Sediment yield model implementation based on check dam infill stratigraphy in a semiarid Mediterranean catchment

Soil loss and sediment transport in Mediterranean areas are driven by complex non-linear processes which have been only partially understood. Distributed models can be very helpful tools for understanding the catchment-scale phenomena which lead to soil erosion and sediment transport. In this study, a modelling approach is proposed to reproduce and evaluate erosion and sediment yield processes in a Mediterranean catchment (Rambla del Poyo, Valencia, Spain). Due to the lack of sediment transport records for model calibration and validation, a detailed description of the alluvial stratigraphy infilling a check dam that drains a 12.9 km(2) sub-catchment was used as indirect information of sediment yield data. These dam infill sediments showed evidences of at least 15 depositional events (floods) over the time period 1990-2009. The TETIS model, a distributed conceptual hydrological and sediment model, was coupled to the Sediment Trap Efficiency for Small Ponds (STEP) model for reproducing reservoir retention, and it was calibrated and validated using the sedimentation volume estimated for the depositional units associated with discrete runoff events. The results show relatively low net erosion rates compared to other Mediterranean catchments (0.136 Mg ha(-1) yr(-1)), probably due to the extensive outcrops of limestone bedrock, thin soils and rather homogeneous vegetation cover. The simulated sediment production and transport rates offer model satisfactory results, further supported by in-site palaeohydrological evidences and spatial validation using additional check dams, showing the great potential of the presented data assimilation methodology for the quantitative analysis of sediment dynamics in ungauged Mediterranean basins.This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the research projects FLOOD-MED (ref. CGL2008-06474-C02-01/02), SCARCE-CONSOLIDER (ref. CSD2009-00065), CLARIES (ref. CGL2011-29176) and ECO-TETIS (ref. CGL2011-28776-C02-01). The hydrometeorological data was provided by the Automatic Hydrological Information System of the Spanish Jucar River Authority (SAIH - Confederacion Hidrografica del Jucar). Wildfires information was provided by the Regional Government. 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[EN] Stationarity has been a main premise in the study of the components in the hydrological cycle and the corner stone in the frequency analysis of extreme events. Stationarity is also a common hypothesis and practice in planning and managing water resources. Based on this assumption, statistical methods have been used to extract data related to all the hydrological indicators used to develop estimates. These estimates can be refined from year to year as the recorded data increase. Over recent years, a variety of studies have shown that hydrological records present some type of Stationarity, such as changes and trends, leading experts to question the stationary hypothesis at the basin level. The effects of human intervention (such as changes in land use and reservoirs), the effect of low-frequency climate variability (for example, El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and climate change caused by increased gasses in the atmosphere are among the primary mechanisms that have emerged as inducers of changes in the hydrological cycle of basins and in the magnitude and frequency of extreme floods. The objective of the present study is to develop a framework for the analysis of frequency under non-stationary conditions using Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). Two different approaches to non-stationarity statistical modeling were applied to annual instantaneous peak flow records from the Sinaloa and Presidio San Pedro hydrological regions in the Pacific northwestern Mexico. These models include the model with temporal trends in parametric distribution parameters and the model with forced low-frequency climate variability. The results from the trend model show the ability of models to describe the variability in flood regimes. In addition, the parametric distribution parameters are observed to be highly dependent on time, which suggests a lack of stationarity in the flood regimes in the gauging stations studied. The second approach- in which the climate indices (Nino 12, Nino 3, Nino 3.4, SOI and PDO) that describe the behavior of low-frequency variability patterns are incorporated in the models as explanatory covariables -makes it possible to demonstrate the important role of the macro-scale phenomena that occur in the Pacific on the inter-annual variability of the flood regimes in the Pacific Mexican coast. In addition, a comparison of classic inference models between non-stationary and stationary quantiles shows that differences between stationarity and non-stationarity assumptions can be significant over long periods of time.López De La Cruz, J.; Francés García, FR. (2014). La variabilidad climática en la modelación de la frecuencia de crecidas en las regiones hidrológicas de Sinaloa y Presidio San Pedro. Tecnología y Ciencias del Agua. 5(4):79-101. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/59091S791015

Distributed sediment yield modelling: Importance of initial sediment conditions

The importance of initial sediment conditions on model calibration and validation is analysed. A sediment model was calibrated and validated under three different initial sediment conditions: (0) no sediment availability, (1) calibration of the initial sediment condition and (2) using a warm-up simulation. The model results were assessed in terms of the graphic of fine sediment transport, or sedigraphs, and the visual fit of the hysteresis on the sediment rating. All strategies provided adequate results. However, the loop rating curve analysis demonstrated that the choice of initial sediment conditions affected the simulation results. Without any initial sediment condition, the model results were typically inferior to the simulation results with calibration or warm-up. The calibration of initial conditions proved to be the most reliable technique to generate clockwise hysteresis loops, but failed in reproducing other loop types. Overall, the warm-up simulations showed encouraging results, providing satisfactory fine sedigraph simulation results. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the research projects FLOOD-MED (CGL2 008-06474-C02-02/BTE), Consolider-SCARCE (CSD2009-00065) and ECOTETIS (CGL2011-28776-C02-01).Bussi, G.; Francés García, FR.; Montoya, J.; Julien Y, P. (2014). Distributed sediment yield modelling: Importance of initial sediment conditions. Environmental Modelling and Software. 58:58-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2014.04.010S58705

SIAGES: un innovador sistema integrado de apoyo a la gestión del agua

SIAGES es un innovador sistema integrado de apoyo a la gestión del agua que dotará a los gestores del servicio de agua, a partir de la interacción innovadora entre diferentes servicios, de una nueva visión de conjunto nunca obtenida hasta ahora, permitiendo la optimización de la toma de decisiones en sistemas complejos, a escala diaria y con capacidad de predicción a varios meses, armonizando el uso del recurso hídrico con la consecución de los objetivos medioambientales. Para ello, SIAGES incorpora una importante carga de innovación e integración de datos y algoritmos que permitirá, aprendiendo del pasado y caracterizando el presente, predecir y optimizar el comportamiento futuro. El prototipo se ha aplicado en su desarrollo al sistema de cuenca del Segura, un sistema muy complejo y altamente interconectado, con una gran diversidad de fuentes del recurso y un alto grado de aprovechamiento de los recursos existentes