Integrating a Water Tracer Model Into WRF‐Hydro for Characterizing the Effect of Lateral Flow in Hydrologic Simulations
Abstract Most current land models approximate terrestrial hydrological processes as one‐dimensional vertical flow, neglecting lateral water movement from ridges to valleys. Such lateral flow is fundamental at catchment scales and becomes crucial for finer‐scale land models. To test the effect of inc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-07-01
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| Series: | Water Resources Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR034938 |
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| author | Huancui Hu L. Ruby Leung Francina Dominguez David Gochis Xingyuan Chen Stephen Good Aubrey Dugger Laurel Larsen Michael Barlage |
| author_facet | Huancui Hu L. Ruby Leung Francina Dominguez David Gochis Xingyuan Chen Stephen Good Aubrey Dugger Laurel Larsen Michael Barlage |
| author_sort | Huancui Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Most current land models approximate terrestrial hydrological processes as one‐dimensional vertical flow, neglecting lateral water movement from ridges to valleys. Such lateral flow is fundamental at catchment scales and becomes crucial for finer‐scale land models. To test the effect of incorporating lateral flow toward three‐dimensional representations of hydrological processes in the next generation land models, we integrate a water tracer model into the WRF‐Hydro framework to track water movement from precipitation to discharge and evapotranspiration. This hydrologic‐tracer integrated system allows us to identify the key mechanisms by which lateral flow affects the flow paths and transit times in WRF‐Hydro. By comparing modeling experiments with and without lateral routing in two contrasting catchments, we determine the impacts of lateral flow on the transit times of precipitation event‐water. Results show that with limited hydrologic connectivity, lateral flow extends the transit times by reducing (increasing) event‐water drainage loss (accumulation) in ridges (valleys) and allowing reinfiltration of infiltration‐excess flow, which is missing in most land models. On the contrary with high hydrologic connectivity, lateral flow can effectively accelerate the water release to streams and reduce the transit time. However, the transit times are substantially underestimated by the model compared with isotope‐derived estimates, indicating model limitations in representing flow paths and transit times. This study provides some insights on the fundamental differences in terrestrial hydrology simulated by land models with and without lateral flow representation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aabc15566fe04ae8a73fb4aafca0dbc3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0043-1397 1944-7973 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Resources Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-aabc15566fe04ae8a73fb4aafca0dbc32025-08-20T02:09:28ZengWileyWater Resources Research0043-13971944-79732024-07-01607n/an/a10.1029/2023WR034938Integrating a Water Tracer Model Into WRF‐Hydro for Characterizing the Effect of Lateral Flow in Hydrologic SimulationsHuancui Hu0L. Ruby Leung1Francina Dominguez2David Gochis3Xingyuan Chen4Stephen Good5Aubrey Dugger6Laurel Larsen7Michael Barlage8Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland WA USAAtmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland WA USADepartment of Atmospheric Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USANational Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USAAtmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland WA USADepartment of Biological & Ecological Engineering Oregon State University Corvallis OR USANational Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USADepartment of Geography and Civil & Environmental Engineering University of California Berkeley CA USANational Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USAAbstract Most current land models approximate terrestrial hydrological processes as one‐dimensional vertical flow, neglecting lateral water movement from ridges to valleys. Such lateral flow is fundamental at catchment scales and becomes crucial for finer‐scale land models. To test the effect of incorporating lateral flow toward three‐dimensional representations of hydrological processes in the next generation land models, we integrate a water tracer model into the WRF‐Hydro framework to track water movement from precipitation to discharge and evapotranspiration. This hydrologic‐tracer integrated system allows us to identify the key mechanisms by which lateral flow affects the flow paths and transit times in WRF‐Hydro. By comparing modeling experiments with and without lateral routing in two contrasting catchments, we determine the impacts of lateral flow on the transit times of precipitation event‐water. Results show that with limited hydrologic connectivity, lateral flow extends the transit times by reducing (increasing) event‐water drainage loss (accumulation) in ridges (valleys) and allowing reinfiltration of infiltration‐excess flow, which is missing in most land models. On the contrary with high hydrologic connectivity, lateral flow can effectively accelerate the water release to streams and reduce the transit time. However, the transit times are substantially underestimated by the model compared with isotope‐derived estimates, indicating model limitations in representing flow paths and transit times. This study provides some insights on the fundamental differences in terrestrial hydrology simulated by land models with and without lateral flow representation.https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR034938transit timeslateral flowWRF‐hydro |
| spellingShingle | Huancui Hu L. Ruby Leung Francina Dominguez David Gochis Xingyuan Chen Stephen Good Aubrey Dugger Laurel Larsen Michael Barlage Integrating a Water Tracer Model Into WRF‐Hydro for Characterizing the Effect of Lateral Flow in Hydrologic Simulations Water Resources Research transit times lateral flow WRF‐hydro |
| title | Integrating a Water Tracer Model Into WRF‐Hydro for Characterizing the Effect of Lateral Flow in Hydrologic Simulations |
| title_full | Integrating a Water Tracer Model Into WRF‐Hydro for Characterizing the Effect of Lateral Flow in Hydrologic Simulations |
| title_fullStr | Integrating a Water Tracer Model Into WRF‐Hydro for Characterizing the Effect of Lateral Flow in Hydrologic Simulations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrating a Water Tracer Model Into WRF‐Hydro for Characterizing the Effect of Lateral Flow in Hydrologic Simulations |
| title_short | Integrating a Water Tracer Model Into WRF‐Hydro for Characterizing the Effect of Lateral Flow in Hydrologic Simulations |
| title_sort | integrating a water tracer model into wrf hydro for characterizing the effect of lateral flow in hydrologic simulations |
| topic | transit times lateral flow WRF‐hydro |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR034938 |
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