Controls on spatial and temporal variability in streamflow and hydrochemistry in a glacierized catchment Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-2041-2019 24 April 2019 Hydrometric and geochemical dynamics are controlled by interplay of meteorological conditions, topography and geological heterogeneity. Nivo-meteorological indicators (such as global solar radiation, temperature and decreasing snow depth) explain monthly conductivity and isotopic dynamics best. These insights are important for better understanding hydrochemical responses of glacierized catchments under a changing cryosphere. Read more
Geostatistical interpolation by quantile kriging Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-1633-2019 20 March 2019 Many variables, e.g., in hydrology, geology, and social sciences, are only observed at a few distinct measurement locations, and their actual distribution in the entire space remains unknown. We introduce the new geostatistical interpolation method ofquantile kriging, providing an improved estimator and associated uncertainty. It can also host variables, which would not fulfill the implicit presumptions of the traditional geostatistical interpolation methods. Read more
Attributing the 2017 Bangladesh floods from meteorological and hydrological perspectives Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-1409-2019 13 March 2019 In August 2017 Bangladesh faced one of its worst river flooding events in recent history. For the large Brahmaputra basin, using precipitation alone as a proxy for flooding might not be appropriate. In this paper we explicitly test this assumption by performing an attribution of both precipitation and discharge as a flooding-related measure to climate change. We find the change in risk to be of similar order of magnitude (between 1 and 2) for both the meteorological and hydrological approach. Read more
Effects of univariate and multivariate bias correction on hydrological impact projections in alpine catchments Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-1339-2019 11 March 2019 Several multivariate bias correction methods have been developed recently, but only a few studies have tested the effect of multivariate bias correction on hydrological impact projections. This study shows that incorporating or ignoring inter-variable relations between air temperature and precipitation can have a notable effect on the projected snowfall fraction. The effect translated to considerable consequences for the glacio-hydrological responses and streamflow components of the catchments. Read more
Conservative finite-volume forms of the Saint-Venant equations for hydrology and urban drainage Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-1281-2019 7 March 2019 A new derivation of the equations for one-dimensional open-channel flow in rivers and storm drainage systems has been developed. The new approach solves some long-standing problems for obtaining well-behaved solutions with conservation forms of the equations. This research was motivated by the need for highly accurate models of large-scale river networks and the storm drainage systems in megacities. Such models are difficult to create with existing equation forms. Read more
Seasonal origins of soil water used by trees Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-1199-2019 1 March 2019 We used stable isotopes of xylem water to study differences in the seasonal origin of water in more than 900 individual trees from three dominant species in 182 Swiss forested sites. We discovered that midsummer transpiration was mostly supplied by winter precipitation across diverse humid climates. Our findings provide new insights into tree vulnerability to droughts, transport of water (and thus solutes) in soils, and the climatic information conveyed by plant-tissue isotopes. Read more
A simple topography-driven and calibration-free runoff generation module Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-787-2019 13 February 2019 Supported by large-sample ecological observations, a novel, simple and topography-driven runoff generation module (HSC-MCT) was created. The HSC-MCT is calibration-free, and therefore it can be used to predict in ungauged basins, and has great potential to be generalized at the global scale. Also, it allows us to reproduce the variation of saturation areas, which has great potential to be used for broader hydrological, ecological, climatological, and biogeochemical studies. Read more
Emergent stationarity in Yellow River sediment transport and the underlying shift of dominance: from streamflow to vegetation Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-549-2019 30 January 2019 Our study shows that there is declining coupling between sediment concentration and discharge from daily to annual scales for gauges across the Yellow River basin (YRB). Not only the coupling, but also the magnitude of sediment response to discharge variation decreases with long-term mean discharge. This emergent stationarity can be related to sediment retardation by vegetation, suggesting the shift of dominance from water to vegetation as mean annual discharge increases. Read more
Quantifying new water fractions and transit time distributions using ensemble hydrograph separation: theory and benchmark tests Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-303-2019 18 January 2019 How long does it take for raindrops to become streamflow? Here I propose a new approach to this old problem. I show how we can use time series of isotope data to measure the average fraction of same-day rainfall appearing in streamflow, even if this fraction varies greatly from rainstorm to rainstorm. I show that we can quantify how this fraction changes from small rainstorms to big ones, and from high flows to low flows, and how it changes with the lag time between rainfall and streamflow. Read more
Exploring the use of underground gravity monitoring to evaluate radar estimates of heavy rainfall Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-23-93-2019 8 January 2019 In this study, we explore the use of an underground superconducting gravimeter as a new source of in situ observations for the evaluation of radar-based precipitation estimates. The comparison of radar and gravity time series over 15 years shows that short-duration intense rainfall events cause a rapid decrease in the measured gravity. Rainfall amounts can be derived from this decrease. The gravimeter allows capture of rainfall at a much larger spatial scale than a traditional rain gauge. Read more
