J2000 modules in detail
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The water amount which generates runoff from the large pore storage in the time step is subject to the relative water saturation of the entire soil (LPS<sub>soil</sub>) and is calculated according to: | The water amount which generates runoff from the large pore storage in the time step is subject to the relative water saturation of the entire soil (LPS<sub>soil</sub>) and is calculated according to: | ||
− | <math> Q_{LPS} = | + | <math> Q_{LPS} = Sat² à _{soil} \cdot LPS_{act} \,\,\, [mm] </math> |
with: | with: | ||
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α : calibration coefficient [-] | α : calibration coefficient [-] | ||
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= Soil water module = | = Soil water module = |
Revision as of 12:08, 22 October 2012
This tutorial describes the important processes and algorithm of the different modules within the J2000 hydrological model in detail:
Contents |
Precipitation distribution module
- Calibration parameters
parameter | description | Global range | For Dudh Kosi model |
---|---|---|---|
Trans | threshold temperature | 0 + 5 | 2 |
Trs | base temperature for snow and rain | -5 +5 | 0 |
In the J2000 modelling system, the precipitation is first distributed between rain and snow depending upon the air temperature. Two calibration parameters (Trans, and Trs) are used where Trs is base temperature and Trans is a temperature range (upper and lower boundary) above and below the base temperature. In order to determine the amount snow and rain, it is assumed that precipitation below a certain threshold temperatures results in total snow precipitation and exceeding a second threshold results in total rainfall as precipitation. In the range (Trans) between those threshold temperatures, mixed precipitation occurs. Between those thresholds, rain-snow mixtures with variable percentages for each component are calculated. The acutal amount of snow (P(s)) of daily precipitation subject to air temperature is calculated according to:
The daily amount of snow (Ps) or amount of rain (Pr) is calcualted according to:
These parameters are considered as non-flexible parameters and not necessarily placed in the JAMS framework as tunable parameters.
- Relevancies in modelling
Putting the Trs values below zero (e.g. 2) will bring more precipitation in the form of 'rain' than 'snow'.
Interception module
Interception is a process during which the precipitation is stored in leaves, and other open surfaces of vegetation. During precipitation, interception by crop canopy and residue layer occurs. This process is identified as important components of a hydrological cycle that can affect the water balance components. Canopy and residue interception are considered losses to the system, as any rainfall intercepted by either of these components will subsequently be evaporated (Kozak et al. 2007). The interception module in the J2000 modelling system serves the calculation of the net precipitation from the observed precipitation against the particular vegetation covers and its development in the annual cycle. The observed precipitation is reduced by the interception part to calculate the net precipitation. Thus net precipitation only occurs when the maximum interception storage capacity of the vegetation is reached. The surplus is then passed on as throughfall precipitation to the next module. The interception module uses a simple storage approach according to Dickinson (1984), which calculates a maximum interception storage capacity based on the Leaf Area Index (LAI) of the particular type of land cover. The emptying of the interception storage is done exclusively by evapotranspiration. The maximum interception capacity (Intmax) is calculated according to the following formula:
with
α ... storage capacity per m² leaf area against the precipitation type [mm]
LAI ... LAI of the particular land-use class provided in land-use parameter file [-]
The parameter a has a different value, depending on the type of the intercepted precipitation (rain or snow), because the maximum interception capacity of snow is noticeably higher than of liquid precipitation. The LAI for individual vegetation types is provided in the land-use parameter file throughout the year. Because the LAI changes according to the seasons, four different LAI types for four different seasons for each vegetation type are proposed in land-use parameter file. The value of LAI can be determined by direct measurement of leaves, literature, and expert knowledge.
