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Content:
Vol.
7, No. 2 Fall 2007
Vol. 7, No. 1 Spring 2007
Vol.
6, No. 2 Fall 2006
Vol.
6, No. 1 Spring 2006
Vol. 5, No. 2 Fall 2005
Vol.
5, No. 1 Spring 2005
Vol.
4, No. 2 Fall 2004
Vol.
4, No. 1 Spring 2004
Vol.
3, No. 2 Fall 2003
Vol.
3,
No. 1 Spring
2003
Vol. 2,
No. 2 Fall 2002
Vol. 2,
No. 1 Spring 2002
Vol. 1, No. 1 Fall 2001
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Hydrologic modeling of the
Upper Suriname River basin using WetSpa and ArcView GIS
Nurmohamed. R,
Naipal. S, and F. De Smed
Abstract:
A grid-based distributed hydrological model WetSpa,
compatible with ArcView Geographic Information Systems (GIS), was
applied to the 7,860 km2 Upper Suriname River basin. Model
parameters were derived from a digital elevation model (DEM), land
use and soil type map of the basin. These parameters and the
observed daily meteorological data (1978-1983) were used (1) to
tests the performance of the WetSpa model to a large tropical basin,
(2) to simulate water balance and outflow hydrographs, (3) to
identify the different flow components and (4) to study the most
sensitive model parameters for the study catchment. The statistical
model evaluation results indicated that the model has a relatively
high confidence and can give a fair representation of the flow
hydrographs and the water balance for a complex terrain. The use of
daily observations instead of hourly observations and the lack of
other measurements of the hydrological processes (e.g. groundwater
flow, infiltration) to calibrate/validate the model may have caused
the large errors in low flows and high flows. The deviations between
the observed and simulated flows may also be caused by the lack of a
good representation of the meteorological conditions in the study
area. The WetSpa modelalso provided insight into the main flow
processes during the year. The most sensitive parameters for this
basin were the interflow scaling factor ki, the groundwater flow
recession coefficient Kg, the initial soil moisture K_ss and the
correction factor for potential evapotranspiration K_ep.
Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, Hydrologic
modeling, Hydrology, Upper Suriname river basin, WetSpa.
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Selection of Site for
Small Hydel Using GIS in the Himalayan Region of India
Santasmita Das and Dr. P.K.
Paul
Abstract: The choice
of site for small hydro in the inaccessible tracts of Himalayan
region is a difficult task by the conventional methods. This leads
to a considerable loss of time and money in selecting a proper site
for small hydel. In this paper an attempt has been made to use GIS
and Remote Sensing technology to arrive at various alternative sites
available in the study area and finally to select the most
technically suitable site. The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Curve
Number (CN) method has been utilized to identify the monthly average
runoff of the site. The distributed curve number technique has been
used in this work.Keywords:
Sub-watershed, Remote Sensing, GIS, Curve Number, Runoff.
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Watershed
Physiography, Land Use, and Sediment Yield: A Case Study from
Northwest Arkansas, USA
Ben K. Odhiambo
and Stephen K. Boss
Abstract:
Precision echo
sounder surveys of bathymetry and sediment thickness of Lee Creek
Reservoir and Lake Shepherd Springs (northwest Arkansas) were
combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses of
watershed digital elevation data and land use/land cover data to
evaluate the relative importance of watershed area, watershed
physiography, and land use/land cover on sediment yield and
reservoir sedimentation. Both reservoirs have comparable surface
areas, though Lee Creek Reservoir has approximately one-half the
storage capacity of Lake Shepherd Springs (9.47 x 106 m3
versus 18.8 x 106 m3) due to the fact that its
average depth is approximately 5 m versus an average depth of 9 m
for Lake Shepherd Springs. Physiographically, Lee Creek watershed
occupies less rugged terrain (94% of slopes <10o) than
Lake Shepherd Springs watershed (33% of slopes >10o).
Land cover and land use in both watersheds were dominated by forest
(83% for Lee Creek Reservoir Watershed; 90% for Lake Shepherd
Springs Watershed) and agriculture, though agricultural land use in
Lee Creek watershed is nearly twice (15%) that in Lake Shepherd
Springs watershed (8%).
Long-term average
annual sediment flux to Lee Creek Reservoir was estimated from
observed lacustrine sediment volume to be approximately 1.87 x 104
m3, three times greater than for Lake Shepherd Springs
(6.18 x 103 m3). However, normalizing
long-term average sediment accumulation to watershed area (1,163 km2
for Lee Creek Reservoir versus 173 km2 for Lake Shepherd
Springs) showed that the sediment yield (mm m-2 y-1)
from Lee Creek watershed (0.16 mm m-2 y-1) was
only one-half that from Lake Shepherd Springs watershed (0.35 mm m-2
y-1). This result indicates that slope, rather than land
cover and land use, was the dominant control on sediment yield
within these two watersheds. Additionally, this study reinforces
the importance of considering watershed-scale geomorphic processes
in the interpretation of reservoir sedimentation and suggests that
simple estimates of reservoir infilling can be misleading indicators
of watershed processes.
