Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
environmental science
Modeling variable river flow velocity on continental scale: Current situation and climate change impacts in Europe
Journal of Hydrology, Volume 424-425, Year 2012
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
This paper introduces an approach to route discharge with a variable river flow velocity based on the Manning-Strickler formula within large scale hydrological models. The approach has been developed for the global scale hydrological model WaterGAP and model results have been analyzed focusing on Europe. The goal was to find a method that is simple enough to derive the required parameters from globally available data while being sophisticated enough to deliver realistic flow velocity estimates for a large variety of environmental conditions. The river bed roughness (Manning's n) is approximated in a spatially explicit way based on topography, the location of urban population, and river sinuosity. The hydraulic radius is estimated from actual river discharge, and river bed slope is derived by combining a high resolution DEM, a 5. arc min drainage direction map, and river sinuosity. The modeled river flow velocity has been validated against data of US gauging stations. The representation of lateral transport has clearly been improved compared to the constant flow velocity applied in older model versions. The effect of incorporating variable flow velocities as compared to a constant flow velocity is largest on flood discharge, which generally increases in large rivers. The impact on monthly discharge hydrographs is marginal only. WaterGAP has been driven by three climate change projections for the 2050s to assess climate change impacts on flow velocity, and on the residence time of water in the European river system. Results indicate a decrease in residence times for Northern Europe and an increase for parts of the Mediterranean. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
Authors & Co-Authors
Verzano, Kerstin
Germany, Kassel
Universität Kassel
Bärlund, Ilona
Germany, Kassel
Universität Kassel
Flörke, Martina
Germany, Kassel
Universität Kassel
Lehner, Bernhard
Canada, Montreal
Université Mcgill
Kynast, Ellen
Germany, Kassel
Universität Kassel
Voß, Frank
Germany, Kassel
Universität Kassel
Alcamo, Joseph M.
Germany, Kassel
Universität Kassel
Kenya, Nairobi
United Nations Environment Programme
Statistics
Citations: 50
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.01.005
ISSN:
00221694
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study