt to runoff, the change due to climate was too small to draw firm conclusions about whether there are more ROS events of this important type.
Guilherme E. H. Nogueira, Christian Schmidt, Daniel Partington, Philip Brunner, and Jan H. Fleckenstein
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1883–1905, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1883-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1883-2022, 2022
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In near-stream aquifers, mixing between stream water and ambient groundwater can lead to dilution and the removal of substances that can be harmful to the water ecosystem at high concentrations. We used a numerical model to track the spatiotemporal evolution of different water sources and their mixing around a stream, which are rather difficult in the field. Results show that mixing mainly develops as narrow spots, varying In time and space, and is affected by magnitudes of discharge events.
K. Koutantou, G. Mazzotti, and P. Brunner
Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLIII-B3-2021, 477–484, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B3-2021-477-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B3-2021-477-2021, 2021
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Zhang, F., Zhang, H., Hagen, S. C., Ye, M., Wang, D., Gui, D., Zeng, C., Tian, L., and Liu, J.: Snow cover and runoff modelling in a high mountain catchment with scarce data: effects of temperature and precipitation parameters, Hydrol. Process., 29, 52–65, 2015. a
Short summary
The fate of liquid water from melting snow in winter and spring is difficult to understand in the mountains. This work uses a multi-instrumental network to accurately monitor the dynamics of snowmelt and infiltration at different depths in the ground and at different altitudes. The results show that melting snow quickly infiltrates into the upper layers of the soil but is also quickly transferred through the soil along the slopes towards the river.
The fate of liquid water from melting snow in winter and spring is difficult to understand in...
