Performance of a Distributed Hydrological Model Based on Soil and Moisture Zone Maps

Lívia Alves Alvarenga,Luz Adriana Cuartas,Carlos Rogério De Mello,Alberto Colombo

doi:10.1590/18069657rbcs20160551

Abstract

ABSTRACT The scarcity of field data to develop soil maps through a pedological survey is one of the main limitations to using distributed hydrological models, especially in small and medium-sized watersheds. The aim of this study was to compare a distributed hydrological model prediction to a soil map based on a pedological survey and a moisture zone map obtained using the Height Above the Nearest Drainage – HAND model. The Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model – DHSVM, which is a [...]

Highlights

Several studies have shown that watershed water balance can be affected by different factors, such as climate, geology, hydrography, topography, and soil and vegetation types (Ávila et al, 2010; Price, 2011; Pereira et al, 2014)
The precision statistics obtained by Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) calibration and validation based on the soil and moisture zone maps were presented in the table 3, which allow analysis of performance of the hydrological model for streamflow simulations in the Lavrinha Creek Watershed (LCW)
The results found in this study are highly relevant because they showed that the moisture zone map developed by the HAND model can be used for hydrological simulations in mountainous watersheds like the LCW, given that most mountainous watersheds do not have a detailed soil map

Summary

Introduction

Several studies have shown that watershed water balance can be affected by different factors, such as climate, geology, hydrography, topography, and soil and vegetation types (Ávila et al, 2010; Price, 2011; Pereira et al, 2014). The HAND (Height Above the Nearest Drainage) terrain model developed by Nobre et al (2011) has been indicated as interesting source data in studies associated with physically-distributed hydrological models based on the relationship between topography and hydrology. HAND calculates the elevation of each point in the watershed above the nearest drainage This is accomplished by following the surface flow trajectory that connects the points of the surface with the drainage network by means of the flow direction map (local drain direction- ldd), generated using a hydrologically normalized Digital Terrain Model (DTM) in relation to drainage. Different environments can be obtained based on soil-water moisture content, such as “waterlogged” - permanently saturated areas, “ecotone” transitional areas with groundwater near the surface, and “plateau” - well drained areas

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion