TY - JOUR A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Baroni, Gabriele A1 - Brosinsky, Arlena A1 - Foerster, Saskia A1 - Lopez-Tarazon, José Andrés A1 - Sommerer, Erik A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - What Did Really Improve Our Mesoscale Hydrological Model? BT - a Multidimensional Analysis Based on Real Observations JF - Water resources research N2 - Modelers can improve a model by addressing the causes for the model errors (data errors and structural errors). This leads to implementing model enhancements (MEs), for example, meteorological data based on more monitoring stations, improved calibration data, and/or modifications in process formulations. However, deciding on which MEs to implement remains a matter of expert knowledge. After implementing multiple MEs, any improvement in model performance is not easily attributed, especially when considering different objectives or aspects of this improvement (e.g., better dynamics vs. reduced bias). We present an approach for comparing the effect of multiple MEs based on real observations and considering multiple objectives (MMEMO). A stepwise selection approach and structured plots help to address the multidimensionality of the problem. Tailored analyses allow a differentiated view on the effect of MEs and their interactions. MMEMO is applied to a case study employing the mesoscale hydro-sedimentological model WASA-SED for the Mediterranean-mountainous Isabena catchment, northeast Spain. The investigated seven MEs show diverse effects: some MEs (e.g., rainfall data) cause improvements for most objectives, while other MEs (e.g., land use data) only affect a few objectives or even decrease model performance. Interaction of MEs was observed for roughly half of the MEs, confirming the need to address them in the analysis. Calibration and increasing the temporal resolution showed by far stronger impact than any of the other MEs. The proposed framework can be adopted in other studies to analyze the effect of MEs and, thus, facilitate the identification and implementation of the most promising MEs for comparable cases. KW - modeling KW - sensitivity analyses KW - model enhancement KW - sediment Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR022813 SN - 0043-1397 SN - 1944-7973 VL - 54 IS - 11 SP - 8594 EP - 8612 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Förster, Saskia A1 - Brosinsky, Arlena A1 - Sommerer, Erik A1 - Lopez-Tarazonl, Jose Andres A1 - Güntner, Andreas A1 - Batalla, Ramon J. A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Water and sediment fluxes in Mediterranean mountainous regions BT - comprehensive dataset for hydro-sedimentological analyses and modelling in a mesoscale catchment (River Isabena, NE Spain) JF - Earth System Science Data N2 - A comprehensive hydro-sedimentological dataset for the Isabena catchment, northeastern (NE) Spain, for the period 2010-2018 is presented to analyse water and sediment fluxes in a Mediterranean mesoscale catchment. The dataset includes rainfall data from 12 rain gauges distributed within the study area complemented by meteorological data of 12 official meteo-stations. It comprises discharge data derived from water stage measurements as well as suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs) at six gauging stations of the River Isabena and its sub-catchments. Soil spectroscopic data from 351 suspended sediment samples and 152 soil samples were collected to characterize sediment source regions and sediment properties via fingerprinting analyses. The Isabena catchment (445 km(2)) is located in the southern central Pyrenees ranging from 450 m to 2720 m a.s.l.; together with a pronounced topography, this leads to distinct temperature and precipitation gradients. The River Isabena shows marked discharge variations and high sediment yields causing severe siltation problems in the downstream Barasona Reservoir. The main sediment source is badland areas located on Eocene marls that are well connected to the river network. The dataset features a comprehensive set of variables in a high spatial and temporal resolution suitable for the advanced process understanding of water and sediment fluxes, their origin and connectivity and sediment budgeting and for the evaluation and further development of hydro-sedimentological models in Mediterranean mesoscale mountainous catchments. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1063-2018 SN - 1866-3508 SN - 1866-3516 VL - 10 IS - 2 SP - 1063 EP - 1075 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zimmermann, Alexander A1 - Schinn, Dustin S. A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Elsenbeer, Helmut A1 - Zimmermann, Beate T1 - Uncovering patterns of near-surface saturated hydraulic conductivity in an overland flow-controlled landscape JF - Geoderma : an international journal of soil science N2 - Saturated hydraulic conductivity (K-s) is an important soil characteristic affecting soil water storage, runoff generation and erosion processes. In some areas where high-intensity rainfall coincides with low K-s values at shallow soil depths, frequent overland flow entails dense drainage networks. Consequently, linear structures such as flowlines alternate with inter-flowline areas. So far, investigations of the spatial variability of K-s mainly relied on isotropic covariance models which are unsuitable to reveal patterns resulting from linear structures. In the present study, we applied two sampling approaches so as to adequately characterize K-s spatial variability in a tropical forest catchment that features a high density of flowlines: A classical nested sampling survey and a purposive sampling strategy adapted to the presence of flowlines. The nested sampling approach revealed the dominance of small-scale variability, which is in line with previous findings. Our purposive sampling, however, detected a strong spatial gradient: surface K-s increased substantially as a function of distance to flowline; 10 m off flowlines, values were similar to the spatial mean of K-s. This