Snow module
- Calibration parameters
parameter | description | Global range | For Dudh Kosi model |
---|---|---|---|
snowCritDens | Critical density of snow | 0 to 1 | 0.381 |
snowColdContent | cold content of snowpack | 0 to 1 | 0.0012 |
baseTemp | threshold temperature for snowmelt | -5 to 5 | 0 |
t_factor | melt factor by sensible heat | 0 to 5 | 2.84 |
r_factor | melt factor by liquid precipitation | 0 to 5 | 0.21 |
g_factor | melt factor by soil heat flow | 0 to 5 | 3.73 |
These parameter are provided in bold and italic letters in the description below:
The snow module calculates the different phases of snow accumulation, metamorphosis and snowmelt. The more complex module is adapted in the model from Knauf (1980). The snow module takes into account the changes of state of snow pack during its existence, especially changes of snow density due to melting and subsidence. This process is important because snow pack can store free water, like a sponge, until reaching a certain threshold density and only then a sudden discharge of water occurs. For the model different water capacities of the snow pack are considered: the actual snow water equivalent (SWEdry) which corresponds to the amount of water which has actually frozen and the total snow water equivalent (SWEtotal) which in addition considers liquid water stored in the snow pack. The subsidence of the snow pack, which results from the liquid water through the snowmelt to the surface or from precipitation as rainfall, is calculated according to the empirical subsidence (snow-compaction scheme) by Bertle (1966).
The snow pack and its conditions are described in the modell according to the following parameters: snow depth (SD)[mm], dry snow density (dryDens)} [in g/cm³] as the quotient from total water content and snow depth.
If there is minimum, mean or maximum air temperature for a certain time (daily data), the module calculates separate accumulation or melt temperatures. Accumulation and melting can occur within a time step. The accumulation and melt temperatures (Tacc and Tmelt) can be calculated according to:
Accumulation phase:
The snow module simulates accumulation and compaction of the snow pack caused by snowmelt or rain on snow precipitation.
The thermal circumstances under the snow cover are taken into account with the cold content in the snow cover in connection with the snowmelt. At the temperature below the freezing point, the snow pack cools down significantly. Because melted water freezes immediately due to negative isothermal circumstances under the snow cover, no runoff occurs. The cold content needs to reach the value zero so that the process of snowmelt begins again. Consequently, negative temperatures raise the cold content whereas the positive temperature reduces it. The calculation of storage of cold content results from the product of air temperature by a calibration parameter (coldContFact).
In doing so, negative air temperatures are accumulated and decreased only by positive temperature and resulting potential rates of melting. Only when the cold content has reached a value of 0, snowmelt occurs.
If the air temperature is below -15 C, the density of the new snow is assumed to be 0.02875.
The change of snow depth (δ SD) resulting from snow precipitation is calculated according to :
Snow accumulation occurs in the model if precipitation falls in solid form (newSnow > 0). Therefore the density of new snow is determined subject to air temperature. The calculation is carried out according to (Kuchment 1983, and Vehvilaeinen 1992), if the air temperature is higher than -15 oC.
If the air temperature is below -15 oC, the density of the new snow is assumed to be 0.02875.
The change of snow depth (δ SD) resulting from snow precipitation is calculated according to :
The snow water equivalent of the previous day (\textit{SWEdry}) increases by the value of snow precipitation according to:
The dry snow water equivalent and the total snow water equivalent are increased by the same value. If the precipitation event involved mixed (rain/snow) precipitation, the rain amount is allocated to the total snow water equivalent.
If rain is part of the precipitation event, it results in subsidence of the snow pack. The calculation of the subsidence amount is discussed below. In the model, the snow pack remains in the accumulation phase until the temperature value (Tmelt) for the snowmelt exceeds a threshold value (baseTemp)which has to be determined during the parameterisation phase of the modeling application. Then it enters the metamorphosis phase which simulates melting and subsidence processes. However, it can go back to the accumulation phase if temperatures are correspondingly low. Due to different temperature values, accumulation and melting processes can be modeled during one time step.
