A Conceptual Model to Quantify the Water Balance Components of a Watershed in a Continuous Permafrost Region
In regions characterized by continuous permafrost, hydrological modeling remains a complex activity, primarily due to constraints related to the prevailing climatic conditions and the specific behavior of the active layer. High-latitude regions receive less solar radiation; thus, most creeks are act...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/1/83 |
| _version_ | 1797358152485699584 |
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| author | Alain Lubini Tshumuka Musandji Fuamba |
| author_facet | Alain Lubini Tshumuka Musandji Fuamba |
| author_sort | Alain Lubini Tshumuka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In regions characterized by continuous permafrost, hydrological modeling remains a complex activity, primarily due to constraints related to the prevailing climatic conditions and the specific behavior of the active layer. High-latitude regions receive less solar radiation; thus, most creeks are active only during summertime and stay frozen in the winter. To realistically simulate watersheds underlain by continuous permafrost, the heat transfer through the soil needs to be accounted for in the modeling process. In this study, a watershed located in a continuous permafrost zone in Russia is investigated. A model is proposed to integrate this heat transfer into an existing conceptual rain-flow transformation model, Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV), to calculate the seasonal thaw depth and determine the components of water balance. The proposed integration is a novelty compared to the standard model, as it enables the physical and thermal properties of the soil to be taken into account. It was found that the proposed model, HBV-Heat, performs better than the stand-alone HBV model. Specifically, the average Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) increases by 30% for the whole calibration period. In terms of the water balance components, the results are consistent with previous studies, showing that surface runoff represents 64% of the observed precipitation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:55:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cba7b1309a8d4c7da5dab6aedf60917c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:55:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-cba7b1309a8d4c7da5dab6aedf60917c2024-01-10T15:11:35ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412023-12-011618310.3390/w16010083A Conceptual Model to Quantify the Water Balance Components of a Watershed in a Continuous Permafrost RegionAlain Lubini Tshumuka0Musandji Fuamba1Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, CanadaDepartment of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, CanadaIn regions characterized by continuous permafrost, hydrological modeling remains a complex activity, primarily due to constraints related to the prevailing climatic conditions and the specific behavior of the active layer. High-latitude regions receive less solar radiation; thus, most creeks are active only during summertime and stay frozen in the winter. To realistically simulate watersheds underlain by continuous permafrost, the heat transfer through the soil needs to be accounted for in the modeling process. In this study, a watershed located in a continuous permafrost zone in Russia is investigated. A model is proposed to integrate this heat transfer into an existing conceptual rain-flow transformation model, Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV), to calculate the seasonal thaw depth and determine the components of water balance. The proposed integration is a novelty compared to the standard model, as it enables the physical and thermal properties of the soil to be taken into account. It was found that the proposed model, HBV-Heat, performs better than the stand-alone HBV model. Specifically, the average Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) increases by 30% for the whole calibration period. In terms of the water balance components, the results are consistent with previous studies, showing that surface runoff represents 64% of the observed precipitation.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/1/83continuous permafrostheat transferhydrological modelingthaw depthwater balance |
| spellingShingle | Alain Lubini Tshumuka Musandji Fuamba A Conceptual Model to Quantify the Water Balance Components of a Watershed in a Continuous Permafrost Region Water continuous permafrost heat transfer hydrological modeling thaw depth water balance |
| title | A Conceptual Model to Quantify the Water Balance Components of a Watershed in a Continuous Permafrost Region |
| title_full | A Conceptual Model to Quantify the Water Balance Components of a Watershed in a Continuous Permafrost Region |
| title_fullStr | A Conceptual Model to Quantify the Water Balance Components of a Watershed in a Continuous Permafrost Region |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Conceptual Model to Quantify the Water Balance Components of a Watershed in a Continuous Permafrost Region |
| title_short | A Conceptual Model to Quantify the Water Balance Components of a Watershed in a Continuous Permafrost Region |
| title_sort | conceptual model to quantify the water balance components of a watershed in a continuous permafrost region |
| topic | continuous permafrost heat transfer hydrological modeling thaw depth water balance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/1/83 |
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