Watershed Models

Watershed Models
Author: Vijay P. Singh
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 678
Release: 2010-09-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1420037439

Watershed modeling is at the heart of modern hydrology, supplying rich information that is vital to addressing resource planning, environmental, and social problems. Even in light of this important role, many books relegate the subject to a single chapter while books devoted to modeling focus only on a specific area of application. Recognizing the

Modelling of Hydrological Processes in the Narew Catchment

Modelling of Hydrological Processes in the Narew Catchment
Author: Dorota Świątek
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2011-09-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642190596

Since climate and land use strongly affect the runoff pattern and intensity of solute export, it is likely that some observations and conclusions formulated on the basis of investigations carried out in forested catchment may not be fully adequate to describe controls on solute export from agricultural watersheds. The primary objective of the present research is to better understand the flow paths that affect the fluxes of dissolved compounds from a small agricultural catchment during snowmelt. This book focuses on spring snowmelt, because this is the dominant hydrological event in many moderate and high latitude catchments and, thus, is regarded as a prominent factor influencing the quality of surface waters

Review of Hydrologic Models for Forest Management and Climate Change Applications in British Columbia and Alberta

Review of Hydrologic Models for Forest Management and Climate Change Applications in British Columbia and Alberta
Author: Jos Beckers
Publisher:
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2010
Genre: Climatic changes
ISBN:

This review summarizes the capabilities and limitations of existing hydrologic models for use in an operational forest management context in British Columbia (BC) and Alberta (AB). The review brings together relevant information contained in user manuals, technical model documentation, and in published materials that describes model applications, and emphasizes studies conducted in the Pacific Northwest and in physical and climatic settings similar to those encountered in BC and AB. One outcome of this review is to provide guidance (decision support) for resource managers and other practitioners to help them identify which hydrologic models are most appropriate for addressing their forest management questions. To do this, the review identifies trade-offs between model complexity and model functionality for addressing forest management questions and makes recommendations for advancing the routine and consistent use of watershed models. These recommendations include improving interdisciplinary education; performing model inter-comparisons at data-rich (experimental) and data-poor (ungauged) watersheds; enhancing data availability; communicating uncertainty in results; developing better models, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), commercial software, and model support; and establishing regulatory guidance and professional precedence. The review also considers the suitability of select models for exploring the potential effects of climate change on future watershed processes that are relevant to forest management. Emphasis is placed on shifts in site water balances (evapotranspiration); changes in snow accumulation and melt rates; melting of permafrost, river, and lake ice processes; adjustments in glacier mass balance; changes in streamflow generation; and the increased risk of disturbances such as wildfire, pest outbreaks (e.g., mountain pine beetle), flood events, windthrow, and landsliding. The barriers and challenges to using hydrologic models for answering climate change questions are discussed, and areas for model improvement are identified.

Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases

Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases
Author: Mark Liebig
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 602
Release: 2012-10-16
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 012386898X

Global climate change is a natural process that currently appears to be strongly influenced by human activities, which increase atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG). Agriculture contributes about 20% of the world's global radiation forcing from carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and produces 50% of the methane and 70% of the nitrous oxide of the human-induced emission. Managing Agricultural Greenhouse Gases synthesizes the wealth of information generated from the GRACEnet (Greenhouse gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network) effort with contributors from a variety of backgrounds, and reports findings with important international applications. - Frames responses to challenges associated with climate change within the geographical domain of the U.S., while providing a useful model for researchers in the many parts of the world that possess similar ecoregions - Covers not only soil C dynamics but also nitrous oxide and methane flux, filling a void in the existing literature - Educates scientists and technical service providers conducting greenhouse gas research, industry, and regulators in their agricultural research by addressing the issues of GHG emissions and ways to reduce these emissions - Synthesizes the data from top experts in the world into clear recommendations and expectations for improvements in the agricultural management of global warming potential as an aggregate of GHG emissions

Impacts of Global Change on the Hydrological Cycle in West and Northwest Africa

Impacts of Global Change on the Hydrological Cycle in West and Northwest Africa
Author: Peter Speth
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 692
Release: 2010-08-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642129579

Africa is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In particular shortage of fresh water is expected to be the dominant water problem for West and Northwest Africa of the 21th century. In order to solve present and projected future problems concerning fresh water supply, a highly interdisciplinary approach is used in the book. Strategies are offered for a sustainable and future-oriented water management. Based on different scenarios, a range of management options is suggested with the aid of Information Systems and Spatial Decision Support Systems for two river catchments in Northwest and West Africa: the wadi Drâa in south-eastern Morocco and the Ouémé basin in Benin. The selected catchments are representative in the sense: "what can be learnt from these catchments for other similar catchments?

Distributed Hydrological Modelling

Distributed Hydrological Modelling
Author: Michael B. Abbott
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400902573

It is the task of the engineer, as of any other professional person, to do everything that is reasonably possible to analyse the difficulties with which his or her client is confronted, and on this basis to design solutions and implement these in practice. The distributed hydrological model is, correspondingly, the means for doing everything that is reasonably possible - of mobilising as much data and testing it with as much knowledge as is economically feasible - for the purpose of analysing problems and of designing and implementing remedial measures in the case of difficulties arising within the hydrological cycle. Thus the aim of distributed hydrologic modelling is to make the fullest use of cartographic data, of geological data, of satellite data, of stream discharge measurements, of borehole data, of observations of crops and other vegetation, of historical records of floods and droughts, and indeed of everything else that has ever been recorded or remembered, and then to apply to this everything that is known about meteorology, plant physiology, soil physics, hydrogeology, sediment transport and everything else that is relevant within this context. Of course, no matter how much data we have and no matter how much we know, it will never be enough to treat some problems and some situations, but still we can aim in this way to do the best that we possibly can.

Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program

Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2020-12-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309679702

New York City's municipal water supply system provides about 1 billion gallons of drinking water a day to over 8.5 million people in New York City and about 1 million people living in nearby Westchester, Putnam, Ulster, and Orange counties. The combined water supply system includes 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes with a total storage capacity of approximately 580 billion gallons. The city's Watershed Protection Program is intended to maintain and enhance the high quality of these surface water sources. Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program assesses the efficacy and future of New York City's watershed management activities. The report identifies program areas that may require future change or action, including continued efforts to address turbidity and responding to changes in reservoir water quality as a result of climate change.