Water and sediment fluxes in Mediterranean mountainous regions: Comprehensive dataset for hydro-sedimentological analyses and modelling in a mesoscale catchment (River Isábena, NE Spain)

Abstract

A comprehensive hydro-sedimentological dataset for the Isábena catchment, NE Spain, for the period 2010-2016 is presented to analyse water and sediment fluxes in a Mediterranean meso-scale catchment. The dataset includes rainfall data 20 from twelve rain gauges distributed within the study area complemented by meteorological data of twelve official meteostations. It comprises discharge data derived from water stage measurements as well as suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) at six gauging stations of the River Isábena 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 Isábena catchment (445 km²) is located in the Southern Central Pyrenees ranging from 450 m to 25 2,720 m a.s.l., together with a pronounced topography this leads to distinct temperature and precipitation gradients. The River Isábena shows marked discharge variations and high sediment yields causing severe siltation problems in the downstream Barasona Reservoir. Main sediment source are badland areas located on Eocene marls that are well connected to the river network. The dataset features a wide set of parameters in a high spatial and temporal resolution suitable for advanced process understanding of water and sediment fluxes, their origin and connectivity, sediment budgeting and for 30 evaluating and further developing hydro-sedimentological models in Mediterranean meso-scale mountainous catchments. 157

What Did Really Improve Our Mesoscale Hydrological Model? A Multidimensional Analysis Based on Real Observations

“…The Isábena catchment has been subject to intensive hydro-sedimentological monitoring over the past decade (e.g., Bronstert et al, 2014), resulting in a favorable instrumentation situation ( Figure 2), which enabled testing the multidimensional analysis presented. The time-series data used have been published and described by Francke et al (2017b). 3.1.2.…”

“…The model used data described in Francke et al (2017b), also available in CUAHSI format via http://hiscentral. cuahsi.org/pub_network.aspx?n=5622 or Francke et al (2017a).…”