Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the suitability of literature parameter values for the Green–Ampt infiltration model to be used in hydrodynamic rainfall–runoff simulations. The outcome of this study supports to decide which literature values should be taken if observed data for model calibration is not available. Different laboratory experiments, a plot-scale experiment in the Thiès catchment in Senegal, and a flash flood in the region of El Gouna in Egypt, have been simulated with the 2D shallow water model Hydroinformatics Modeling System (hms) incorporating the Green–Ampt model. For four test cases with available runoff data, the results of the calibrated models were compared to those obtained from average values after Rawls et al. (Journal of Hydraulic Engineering 1:62–70, 1) and Innovyze (Help documentation of XPSWMM and XPStorm, 2). The results showed a clear underestimation of infiltration in two of three considered laboratory experiments, while for a field experiment in Senegal, average values after Rawls et al. (Journal of Hydraulic Engineering 1:62–70, 1) led to a strong overestimation and the ones after Innovyze (Help documentation of XPSWMM and XPStorm, 2) to an underestimation of infiltration. In a case study on flash floods in an ungauged region in Egypt, the values of both sources led to a strong overestimation of infiltration, when the simulation results are compared to observed flooding areas. It can be concluded, that the values after Innovyze (Help documentation of XPSWMM and XPStorm, 2) lead to overall better results than the ones after Rawls et al. (Journal of Hydraulic Engineering 1:62–70, 1). According to the results, the hydraulic conductivity in ungauged areas with bare sandy soil should be reduced by about 90–100 % compared to the value after Rawls et al. (Journal of Hydraulic Engineering 1:62–70, 1).
Highlights
Hydrodynamic models are more and more used to simulate the flow and flooding areas of surface waters and rainfall-induced overland flow in small catchments [3,4,5,6,7], the propagation of flash floods [8,9,10,11], and flood inundation in urban areas [12,13,14,15]
For the test case of the Thiès catchment, a sensitivity analysis of the Green–Ampt parameters, different crust parameters for the two approaches presented in Eqs. 9 and Eq 10, as well as the parameters of the depth-dependent Manning approach as given in Eq 4 is presented in the following
The infiltration is higher with increasing hydraulic conductivity as well as with increasing capillary suction leading to decreased surface runoff, while a higher initial soil water content leads to less infiltration and a higher surface runoff
Summary
Hydrodynamic models are more and more used to simulate the flow and flooding areas of surface waters and rainfall-induced overland flow in small catchments [3,4,5,6,7], the propagation of flash floods [8,9,10,11], and flood inundation in urban areas [12,13,14,15]. Concerning the global trends of ongoing urbanization and climate change coming along with more frequent and more intense hydro-meteorological extremes in terms of floods and droughts, damages from inundations on the one hand and lowered groundwater tables and water stress, on the other hand, will increase and get more severe in future [4, 10, 18, 19] To mitigate these effects, so-called watersensitive or climate-adapted urban planning and water resources management strategies considering sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) [20, 21] and low impact developments (LIDs) [22,23,24] are gaining increasing importance. To investigate the effectiveness of such sustainable stormwater management measures with regard to flood mitigation, an appropriate representation of infiltration in 2D hydrodynamic rainfall–runoff models is needed
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