deterministic trend can be included as a fixed effect in a linear mixed modeling framework to obtain realistic spatial fields of K-s. In a next step we used probability maps based on those fields and prevailing rainfall intensities to assess the hydrological relevance of the detected pattern. This approach suggests a particularly good agreement between the probability statements of K-s exceedance and observed overland flow occurrence during wet stages of the rainy season. KW - Soil hydrology KW - Saturated hydraulic conductivity KW - Overland flow generation KW - Spatial patterns KW - Drainage network Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.11.002 SN - 0016-7061 VL - 195 IS - 169 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lopez-Tarazon, Jose Andres A1 - Batalla Villanueva, Ramon J. A1 - Vericat, Damia A1 - Francke, Till T1 - The sediment budget of a highly dynamic mesoscale catchment the River Isabena JF - Geomorphology : an international journal on pure and applied geomorphology N2 - The paper presents the sediment budget of the Isabena basin, a highly dynamic 445-km(2) catchment located in the Central Pyrenees that is patched by highly erodible areas (i.e., badlands). The budget for the period 2007-2009 is constructed following a methodology that allows the interpolation of intermittent measurements of suspended sediment concentrations and enables a subsequent calculation of sediment loads. Data allow specification of the contribution of each subbasin to the water and sediment yield in the catchment outlet. Mean annual sediment load was 235,000 t y(-1). Specific sediment yield reached 2000 t km(-2) y(-1), a value that indicates very high sedimentary activity, especially in the case of Villacarli and Lascuarre subcatchments, were most badlands are located. The specific sediment yield obtained for the entire Isabena is 527 t km(-2) y(-1), a high value for such a mesoscale basin. Results show that a small part of the area (i.e., 1%) controls most of the catchment's gross sediment contribution. Sediment delivery ratio (ratio between sediment input from primary sources and basin export) has been estimated at around 90%, while in-channel storage represents the 5% of the annual load on average. The high connectivity between sediment sources (i.e., badlands) and transfer paths (i.e., streamcourses) exacerbates the influence of the local sediment production on the catchment's sediment yield, a quite unusual fact for a basin of this scale. KW - Sediment budget KW - Sediment transport KW - Random forests KW - Quantile regression forests KW - River Isabena KW - Ebro basin Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.08.020 SN - 0169-555X VL - 138 IS - 1 SP - 15 EP - 28 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - López-Tarazón, José Andrés A1 - Batalla Villanueva, Ramon J. A1 - Vericat, Damià A1 - Francke, Till T1 - Suspended sediment transport in a highly erodible catchment : the River Isábena (Southern Pyrenees) N2 - Understanding and quantifying sediment load is important in catchments draining highly erodible materials that eventually contribute to siltation of downstream reservoirs. Within this context, the suspended sediment transport and its temporal dynamics have been studied in the River Isabena (445 km(2), south-central Pyrenees, Ebro basin) by means of direct sampling and turbidity recording during a 3-year dry period. The average flood-suspended sediment concentration was 8 g l(-1). with maximum instantaneous values above 350 g l(-1). The high scatter between discharge and suspended sediment concentrations (up to five orders of magnitude) has not permitted the use of rating curve methods to estimate the total load. Interpolation techniques yielded a mean annual sediment load of 184,253 t y(-1) for the study period, with a specific yield of 414 t km(-2) y(-1). This value resembles those reported for small torrents in nearby mountainous environments and is the result of the high connectivity between the badland source areas and stream courses, a fact that maximises sediment conveyance through the catchment. Floods dominated the sediment transport and yield. However, sediment transport was more constant through time than that observed in Mediterranean counterparts; this can be attributed to the role of base flows that entrain fine sediment temporarily stored in the channel and force the river to carry high sediment concentrations (i.e., generally in the order of 0.5 g l(-1)), even under minimum flow conditions. Y1 - 2009 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0169555X U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.03.003 SN - 0169-555X ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Lena Katharina A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Rottler, Erwin A1 - Blume, Theresa A1 - Schöber, Johannes A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Suspended sediment and discharge dynamics in a glaciated alpine environment BT - identifying crucial areas and time periods on several spatial and temporal scales in the Ötztal, Austria JF - Earth surface dynamics N2 - Glaciated high-alpine areas are fundamentally altered by climate change, with well-known implications for hydrology, e.g., due to glacier retreat, longer snow-free periods, and more frequent and intense summer rainstorms. While knowledge on how these hydrological changes will propagate to suspended sediment dynamics is still scarce, it is needed to inform mitigation and adaptation strategies. To understand the processes and source areas most relevant to sediment dynamics, we analyzed discharge and sediment dynamics in high temporal resolution as well as their patterns on several spatial scales, which to date few studies have done. We used a nested catchment setup in the Upper Ötztal in Tyrol, Austria, where high-resolution (15 min) time series of discharge and suspended sediment concentrations are available for up to 15 years (2006–2020). The catchments of the gauges in Vent, Sölden and Tumpen range from 100 to almost 800 km2 with 10 % to 