McMaster Mesonet soil moisture dataset: description and spatio-temporal variability analysis Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-1589-2013 29 April 2013 This paper introduces and describes the hourly, high-resolution soil moisture dataset continuously recorded by the McMaster Mesonet located in the Hamilton-Halton Watershed in Southern Ontario, Canada. Read more
Flood-initiating catchment conditions: a spatio-temporal analysis of large-scale soil moisture patterns in the Elbe River basin Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-1401-2013 12 April 2013 While the large-scale meteorological conditions have been classified and successfully linked to floods, this is lacking for the large-scale pre-event catchment conditions. Therefore, we propose classifying soil moisture as a key variable of pre-event catchment conditions and investigating the link between soil moisture patterns and flood occurrence in the Elbe River basin. Read more
Local and global perspectives on the virtual water trade Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-1205-2013 19 March 2013 Recent studies on fluxes of virtual water are showing how the global food and goods trade interconnects the water resources of different and distant countries, conditioning the local water balances. This paper presents and discusses the assessment of virtual water fluxes between a single country and its network of trading partners, delineating a country’s virtual water budget in space and time (years 1986–2010). Read more
A generalized Damköhler number for classifying material processing in hydrological systems Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-1133-2013 15 March 2013 Assessing the potential for transfer of pollutants and nutrients across catchments is of primary importance under changing land use and climate. This paper focuses on the dynamic balance between transport and material transformation, and defines material connectivity as the effective transfer of material between elements of the hydrological cycle. Read more
A statistical analysis of insurance damage claims related to rainfall extremes Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-913-2013 4 March 2013 In this paper, a database of water-related insurance damage claims related to private properties and content was analysed. The aim was to investigate whether the probability of occurrence of rainfall-related damage was associated with the intensity of rainfall. Read more
The importance of glacier and forest change in hydrological climate-impact studies Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-619-2013 11 February 2013 Changes in land cover alter the water balance components of a catchment, due to strong interactions between soils, vegetation and the atmosphere. Therefore, hydrological climate impact studies should also integrate scenarios of associated land cover change. To reflect two severe climate-induced changes in land cover, we applied scenarios of glacier retreat and forest cover increase that were derived from the temperature signals of the climate scenarios used in this study. Read more
On the nature of rainfall intermittency as revealed by different metrics and sampling approaches Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-355-2013 29 January 2013 Results of this work may be useful to improve the calibration of stochastic algorithms used to downscale coarse rainfall predictions of climate and weather forecasting models, as well as the parameterization of intensity-duration-frequency curves, adopted for land planning and design of civil infrastructures. Read more
Similarity of climate control on base flow and perennial stream density in the Budyko framework Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-315-2013 25 January 2013 Perennial stream density (DP), which is obtained from the high resolution National Hydrography Dataset, for 185 watersheds declines monotonically with climate aridity index, and an inversely proportional function is proposed to model the relationship between DPand the ratio of potential evaporation to precipitation. Read more
Prediction, time variance, and classification of hydraulic response to recharge in two karst aquifers Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-281-2013 24 January 2013 Many karst aquifers are rapidly filled and depleted and therefore are likely to be susceptible to changes in short-term climate variability. Here we explore methods that could be applied to model site-specific hydraulic responses, with the intent of simulating these responses to different climate scenarios from high-resolution climate models. Read more
Thermodynamics, maximum power, and the dynamics of preferential river flow structures at the continental scale Hydrology and Earth System Sciences DOI 10.5194/hess-17-225-2013 22 January 2013 Here we describe the organization and dynamics of drainage systems using thermodynamics, focusing on the generation, dissipation and transfer of free energy associated with river flow and sediment transport. Read more