Melting and subsidence phase:
If the melt temperature value (Tmelt) exceeds the temperature limit value (baseTemp), the snow pack goes from the accumulation phase to the metamorphosis. The amount of energy which is required for snowmelt is available in three different ways. First, by input of sensible heat by air temperature (t_factor), second, by energy input from precipitation as rain (r_factor) and third, by input due to soil heat flow (g_factor). The sum of all energy inputs gives the potential snowmelt rate (Mp). The calculation of Mp is carried out according to:
The variable Mp is then also modified according to the slope and the exposition of the spatial model entity (i.e. HRU):
Mp is initially used to balance out the cold content of the snow cover and is then also used to generate snowmelt. The potential snowmelt rate then is taken to calculate the resulting maximum change of snow depth (δ SD):
If δ SD is greater than the entire snow depth, it defrosts completely and the entire snow water equivalent contributes to runoff generation in the form of snowmelt. If this is not the case, the snow depth is reduced correspondingly, which does not change the snow water equivalent at first. Rather the result is an increase in the total density of the snow cover.
In addition to this change in density, additional changes in subsidence and density according to the snow compaction-scheme (Bertle 1966) are taken into account. This method is based on the fact that water, no matter whether it results from temperature-induced snowmelt or from precipitation, seeps into the snow pack which leads to subsidence by recrystallization of snow and by structural changes and concentration in the storage (Knauf 1980). The resulting subsidence rate is calculated using the snow-subsidence method described in Bertle (1966). This method is based on the observation of an empirical relation between inflowing free water and the resulting change in elevation by subsidence which was derived from laboratory experiments of the US Bureau of Reclamation. For the calculation the increase of accumulated water content in percentage is seen in relation to the snow water equivalent using this formula:
This equation shows that the more liquid water there is as input, the greater is the snow pack subsidence (P\_w) (Knauf 1980). An input of the exact the amount of water corresponding to the snow water equivalent of the snow pack leads to halving the snow depth by subsidence. The percentage of snow depth change (P$_H$) is calculated subject to the input of free water:
The new snow depth (SD) is:
Together with the snow depth which has been calculated the total density \textit{(totDens)} and the dry snow density \textit{(dryDens)} are calculated according to the following formulas:
Melt runoff
The snow pack can store liquid water in its pores up to a certain critical density (snowCritDens). This storage capacity is lost nearly completely and irreversibly when a certain amount of liquid water in relation to the total SWE (between 40 and 45 percent) is reached according to Bertle (1966), Herrmann (1976) and Lang (2005). In this threshold limit, the retention capacity of a naturally developing snow pack is also suddenly decreased without rain impact. In such a case, a sudden water release from the snow pack can be observed (Herrmann 1976). In the model, this process is simulated by using the calculation of a maximum water content of the snow pack (SWEmax) according to :
The critical density (snowCritDens) needs to be provided by the model user. The water stored in the snow pack which exceeds this limit is conveyed as snow runoff (Q_snow).
In the following time steps, the density of the snow pack keeps the critical threshold density until it is either defrosted or starts the accumulation due to recurring snowfall.
Glacier module
The glacier is developed and adapted as a part of the PhD research (Nepal, 2012) carried out in the Dudh Kosi river basin. The information provided here is taken from this study.
The glacier area is provided as a GIS layer which provides a unique land-use ID for glaciers during HRU delineation. All the processes which occur in the glacier are separately treated based on the unique ID. First the seasonal snow occurs on top of the glacier (or glacier HRU). The model first treats the snow as described in the 'Snow Module" and produces snowmelt runoff. In order to make sure that ice melt occurs, two conditions have to be met. First, the entire snow cover of a glacier HRU has to be melted (i.e.storage is zero), and second, the base temperature (tbase) as defined by users, has to be less than meltTemp. Only under these circumstances, the ice melt occurs as a model progress.