30 % glacier cover and span an elevation range of 930 to 3772 m a.s.l. We analyzed discharge and suspended sediment yields (SSY), their distribution in space, their seasonality and spatial differences therein, and the relative importance of short-term events. We complemented our analysis by linking the observations to satellite-based snow cover maps, glacier inventories, mass balances and precipitation data. Our results indicate that the areas above 2500 m a.s.l., characterized by glacier tongues and the most recently deglaciated areas, are crucial for sediment generation in all sub-catchments. This notion is supported by the synchronous spring onset of sediment export at the three gauges, which coincides with snowmelt above 2500 m but lags behind spring discharge onsets. This points at a limitation of suspended sediment supply as long as the areas above 2500 m are snow-covered. The positive correlation of annual SSY with glacier cover (among catchments) and glacier mass balances (within a catchment) further supports the importance of the glacier-dominated areas. The analysis of short-term events showed that summer precipitation events were associated with peak sediment concentrations and yields but on average accounted for only 21 % of the annual SSY in the headwaters. These results indicate that under current conditions, thermally induced sediment export (through snow and glacier melt) is dominant in the study area. Our results extend the scientific knowledge on current hydro-sedimentological conditions in glaciated high-alpine areas and provide a baseline for studies on projected future changes in hydro-sedimentological system dynamics. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-653-2022 SN - 2196-632X SN - 2196-6311 VL - 10 IS - 3 SP - 653 EP - 669 PB - Copernicus Publications CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heistermann, Maik A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Schrön, Martin A1 - Oswald, Sascha T1 - Spatio-temporal soil moisture retrieval at the catchment scale using a dense network of cosmic-ray neutron sensors JF - Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS) N2 - Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) is a powerful technique for retrieving representative estimates of soil water content at a horizontal scale of hectometres (the “field scale”) and depths of tens of centimetres (“the root zone”). This study demonstrates the potential of the CRNS technique to obtain spatio-temporal patterns of soil moisture beyond the integrated volume from isolated CRNS footprints. We use data from an observational campaign carried out between May and July 2019 that featured a dense network of more than 20 neutron detectors with partly overlapping footprints in an area that exhibits pronounced soil moisture gradients within one square kilometre. The present study is the first to combine these observations in order to represent the heterogeneity of soil water content at the sub-footprint scale as well as between the CRNS stations. First, we apply a state-of-the-art procedure to correct the observed neutron count rates for static effects (heterogeneity in space, e.g. soil organic matter) and dynamic effects (heterogeneity in time, e.g. barometric pressure). Based on the homogenized neutron data, we investigate the robustness of a calibration approach that uses a single calibration parameter across all CRNS stations. Finally, we benchmark two different interpolation techniques for obtaining spatio-temporal representations of soil moisture: first, ordinary Kriging with a fixed range; second, spatial interpolation complemented by geophysical inversion (“constrained interpolation”). To that end, we optimize the parameters of a geostatistical interpolation model so that the error in the forward-simulated neutron count rates is minimized, and suggest a heuristic forward operator to make the optimization problem computationally feasible. Comparison with independent measurements from a cluster of soil moisture sensors (SoilNet) shows that the constrained interpolation approach is superior for representing horizontal soil moisture gradients at the hectometre scale. The study demonstrates how a CRNS network can be used to generate coherent, consistent, and continuous soil moisture patterns that could be used to validate hydrological models or remote sensing products. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4807-2021 SN - 1607-7938 VL - 25 PB - Copernicus Publications CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heistermann, Maik A1 - Bogena, Heye A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Güntner, Andreas A1 - Jakobi, Jannis A1 - Rasche, Daniel A1 - Schrön, Martin A1 - Döpper, Veronika A1 - Fersch, Benjamin A1 - Groh, Jannis A1 - Patil, Amol A1 - Pütz, Thomas A1 - Reich, Marvin A1 - Zacharias, Steffen A1 - Zengerle, Carmen A1 - Oswald, Sascha T1 - Soil moisture observation in a forested headwater catchment: combining a dense cosmic-ray neutron sensor network with roving and hydrogravimetry at the TERENO site Wüstebach JF - Earth System Science Data (ESSD) N2 - Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has become an effective method to measure soil moisture at a horizontal scale of hundreds of metres and a depth of decimetres. Recent studies proposed operating CRNS in a network with overlapping footprints in order to cover root-zone water dynamics at the small catchment scale and, at the same time, to represent spatial heterogeneity. In a joint field campaign from September to November 2020 (JFC-2020), five German research institutions deployed 15 CRNS sensors in the 0.4 km2 Wüstebach catchment (Eifel mountains, Germany). The catchment is dominantly forested (but includes a substantial fraction of open vegetation) and features a topographically distinct catchment boundary. In addition to the dense CRNS coverage, the campaign featured a unique combination of additional instruments and techniques: hydro-gravimetry (to detect water storage dynamics also below the root zone); ground-based and, for the first time, airborne CRNS roving; an extensive wireless soil sensor network, supplemented by manual measurements; and six weighable lysimeters. Together with comprehensive data from the long-term local research infrastructure, the published data set (available at https://doi.org/10.23728/b2share.756ca0485800474e9dc7f5949c63b872; Heistermann et al., 2022) will be a valuable asset in various research contexts: to advance the retrieval of landscape water storage from CRNS, wireless soil sensor networks, or hydrogravimetry; to identify scale-specific combinations of sensors and methods to represent soil moisture variability; to improve the understanding and simulation of land–atmosphere exchange as well as hydrological and hydrogeological processes at the hillslope and the catchment scale; and to support the retrieval of soil water content from airborne and spaceborne remote sensing platforms. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2501-2022 SN - 1866-3516 VL - 14 SP - 2501 EP - 2519 PB - Copernicus CY - Katlenburg-Lindau ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mohr, Christian Heinrich A1 - Zimmermann, Andreas A1 - Korup, Oliver A1 - Iroume, A. A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Seasonal logging, process response, and geomorphic work JF - Earth surface dynamics N2 - Deforestation is a prominent anthropogenic cause of erosive overland flow and slope instability, boosting rates of soil erosion and concomitant sediment flux. Conventional methods of gauging or estimating post-logging sediment flux often focus on annual timescales but overlook potentially important process response on shorter intervals immediately following timber harvest. We resolve such dynamics with non-parametric quantile regression forests (QRF) based on high-frequency (3 min) discharge measurements and sediment concentration data sampled every 30-60 min in similar-sized (similar to 0.1 km(2)) forested Chilean catchments that were logged during either the rainy or the dry season. The method of QRF builds on the random forest algorithm, and combines quantile regression with repeated random sub-sampling of both cases and predictors. The algorithm belongs to the family of decision-tree classifiers, which allow quantifying relevant predictors in high-dimensional parameter space. We find that, where no logging occurred, similar to 80% of the total sediment load was transported during extremely variable runoff events during only 5% of the monitoring period. In particular, dry-season logging dampened the relative role of these rare, extreme sediment-transport events by increasing load efficiency during more efficient moderate events. We show that QRFs outperform traditional sediment rating curves (SRCs) in terms of accurately simulating short-term dynamics of sediment flux, and conclude that QRF may reliably support forest management recommendations by providing robust simulations of post-logging response of water and sediment fluxes at high temporal resolution. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2-117-2014 SN - 2196-6311 SN - 2196-632X VL - 2 IS - 1 SP - 117 EP - 125 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Delgado, José Miguel Martins A1 - Voss, Sebastian A1 - Bürger, Gerd A1 - Vormoor, Klaus Josef A1 - Murawski, Aline A1 - Rodrigues Pereira, José Marcelo A1 - Martins, Eduardo A1 - Vasconcelos Júnior, Francisco A1 - Francke, Till T1 - Seasonal drought prediction for semiarid northeastern Brazil BT - verification of six hydro-meteorological forecast products JF - Hydrology and Earth System Sciences N2 - A set of seasonal drought forecast models was assessed and verified for the Jaguaribe River in semiarid northeastern Brazil. Meteorological seasonal forecasts were provided by the operational forecasting system used at FUNCEME (Ceará’s research foundation for meteorology)and by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Three downscaling approaches (empirical quantile mapping, extended downscaling and weather pattern classification) were tested and combined with the models in hindcast mode for the period 1981 to 2014. The forecast issue time was January and the forecast period was January to June. Hydrological drought indices were obtained by fitting a multivariate linear regression to observations. In short, it was possible to obtain forecasts for (a) monthly precipitation,(b) meteorological drought indices, and (c) hydrological drought indices. The skill of the forecasting systems was evaluated with regard to root mean square error (RMSE), the Brier skill score (BSS) and the relative operating characteristic skill score (ROCSS). The tested forecasting products showed similar performance in the analyzed metrics. Forecasts of monthly precipitation had little or no skill considering RMSE and mostly no skill with BSS. A similar picture was seen when forecasting meteorological drought indices: low skill regarding RMSE and BSS and significant skill when discriminating hit rate and false alarm rate given by the ROCSS (forecasting drought events of, e.g., SPEI1 showed a ROCSS of around 0.5). Regarding the temporal variation of the forecast skill of the meteorological indices, it was greatest for April, when compared to the remaining months of the rainy season, while the skill of reservoir volume forecasts decreased with lead time. This work showed that a multi-model ensemble can forecast drought events of timescales relevant to water managers in northeastern Brazil with skill. But no or little skill could be found in the forecasts of monthly precipitation or drought indices of lower scales, like SPI1. Both this work and those here revisited showed that major steps forward are needed in forecasting the rainy season in northeastern Brazil. KW - Hydrological drought KW - River-Basin KW - Model KW - Patterns KW - Precipitation KW - Variability KW - Nordeste Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5041-2018 SN - 1027-5606 SN - 1607-7938 VL - 22 IS - 9 SP - 5041 EP - 5056 PB - Copernicus Publ. CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pilz, Tobias