Hillslope Runoff Generation - Comparing Different Modeling Approaches

Abstract

This study focuses on modeling hydrological responses of shallow hillslope soil in a headwater catchment. The research is conducted using data from the experimental site Uhliřska in Jizera Mountains, Czech Republic. To compare different approaches of runoff generation modeling, three models were used: (1) onedimensional variably saturated flow model S1D, based on the dual-continuum formulation of Richards’ equation; (2) zero-dimensional nonlinear morphological element model GEOTRANSF; and (3) semidistributed model utilizing the topographic index similarity assumption − TOPMODEL. Hillslope runoff hydrographs and soil water storage variations predicted by the simplified catchment scale models (GEOTRANSF and TOPMODEL) were compared with the respective responses generated by the more physically based local scale model S1D. Both models, GEOTRANSF and TOPMODEL, were found to predict general trends of hydrographs quite satisfactorily; however their ability to correctly predict soil water storages and inter-compartment fluxes was limited.