Stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scale
Hillslopes are the dominant landscape components where incoming precipitation becomes groundwater, streamflow or atmospheric water vapor. However, directly observing flux partitioning in the soil is almost impossible. Hydrological hillslope models are therefore being used to investigate the processe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2014-10-01
|
| Series: | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/4113/2014/hess-18-4113-2014.pdf |
| _version_ | 1811267024022667264 |
|---|---|
| author | D. Windhorst P. Kraft E. Timbe H.-G. Frede L. Breuer |
| author_facet | D. Windhorst P. Kraft E. Timbe H.-G. Frede L. Breuer |
| author_sort | D. Windhorst |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hillslopes are the dominant landscape components where incoming
precipitation becomes groundwater, streamflow or
atmospheric water vapor. However, directly observing flux partitioning in
the soil is almost impossible. Hydrological hillslope models are therefore
being used to investigate the processes involved. Here we report on a
modeling experiment using the Catchment Modeling Framework (CMF) where
measured stable water isotopes in vertical soil profiles along a tropical
mountainous grassland hillslope transect are traced through the model to
resolve potential mixing processes. CMF simulates advective transport of
stable water isotopes <sup>18</sup>O and <sup>2</sup>H based on the Richards equation
within a fully distributed 2-D representation of the hillslope. The model
successfully replicates the observed temporal pattern of soil water isotope
profiles (<i>R</i><sup>2</sup> 0.84 and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) 0.42). Predicted flows are in good
agreement with previous studies. We highlight the importance of groundwater
recharge and shallow lateral subsurface flow, accounting for 50 and
16% of the total flow leaving the system, respectively. Surface runoff is
negligible despite the steep slopes in the Ecuadorian study region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:53:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c93848427a004892b588431fa10a3701 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1027-5606 1607-7938 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:53:55Z |
| publishDate | 2014-10-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-c93848427a004892b588431fa10a37012022-12-22T03:17:02ZengCopernicus PublicationsHydrology and Earth System Sciences1027-56061607-79382014-10-0118104113412710.5194/hess-18-4113-2014Stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scaleD. Windhorst0P. Kraft1E. Timbe2H.-G. Frede3L. Breuer4Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (IFZ), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Gießen, GermanyInstitute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (IFZ), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Gießen, GermanyInstitute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (IFZ), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Gießen, GermanyInstitute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (IFZ), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Gießen, GermanyInstitute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (IFZ), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Gießen, GermanyHillslopes are the dominant landscape components where incoming precipitation becomes groundwater, streamflow or atmospheric water vapor. However, directly observing flux partitioning in the soil is almost impossible. Hydrological hillslope models are therefore being used to investigate the processes involved. Here we report on a modeling experiment using the Catchment Modeling Framework (CMF) where measured stable water isotopes in vertical soil profiles along a tropical mountainous grassland hillslope transect are traced through the model to resolve potential mixing processes. CMF simulates advective transport of stable water isotopes <sup>18</sup>O and <sup>2</sup>H based on the Richards equation within a fully distributed 2-D representation of the hillslope. The model successfully replicates the observed temporal pattern of soil water isotope profiles (<i>R</i><sup>2</sup> 0.84 and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) 0.42). Predicted flows are in good agreement with previous studies. We highlight the importance of groundwater recharge and shallow lateral subsurface flow, accounting for 50 and 16% of the total flow leaving the system, respectively. Surface runoff is negligible despite the steep slopes in the Ecuadorian study region.http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/4113/2014/hess-18-4113-2014.pdf |
| spellingShingle | D. Windhorst P. Kraft E. Timbe H.-G. Frede L. Breuer Stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scale Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| title | Stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scale |
| title_full | Stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scale |
| title_fullStr | Stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scale |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scale |
| title_short | Stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scale |
| title_sort | stable water isotope tracing through hydrological models for disentangling runoff generation processes at the hillslope scale |
| url | http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/4113/2014/hess-18-4113-2014.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dwindhorst stablewaterisotopetracingthroughhydrologicalmodelsfordisentanglingrunoffgenerationprocessesatthehillslopescale AT pkraft stablewaterisotopetracingthroughhydrologicalmodelsfordisentanglingrunoffgenerationprocessesatthehillslopescale AT etimbe stablewaterisotopetracingthroughhydrologicalmodelsfordisentanglingrunoffgenerationprocessesatthehillslopescale AT hgfrede stablewaterisotopetracingthroughhydrologicalmodelsfordisentanglingrunoffgenerationprocessesatthehillslopescale AT lbreuer stablewaterisotopetracingthroughhydrologicalmodelsfordisentanglingrunoffgenerationprocessesatthehillslopescale |