A1 - Delgado, José Miguel Martins A1 - Voss, Sebastian A1 - Vormoor, Klaus Josef A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Cunha Costa, Alexandre A1 - Martins, Eduardo A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Seasonal drought prediction for semiarid northeast Brazil BT - what is the added value of a process-based hydrological model? JF - Hydrology and Earth System Sciences N2 - The semiarid northeast of Brazil is one of the most densely populated dryland regions in the world and recurrently affected by severe droughts. Thus, reliable seasonal forecasts of streamflow and reservoir storage are of high value for water managers. Such forecasts can be generated by applying either hydrological models representing underlying processes or statistical relationships exploiting correlations among meteorological and hydrological variables. This work evaluates and compares the performances of seasonal reservoir storage forecasts derived by a process-based hydrological model and a statistical approach. Driven by observations, both models achieve similar simulation accuracies. In a hindcast experiment, however, the accuracy of estimating regional reservoir storages was considerably lower using the process-based hydrological model, whereas the resolution and reliability of drought event predictions were similar by both approaches. Further investigations regarding the deficiencies of the process-based model revealed a significant influence of antecedent wetness conditions and a higher sensitivity of model prediction performance to rainfall forecast quality. Within the scope of this study, the statistical model proved to be the more straightforward approach for predictions of reservoir level and drought events at regionally and monthly aggregated scales. However, for forecasts at finer scales of space and time or for the investigation of underlying processes, the costly initialisation and application of a process-based model can be worthwhile. Furthermore, the application of innovative data products, such as remote sensing data, and operational model correction methods, like data assimilation, may allow for an enhanced exploitation of the advanced capabilities of process-based hydrological models. KW - Water Availability KW - Uncertainty Processor KW - Forecasting Framework KW - Sediment Transport KW - Reservoir Networks KW - Jaguaribe Basin KW - Climate KW - Precipitation KW - Nordeste KW - Connectivity Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1951-2019 SN - 1027-5606 SN - 1607-7938 VL - 23 SP - 1951 EP - 1971 PB - Copernicus Publications CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bronstert, Axel A1 - de Araujo, Josè Carlos A1 - Batalla Villanueva, Ramon J. A1 - Costa, Alexandre Cunha A1 - Delgado, José Miguel Martins A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Förster, Saskia A1 - Guentner, Andreas A1 - Lopez-Tarazon, José Andrés A1 - Mamede, George Leite A1 - Medeiros, Pedro Henrique Augusto A1 - Mueller, Eva A1 - Vericat, Damia T1 - Process-based modelling of erosion, sediment transport and reservoir siltation in mesoscale semi-arid catchments JF - Journal of soils and sediments : protection, risk assessment and remediation N2 - To support scientifically sound water management in dryland environments a modelling system has been developed for the quantitative assessment of water and sediment fluxes in catchments, transport in the river system, and retention in reservoirs. The spatial scale of interest is the mesoscale because this is the scale most relevant for management of water and land resources. This modelling system comprises process-oriented hydrological components tailored for dryland characteristics coupled with components comprising hillslope erosion, sediment transport and reservoir deposition processes. The spatial discretization is hierarchically designed according to a multi-scale concept to account for particular relevant process scales. The non-linear and partly intermittent run-off generation and sediment dynamics are dealt with by accounting for connectivity phenomena at the intersections of landscape compartments. The modelling system has been developed by means of data from nested research catchments in NE-Spain and in NE-Brazil. In the semi-arid NE of Brazil sediment retention along the topography is the main process for sediment retention at all scales, i.e. the sediment delivery is transport limited. This kind of deposition retains roughly 50 to 60 % of eroded sediment, maintaining a similar deposition proportion in all spatial scales investigated. On the other hand, the sediment retained in reservoirs is clearly related to the scale, increasing with catchment area. With increasing area, there are more reservoirs, increasing the possibility of deposition. Furthermore, the area increase also promotes an increase in flow volume, favouring the construction of larger reservoirs, which generally overflow less frequently and retain higher sediment fractions. The second example comprises a highly dynamic Mediterranean catchment in NE-Spain with nested sub-catchments and reveals the full dynamics of hydrological, erosion and deposition features. The run-off modelling performed well with only some overestimation during low-flow periods due to the neglect of water losses along the river. The simulated peaks in sediment flux are reproduced well, while low-flow sediment transport is less well captured, due to the disregard of sediment remobilization in the riverbed during low flow. This combined observation and modelling study deepened the understanding of hydro-sedimentological systems characterized by flashy run-off generation and by erosion and sediment transport pulses through the different landscape compartments. The connectivity between the different landscape compartments plays a very relevant role, regarding both the total mass of water and sediment transport and the transport time through the catchment. KW - Connectivity KW - Deposition KW - Erosion KW - Modelling KW - Sediment transfer