Spatially distributed hydrotope-based modelling of evapotranspiration and runoff in mountainous basins

Gurtz, J.; Baltensweiler, Andri; Herbert, L.R.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(19991215)13:17<2751::aid-hyp897>3.0.co;2-o

Cited by 169 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

109

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, the spatially interpolated values (representing locally adjusted regression intercepts) were re-projected to actual elevations using a 25 m DEM (Digital Elevation Model) and the regression lapse rates (for details, see Zimmermann & Kienast, 1999). Additionally, the spatially distributed hydrological model PREVAH (Gurtz et al, 1999;Randin et al, 2006) was used to obtain a physically based predictor for potential evapotranspiration in both study areas, taking into account the effect of local topography.…”

Section: H I G H -E L E Va T I O N P E R S I S T E N C E O F P L a N mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and plant distribution: local models predict high‐elevation persistence

Randin¹,

Engler²,

Normand

et al. 2009

Global Change Biology

485

461

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mountain ecosystems will likely be affected by global warming during the 21st century, with substantial biodiversity loss predicted by species distribution models (SDMs). Depending on the geographic extent, elevation range, and spatial resolution of data used in making these models, different rates of habitat loss have been predicted, with associated risk of species extinction. Few coordinated across-scale comparisons have been made using data of different resolutions and geographic extents. Here, we assess whether climate change-induced habitat losses predicted at the European scale (10 Â 10 0 grid cells) are also predicted from local-scale data and modeling (25 m Â 25 m grid cells) in two regions of the Swiss Alps. We show that local-scale models predict persistence of suitable habitats in up to 100% of species that were predicted by a European-scale model to lose all their suitable habitats in the area. Proportion of habitat loss depends on climate change scenario and study area. We find good agreement between the mismatch in predictions between scales and the fine-grain elevation range within 10 Â 10 0 cells. The greatest prediction discrepancy for alpine species occurs in the area with the largest nival zone. Our results suggest elevation range as the main driver for the observed prediction discrepancies. Local-scale projections may better reflect the possibility for species to track their climatic requirement toward higher elevations.

show abstract

Section: H I G H -E L E Va T I O N P E R S I S T E N C E O F P L a N mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and plant distribution: local models predict high‐elevation persistence

Randin¹,

Engler²,

Normand

et al. 2009

Global Change Biology

485

461

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Daily values of actual evapotranspiration (ET) were calculated using a radiation-based approach included in the PRE-VAH model (Gurtz et al, 1999;Viviroli et al, 2009). The PREVAH model uses observed global radiation at a daily temporal resolution as input to the Penman-Monteith equation to compute potential evapotranspiration (PET).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of maximum snow accumulation for summer low flows in humid catchments

Jeníček

Seibert

Zappa

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Winter snow accumulation obviously has an effect on the following catchment runoff. The question is, however, how long this effect lasts and how important it is compared to rainfall inputs. Here we investigate the relative importance of snow accumulation on one critical aspect of runoff, namely the summer low flow. This is especially relevant as the expected increase of air temperature might result in decreased snow storage. A decrease of snow will affect soil and groundwater storages during spring and might cause low streamflow values in the subsequent warm season. To understand these potential climate change impacts, a better evaluation of the effects of inter-annual variations in snow accumulation on summer low flow under current conditions is central. The objective in this study was (1) to quantify how long snowmelt affects runoff after melt-out and (2) to estimate the sensitivity of catchments with different elevation ranges to changes in snowpack. To find suitable predictors of summer low flow we used long time series from 14 Alpine and pre-Alpine catchments in Switzerland and computed different variables quantifying winter and spring snow conditions. In general, the results indicated that maximum winter snow water equivalent (SWE) influenced summer low flow, but could expectedly only partly explain the observed inter-annual variations. On average, a decrease of maximum SWE by 10 % caused a decrease of minimum discharge in July by 6-9 % in catchments higher than 2000 m a.s.l. This effect was smaller in middle-and lower-elevation catchments with a decrease of minimum discharge by 2-5 % per 10 % decrease of maximum SWE. For higher-and middle-elevation catchments and years with below-average SWE maximum, the minimum discharge in July decreased to 70-90 % of its normal level. Additionally, a reduction in SWE resulted in earlier low-flow occurrence in some cases. One other important factor was the precipitation between maximum SWE and summer low flow. When only dry preceding conditions in this period were considered, the importance of maximum SWE as a predictor of low flows increased. We assessed the sensitivity of individual catchments to the change of maximum SWE using the non-parametric Theil-Sen approach as well as an elasticity index. Both sensitivity indicators increased with increasing mean catchment elevation, indicating a higher sensitivity of summer low flow to snow accumulation in Alpine catchments compared to lower-elevation pre-Alpine catchments.

show abstract

“…The distributed hydrological model (Preciptation Runoff EVApotranspiration Hydrological Response Unit (HRU) model, PREVAH, Gurtz et al, 1999) had already been applied to the investigated area in the framework of the MAP-Riviera Project (Rotach et al, 2004). MAP-Riviera focused on the interactions between soil and atmosphere in the planetary boundary layer (Rotach and Zardi, 2007).…”

Section: Hydrological Modelling On a Continuous Time Basismentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrological aspects of the Mesoscale Alpine Programme: findings from field experiments and simulations

Ranzi

Zappa

Bacchi

2007

Quart J Royal Meteoro Soc

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT:The Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP) was a unique initiative to improve the understanding of processes involved in orographically influenced precipitation events and in the related emergence and mitigation of floods in the Alps. This study presents a summary of the results from investigations of hydrological relevance in areas to the south (Lago Maggiore watershed) and north (Ammer watershed) of the Alps. A special focus is given to the 1999 Special Observing Period (SOP) experiment. MAP has been an important dialogue platform between the hydrological and meteorological communities. A common goal has been the verification and the assessment of errors and sources of uncertainty of new coupled techniques for flood forecasting in mountainous environments. The ensemble multi-model error in the hydrometeorological forecast, two days in advance, was 30% of the observed peaks and 15% of the observed runoff volumes, on average. To provide some insight on the relative importance and priority of observation strategies of hydrological factors such as soil moisture and reservoir volume in contributing to the flood intensity, the MAP project 'Hydrology' focused also on the role and magnitude of water storage in reservoirs. The presented analyses indicate that for the investigated basins and flood events, the storage reservoirs may retain, on average, up to 10% of the event runoff volume and are key elements contributing to the mitigation of peak runoff. The observed variability of soil moisture is large and therefore it has been confirmed that severe difficulties remain in instrumental monitoring of soil moisture in mountainous environments. The sensitivity of floods to soil moisture in the physio-geographic context analysed here seems, however, to be minor, due to the shallow soil layer covering the underlying rocks and the relatively high permeability of soils which reduce the 'hydrological memory' of the soil cover in the mountain basins investigated.

show abstract

Spatially distributed hydrotope-based modelling of evapotranspiration and runoff in mountainous basins

Cited by 169 publications

References 10 publications

Climate change and plant distribution: local models predict high‐elevation persistence

Climate change and plant distribution: local models predict high‐elevation persistence

Importance of maximum snow accumulation for summer low flows in humid catchments

Hydrological aspects of the Mesoscale Alpine Programme: findings from field experiments and simulations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About