ALBERT

Description: Channel transmission losses in drylands take place normally in extensive alluvial channels or streambeds underlain by fractured rocks. They can play an important role in streamflow rates, groundwater recharge, freshwater supply and channel-associated ecosystems. We aim to develop a process-oriented, semi-distributed channel transmission losses model, using process formulations which are suitable for data-scarce dryland environments and applicable to both hydraulically disconnected losing streams and hydraulically connected losing(/gaining) streams. This approach should be able to cover a large variation in climate and hydro-geologic controls, which are typically found in dryland regions of the Earth. Our model was first evaluated for a losing/gaining, hydraulically connected 30 km reach of the Middle Jaguaribe River (MJR), Ceará, Brazil, which drains a catchment area of 20 000 km2. Secondly, we applied it to a small losing, hydraulically disconnected 1.5 km channel reach in the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW), Arizona, USA. The model was able to predict reliably the streamflow volume and peak for both case studies without using any parameter calibration procedure. We have shown that the evaluation of the hypotheses on the dominant hydrological processes was fundamental for reducing structural model uncertainties and improving the streamflow prediction. For instance, in the case of the large river reach (MJR), it was shown that both lateral stream-aquifer water fluxes and groundwater flow in the underlying alluvium parallel to the river course are necessary to predict streamflow volume and channel transmission losses, the former process being more relevant than the latter. Regarding model uncertainty, it was shown that the approaches, which were applied for the unsaturated zone processes (highly nonlinear with elaborate numerical solutions), are much more sensitive to parameter variability than those approaches which were used for the saturated zone (mathematically simple water budgeting in aquifer columns, including backwater effects). In case of the MJR-application, we have seen that structural uncertainties due to the limited knowledge of the subsurface saturated system interactions (i.e. groundwater coupling with channel water; possible groundwater flow parallel to the river) were more relevant than those related to the subsurface parameter variability. In case of the WEGW application we have seen that the non-linearity involved in the unsaturated flow processes in disconnected dryland river systems (controlled by the unsaturated zone) generally contain far more model uncertainties than do connected systems controlled by the saturated flow. Therefore, the degree of aridity of a dryland river may be an indicator of potential model uncertainty and subsequent attainable predictability of the system.

Description: Channel transmission losses in drylands take place normally in extensive alluvial channels or streambeds underlain by fractured rocks. They can play an important role in flood prediction, groundwater recharge, freshwater supply and channel-associated ecosystems. We aim to develop a semi-distributed channel transmission losses model, a coupling of formulations which are more suitable for data-scarce dryland environments, applicable for both hydraulically disconnected losing streams and hydraulically connected losing(/gaining) streams. Hence, this approach should be able to cover a large variation in climate and hydro-geologic controls, which are typically found in dryland regions of the world. Traditionally, channel transmission losses models have been developed for site specific conditions. Our model was firstly evaluated for a losing/gaining, hydraulically connected 30 km reach of the Jaguaribe River, Ceará, Brazil, which controls a catchment area of 20 000 km2. Secondly, we applied it to a small losing, hydraulically disconnected 1.5 km channel reach in the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW), Arizona, USA. The model based on the perceptual hydrological models of the reaches was able to predict reliably the stream flow for the both case studies. For the larger river reach, the evaluation of the hypotheses on the dominant hydrological processes was fundamental for reducing structural model uncertainties and improving the stream flow prediction, showing that both lateral stream-aquifer water fluxes and groundwater flow in the underlying alluvium parallel to the river course are necessary to predict stream flow and channel transmission losses, the former process being more relevant than the latter. The sensitivity analysis showed that even if the parameters can "potentially" produce large flow exchanges between model units in the saturated part of the modelling, large flow exchanges do not happen because they are restricted by the actual hydraulic gradient between the model units. Moreover, the saturated-part-based parameters (active in the larger river) produced much smaller variation in the sensitivity coefficient than those (active in the smaller river) which drive the unsaturated part of the channel transmission losses model.