KW - Semi-arid Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-014-0994-1 SN - 1439-0108 SN - 1614-7480 VL - 14 IS - 12 SP - 2001 EP - 2018 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heine, Iris A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Rogass, Christian A1 - Medeiros, Pedro Henrique Augusto A1 - Bronstert, Axel A1 - Förster, Saskia T1 - Monitoring seasonal changes in the water surface areas of reservoirs using TerraSAR-X time series data in semiarid northeastern Brazil JF - IEEE journal of selected topics in applied earth observations and remote sensing N2 - The 933 km(2) Bengue catchment in northeastern Brazil is characterized by distinct rainy and dry seasons. Precipitation is stored in variously sized reservoirs, which is essential for the local population. In this study, we used TerraSAR-X SM(HH) data for an one-year monitoring of seasonal changes in the reservoir areas from July 2011 to July 2012. The monitoring was based on acquisitions in the ascending pass direction, complemented by occasional descending-pass images. To detect water surface areas, a histogram analysis followed by a global threshold classification was performed, and the results were validated using in situ GPS data. Distinguishing between small reservoirs and similar looking dark areas was difficult. Therefore, we tested several approaches for identifying misclassified areas. An analysis of the surface area dynamics of the reservoirs indicated high spatial and temporal heterogeneities and a large decrease in the total water surface area of the reservoirs in the catchment by approximately 30% within one year. KW - Image classification KW - monitoring KW - radar imaging KW - remote sensing KW - synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2014.2323819 SN - 1939-1404 SN - 2151-1535 VL - 7 IS - 8 SP - 3190 EP - 3199 PB - Inst. of Electr. and Electronics Engineers CY - Piscataway ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Eva Nora A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Batalla Villanueva, Ramon J. A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Modelling the effects of land-use change on runoff and sediment yield for a meso-scale catchment in the Southern Pyrenees N2 - The Southern Pre-Pyrenees experienced a substantial land-use change over the second half of the 20th century owing to the reduction of agricultural activities towards the formation of a more natural forest landscape. The land-use change over the last 50 years with subsequent effects on water and sediment export was modelled with the process-based, spatially semi-distributed WASA-SED model for the meso-scale Canalda catchment in Catalonia, Spain. It was forwarded that the model yielded plausible results for runoff and sediment yield dynamics without the need of calibration, although the model failed to reproduce the shape of the hydrograph and the total discharge of several individual rainstorm events, hence the simulation capabilities are not yet considered sufficient for decision-making purposes for land management. As there are only a very limited amount of measured data available on sediment budgets with altered land-use and climate change settings, the WASA-SED model was used to obtain qualitative estimates on the effects of past and future change scenarios to derive a baseline for hypothesis building and future discussion on the evolution of sediment budgets in such a dryland setting. Simulating the effects of the past land-use change, the model scenarios resulted in a decrease of up to 75% of the annual sediment yield. whereas modelled runoff remained almost constant over the last 50 years. The relative importance of environmental change was evaluated by comparing the impact on sediment export of land-use change, that are driven by socio-economic factors, with climate change projections for changes in the rainfall regime. The modelling results suggest that a 20% decrease in annual rainfall results in a decrease in runoff and sediment yield, thus an ecosystem stabilisation in regard to sediment export which can only be achieved by a substantial land-use change equivalent to a complete afforestation. At the same time, a 20% increase in rainfall causes a large export of water and sediment resources out of the catchment, equivalent to an intensive agricultural use of 100% of the catchment area. For wet years, the effects of agricultural intensification are more pronounced, so that in this case the intensive land-use change has a significantly larger impact on sediment generation than climate change. The WASA-SED model proved capable in quantifying the impacts of actual and potential environmental change, but the reliability of the simulation results is still circumscribed by considerable parameterisation and model uncertainties. Y1 - 2009 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03418162 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2009.06.007 SN - 0341-8162 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pilz, Tobias A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - lumpR 2.0.0: an R package facilitating landscape discretisation for hillslope-based hydrological models JF - Geoscientific model development : an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union N2 - The characteristics of a landscape pose essential factors for hydrological processes. Therefore, an adequate representation of the landscape of a catchment in hydrological models is vital. However, many of such models exist differing, amongst others, in spatial concept and discretisation. The latter constitutes an essential pre-processing step, for which many different algorithms along with numerous software implementations exist. In that context, existing solutions are often model specific, commercial, or depend on commercial back-end software, and allow only a limited or no workflow automation at all. Consequently, a new package for the scientific software and scripting environment R, called lumpR, was developed. lumpR employs an algorithm for hillslope-based landscape