Summary: Catchment And Climate Hydrology

Read the summary and the most important questions on Catchment and Climate Hydrology

• 1. Course Info and Context

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• What is catchment hydrology?

  The study of hydrology in drainage basins. Typically at smaller scales of a hillslope or catchment. Focus on processes and models

• What is climate hydrology?

  Study of interaction between terrestrial water cycle and the climate system. Typically larger spatial and temporal scales and across climate gradients. Focus on extremes and trends.

• Give the mass balance for catchments?

  Eq: dS/dt = P-Q-ET 
  Rate of water storage change = Fluxin - Fluxout

• 2. Hydrological models and model evaluation

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• Is a complex model better because it represents more processes?

  No, generally not and especially not when following XX law.

• Model optimization is an objective process. True/false?

  False, the modeller has to make many choices. Small changes in the manner of calculation or even starting values can have large effects in the results.

• Give the definition for catchments and endorheic drainage basins and their difference?

  Catchment: area of land from which all runoff converges to a single point (outlet) at a lower elevation.
  Endorheic: do not drain to see, hence rivers might dry up. Endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that don't drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes/seas/sinks.

• Name 3 types of catchments and their characteristics

  • Endorheic: inland basins that do not drain to the ocean. 
  • Headwater: small catchments which don't contain significant confluences (higher mountains)
  • Mesoscale: area 1-1000 km2

  

• Name two types of discharges and their difference?

  Discharge: volume flux of water leaving catchment via streamflow (l/s or m3/s)
  Specific discharge: normalized by catchment area (mm/h or mm/d)

• Name one main catchment characteristic

  Catchments are a control volume and thus have boundaries.

• Describe what a hydrograph is?

  • Discharge vs time graph past a specific point in space.
  • Typically measured at outlet
  • Limbs: rising/falling
  • Direction of time becomes visible (in contrast to precipitation time series that is very erratic)