The melt rate for glacier ice (iceMelt) (mm/day) is obtained by the following equation:
where:
radiation = actual global radiation
meltFactIce = generalized melt factor for ice as a calibration parameter
alphaIce = melt coefficient for ice
n = time step (i.e. for daily model, n=1)
The ice melt is further adapted by the debris covered factor. Because the glaciers in the Dudh Kosi river basin are in general debris cover, a simple segregation method is applied to identify debris-covered glaciers based on slope. If the slope is higher than 30 degrees, the gravels, stones and pebbles are rolled down and the glacier is regarded as a clean glacier. The slope lower than this threshold is suitable for the accumulation of debris on top of glaciers. By using this approach, about 77 percent of the glaciers are estimated as debris-covered glaciers. According to Mool (2001a), about 70 percent of the glaciers in the Dudh Kosi river basin are valley types. One of the most common characteristics of glaciers located in the Himalayan region is the presence of debris material. In general, valley glaciers are debris-covered in the Himalayan region (Fujji 1977; Sakai2000}. It can be assumed that the debris-covered glacier areas estimated by this approach are fairly representative and adequate for purposes of this modelling application.
The presence of debris affects the ablation process. Supra-glacial debris cover, with thickness exceeding a few centimeters, leads to considerable reduction in melt rates (Oestrem 1959; and Mattson 1993). According to (Oestrem 1959) the melt rate decreased when the thickness of the debris cover was more than about 0.5 cm thick. The report further mentioned that not only the melting will be slower under the moraine cover, but also the ablation period will be shorter for the covered ice. The clean glaciers as reported on the Tibetan Plateau have higher retreat rates. (Kayastha 2000) studied the ice-melt pattern in the Khumbu glaciers (Dudh Kosi river basin where the J2000 model is being applied) and found that the debris ranging thickness from 0 to 5 cm indicates that ice ablation is enhanced by a maximum at 0.3 cm. Therefore, when a glacier is covered by debris, the ice melt is reduced. Using the calibration parameter (debrisFactor), the effects of debris cover on melt is controlled as follows.
The icemelt is further adapted with the slope and aspect of the particular glacier HRU. Routing of glacier melt is made separately for snowmelt, ice melt and rain runoff using the following formula:
where:
snowmelt = total snowmelt during the time step (mm/day)
meltRest-1 = outflow of reservoir during the last time step
kSnow = storage coefficient (recession constant) for reservoir
A similar routing procedure is applied for ice melt and rain runoff with a different recession constant (kIce) and (kRain). It is assumed that the routing of rain runoff is faster than that of ice and snow.
In reality, snow is stored in the accumulation zone of high-altitude areas. The snow is transported to low-altitude by wind, avalanches and gravity. As snow gets buried under new snow, it is gradually converted into firn and eventually into glacier ice. This ice flows by gravity downstream towards the ablation zone as glaciers (Jansson 2003). However, such dynamic processes of snow transformation and transportation are not included in the glacier module of the J2000 model. Therefore, some part of the precipitation is always stored as snow in the accumulation zone of high-altitude areas. To compensate for this long-term storage process, a constant glacier layer is used as a surrogate which provides melting from glacier ice.
Soil water module
The description of the soil water module as described in model source code is provided here which is primarily based on the technical documentation of the J2000 model (Krause, 2011).
In the soil module separate soils are represented according to their pore volumes. The pore storage which can occur in the soil are classified in the literature as follows (e.g. (Scheffer & Schachtschabel 1984)):
- The water stored in fine pores (< 0.2 μm diameter, pF > 4.2, corresponds to the permanent wilting point - PWP) is so strongly bound due to its adsorption powers that it is not at all available for runoff generation.
- The water stored in middle pores (diameter 0.2 to 50 μm, pF 1.8 to 4.2, corresponds to usable field capacity -nFk) is hold against gravity due to its adsorption powers. It can be extracted from the soil almost exclusively by using suction potential.
- The water stored in coarse and macro pores (> 50 μm diameter, pF > 1.8, corresponds to air capacity - Lk) is subject to gravitation and can be kept in the soil for only a short period of time (1 to 2 days according to (Scheffer & Schachtschabel 1984, 1984).
The water stored in the fine pores can be neglected during the modeling as it is not available for evaporation or flow processes according to the above-mentioned specification of the pore volumes due to the constant binding. Hence the modeling abstraction of the soil is carried out by two parallel and connected storage in the model J2000: one storage which corresponds to the middle pore storage volume (hereinafter referred to as MPS) and which can only be emptied by evaporation and another storage which represents the volume of the large and macro pore storage (hereinafter referred to as LPS) and which is the source for the actual runoff.