discretisation directed to large-scale application via a hierarchical multi-scale approach. The package addresses existing limitations as it is free and open source, easily extendible to other hydrological models, and the workflow can be fully automated. Moreover, it is user-friendly as the direct coupling to a GIS allows for immediate visual inspection and manual adjustment. Sufficient control is furthermore retained via parameter specification and the option to include expert knowledge. Conversely, completely automatic operation also allows for extensive analysis of aspects related to landscape discretisation. In a case study, the application of the package is presented. A sensitivity analysis of the most important discretisation parameters demonstrates its efficient workflow automation. Considering multiple streamflow metrics, the employed model proved reasonably robust to the discretisation parameters. However, parameters determining the sizes of subbasins and hillslopes proved to be more important than the others, including the number of representative hillslopes, the number of attributes employed for the lumping algorithm, and the number of sub-discretisations of the representative hillslopes. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3001-2017 SN - 1991-959X SN - 1991-9603 VL - 10 SP - 3001 EP - 3023 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pilz, Tobias A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - lumpR 2.0.0: an R package facilitating landscape discretisation for hillslope-based hydrological models JF - Geoscientific model development N2 - The characteristics of a landscape pose essential factors for hydrological processes. Therefore, an adequate representation of the landscape of a catchment in hydrological models is vital. However, many of such models exist differing, amongst others, in spatial concept and discretisation. The latter constitutes an essential pre-processing step, for which many different algorithms along with numerous software implementations exist. In that context, existing solutions are often model specific, commercial, or depend on commercial back-end software, and allow only a limited or no workflow automation at all. Consequently, a new package for the scientific software and scripting environment R, called lumpR, was developed. lumpR employs an algorithm for hillslope-based landscape discretisation directed to large-scale application via a hierarchical multi-scale approach. The package addresses existing limitations as it is free and open source, easily extendible to other hydrological models, and the workflow can be fully automated. Moreover, it is user-friendly as the direct coupling to a GIS allows for immediate visual inspection and manual adjustment. Sufficient control is furthermore retained via parameter specification and the option to include expert knowledge. Conversely, completely automatic operation also allows for extensive analysis of aspects related to landscape discretisation. In a case study, the application of the package is presented. A sensitivity analysis of the most important discretisation parameters demonstrates its efficient workflow automation. Considering multiple streamflow metrics, the employed model proved reasonably robust to the discretisation parameters. However, parameters determining the sizes of subbasins and hillslopes proved to be more important than the others, including the number of representative hillslopes, the number of attributes employed for the lumping algorithm, and the number of sub-discretisations of the representative hillslopes. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3001-2017 SN - 1991-959X SN - 1991-9603 VL - 10 SP - 3001 EP - 3023 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rottler, Erwin A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Bürger, Gerd A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Long-term changes in central European river discharge for 1869–2016 BT - impact of changing snow covers, reservoir constructions and an intensified hydrological cycle JF - Hydrology and Earth System Sciences N2 - Recent climatic changes have the potential to severely alter river runoff, particularly in snow-dominated river basins. Effects of changing snow covers superimpose with changes in precipitation and anthropogenic modifications of the watershed and river network. In the attempt to identify and disentangle long-term effects of different mechanisms, we employ a set of analytical tools to extract long-term changes in river runoff at high resolution. We combine quantile sampling with moving average trend statistics and empirical mode decomposition and apply these tools to discharge data recorded along rivers with nival, pluvial and mixed flow regimes as well as temperature and precipitation data covering the time frame 1869-2016. With a focus on central Europe, we analyse the long-term impact of snow cover and precipitation changes along with their interaction with reservoir constructions. Our results show that runoff seasonality of snow-dominated rivers decreases. Runoff increases in winter and spring, while discharge decreases in summer and at the beginning of autumn. We attribute this redistribution of annual flow mainly to reservoir constructions in the Alpine ridge. During the course of the last century, large fractions of the Alpine rivers were dammed to produce hydropower. In recent decades, runoff changes induced by reservoir constructions seem to overlap with changes in snow cover. We suggest that Alpine signals propagate downstream and affect runoff far outside the Alpine area in river segments with mixed flow regimes. Furthermore, our results hint at more (intense) rain-fall in recent decades. Detected increases in high discharge can be traced back to corresponding changes in precipitation. KW - empirical mode decomposition KW - atmospheric blocking KW - heavy precipitation KW - streamflow trends KW - climate-change KW - rhine basin KW - time-series KW - events KW - Switzerland KW - variability Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-1721-2020 