Keywords:
Reservoir; Sedimentation; Watershed; Sediment yield; Land use; Slope
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Stochastic simulation of
soil water status on reclaimed land in northern Alberta
Mapfumo
E., Chanasyk D.S., and Chaikowsky C.L.A.,
Abstract: Studies
of spatial variability and simulation of available soil water and
extractable soil water are scarce and yet such data are essential in
hydrologic and solute transport modeling. A study was conducted to
characterize spatial variability of available soil water and
extractable soil water on a reclaimed site in northern Alberta. The
vegetation on site included grasses, legumes and shrubs. The site
was reclaimed and the reconstructed profile was made up of 40-100 cm
of clay loam/peat material overlying fine tailings sand. Soil water
was measured using neutron moisture meters on a frequency of
approximately two weeks during the growing season for a 2-year
period. Spatial characterizations of available soil water (ASW) and
extractable soil water (ESW) on the driest and wettest measurement
days were conducted using geostatistical methods. A sample semi-variogram
was estimated and several permissible theoretical models fitted and
the model of best fit was determined using the Akaike Information
Criterion (AIC). The spherical model was found to best represent the
semi-variogram for available soil water and extractable soil water.
Both the available soil water and extractable soil water had very
high degrees of spatial dependence (> 99%) and the range of within
which sample points were auto-correlated was less than 1 m. The
conditional stochastic simulation of extractable soil water at
unsampled locations that were 5 m north of the sampled locations
indicated a high degree of uncertainty. This implies that generation
of exhaustive data sets may require more sampling points at closer
spacing to reduce uncertainty.
Key words: geostatistics, spatial variability, semi-variogram,
uncertainty
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Abstract Soil
erosion and sediment yield from catchments are key limitations to
achieving sustainable land use and maintaining water quality in
streams, lakes and other water bodies. Controlling sediment loading
requires the knowledge of the soil erosion and sedimentation.
However, sediment yield is usually not available as a direct
measurement but estimated by using a sediment delivery ratio (SDR).
An accurate prediction of SDR is important in controlling sediments
for sustainable natural resources development and environmental
protection. There is no precise procedure to estimate SDR, although
the USDA has published a handbook in which the SDR is related to
drainage area. This paper presents a new approach for estimating
spatial sediment delivery ratio (SDR) for large rural catchments.
The SDR is predicted using a Hillslope Sediment Distributed Delivery
(HSDD) model in conjunction with a physically distributed
hydrological model in a GIS environment. The new approach was
developed and tested on Masinga catchment, a rural large catchment
in Kenya. The hydrological model was validated using predicted and
observed daily stream flows and a performance criterion based on
Nash Sutcliffe coefficient of model efficiency was used. The
developed model is not only conceptually easy and well suited to the
local data needs but also requires less parameters, which offer less
uncertainty in its application while meeting the intended purpose.
Keywords: soil erosion, sediment yield, sediment
delivery ratio, modelling, Masinga catchment, GIS, hillslope
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Kriging of Groundwater Levels –
A Case Study Vijay Kumar and
Remadevi
Abstract:
In this paper, application of the spatial statistical technique,
kriging, for the spatial analysis of groundwater levels is shown.
The data set consists of groundwater levels measured at about 60
points (the number of points vary from year to year) twice in a year
(June and September) for six years (1985-1990) in an area of 2100 sq
km in part of the canal command area of Indira Gandhi Nahar
Pariyojana (IGNP) in Rajasthan, India. With the use of measured
elevations of the water table, experimental semivariograms were
constructed that characterises the spatial variability of the
measured groundwater levels. Spherical, exponential and gaussian
semivariogram models were fitted to the experimental semivariograms.
The finally selected models were used to estimate the groundwater
levels and estimation variance (which express the accuracy of the
estimated groundwater levels) at the nodes of a square grid of 5km x
5km and to develop corresponding contour maps. Groundwater levels
were also interpolated by generally used Inverse Square Distance (ISD)
method and it was found that ISD method resulted in higher errors as
compared to kriging method. The kriged groundwater table maps were
compared with the groundwater table maps prepared using the ISD
method.
Keywords:
Geostatistics, Groundwater levels, Semivariogram, Kriging, India
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Rainfall-Runoff
Modeling for an Experimental Watershed of Western Greece Using
Extended Time-Area Method and GIS
Athanassios
Bourletsikas, Evangelos Baltas and Maria
Mimikou
Abstract: In this study, an effort was made to
simulate the transformation of rainfall into runoff, in a small
experimental mountainous-forested watershed in western Greece. The
main objective was the production of flood hydrographs by
calculating average flow velocities (inside and outside the stream
network). The usefulness of the flow velocities lies in using them
in other ungauged small-forested watersheds that have similar
geomorphological and hydrological characteristics. The
meteorological and hydrological data of four storm events were
obtained from the corresponding stations that are located near and
at the outlet of the watershed, respectively. Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) technology was used for the obtainment of the
spatially distributed watershed characteristics. The resolution of
the digital elevation model and the produced rasters was 50X50 m2.