From the image it can be concluded that an infiltration storage precedes the soil storage which contains net precipitation and water resulting from snow melt. From this storage the water is distributed to both soil storage where remaining water is cached in the depression storage in case of exceeding a maximum infiltration capacity of the corresponding soil or a saturation of the large pore storage. Emptying the depression storage is done by evaporation, the generation of surface runoff and/or seepage at a later point in time. Emptying the middle pore storage is done by evapotranspiration, emptying the large pore storage by generating interflow or by groundwater recharge. In addition, at the end of the time step a certain amount of the water stored in large pores can be transferred to the middle pore storage. The middle pore storage can, in addition to this water amount and to the infiltration, receive water from the saturated zone due to capillary rise. These individual processes are explained in detail below, however the parameterization of the soil module is discussed beforehand.
Infiltration
The first process which contains the water resulting from the snow melt and from net precipitation is infiltration. Whether water can seep away entirely or whether it is stored for a short time at the surface and whether it generates depression storage at this place or surface runoff, is subject to the infiltration capacity of the corresponding soil. The infiltration capacity is calculated by a simplified method which is suitable for daily time steps. It is based on the assumption that infiltration capacity is on the one hand subject to water saturation in the soil and on the other hand it cannot exceed a certain threshold value, a maximum infiltration rate. If this maximum infiltration rate is set to a constant mean value for the whole year, there are two problems, at least for two special cases:
- In convective precipitation with high intensities and short duration. Often the infiltration capacity of the soil is exceeded since much water comes to the soil within a short time although the precipitation amount for the whole day would not imply this.
- In snow melt runoff from the snow cover. Although water is released in a quite continuous manner, the soil behaves like a sealed area since it is partly or completely frozen or since water runs off within the snow cover without having the chance to seep away.
In order to take these special cases into account, at least rudimentarily. Two threshold values can be indicated in addition to the "standard value". Since special case 1 occurs mainly in summer months, a threshold value can be specified for summer half year. This threshold value serves to take into account thundershowers with high intensity within a short time which occur mainly during summer months. The second threshold value is applied if the modeled unit is covered in snow. Using this value the reduced infiltration capacity of the soil with a partly or completely frozen surface is considered. At the same time this value can be used to take into consideration the runoff of melt and precipitation water within the snow cover. The third value represents the standard case and therefore holds for the winter half year and for entities without snow cover.
The threshold values which are to be determined by the user (soilMaxInfSummer, soilMaxInfSnow, soilMaxInfWinter referred below in the equation as soilMaxInf1,2,3) are weighted during the modeling with the relative saturation deficit of the soil (δsat). The resulting maximum infiltration rate ( Infmax) then calculated according to:
The relative water saturation of the soil can be calculated using:
If the water amount of precipitation and snow melt for the infiltration exceeds the calculated maximum infiltration rate, the excess is transferred to the depression storage and cached there. The resulting, actually seeping water amount (Infact ) is distributed among the soil storages. The amount of water which is in every soil storage is subject to the saturation deficit of the middle pore storage (MPS) and is calculated using the calibration parameter soilDisMPSLPS as follows:
The large pore storage (LPS) receives remaining water according to:
The large pore storage (LPS) receives remaining water according to:
Due to the water distribution according to these equations the middle pore storage works like a sponge and its potential of taking water increases with increasing dehydration. However, a certain amount always remains in the large pore storage. The weighted distribution has the advantage that even in dry soils, especially during the summer months, part of the infiltrated water can run off fast. If the water was not
distributed, interflow could only occur after saturating the middle pore storage, i.e. after achieving usable field capacity. Various investigations showed that large and macro pores can also achieve runoff if there is no water saturation in the soil.
