Poster Presentation H43K-1631: Simultaneous Semi-Distributed Model Calibration Guided by Hydrologic Landscapes in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Presented by: Keith Sawicz Abstract: Modelling approaches to transfer hydrologically-relevant information from locations with streamflow measurements to locations without such measurements continues to be an active field of research for hydrologists. The Pacific Northwest Hydrologic Landscapes (PNW HL) provide a solid conceptual classification framework based on our understanding of dominant processes. A Hydrologic Landscape code (5 letter descriptor based on physical and climatic properties) describes each assessment unit area, and these units average area 60km2. The core function of these HL codes is to relate and transfer hydrologically meaningful information between watersheds without the need for streamflow time series. We present a novel approach based on the HL framework to answer the question “How can we calibrate models across separate watersheds simultaneously, guided by our understanding of dominant processes?“. We should be able to apply the same parameterizations to assessment units of common HL codes if 1) the Hydrologic Landscapes contain hydrologic information transferable between watersheds at a sub-watershed-scale and 2) we use a conceptual hydrologic model and parameters that reflect the hydrologic behavior of a watershed. In this study, This work specifically tests the ability or inability to use HL-codes to inform and share model parameters across watersheds in the Pacific Northwest.
Oral Presentation H24B-03: An assessment of streamflow vulnerability to climate using Hydrologic Landscape classification
Presented by: Chas Jones Abstract: Identifying regions with similar hydrology is useful for assessing water quality and quantity across the U.S., especially areas that are difficult or costly to monitor. For example, hydrologic landscapes (HLs) have been used to map streamflow variability and assess the spatial distribution of climatic response in Oregon, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest. HLs have also been applied to assess historic and projected climatic impacts across the Western U.S. In this project, we summarized (1) the HL classification methodology and (2) the utility of using HLs as a tool to classify the vulnerability of streams to climatic changes in the Western U.S. During the HL classification process, we analyzed climate, seasonality, aquifer permeability, terrain, and soil permeability as the primary hydrologic drivers (and precipitation intensity as a secondary driver) associated with large scale hydrologic processes (storage, conveyance, and flow of water into or out of the watershed) in the West. We derived the dominant hydrologic pathways (surface runoff or deep or shallow groundwater) from the HL classification of different catchments to test our hypotheses: 1) Changes in climate will have greater impacts on streamflow in catchments dominated by surface runoff. 2) Catchments historically fed by surface runoff from winter snowmelt in the spring will experience greater impact if precipitation falls as rain instead of snow. We calculated S* (precipitation surplus, which includes snowmelt runoff) as a proxy for streamflow for watersheds across the landscape under historic (1901-2000), modern (1971-2000), and future climate projections (2041-2070) to determine whether future projections of S* fall outside of the range of historic S*. Catchments with projections outside the historic range may be more vulnerable to changes in streamflow. Our results indicate that streams dominated by surface runoff and catchments with spring seasonality are more vulnerable to climatic changes. This approach can be used to identify streams that are vulnerable to changes in streamflow and associated reductions is water quality, which are of important for the ecological function of aquatic ecosystems throughout the U.S.
Session H23H: Investigations of Dominant Hydrologic Processes across Diverse Landscapes Posters
Come visit our poster session! Conveners: Keith A Sawicz, Chas Jones, Susana Almeida, and Lauren Hay
H23H-1676 A toolkit for determining historical eco-hydrological interactions Christopher Ian Sargeant, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16, United Kingdom, Cristina M Evans, University of St Andrews, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, St Andrews, United Kingdom, Christine Vallet-Coulomb, CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence Cedex, France and Michael Bliss Singer, University of St Andrews, Dept of Earth & Environmental Sciences, St Andrews, KY16, United Kingdom
H23H-1680 On the information content of hydrological signatures and their relationship to catchment attributes Nans Addor1, Martyn P Clark1, Cristina Prieto2,3, Andrew James Newman1, Naoki Mizukami1, Grey S Nearing1,4 and Nataliya Le Vine5, (1)National Center for Atmospheric Research, Hydrometeorological Applications Program, Research Applications Laboratory, Boulder, CO, United States, (2)University of Cantabria, Environmental Hydraulics Institute “IH Cantabria”, Santander, Spain, (3)Imperial College London, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, London, SW7, United Kingdom, (4)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (5)Imperial College London, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, London, United Kingdom
H23H-1682 Variation in wetland connectivity across contrasting landscapes C. Nathan Jones1, Daniel L Mclaughlin1, Megan W Lang2 and Laurie C Alexander3, (1)Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Blacksburg, VA, United States, (2)USDA-ARS, Silver Spring, MD, United States, (3)Environmental Protection Agency Arlington, NCEA, Arlington, VA, United States
H23H-1684 Evaluating Snow-depletion Curve Refinements in Selected Watersheds Across the Continental United States Steven L Markstrom1, John C Risley2, Andrew Raymond Bock3, Jessica M Driscoll4 and Lauren Hay1, (1)USGS, National Research Program, Baltimore, MD, United States, (2)USGS Oregon Water Science Center, Portland, OR, United States, (3)USGS Colorado Water Science Center Golden, Golden, CO, United States, (4)National Research Program Lakewood, USGS, Lakewood, CO, United States
H23H-1686 An Evaluation Tool for CONUS-Scale Estimates of Components of the Water Balance Samuel Saxe1, Lauren Hay2, William Hastings Farmer3, Steven L Markstrom2 and Julie E. Kiang4, (1)Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, United States, (2)USGS, National Research Program, Baltimore, MD, United States, (3)USGS Office of Surface Water, Rolla, MO, United States, (4)US Geological Survey, Office of Surface Water, Reston, VA, United States