The impact of hillslope groundwater dynamics and landscape functioning in event-flow generation: a field study in the Rietholzbach catchment, Switzerland

A reliable prediction of hydrograph responses in mountainous headwater catchments requires a mechanistic understanding of the coupled hydro-climatic processes in these regions. This study shows that only a small fraction of the total area in a pre-Alpine headwater catchment actively regulates stream...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrogeology journal Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 935 - 948
Main Authors: von Freyberg, Jana, Rao, P. Suresh C., Radny, Dirk, Schirmer, Mario
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2015
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Aquatic Pollution
aquifers
Base flow
Catchment areas
Catchments
Discharge
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environmental impact
Field study
Geology
Geophysics/Geodesy
Groundwater
Groundwater discharge
Groundwater flow
Groundwater recharge
Headwaters
Hydrogeology
hydrograph
Hydrographs
Hydrology
Hydrology/Water Resources
Landscape
Landscape ecology
Landscapes
Mathematical models
Mountains
prediction
rain
riparian areas
Riparian land
River discharge
River flow
rivers
Stream discharge
Stream flow
subsurface flow
Surface runoff
Switzerland
time series analysis
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
Water Quality/Water Pollution
watersheds
Switzerland
Switzerland, St. Gall, Rietholzbach
Rainfall/runoff
Groundwater recharge/water budget
Minimalistic model
Mountainous catchments
Switzerland
ISSN:1431-2174, 1435-0157
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:A reliable prediction of hydrograph responses in mountainous headwater catchments requires a mechanistic understanding of the coupled hydro-climatic processes in these regions. This study shows that only a small fraction of the total area in a pre-Alpine headwater catchment actively regulates streamflow responses to hydro-climatic forcing, which facilitates the application of a parsimonious framework for hydrograph time-series prediction. Based on landscape analysis and hydrometric data from the Upper Rietholzbach catchment (URHB, 0.94 km 2 , northeast Switzerland), a conceptual model was established. Here, the rainfall-event-driven contribution of surface runoff and subsurface flow (event flow) accounts for around 50 % of total river discharge. The event-flow hydrograph is generated from approximately 25 % of the entire area consisting of riparian zones (8 %) and adjacent hillslopes (17 %), each with characteristic streamflow-generating mechanisms. Baseflow generation is attributed to deep groundwater discharge from a fractured-rock aquifer covering ∼75 % of the catchment area. A minimalistic model, that represents event flow as depletion of two parallel linear reservoirs, verified the conceptual model of the URHB with adequate hydrograph simulations  ( R 2  = 0.67, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) = 0.64). Hereby, the expansion of the event-flow contributing areas was found to be particularly significant during long and high-intensity rainfall events. These findings provide a generalized approach for the large-scale characterization of groundwater recharge and hydrological behavior of mountainous catchments with similar landscape properties.
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ISSN:1431-2174
1435-0157
DOI:10.1007/s10040-015-1238-1