By integrating all information, a simplified model was developed,
which is based on the Time – Area (TA) rainfall – runoff flow
routing technique. The first results were satisfactory, especially
the simulation of the ascending curve of the simulated flood
hydrographs.
Key words: Rainfall-runoff modeling, Forested
watershed, Time-area method, Flow velocity, GIS, Greece.
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Groundwater resources
evaluation in the Piedmont zone of Himalaya, India, using Isotope
and GIS techniques
M. Israil, Mufid al-hadithi, D. C. Singhal,
Bhishm Kumar, M. Someshwar Rao and S. K.
Verma
Abstract:
Integrated geohydrological, isotopes and Geographical Information
System (GIS) techniques have been used to delineate groundwater
resources potential in the Piedmont zone of Himalayan foothill
region, Uttaranchal, India. Thematic maps for hydrogeomorphology,
slope, and drainage density have been prepared and integrated with
the help of GIS by assigning the weights to various attributes
controlling occurrence of groundwater to generate the groundwater
potential map for the study area. The results indicates that the
southern part of the study area has very good groundwater potential
whereas the steeply sloping area in the northern part having high
relief and high drainage density possesses poor groundwater
potential. The groundwater potential zones are found in agreement
with the available yield data of tubewell. Vertical component of
recharge to groundwater due to precipitation varies from 3 to 13 %,
which has been estimated using Tritium Tagging Technique. The
estimated recharge to groundwater shows a linear relationship with
environmental tritium contents in the water samples. This indicates
that the precipitation is the major source of recharge in the study
area. On the basis of environmental tritium contents, it has been
found that recharge to groundwater is taking place at higher
altitudes (300-400m, AMSL) in the Bhabhar region where the shallow
and deeper aquifers have good interconnection. The estimated
groundwater flow rate for the deeper aquifer is 1.2 m/d. The
groundwater flow pattern estimated from isotope techniques has been
validated from flow pattern determined by the depth of groundwater
table.
Key words: piedmont,
Himalayan foothill region, Tritium Tagging Technique, isotopic
techniques.
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Hydrology and
Water Balance of Devils Lake Basin: Part 1
Hydrometeorological Analysis and Lake Surface Area Mapping
Assefa M. Melesse,
Vijay Nangia and Xixi Wang
Abstract:
The spatial distribution of
stocks of water is useful in studying flood, water pollution and
water supply problems. Flood prone and closed basin watersheds
benefit from spatial water balance studies in understanding the
hydrologic processes and deal with excess water problems. In this
study, we present results of a study of the hydrology Devils Lake
basin of the Red River of the North, northeastern North Dakota
partitioned in to two parts. Part 1 addresses the
hydrometeorological analysis and lake surface area mapping of the
basin and Part 2 deals with spatial surface water balance modeling
using Landsat images and geographic information system (GIS).
Hydrometeorological analysis using 100-years of historical record
for the Devils Lake basin was conducted to capture the historical
variability of the flood. In addition, surface area of the lake was
mapped using Landsat image from 1991 to 2003. The
Hydrometeorological analysis of the historical data showed the
runoff inflow from upstream watersheds driven by snowmelt and spring
rain falling on wet soil is the dominant source of the lake rise.
Results show an increase in lake surface area by 117% between 1993
and 2003. The analysis also showed a correlation and possible
interactions between the lake and the Spritwood aquifer indicating
potential contribution of the groundwater flux to the water budget.
(Keywords: hydrometeorology, Devils Lake, remote sensing, GIS,
runoff
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Hydrology and
Water Balance of Devils Lake Basin: Part 2
Grid-Based Spatial Surface Water Balance Modeling
Assefa M. Melesse,
Vijay Nangia and Xixi Wang
Abstract:
In this part of the study, grid-based
spatial water balance approach was used to estimate the annual water
balance of Devils Lake basin, hydrologically closed lake located in
the Red River of the North basin, northeastern North Dakota. Landsat
images from 1991 to 2003 were used in the study. Using spatial
precipitation, land-cover and soils data, grid-based surface runoff
was estimated based on the Curve Number method. The calibrated
upstream runoff inflow for each grid cell was computed using a 10-m
digital elevation model. Spatial evapotranspiration was estimated
for the study area from remotely-sensed data using a surface energy
flux model. The spatial water balance for each grid was constructed
using grid geographic information system (GIS). The modeled average
change in storage depth was compared to observed values of the lake
stage. The grid GIS-based spatial surface water balance predicted
the observed values with an average error of prediction of 0.12m.
With better understanding of the groundwater contribution to the
water balance, the prediction accuracy can be improved. The study
ensures the applicability of the technique for surface water budget
computation using GIS and remote sensing.
Keywords: water balance, Devils Lake, remote
sensing, GIS, evapotranspiration, runoff, land use/land cover
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JoSHJournal
of Spatial Hydrology
ISSN: 1530-4736