Global phosphorus recovery from wastewater for agricultural reuse Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-5781-2018 12 November 2018 Phosphorus (P) is important to global food security. Thus it is concerning that natural P reserves are predicted to deplete within the century. Here we explore the potential of P recovery from wastewater (WW) at global scale. We identify high production and demand sites to determine optimal market prices and trade flows. We show that 20% of the agricultural demand can be met, yet only 4 % can be met economically. Nonetheless, this recovery stimulates circular economic development in WW treatment. Read more
Modelling the water balance of Lake Victoria (East Africa) – Part 1: Observational analysis Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-5509-2018 25 October 2018 Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and one of the two major sources of the Nile river. The water level of Lake Victoria is determined by its water balance, consisting of lake precipitation and evaporation, inflow from rivers and lake outflow, controlled by two hydropower dams. Here, we present a water balance model for Lake Victoria, which closely represents the observed lake levels. The model results highlight the sensitivity of the lake level to human operations at the dam. Read more
Modelling the water balance of Lake Victoria (East Africa) – Part 2: Future projections Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-5527-2018 25 October 2018 Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater lake in the world and one of the major sources of the Nile River, which is controlled by two hydropower dams. In this paper we estimate the potential consequences of climate change for future water level fluctuations of Lake Victoria. Our results reveal that the operating strategies at the dam are the main controlling factors of future lake levels and that regional climate simulations used in the projections encompass large uncertainties. Read more
The importance of small artificial water bodies as sources of methane emissions in Queensland, Australia Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-5281-2018 15 October 2018 Artificial water bodies are a major source of methane and an important contributor to flooded land greenhouse gas emissions. Past studies focussed on large water supply or hydropower reservoirs with small artificial water bodies (ponds) almost completely ignored. This regional study demonstrated ponds accounted for one-third of flooded land surface area and emitted over 1.6 million t CO2eq. yr−1(10 % of land use sector emissions). Ponds should be included in regional GHG inventories. Read more
Why has catchment evaporation increased in the past 40 years? A data-based study in Austria Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-5143-2018 4 October 2018 We analyze changes in catchment evaporation estimated from the water balances of 156 catchments in Austria over 1977–2014, as well as the possible causes of these changes. Our results show that catchment evaporation increased on average by 29 ± 14 mm yr−1 decade−1. We attribute this increase to changes in atmospheric demand (based on reference and pan evaporation), changes in vegetation (quantified by a satellite-based vegetation index), and changes in precipitation. Read more
Global 5 km resolution estimates of secondary evaporation including irrigation through satellite data assimilation Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-4959-2018 27 September 2018 Evaporation from wetlands, lakes and irrigation areas needs to be measured to understand water scarcity. So far, this has only been possible for small regions. Here, we develop a solution that can be applied at a very high resolution globally by making use of satellite observations. Our results show that 16% of global water resources evaporate before reaching the ocean, mostly from surface water. Irrigation water use is less than 1% globally but is a very large water user in several dry basins. Read more
Speculations on the application of foliar 13C discrimination to reveal groundwater dependency of vegetation and provide estimates of root depth and rates of groundwater use Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-4875-2018 18 September 2018 Groundwater is a significant water resource for humans and for groundwater-dependent vegetation. Several challenges to managing both groundwater resources and dependent vegetation include defining the location of dependent vegetation, the rate of groundwater use, and the depth of roots accessing groundwater. In this study we demonstrate a novel application of measurements of stable isotopes of carbon that can be used to identify the location, the rooting depth, and the rate of groundwater use. Read more
Estimating time-dependent vegetation biases in the SMAP soil moisture product Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-4473-2018 22 August 2018 Satellite soil moisture products can provide critical information on incipient droughts and the interplay between vegetation and water availability. However, time-variant systematic errors in the soil moisture products may impede their usefulness. Using a novel statistical approach, we detect such errors (associated with changing vegetation) in the SMAP soil moisture product. The vegetation-associated biases impede drought detection and the quantification of vegetation–water interactions. Read more
On the dynamic nature of hydrological similarity Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-3663-2018 10 July 2018 In this study we explore the role of spatially distributed information on hydrological modeling. For that, we develop and test an approach which draws upon information theory and thermodynamic reasoning. We show that the proposed set of methods provide a powerful framework for understanding and diagnosing how and when process organization and functional similarity of hydrological systems emerge in time and, hence, when which landscape characteristic is important in a model application. Read more
Inter-laboratory comparison of cryogenic water extraction systems for stable isotope analysis of soil water Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-22-3619-2018 6 July 2018 To extract water from soils for isotopic analysis, cryogenic water extraction is the most widely used removal technique. This work presents results from a worldwide laboratory intercomparison test of cryogenic extraction systems. Our results showed large differences in retrieved isotopic signatures among participating laboratories linked to interactions between soil type and properties, system setup, extraction efficiency, extraction system leaks, and each lab’s internal accuracy. Read more