SN - 1027-5606 SN - 1607-7938 VL - 24 IS - 4 SP - 1721 EP - 1740 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heistermann, Maik A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Georgi, Christof A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Increasing life expectancy of water resources literature JF - Water resources research N2 - In a study from 2008, Lariviere and colleagues showed, for the field of natural sciences and engineering, that the median age of cited references is increasing over time. This result was considered counterintuitive: with the advent of electronic search engines, online journal issues and open access publications, one could have expected that cited literature is becoming younger. That study has motivated us to take a closer look at the changes in the age distribution of references that have been cited in water resources journals since 1965. Not only could we confirm the findings of Lariviere and colleagues. We were also able to show that the aging is mainly happening in the oldest 10-25% of an average reference list. This is consistent with our analysis of top-cited papers in the field of water resources. Rankings based on total citations since 1965 consistently show the dominance of old literature, including text books and research papers in equal shares. For most top-cited old-timers, citations are still growing exponentially. There is strong evidence that most citations are attracted by publications that introduced methods which meanwhile belong to the standard toolset of researchers and practitioners in the field of water resources. Although we think that this trend should not be overinterpreted as a sign of stagnancy, there might be cause for concern regarding how authors select their references. We question the increasing citation of textbook knowledge as it holds the risk that reference lists become overcrowded, and that the readability of papers deteriorates. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR015674 SN - 0043-1397 SN - 1944-7973 VL - 50 IS - 6 SP - 5019 EP - 5028 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rottler, Erwin A1 - Vormoor, Klaus Josef A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Hydro Explorer BT - an interactive web app to investigate changes in runoff timing and runoff seasonality all over the world JF - River research and applications N2 - Climatic changes and anthropogenic modifications of the river basin or river network have the potential to fundamentally alter river runoff. In the framework of this study, we aim to analyze and present historic changes in runoff timing and runoff seasonality observed at river gauges all over the world. In this regard, we develop the Hydro Explorer, an interactive web app, which enables the investigation of >7,000 daily resolution discharge time series from the Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC). The interactive nature of the developed web app allows for a quick comparison of gauges, regions, methods, and time frames. We illustrate the available analytical tools by investigating changes in runoff timing and runoff seasonality in the Rhine River Basin. Since we provide the source code of the application, existing analytical approaches can be modified, new methods added, and the tool framework can be re-used to visualize other data sets. KW - global runoff database KW - interactive web app KW - R Shiny KW - runoff KW - seasonality KW - runoff timing Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3772 SN - 1535-1459 SN - 1535-1467 VL - 37 IS - 4 SP - 544 EP - 554 PB - Wiley CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pilz, Tobias A1 - Francke, Till A1 - Baroni, Gabriele A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - How to Tailor my process-based hydrological model? BT - dynamic identifiability analysis of flexible model structures JF - Water resources research N2 - In the field of hydrological modeling, many alternative representations of natural processes exist. Choosing specific process formulations when building a hydrological model is therefore associated with a high degree of ambiguity and subjectivity. In addition, the numerical integration of the underlying differential equations and parametrization of model structures influence model performance. Identifiability analysis may provide guidance by constraining the a priori range of alternatives based on observations. In this work, a flexible simulation environment is used to build an ensemble of semidistributed, process-based hydrological model configurations with alternative process representations, numerical integration schemes, and model parametrizations in an integrated manner. The flexible simulation environment is coupled with an approach for dynamic identifiability analysis. The objective is to investigate the applicability of the framework to identify the most adequate model. While an optimal model configuration could not be clearly distinguished, interesting results were obtained when relating model identifiability with hydro-meteorological boundary conditions. For instance, we tested the Penman-Monteith and Shuttleworth & Wallace evapotranspiration models and found that the former performs better under wet and the latter under dry conditions. Parametrization of model structures plays a dominant role as it can compensate for inadequate process representations and poor numerical solvers. Therefore, it was found that numerical solvers of high order of accuracy do often, though not necessarily, lead to better model performance. The proposed coupled framework proved to be a straightforward diagnostic tool for model building and hypotheses testing and shows potential for more in-depth analysis of process implementations and catchment functioning. KW - identifiability analysis KW - flexible model KW - numerics KW - model structure KW - WASA-SED KW - ECHSE Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028042 SN - 0043-1397 SN - 1944-7973 VL - 56 IS - 8 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER -