TY - JOUR A1 - Lindenmaier, Falk A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Ihringer, Jürgen T1 - The role of detailed hydrological investigation for the identification of dominating structures and processes which lead to mass movement in mountainous regions Y1 - 2004 SN - 3-8325-0585-7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Blöschl, Günter T1 - Predictability of hydrologic response at the plot and catchment scales : the role of initial conditions N2 - [1] This paper examines the effect of uncertain initial soil moisture on hydrologic response at the plot scale (1 m(2)) and the catchment scale (3.6 km(2)) in the presence of threshold transitions between matrix and preferential flow. We adopt the concepts of microstates and macrostates from statistical mechanics. The microstates are the detailed patterns of initial soil moisture that are inherently unknown, while the macrostates are specified by the statistical distributions of initial soil moisture that can be derived from the measurements typically available in field experiments. We use a physically based model and ensure that it closely represents the processes in the Weiherbach catchment, Germany. We then use the model to generate hydrologic response to hypothetical irrigation events and rainfall events for multiple realizations of initial soil moisture microstates that are all consistent with the same macrostate. As the measures of uncertainty at the plot scale we use the coefficient of variation and the scaled range of simulated vertical bromide transport distances between realizations. At the catchment scale we use similar statistics derived from simulated flood peak discharges. The simulations indicate that at both scales the predictability depends on the average initial soil moisture state and is at a minimum around the soil moisture value where the transition from matrix to macropore flow occurs. The predictability increases with rainfall intensity. The predictability increases with scale with maximum absolute errors of 90 and 32% at the plot scale and the catchment scale, respectively. It is argued that even if we assume perfect knowledge on the processes, the level of detail with which one can measure the initial conditions along with the nonlinearity of the system will set limits to the repeatability of experiments and limits to the predictability of models at the plot and catchment scales Y1 - 2004 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lindenmaier, Falk A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Dittfurth, Angela A1 - Ihringer, Jürgen T1 - Process identification at a slow-moving landslide in the Vorarlberg Alps N2 - A fine-grained slope that exhibits slow movement rates was investigated to understand how geohydrological processes contribute to a consecutive development of mass movements in the Vorarlberg Alps, Austria. For that purpose intensive hydrometeorological, hydrogeological and geotechnical observations as well as surveying of surface movement rates were conducted during 1998–2001. Subsurface water dynamics at the creeping slope turned out to be dominated by a three-dimensional pressure system. The pressure reaction is triggered by fast infiltration of surface water and subsequent lateral water flow in the south-western part of the hillslope. The related pressure signal was shown to propagate further downhill, causing fast reactions of the piezometric head at 5Ð5 m depth on a daily time scale. The observed pressure reactions might belong to a temporary hillslope water body that extends further downhill. The related buoyancy forces could be one of the driving forces for the mass movement. A physically based hydrological model was adopted to model simultaneously surface and subsurface water dynamics including evapotranspiration and runoff production. It was possible to reproduce surface runoff and observed pressure reactions in principle. However, as soil hydraulic functions were only estimated on pedotransfer functions, a quantitative comparison between observed and simulated subsurface dynamics is not feasible. Nevertheless, the results suggest that it is possible to reconstruct important spatial structures based on sparse observations in the field which allow reasonable simulations with a physically based hydrological model. Copyright  2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY WORDS rainfall-induced landslides; soil creep; hydrological modelling; Vorarlberg; Austria; pressure propagation Y1 - 2004 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-60226 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lindenmaier, Falk A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Dittfurth, A. A1 - Ihringer, Jürgen T1 - Process identification at a slow-moving landslide in the Vorarlberg Alps N2 - A fine-grained slope that exhibits slow movement rates was investigated to understand how geohydrological processes contribute to a consecutive development of mass movements in the Vorarlberg Alps, Austria. For that purpose intensive hydrometeorological, hydrogeological and geotechnical observations as well as surveying of surface movement rates were conducted during 1998-2001. Subsurface water dynamics at the creeping slope turned out to be dominated by a three-dimensional pressure system. The pressure reaction is triggered by fast infiltration of surface water and subsequent lateral water flow in the south-western part of the hillslope. The related pressure signal was shown to propagate further downhill, causing fast reactions of the piezometric head at 5.5 m depth on a daily time scale. The observed pressure reactions might belong to a temporary hillslope water body that extends further downhill. The related buoyancy forces could be one of the driving forces for the mass movement. A physically based hydrological model was adopted to model simultaneously surface and subsurface water dynamics including evapotranspiration and runoff production. It was possible to reproduce surface runoff and observed pressure reactions in principle. However, as soil hydraulic functions were only estimated on pedotransfer functions, a quantitative comparison between observed and simulated subsurface dynamics is not feasible. Nevertheless, the results suggest that it is possible to reconstruct important spatial structures based on sparse observations in the field which allow reasonable simulations with a physically based hydrological model. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Y1 - 2005 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bloschl, Günter A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Invited commentary : on hydrological predictability Y1 - 2005 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Becker, Rolf A1 - Bardossy, Andras A1 - Plate, Erich T1 - Uncertainty of simulated catchment runoff response in the presence of threshold processes : role of initial soil moisture and precipitation N2 - This paper examines the effect of spatially variable initial soil moisture and spatially variable precipitation on predictive uncertainty of simulated catchment scale runoff response in the presence of threshold processes. The underlying philosophy is to use a physically based hydrological model named CATFLOW as a virtual landscape, assuming perfect knowledge of the processes. The model, which in particular conceptualizes preferential flow as threshold process, was developed based on intensive process and parameter studies and has already been successfully applied to simulate flow and transport at different scales and catchments. Study area is the intensively investigated Weiherbach catchment. Numerous replicas of spatially variable initial soil moisture or spatially variable precipitation with the same geostatistical properties are conditioned to observed soil moisture and precipitation data and serve as initial and boundary conditions for the model during repeated simulations. The effect of spatially soil moisture on modeling catchment runoff response was found to depend strongly on average saturation of the catchment. Different realizations of initial soil moisture yielded strongly different hydrographs for intermediate initial soil moisture as well as in dry catchment conditions; in other states the effect was found to be much lower. This is clearly because of the threshold nature of preferential flow as well as the threshold nature of Hortonian production of overland flow. It was shown furthermore that the spatial pattern of a key parameter (macroporosity) that determined threshold behavior is of vast importance for the model response. The estimation of these patterns, which is mostly done based on sparse observations and expert knowledge, is a major source for predictive model uncertainty. Finally, it was shown that the usage of biased, i.e. spatially homogenized precipitation, input during parameter estimation yields a biased model structure, which gives poor results when used with highly distributed input. If spatially highly resolved precipitation was used during model parameter estimation. the predictive uncertainty of the model was clearly reduced. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved Y1 - 2005 SN - 0022-1694 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bolduan, Rainer A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Degradation of isoproturon in earthworm macropores and subsoil matrix : a field study N2 - The objective is to compare the time scale of microbial degradation of the herbicide Isoproturon at the end of earthworm burrows with the time scale of microbial degradation in the surrounding soil matrix. To this end, we developed a method which allows the observation of microbial degradation on Isoproturon in macropores under field conditions. Study area was the well-investigated Weiherbach catchment (Kraichgau, SW Germany). The topsoil of a 12 m(2) large plot parcel was removed, the parcel was covered with a tent and instrumented with TDR and temperature sensors at two depths. After preliminary investigations to optimize application and sampling techniques, the bottom of 55 earthworm burrows, located at a depth of 80-100cm, was inoculated with Isoproturon. Within an interval of 8 d, soil material from the bottom of 5-6 earthworm burrows was taken into the laboratory and analyzed for the Isoproturon concentration for investigation of the degradation kinetics. Furthermore, the degradation of Isoproturon in the soil matrix, that surrounded the macropores at the field plot, was observed in the laboratory. Microbial degradation of Isoproturon at the bottom of the earthworm burrows was with a DT-50-value of 15.6 d almost as fast as in the topsoil. In the soil matrix that closely surrounded the center of the earthworm burrows, no measurable degradation was observed within 30 d. The clearly slower degradation in the soil matrix may be likely explained by a lower microbial activity that was observed in the surrounding soil matrix. The results give evidence that deterministic modeling of the fate of pesticides once transported into heterogeneous subsoils by preferential flow requires an accuracy of a few centimeters in terms of predicting spatial locations: time scales of microbial degradation in the subsoil drop almost one order of magnitude, in case the herbicides dislocates from the bottom of an earthworm burrow a few centimeter into the surrounding soil matrix. If at all, predictions of such an accuracy can only be achieved at locations at sites where the soil hydraulic properties and the macropore system are known at a very high spatial resolution Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/10008342 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/jpin.200521754 SN - 1436-8730 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schulz, K. A1 - Seppelt, Ralf A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Vogel, Hans-Jörg A1 - Attinger, Sabine T1 - Importance of spatial structures in advancing hydrological sciences N2 - [1] Spatial patterns of land surface and subsurface characteristics often exert significant control over hydrological processes at many scales. Recognition of the dominant controls at the watershed scale, which is a prerequisite to successful prediction of system responses, will require significant progress in many different research areas. The development and improvement of techniques for mapping structures and spatiotemporal patterns using geophysical and remote sensing techniques would greatly benefit watershed science but still requires a significant synthesis effort. Effective descriptions of hydrological systems will also significantly benefit from new scaling and averaging techniques, from new mathematical description for spatial pattern/structures and their dynamics, and also from an understanding and quantification of structure and pattern-building processes in different compartments ( soils, rocks, and land surface) and at different scales. The advances that are needed to tackle these complex challenges could be greatly facilitated through the development of an interdisciplinary research framework that explores instrumentation, theory, and simulation components and that is implemented in a coordinated manner Y1 - 2006 UR - http://www.mendeley.com/research/importance-of-spatial-structures-in-advancing-hydrological-sciences/ #page-1 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2005wr004301 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Elsenbeer, Helmut A1 - Lindenmaier, Falk A1 - Schulz, K. A1 - Blöschl, Günter T1 - Patterns of predictability in hydrological threshold systems N2 - [1] Observations of hydrological response often exhibit considerable scatter that is difficult to interpret. In this paper, we examine runoff production of 53 sprinkling experiments on the water-repellent soils in the southern Alps of Switzerland; simulated plot scale tracer transport in the macroporous soils at the Weiherbach site, Germany; and runoff generation data from the 2.3-km(2) Tannhausen catchment, Germany, that has cracking soils. The response at the three sites is highly dependent on the initial soil moisture state as a result of the threshold dynamics of the systems. A simple statistical model of threshold behavior is proposed to help interpret the scatter in the observations. Specifically, the model portrays how the inherent macrostate uncertainty of initial soil moisture translates into the scatter of the observed system response. The statistical model is then used to explore the asymptotic pattern of predictability when increasing the number of observations, which is normally not possible in a field study. Although the physical and chemical mechanisms of the processes at the three sites are different, the predictability patterns are remarkably similar. Predictability is smallest when the system state is close to the threshold and increases as the system state moves away from it. There is inherent uncertainty in the response data that is not measurement error but is related to the observability of the initial conditions. Y1 - 2007 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2006wr005589 SN - 0043-1397 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zimmermann, Beate A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Hartmann, N. K. A1 - Elsenbeer, Helmut T1 - Analyzing spatial data : an assessment of assumptions, new methods, and uncertainty using soil hydraulic data Y1 - 2008 SN - 0043-1397 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Gräff, Thomas A1 - Morgner, Markus A1 - Bauer, Andreas A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Plot and field scale soil moisture dynamics and subsurface wetness control on runoff generation in a headwater in the Ore Mountains N2 - This study presents an application of an innovative sampling strategy to assess soil moisture dynamics in a headwater of the Weißeritz in the German eastern Ore Mountains. A grassland site and a forested site were instrumented with two Spatial TDR clusters (STDR) that consist of 39 and 32 coated TDR probes of 60 cm length. Distributed time series of vertically averaged soil moisture data from both sites/ensembles were analyzed by statistical and geostatistical methods. Spatial variability and the spatial mean at the forested site were larger than at the grassland site. Furthermore, clustering of TDR probes in combination with long-term monitoring allowed identification of average spatial covariance structures at the small field scale for different wetness states. The correlation length of soil water content as well as the sill to nugget ratio at the grassland site increased with increasing average wetness and but, in contrast, were constant at the forested site. As soil properties at both the forested and grassland sites are extremely variable, this suggests that the correlation structure at the forested site is dominated by the pattern of throughfall and interception. We also found a strong correlation between average soil moisture dynamics and runoff coefficients of rainfall-runoff events observed at gauge Rehefeld, which explains almost as much variability in the runoff coefficients as pre-event discharge. By combining these results with a recession analysis we derived a first conceptual model of the dominant runoff mechanisms operating in this catchment. Finally, long term simulations with a physically based hydrological model were in good/acceptable accordance with the time series of spatial average soil water content observed at the forested site and the grassland site, respectively. Both simulations used a homogeneous soil setup that closely reproduces observed average soil conditions observed at the field sites. This corroborates the proposed sampling strategy of clustering TDR probes in typical functional units is a promising technique to explore the soil moisture control on runoff generation. Long term monitoring of such sites could maybe yield valuable information for flood warning. The sampling strategy helps furthermore to unravel different types of soil moisture variability. Y1 - 2008 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wienhöfer, Jan A1 - Germer, Kai A1 - Lindenmaier, Falk A1 - Färber, Arne A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Applied tracers for the observation of subsurface stormflow at the hillslope scale N2 - Rain fall-runoff response in temperate humid headwater catchments is mainly controlled by hydrolo gical processes at the hillslope scale. Applied tracer experiments with fluore scent dye and salt tracers are well known tools in groundwater studies at the large scale and vadose zone studies at the plot scale, where they provide a means to characterise subsurface flow. We extend this approach to the hillslope scale to investigate saturated and unsaturated flow path s concertedly at a forested hill slope in the Austrian Alps. Dye staining experiments at the plot scale revealed that crack s and soil pipe s function as preferential flow path s in the fine-textured soils of the study area, and these preferenti al flow structures were active in fast subsurface transport of tracers at the hillslope scale. Breakthrough curves obtained under steady flow conditions could be fitted well to a one-dimensional convection-dispersion model. Under natural rain fall a positive correlation of tracer concentrations to the transient flows was observed. The results of this study demon strate qualitative and quantitative effects of preferential flow feature s on subsurface stormflow in a temperate humid headwater catchment. It turn s out that , at the hill slope scale, the interaction s of structures and processes are intrinsically complex, which implies that attempts to model such a hillslope satisfactorily require detailed investigation s of effective structures and parameters at the scale of interest. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - paper 146 KW - Saturated hydraulic conductivity KW - preferential flow pathways KW - solute transport KW - runoff generation KW - fluorescent dyes Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-45246 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Reusser, Dominik A1 - Blume, Theresa A1 - Schaefli, Bettina A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Analysing the temporal dynamics of model performance for hydrological models N2 - The temporal dynamics of hydrological model performance gives insights into errors that cannot be obtained from global performance measures assigning a single number to the fit of a simulated time series to an observed reference series. These errors can include errors in data, model parameters, or model structure. Dealing with a set of performance measures evaluated at a high temporal resolution implies analyzing and interpreting a high dimensional data set. This paper presents a method for such a hydrological model performance assessment with a high temporal resolution and illustrates its application for two very different rainfall-runoff modeling case studies. The first is the Wilde Weisseritz case study, a headwater catchment in the eastern Ore Mountains, simulated with the conceptual model WaSiM-ETH. The second is the Malalcahuello case study, a headwater catchment in the Chilean Andes, simulated with the physicsbased model Catflow. The proposed time-resolved performance assessment starts with the computation of a large set of classically used performance measures for a moving window. The key of the developed approach is a data-reduction method based on self-organizing maps (SOMs) and cluster analysis to classify the high-dimensional performance matrix. Synthetic peak errors are used to interpret the resulting error classes. The final outcome of the proposed method is a time series of the occurrence of dominant error types. For the two case studies analyzed here, 6 such error types have been identified. They show clear temporal patterns, which can lead to the identification of model structural errors. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - paper 140 KW - Rainfall-runoff response KW - Process identification KW - Improved calibration KW - Soil-moisture KW - Catchment Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-45114 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Blume, Theresa A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Use of soil moisture dynamics and patterns at different spatio-temporal scales for the investigation of subsurface flow processes N2 - Spatial patterns as well as temporal dynamics of soil moisture have a major influence on runoff generation. The investigation of these dynamics and patterns can thus yield valuable information on hydrological processes, especially in data scarce or previously ungauged catchments. The combination of spatially scarce but temporally high resolution soil moisture profiles with episodic and thus temporally scarce moisture profiles at additional locations provides information on spatial as well as temporal patterns of soil moisture at the hillslope transect scale. This approach is better suited to difficult terrain (dense forest, steep slopes) than geophysical techniques and at the same time less cost-intensive than a high resolution grid of continuously measuring sensors. Rainfall simulation experiments with dye tracers while continuously monitoring soil moisture response allows for visualization of flow processes in the unsaturated zone at these locations. Data was analyzed at different spacio-temporal scales using various graphical methods, such as space-time colour maps (for the event and plot scale) and binary indicator maps (for the long-term and hillslope scale). Annual dynamics of soil moisture and decimeterscale variability were also investigated. The proposed approach proved to be successful in the investigation of flow processes in the unsaturated zone and showed the importance of preferential flow in the Malalcahuello Catchment, a datascarce catchment in the Andes of Southern Chile. Fast response times of stream flow indicate that preferential flow observed at the plot scale might also be of importance at the hillslope or catchment scale. Flow patterns were highly variable in space but persistent in time. The most likely explanation for preferential flow in this catchment is a combination of hydrophobicity, small scale heterogeneity in rainfall due to redistribution in the canopy and strong gradients in unsaturated conductivities leading to self-reinforcing flow paths. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - paper 125 KW - Repellent sandy soil KW - Poorly gauged catchment KW - Volcanic ash soils KW - Water repellency KW - Preferential flow Y1 - 2009 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-44924 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienhöfer, Jan A1 - Lindenmaier, Falk A1 - Ihringer, Jürgen A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Characterization of soil hydraulic properties on a creeping Alpine slope Y1 - 2009 SN - 978-1-901502-89-3 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wienhöfer, Jan A1 - Lindenmaier, Falk A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Temporal variability of a slow-moving landslide : the Heumöser Hang case study in Vorarlberg, Austria Y1 - 2009 UR - http://eost.u-strasbg.fr/omiv/Conference_Landslide_Processes.html SN - 2-9518317-1-4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gräff, Thomas A1 - Zehe, Erwin A1 - Reusser, Dominik A1 - Lueck, Erika A1 - Schroeder, Boris A1 - Wenk, Gerald A1 - John, Hermann A1 - Bronstert, Axel T1 - Process identification through rejection of model structures in a mid-mountainous rural catchment : observations of rainfall-runoff response, geophysical conditions and model inter-comparison N2 - The intention of the presented study is to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms that caused the bimodal rainfall-runoff responses which occurred up to the mid-1970s regularly in the Schafertal catchment and vanished after the onset of mining activities. Understanding, this process is a first step to understanding the ongoing hydrological change in this area. It is hypothesized that either subsurface stormflow, or fast displacement of groundwater, could cause the second delayed peak. A top-down analysis of rainfall-runoff data, field observations as well as process modelling are combined within a rejectionistic framework. A statistical analysis is used to test whether different predictors. which characterize the forcing. near surface water content and deeper subsurface store, allow the prediction of the type of rainfall-runoff response. Regression analysis is used with generalized linear models Lis they can deal with non-Gaussian error distributions Lis well its a non-stationary variance. The analysis reveals that the dominant predictors are the pre-event discharge (proxy of state of the groundwater store) and the precipitation amount, In the field campaign, the subsurface at a representative hillslope was investigated by means of electrical resistivity tomography in order to identify possible strata as flow paths for subsurface stormflow. A low resistivity in approximately 4 in depth-either due to a less permeable layer or the groundwater surface-was detected. The former Could serve as a flow path for subsurface stormflow. Finally, the physical-based hydrological model CATFLOW and the groundwater model FEFLOW are compared with respect to their ability to reproduce the bimodal runoff responses. The groundwater model is able to reproduce the observations, although it uses only an abstract representation of the hillslopes. Process model analysis as well Lis statistical analysis strongly suggest that fast displacement of groundwater is the dominant process underlying the bimodal runoff reactions. Y1 - 2009 UR - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/4125/home U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/Hyp.7171 SN - 0885-6087 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reusser, Dominik Edwin A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Low-cost monitoring of snow height and thermal properties with inexpensive temperature sensors JF - Hydrological processes N2 - Small, self-recording temperature sensors were installed at several heights along a metal rod at five locations in a case study catchment. For each sensor, the presence or absence of snow cover was determined on the basis of its insulating effect and the resulting reduction of the diurnal temperature oscillations. Sensor coverage was then converted into a time series of snow height for each location. Additionally, cold content was calculated. Snow height and cold content provide valuable information for spring flood prediction. Good agreement of estimated snow heights with reference measurements was achieved and increased discharge in the study catchment coincided with low cold content of the snow cover. The results of the proposed distributed assessment of snow cover and snow state show great potential for (i) flood warning, (ii) assimilation of snow state data and (iii) modelling snowmelt process. KW - snow measurements KW - cold content KW - temperature index approach KW - heat diffusion KW - temperature Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7937 SN - 0885-6087 SN - 1099-1085 VL - 25 IS - 12 SP - 1841 EP - 1852 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reusser, Dominik Edwin A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Inferring model structural deficits by analyzing temporal dynamics of model performance and parameter sensitivity JF - Water resources research N2 - In this paper we investigate the use of hydrological models as learning tools to help improve our understanding of the hydrological functioning of a catchment. With the model as a hypothetical conceptualization of how dominant hydrological processes contribute to catchment-scale response, we investigate three questions: (1) During which periods does the model (not) reproduce observed quantities and dynamics? (2) What is the nature of the error during times of bad model performance? (3) Which model components are responsible for this error? To investigate these questions, we combine a method for detecting repeating patterns of typical differences between model and observations (time series of grouped errors, TIGER) with a method for identifying the active model components during each simulation time step based on parameter sensitivity (temporal dynamics of parameter sensitivities, TEDPAS). The approach generates a time series of occurrence of dominant error types and time series of parameter sensitivities. A synoptic discussion of these time series highlights deficiencies in the assumptions about the functioning of the catchment. The approach is demonstrated for the Weisseritz headwater catchment in the eastern Ore Mountains. Our results indicate that the WaSiM-ETH complex grid-based model is not a sufficient working hypothesis for the functioning of the Weisseritz catchment and point toward future steps that can help improve our understanding of the catchment. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009946 SN - 0043-1397 SN - 1944-7973 VL - 47 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reusser, Dominik Edwin A1 - Buytaert, W. A1 - Zehe, Erwin T1 - Temporal dynamics of model parameter sensitivity for computationally expensive models with the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test JF - Water resources research N2 - The quest for improved hydrological models is one of the big challenges in hydrology. When discrepancies are observed between simulated and measured discharge, it is essential to identify which algorithms may be responsible for poor model behavior. Particularly in complex hydrological models, different process representations may dominate at different moments and interact with each other, thus highly complicating this task. This paper investigates the analysis of the temporal dynamics of parameter sensitivity as a way to disentangle the simulation of a hydrological model and identify dominant parameterizations. Three existing methods (the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test, the extended Fourier amplitude sensitivity test, and Sobol's method) are compared by applying them to a TOPMODEL implementation in a small mountainous catchment in the tropics. For the major part of the simulation period, the three methods give comparable results, while the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test is much more computationally efficient. This method is also applied to the complex hydrological model WaSiM-ETH implemented in the Weisseritz catchment, Germany. A qualitative model validation was performed on the basis of the identification of relevant model components. The validation revealed that the saturation deficit parameterization of WaSiM-ETH is highly susceptible to parameter interaction and lack of identifiability. We conclude that temporal dynamics of model parameter sensitivity can be a powerful tool for hydrological model analysis, especially to identify parameter interaction as well as the dominant hydrological response modes. Finally, an open source implementation of the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test is provided. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009947 SN - 0043-1397 VL - 47 IS - 4 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER -