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Hydrological Processes in Small Catchments—Runoff and Sediment Yield in Changing Environment

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 22249

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Kazimierz Banasik

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Institute of Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW, Nowoursynowska 166, PL-02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: small catchments; long-term changes in runoff; conceptual rainfall–runoff modeling; sediment yield estimation
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Dr. Rabin Bhattarai

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Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Interests: water quality; hydrology; soil erosion; sediment transport
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Johanne Deelstra

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NIBIO—Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (https://www.nibio.no/en), P.O. Box 115, NO-1431 Ås, Norway
Interests: small catchments; agrohydrology; runoff; hydrological characterization; nutrient and soil loss processes; climate change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Accelerated changes in land use, population density, and climate are causing spatial and temporal changes in water resources. To achieve a better understanding of the changes and effectively manage the water resources, monitoring and modeling of hydrological processes in small catchments are carried out around the world. This Special Issue of Water aims to collect contributions of recent results on monitoring and predicting the changes in runoff, water quality, as well as sediment yield. Papers dealing with: (a) the influence of land use and/or climate changes on small catchment responses, (b) analysis of long-term records of precipitation, evapotranspiration and the responses, as well as (c) single event rainfall–runoff–sediment yield processes, are especially welcome.

Prof. Dr. Kazimierz Banasik
Prof. Dr. Rabin Bhattarai
Dr. Johanne Deelstra
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

small catchment
land use change
climate change
hydrological characteristics
rainfall–runoff process
sediment yield

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 7425 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Comparative Evaluation of Conceptual Rainfall–Runoff Models for a Catchment in Victoria Australia Using eWater Source

by Najibullah Zafari, Ashok Sharma, Dimuth Navaratna, Varuni M. Jayasooriya, Craig McTaggart and Shobha Muthukumaran

Water 2022, 14(16), 2523; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14162523 - 16 Aug 2022

Viewed by 1886

Abstract

Hydrological modelling at a catchment scale was conducted to investigate the impact of climate change and land-use change individually and in combination with the available streamflow in the Painkalac catchment using an eWater Source hydrological model. This study compares the performance of three inbuilt conceptual models within eWater Source, such as the Australian water balance model (AWBM), Sacramento and GR4J for streamflow simulation. The three-model performance was predicted by bivariate statistics (Nash–Sutcliff efficiency) and univariate (mean, standard deviation) to evaluate the efficiency of model runoff predictions. Potential evapotranspiration (PET) data, daily rainfall data and observed streamflow measured from this catchment are the major inputs to these models. These models were calibrated and validated using eight objective functions while further comparisons of these models were made using objective functions of a Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) log daily and an NSE log daily bias penalty. The observed streamflow data were split into three sections. Two-thirds of the data were used for calibration while the remaining one-third of the data was used for validation of the model. Based on the results, it was observed that the performance of the GR4J model is more suitable for the Painkalac catchment in respect of prediction and computational efficiency compared to the Sacramento and AWBM models. Further, the impact of climate change, land-use change and combined scenarios (land-use and climate change) were evaluated using the GR4J model. The results of this study suggest that the higher climate change for the year 2065 will result in approximately 45.67% less streamflow in the reservoir. In addition, the land-use change resulted in approximately 42.26% less flow while combined land-use and higher climate change will produce 48.06% less streamflow compared to the observed flow under the existing conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrological Processes in Small Catchments—Runoff and Sediment Yield in Changing Environment)

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13 pages, 3361 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using Geochemical Fingerprints for Assessing Sediment Source Apportionment in an Agricultural Catchment in Central Argentina

by Yanina Garcias, Romina Torres Astorga, Guillermo Ojeda, Sergio de los Santos Villalobos, Samuel Tejeda and Hugo Velasco

Water 2021, 13(24), 3632; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243632 - 17 Dec 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2500

Abstract

In the hilly semi-arid region of central Argentina, where the agricultural frontier expands at the expense of natural ecosystems, soil erosion is one of the most alarming environmental problems. Thus, obtaining knowledge about the dynamics of erosive processes and identifying erosion hotspots constitutes a primary scientific objective. This investigation is focused on estimating the apportionments of main sources of sediments, at the mouth of a small catchment called Durazno del Medio, located in the province of San Luis, Argentina. Elemental Analysis, measured by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF), was used to select potential geochemical fingerprints of sediment. The unmixing model MixSIAR was applied to approximate the contribution of each identified source in the sediment accumulation areas at the mouth of the catchment. Potential sediment sources were selected using two criteria: (i) a hierarchical approach to identify the main geomorphological units (GUs) and (ii) the main land uses (LU), recognized by examining satellite images and field recognitions. The selected geochemical tracers were able to distinguish sources located in the Crystalline basement hills with loess-patched (CBH) as the main sediment contributors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrological Processes in Small Catchments—Runoff and Sediment Yield in Changing Environment)

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18 pages, 3550 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Relative Contribution of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Activities to Streamflow Alterations in Illinois

by Manas Khan, Vaskar Dahal, Hanseok Jeong, Momcilo Markus and Rabin Bhattarai

Water 2021, 13(22), 3226; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13223226 - 14 Nov 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1837

Abstract

Rainfed agricultural systems have become more vulnerable to climate change due to their significant dependence on natural precipitation. Drastic changes in precipitation, superimposed with anthropogenic activities, including land use land cover change, can modify the hydrologic response, especially in agricultural watersheds. In this study, Fisher Information and cumulative sum charts (CUMSUM) methods were applied to detect the hydrologic regime shifts in six watersheds in Illinois, USA. The regime shift analysis identified shifts in streamflow regime in three agricultural watersheds, mainly around the 1970s; whereas, no significant change in streamflow was observed for forest-dominated watersheds. Furthermore, the Budyko framework was used to determine the relative contribution in streamflow alterations (i.e., regime shifts in streamflow) for the agricultural watersheds, which evidenced significant shifts in streamflow. The Budyko analysis inferred that alterations in streamflow could be primarily attributed to anthropogenic activities with a comparatively lower contribution from climate in agricultural watersheds. The relative contribution from anthropogenic activities were 71.66%, 81.46%, and 74.04%; whereas, the relative contribution from climate were 28.34%, 18.54%, and 25.96% for the Sangamon, Vermillion, and Skillet agricultural watersheds, respectively. The techniques used and the results obtained from the study would be helpful for future research in assessing the vulnerability and impact of management practices in a highly managed agricultural watershed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrological Processes in Small Catchments—Runoff and Sediment Yield in Changing Environment)

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20 pages, 5190 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Hydrological Responses of Watershed to Historical and Future Land Use Land Cover Change Dynamics of Nashe Watershed, Ethiopia

by Megersa Kebede Leta, Tamene Adugna Demissie and Jens Tränckner

Water 2021, 13(17), 2372; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13172372 - 29 Aug 2021

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 4788

Abstract

Land use land cover (LULC) change is the crucial driving force that affects the hydrological processes of a watershed. The changes of LULC have an important influence and are the main factor for monitoring the water balances. The assessment of LULC change is indispensable for sustainable development of land and water resources. Understanding the watershed responses to environmental changes and impacts of LULC classes on hydrological components is vigorous for planning water resources, land resource utilization, and hydrological balance sustaining. In this study, LULC effects on hydrological parameters of the Nashe watershed, Blue Nile River Basin are investigated. For this, historical and future LULC change scenarios in the Nashe watershed are implemented into a calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. Five LULC scenarios have been developed that represent baseline, current, and future periods corresponding to the map of 1990, 2005, 2019, 2035, and 2050. The predicted increase of agricultural and urban land by decreasing mainly forest land will lead till 2035 to an increase of 2.33% in surface runoff and a decline in ground water flow, lateral flow, and evapotranspiration. Between 2035 and 2050, a gradual increase of grass land and range land could mitigate the undesired tendency. The applied combination of LULC prognosis with process-based hydrologic modeling provide valuable data about the current and future understanding of variation in hydrological parameters and assist concerned bodies to improve land and water management in formulating approaches to minimize the conceivable increment of surface runoff. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrological Processes in Small Catchments—Runoff and Sediment Yield in Changing Environment)

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16 pages, 5962 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research of Impacts of the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake on Sediment Transport in the Atsuma River Basin Using the SWAT Model

by Yuechao Chen, Makoto Nakatsugawa and Hiroki Ohashi

Water 2021, 13(3), 356; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13030356 - 30 Jan 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2677

