ALBERT

Beschreibung: The two small research catchments Obere Brachtpe (2.6 km2; 50.989986, 7.752013) and Bohlmicke (1 km2, 51.079319, 7.892988) are located in the Rhenish Massif, a low mountain range in Germany. Land use in both catchments is dominated by pasture land, spruce stands and mixed forests. Mean annual temperature is 9.1°C, and mean annual total precipitation is 1250 mm, with 15%–20% of the annual precipitation falling as snow. The geology is characterized by sandy silty clay shale from the Lower and Middle Devonian. Loamy Cambisols derived from periglacial slope deposits, complemented by Leptosols and Stagnosols, are the most prominent soils in the catchments. Long‐term hydrological datasets of precipitation, throughfall, discharge, groundwater levels and soil moisture (at different soil depths) in a high temporal and spatial resolution are available for further scientific analysis. Both catchments were monitored within the time period 1999 and 2009, in order to understand how the antecedent soil moisture, stratified soils (periglacial cover beds) and topography (slope form) impacted the subsurface connectivity, and the subsurface stormflow generation ‐ a dominant runoff generation process in humid mountainous catchments. Detailed physically based investigations on runoff processes were carried out, and the obtained results helped to better understand subsurface stormflow generation and subsurface connectivity dynamics. The process knowledge gained, which was presented at several conferences, as well as publications, was the basis for the discussion of open questions within the scientific network ‘Subsurface Stormflow ‐ A well‐recognized, but still challenging process in Catchment Hydrology’ (2016–2021), and the research unit ‘Fast and invisible: conquering subsurface stormflow through an interdisciplinary multisite approach’ (2022–2025), both financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Beschreibung: Long‐term hydrological datasets of precipitation, throughfall, discharge, groundwater levels and soil moisture (at different soil depths) in a high temporal and spatial resolution are available of the two small catchments Obere Brachtpe (2.6 km²) and Bohlmicke (1 km²) (Germany). Both catchments have been monitored in order to understand how the antecedent soil moisture, stratified soils (periglacial cover beds) and topography (slope form) impacted the subsurface connectivity and the subsurface stormflow generation in humid mountainous catchments.

Beschreibung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659

Beschreibung: The latest version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) features several improvements compared with previous versions of the model, for example, the definition of landscape units that allow for a better representation of spatio‐temporal dynamics. To evaluate the new model capabilities in lowland catchments characterized by near‐surface groundwater tables and extensive tile drainage, we assess the performance of two SWAT+ model setups in comparison to a setup based on a previous SWAT model version (SWAT3S with a modified three groundwater storage model) in the Kielstau catchment in Northern Germany. The Kielstau catchment has an area of about 50 km2, is dominated by agricultural land use, and has been thoroughly monitored since 2005. In both SWAT+ setups, the catchment is divided into upland areas and floodplains, but in the first SWAT+ model setup, runoff from the hydrologic response units is summed up at landscape unit level and added directly to the stream. In the second SWAT+ model setup, runoff is routed across the landscape before it reaches the streams. Model results are compared with regard to (i) model performance for stream flow at the outlet of the catchment and (ii) aggregated as well as temporally and spatially distributed water balance components. All three model setups show a very good performance at the catchment outlet. In comparison to a previous version of the SWAT model that produced more groundwater flow, the SWAT+ model produced more tile drainage flow and surface runoff. Results from the new SWAT+ model confirm that the representation of routing processes from uplands to floodplains in the model further improved the representation of hydrological processes. Particularly, the stronger spatial heterogeneity that can be related to characteristics of the landscape, is very promising for a better understanding and model representation of hydrological fluxes in lowland areas. The outcomes of this study are expected to further prove the applicability of SWAT+ and provide useful information for future model development.

Beschreibung: The model performance of all three model setups was very good, but the SWAT+ model setup with runoff routing between landscape units performed best. Moreover, the SWAT+ model applications predicted a greater spatial heterogeneity of the water balance components. The representation of hydrological fluxes particularly with regard to groundwater flow, surface runoff, and tile drainage flow differed considerably between the SWAT and SWAT+ model setups.