Other special cases of infiltration occur with sealed areas and water areas. For water areas the water which is actually available for infiltration is transferred to an individual storage which can only be emptied by evaporation. In sealed areas only a certain amount of water on the surface seeps away subject to the degree of sealing (e.g. 25% with degree of sealing > 80% and 60% with degree of sealing < 80% according to (Wessolek 1993). The remaining part contributes to the total runoff in the form of surface runoff. This is considered by using corresponding coefficients (soilImpGT80, soilImpLT80) which have to adjusted by the user.
The depression storage
As represented in the description of infiltration above, the water amount which exceeds the maximum infiltration rate of the soil is transferred to the depression storage. This also applies if the soil is completely water-saturated and no infiltration can take place. The water which is stored in the depression storage runs off partly as surface runoff. The maximum amount in mm m{-2} which can be kept as depression storage on the individual are has to be indicated during model parameterization. According to Maniak (1997) the maximum depression storage lies between 0.6 and 8.0 mm per m² subject to the specific land use. Since this variable has a relatively low impact on the dynamics of runoff lines (Maniak 1997), the maximum depression storage is set to a lump value and is not differentiated according to the land use. As the depression storage is only important in rather lowly-elevated locations, the maximum depression storage is weighted using the slope of the specific area. As, according to Maniak (1997), the maximum depression storage decreases by 50% from 4-6 % slope, the volume of the depression storage halved for areas exceeding this slope. If the maximum depression storage is exceed on an area, spare water is released as surface runoff.
The middle pore storage
The water stored in the middle pores of the soil is held against gravity due to the adsorption powers. This means an active soil water potential is required in order to extract water from the middle pore storage. The potential for such a soil water suction is made available by evaporation. Two different cases have to be distinguished: the direct evaporation from the soil surface and the evaporation caused by transpiration of the vegetation cover. The direct evaporation of the soil surface is comparably low since only a few millimeters of dry soil can cause an effective isolation of the underlying layers regarding the evaporation. This isolation is shorted out by the roots of the vegetation cover, which makes a consistent exhaustion of water stored in the middle pores possible by transpiration. With increasing dehydration of the soil the actual evaporation decreases significantly in relation to potential evaporation. For simulating this reduction an established linear approach ([Gurtz et al. 1997]; [Schulla 1997]; [Uhlenbrook 1999]) is used or a nonlinear approach which has been developed for the model is applied.
When using the linear approach it is assumed that the real evaporation equals potential evaporation until a specific water saturation is achieved. When the value goes below this water saturation, the real evaporation decreases consistently in relation to potential evaporation until it is zero when reaching the permanent welting point (= complete emptying of nFk). As threshold value (soilLinRed) for this specific water saturation values between 0.8 to 0.6 are mentioned in the literature ([Gurtz et al. 1997]; [Menzel 1997]). This threshold value and the actual water saturation of the middle pore storage M (satMPS) is used to calculate a reduction factor (RF):
The large pore storage
The water which is in the large pore storage (GPS) is subject to gravitation and is therefore considered as the source of actual flow processes and runoff generation of the soil in J2000. Filling the storage is done by the infiltration amount which remains after subtracting the inflow to the middle pore storage.
The different runoff behavior of different soils is reflected very well by the pore volumes which have been defined beforehand. Clayey soil has a relatively high proportion of fine and middle pores, whereas sandy soil has a comparably high amount of large pores. The generation of lateral and vertical runoff and the amount of precipitation is correspondingly different. The water which is stored in rather clayey soil contributes less to lateral and vertical runoff, under the same conditions (e.g. vegetation cover, slope etc.), than does rather sandy soil. In contrast, the water amount available for evaporation is significantly higher in clayey soils than in sandy soils. Clayey or silty soil, which lies between the above-mentioned soils according to their pore size, has the best water storage capacities since it has the highest amount of middle pores.
The water amount which generates runoff from the large pore storage in the time step is subject to the relative water saturation of the entire soil (LPSsoil) and is calculated according to:
with:
QLPS: Outflow from LPS [mm]
Satsoil: Relative water saturation of the soil at location [-]
α : calibration coefficient [-]
Soil water module
Reach routing module
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