Abstract

Landslides, debris flows, and other secondary disasters caused by earthquakes threaten the safety and stability of river basins. Earthquakes occur frequently in Japan. Therefore, it is necessary to study the impact of earthquakes on sediment transport in river basins. In this study, considering the influence of reservoirs, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool-calibration and uncertainty program (SWAT-CUP) was employed to analyze the runoff parameter sensitivity and to optimize the parameters. We manually corrected the sediment transport parameters after earthquake, using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to assess the process of runoff and sediment transport in the Atsuma River basin before and after the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake. The applicability of the SWAT model to runoff simulation in the Atsuma River basin and the changes of sediment transport process after the earthquake were studied. The research results show that the SWAT model can accurately simulate the runoff process in the Atsuma River basin, the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE) is 0.61 in the calibration period, and is 0.74 in the verification period. The sediment transport increased greatly after the earthquake and it is roughly estimated that the amount of sediment transport per unit rainfall increased from 3.5 tons/mm/year before the earthquake to 6.2 tons/mm/year after the earthquake. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrological Processes in Small Catchments—Runoff and Sediment Yield in Changing Environment)

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20 pages, 6226 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Evaluation of AnnAGNPS Model for Runoff Simulation on Watersheds from Glaciated Landscape of USA Midwest and Northeast

by Marzia Tamanna, Soni M. Pradhanang, Arthur J. Gold, Kelly Addy, Philippe G. Vidon and Ronald L. Bingner

Water 2020, 12(12), 3525; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12123525 - 15 Dec 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4049

Abstract

Runoff modeling of glaciated watersheds is required to predict runoff for water supply, aquatic ecosystem management and flood prediction, and to deal with questions concerning the impact of climate and land use change on the hydrological system and watershed export of contaminants of glaciated watersheds. A widely used pollutant loading model, Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution (AnnAGNPS) was applied to simulate runoff from three watersheds in glaciated geomorphic settings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the AnnAGNPS model in glaciated landscapes for the prediction of runoff volume. The study area included Sugar Creek watershed, Indiana; Fall Creek watershed, New York; and Pawcatuck River watershed, Rhode Island, USA. The AnnAGNPS model was developed, calibrated and validated for runoff estimation for these watersheds. The daily and monthly calibration and validation statistics (NSE > 0.50 and RSR < 0.70, and PBIAS ± 25%) of the developed model were satisfactory for runoff simulation for all the studied watersheds. Once AnnAGNPS successfully simulated runoff, a parameter sensitivity analysis was carried out for runoff simulation in all three watersheds. The output from our hydrological models applied to glaciated areas will provide the capacity to couple edge-of-field hydrologic modeling with the examination of riparian or riverine functions and behaviors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrological Processes in Small Catchments—Runoff and Sediment Yield in Changing Environment)

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13 pages, 2380 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Lag Times as Indicators of Hydrological Mechanisms Responsible for NO₃-N Flushing in a Forested Headwater Catchment

by Klaudija Sapač, Andrej Vidmar, Nejc Bezak and Simon Rusjan

Water 2020, 12(4), 1092; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041092 - 12 Apr 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3297

Abstract

Understanding the temporal variability of the nutrient transport from catchments is essential for planning nutrient loss reduction measures related to land use and climate change. Moreover, observations and analysis of nutrient dynamics in streams draining undisturbed catchments are known to represent a reference point by which human-influenced catchments can be compared. In this paper, temporal dynamics of nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃-N) flux are investigated on an event basis by analysing observed lag times between data series. More specifically, we studied lag times between the centres of mass of six hydrological and biogeochemical variables, namely discharge, soil moisture at three depths, NO₃-N flux, and the precipitation hyetograph centre of mass. Data obtained by high-frequency measurements (20 min time step) from 29 events were analysed. Linear regression and multiple linear regression (MLR) were used to identify relationships between lag times of the above-mentioned processes. We found that discharge lag time (LAG_Q) and NO₃-N flux lag time (LAG_N) are highly correlated indicating similar temporal response to rainfall. Moreover, relatively high correlation between LAG_N and soil moisture lag times was also detected. The MLR model showed that the most descriptive variable for both LAG_N and LAG_Q is amount of precipitation. For LAG_N, the change of the soil moisture in the upper two layers was also significant, suggesting that the lag times indicate the primarily role of the forest soils as the main source of the NO₃-N flux, whereas the precipitation amount and the runoff formation through the forest soils are the main controlling mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrological Processes in Small Catchments—Runoff and Sediment Yield in Changing Environment)

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