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Analysis of temporal variation and scaling of hydrological variables based on a numerical model of the Sagehen Creek watershed

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Abstract

Temporal variations of the main hydrological variables over 16 years were systematically investigated based on the results from an integrated hydrological modeling at the Sagehen Creek watershed in northern Sierra Nevada. Temporal scaling of these variables and damping effects of the hydrological system as well as its subsystems, i.e., the land surface, unsaturated zone, and saturated zone, were analyzed with spectral analyses. It was found that the hydrological system may act as a cascade of hierarchical fractal filters which sequentially transfer a non-fractal or less correlated fractal hydrological signal to a more correlated fractal signal. The temporal scaling of simulated infiltration (SI), simulated actual evapotranspiration (SET), simulated recharge (SR), measured baseflow (MBF), measured streamflow (MSF) exist and the temporal autocorrelation of these variables increase as water moves through the system. The degree of the damping effect of the subsystems is different and is strongest in the unsaturated zone compared with that of the land surface and saturated zone. The temporal scaling of the simulated groundwater levels (Sh) also exists and is strongly affected by the river: the temporal autocorrelation of Sh near the river is similar to that of the river stage fluctuations and increases away from the river. There is a break in the temporal scaling of Sh near the river at low frequencies due to the effect of the river. Temporal variations of the simulated soil moisture (Sθ) is more complicated: the value of the scaling exponent (β) for Sθ increases with depth as water moves downwards and its high-frequency fluctuations are damped by the unsaturated zone. The temporal fluctuations of measured precipitation and SI are fractional Gaussian noise, those of SET, SR, MBF, and MSF are fractional Brownian motion (fBm), and those of Sh away from the river are 2nd-order fBm based on the values of β obtained in this study.

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Acknowledgement

This study was partially supported with research grants from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC-41272260, NSFC-41330314, and NSFC-41302180), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20130571), the program “The Social Development-Sicence & Technology Demostration Projects” sponsored by Department of Science and Technology of Jiangsu Province (BE2015708). The data used in this study can be accessed by contacting the corresponding author directly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geoscienses, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Chen Yang

  2. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuyu Liang

  3. School of Environment Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    You-Kuan Zhang

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Correspondence to Xiuyu Liang.

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Yang, C., Zhang, YK. & Liang, X. Analysis of temporal variation and scaling of hydrological variables based on a numerical model of the Sagehen Creek watershed. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 32, 357–368 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-017-1421-0

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