Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-629
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-629
16 Nov 2017
 | 16 Nov 2017
Status: this preprint was under review for the journal HESS but the revision was not accepted.

Hydrological response to climate extremes in mesoscale (pre-)Alpine basins at 0.5° and hyperresolution

Joost Buitink, Remko Uijlenhoet, and Adriaan J. Teuling

Abstract. The response of key hydrological variables to climate extremes within five meso-scale basins in the Swiss Alps is investigated at two different resolutions using the distributed hydrological model Spatial Processes in Hydrology (SPHY). Based on elevation and presence of glaciers, three catchments are identified as Alpine and two as pre-Alpine. We run SPHY both at hyperresolution and at 0.5 × 0.5 degree, and aggregate simulated runoff and evapotranspiration per season. For four seasonal extremes representing flood and drought/heatwave conditions we investigate the simulated response at both model resolutions. Results from the high resolution model show that the within-basin response gets more complex with more extreme events. The response within each basin can be grouped per land use type, due to different dominant runoff generating processes. A comparison with the coarse resolution model results shows that there is a large discrepancy between the two simulated responses. The low resolution model is not able to correctly simulate the complex hydrological response as simulated with the distributed model, since both the complex topography and land use classes are not properly represented. We show that hydrological response simulated with a high resolution model can be a lot more extreme than a low resolution model might indicate, which has important implications for global assessments carried out at course resolution.

Joost Buitink, Remko Uijlenhoet, and Adriaan J. Teuling
 
Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement
 
Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
Printer-friendly Version - Printer-friendly version Supplement - Supplement
Joost Buitink, Remko Uijlenhoet, and Adriaan J. Teuling
Joost Buitink, Remko Uijlenhoet, and Adriaan J. Teuling

Viewed

Total article views: 1,590 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total BibTeX EndNote
942 600 48 1,590 65 81
  • HTML: 942
  • PDF: 600
  • XML: 48
  • Total: 1,590
  • BibTeX: 65
  • EndNote: 81
Views and downloads (calculated since 16 Nov 2017)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 16 Nov 2017)

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 1,456 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 1,440 with geography defined and 16 with unknown origin.
Country # Views %
  • 1
1
 
 
 
 
Latest update: 28 Mar 2024
Download
Short summary
We compared the hydrological response simulated at two different spatial resolutions. The low resolution model was not able to simulate the complex response as was simulated with the high resolution model. The low resolution model underestimated the anomalies when compared with the high resolution model. This has implications on the interpretation of global scale impact studies (low resolution) on local or regional scales (high resolution).