Landscape influence on small-scale water temperature variations in a moorland catchment

Acknowledgements Iain Malcolm and staff at Marine Scotland (Pitlochry) are thanked for the provision of data from the AWS. Finally, the two anonymous reviewers are greatly acknowledged for their constructive comments.Peer reviewedPostprin

A probabilistic approach to quantifying hydrologic thresholds regulating migration of adult Atlantic salmon into spawning streams

Acknowledgment Data to support this study are provided by the Marine Scotland Science Freshwater Laboratory (MSS-FL) and are available for free download on line [Glover and Malcolm, 2015a, 2015b].Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Modelling landscape controls on dissolved organic carbon sources and fluxes to streams

Acknowledgments We thank the Natural Environment Research Council NERC (project NE/K000268/1) for funding. Iain Malcolm and staff at Marine Scotland (Pitlochry) are also thanked for the provision of data from the AWS as are the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and British Atmospheric Data Centre for the provision of meteorological data.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Visualisation of spatial patterns of connectivity and runoff ages derived from a tracer-aided model

We thank the European Research Council ERC (project GA 335910 VEWA) for funding the VeWa project.Peer reviewedPostprin

Significance of spatial variability in precipitation for process-oriented modelling: results from two nested catchments using radar and ground station data

International audienceThe importance of considering the spatial distribution of rainfall for process-oriented hydrological modelling is well-known. However, the application of rainfall radar data to provide such detailed spatial resolution is still under debate. In this study the process-oriented TACD (Tracer Aided Catchment model, Distributed) model had been used to investigate the effects of different spatially distributed rainfall input on simulated discharge and runoff components on an event base. TACD is fully distributed (50x50m2 raster cells) and was applied on an hourly base. As model input rainfall data from up to 7 ground stations and high resolution rainfall radar data from operational C-band radar were used. For seven rainfall events the discharge simulations were investigated in further detail for the mountainous Brugga catchment (40km2) and the St. Wilhelmer Talbach (15.2km2) sub-basin, which are located in the Southern Black Forest Mountains, south-west Germany. The significance of spatial variable precipitation data was clearly demonstrated. Dependent on event characteristics, localized rain cells were occasionally poorly captured even by a dense ground station network, and this resulted in inadequate model results. For such events, radar data can provide better input data. However, an extensive data adjustment using ground station data is required. For this purpose a method was developed that considers the temporal variability in rainfall intensity in high temporal resolution in combination with the total rainfall amount of both data sets. The use of the distributed catchment model allowed further insights into spatially variable impacts of different rainfall estimates. Impacts for discharge predictions are the largest in areas that are dominated by the production of fast runoff components. The improvements for distributed runoff simulation using high resolution rainfall radar input data are strongly dependent on the investigated scale, the event characteristics and the existing monitoring network

Stream water age distributions controlled by storage dynamics and nonlinear hydrologic connectivity : Modeling with high-resolution isotope data

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effects of spatial variability of precipitation for process-orientated hydrological modelling: results from two nested catchments

International audienceThe importance of considering the spatial distribution of rainfall for process-oriented hydrological modelling is well-known. However, the application of rainfall radar data to provide such detailed spatial resolution is still under debate. In this study the process-oriented TACD (Tracer Aided Catchment model, Distributed) model had been used to investigate the effects of different spatially distributed rainfall input on simulated discharge and runoff components on an event base. TACD is fully distributed (50x50 m2 raster cells) and was applied on an hourly base. As model input rainfall data from up to 11 ground stations and high resolution rainfall radar data from an operational C-band radar were used. For seven rainfall events the discharge simulations were investigated in further detail for the mountainous Brugga catchment (40 km2) and the St. Wilhelmer Talbach (15.2 km2) sub-basin, which are located in the Southern Black Forest Mountains, south-west Germany. The significance of spatial variable precipitation data was clearly demonstrated. Dependent on event characteristics, localized rain cells were occasionally poorly captured even by a dense ground station network, and this resulted in insufficient model results. For such events, radar data can provide better input data. However, an extensive data adjustment using ground station data is required. Therefore, a new method was developed that considers the rainfall intensity distribution. The use of the distributed catchment model allowed further insights into spatially variable impacts of different rainfall estimates. Impacts for discharge predictions are the largest in areas that are dominated by the production of fast runoff components. To conclude, the improvements for distributed runoff simulation using high resolution rainfall radar input data are strongly dependent on the investigated scale, the event characteristics, the existing monitoring network and, last but not least, the applied model

Using geophysical surveys to test tracer-based storage estimates in headwater catchments

Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Stian Bradford, Chris Gabrielli, and Julie Timms for practical and logistical assistance. The provision of transport by Iain Malcolm and Ross Glover of Marine Scotland Science was greatly appreciated. We also thank the European Research Council ERC (project GA 335910 VEWA) for funding through the VeWa project and the Leverhulme Trust for funding through PLATO (RPG-2014-016).Peer reviewedPostprin

Detecting groundwater discharge dynamics from point-to-catchment scale in a lowland stream : Combining hydraulic and tracer methods

Acknowledgements. We would like to thank members of the Northern Rivers Institute, Aberdeen University, for helpful discussions of data. We also thank Lars Rasmussen, Jolanta Kazmierczak and Charlotte Ditlevsen for help in the field. This study is part of the Hydrology Observatory, HOBE (http://www.hobe.dk), funded by the Villum Foundation and was as well funded by the Aarhus University Research Foundation.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Role of riparian wetlands and hydrological connectivity in the dynamics of stream thermal regimes

Stream temperature is a fundamental physical characteristic of rivers, influencing biological productivity and water quality. Given the implications of climate warming for stream thermal regimes, it is an important consideration in river management plans. Energy exchanges at the water–air interface, channel geomorphology, riparian vegetation and advective heat transport from the different sources of discharge can all influence stream temperature. A simple mixing equation was used to investigate heat transport and to estimate daily mean and maximum stream temperatures on the basis of mixing groundwater and near-surface flows from riparian wetlands as end-members in a peatland catchment. The resulting data were evaluated against energy balance components and saturation extent to investigate the importance of riparian wetlands in determining stream temperatures. Data fit was generally good in periods with extensive saturation; and poorest in dry periods with less hydrological connectivity, when reduced saturation and low flows increased the relative influence of energy exchange at the stream–atmosphere interface. These findings have implications in terms of climate change and land management, where the planting of riparian buffer strips to moderate water temperatures may be less effective when saturation area is extensive and hydrological connectivity is high