Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A distributed scheme developed for eco-hydrological modeling in the upper Heihe River

  • Research Paper
  • Special Topic: Watershed Science
  • Published:
Science China Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Modeling the hydrological processes at catchment scale requires a flexible distributed scheme to represent the catchment topography, river network and vegetation pattern. This study has developed a distributed scheme for eco-hydrological simulation in the upper Heihe River. Based on a 1 km × 1 km grid system, the study catchment is divided into 461 sub-catchments, whose main streams form the streamflow pathway. Furthermore, a 1 km grid is represented by a number of topographically similar “hillslope-valley” systems, and the hillslope is the basic unit of the eco-hydrological simulation. This model is tested with a simplified hydrological simulation focusing on soil-water dynamics and streamflow routing. Based on a 12-year simulation from 2001 to 2012, it is found that variability in hydrological behavior is closely associated with climatic and landscape conditions especially vegetation types. The subsurface and groundwater flows dominate the total river runoff. This implies that the soil freezing and thawing process would significantly influence the runoff generation in the upper Heihe basin. Furthermore, the runoff components and water balance characteristics vary among different vegetation types, showing the importance of coupling the vegetation pattern into catchment hydrological simulation. This paper also discusses the model improvement to be done in future study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnell N W. 1999. Climate change and global water resources. Glob Environ Change, 9: 31–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen R G, Trezza R, Tasumi M. 2006. Analytical integrated functions for daily solar radiation on slopes. Agric For Meteorol, 139: 55–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen R, Kang E, Yang J. 2004. A distributed runoff model for inland river mountainous basin of Northwest China (in Chinese). J Desert Res, 24: 416–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen X, Su Z, Ma Y, et al. 2013. Estimation of surface energy fluxes under complex terrain of Mt. Qomolangma over the Tibetan Plateau. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci, 17: 1607–1618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng G D, Xiao H L, Xu Z M, et al. 2006. Water issue and its countermeasure in the inland river basins of Northwest China—A case study in Heihe river basin (in Chinese). J Glaciol Geocryl, 28: 406–413

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng G D, Li X, Zhao W Z, et al. 2014. Integrated study of the water-ecosystem-economy in the Heihe River Basin. Nat Sci Rev, 1: 413–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cong Z T, Yang D W, Gao B, et al. 2009. Hydrological trend analysis in the Yellow River basin using a distributed hydrological model. Water Resour Res, 45: W00A13, doi: 10.1029/2008WR006852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doll P, Frank K, Bernhard L. 2003. A global hydrological model for deriving water availability indicators: Model tuning and validation. J Hydrol, 270: 105–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou X Y. 2001. China Vegetation Map (1:1000000). Beijing: Science Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis A, Reuter H I, Nelson A, et al. 2008. Hole-filled SRTM for the globe Version 4, available from the CGIAR-CSI SRTM 90 m Database. http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia Y, Wang H, Yan D. 2006. Distributed model of hydrological cycle system in Heihe River Basin I, model development and verification (in Chinese). J Hydraul Eng, 37: 534–542

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang E, Chen R, Zhang Z, et al. 2008. Some problems facing hydrological and ecological researches in the mountain watershed at the upper stream of an inland river basin (in Chinese). Adv Earth Sci, 23: 675–681

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim W, Shinjiro K, Yasushi A, et al. 2005. Simulation of potential impacts of land use/cover changes on surface water fluxes in the Chaophraya river basin, Thailand. J Geophys Res, 110: D08110, doi: 10.1029/2004JD004825

    Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Cheng G, Liu S, et al. 2013. Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER): Scientific objectives and experimental design. Bull Amer Meteorol Soc, 94: 1145–1160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma H, Yang D, Tan S K, et al. 2010. Impact of climate variability and human activity on streamflow decrease in the Miyun Reservoir catchment. J Hydrol, 389: 317–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maidment D R. 1993. Handbook of Hydrology. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc

    Google Scholar 

  • Middelkoop H, Daamen K, Gellens D, et al. 2001. Impact of climate change on hydrological regimes and water resources management in the Rhine basin. Clim Change, 49: 105–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oki T, Agata Y, Kanae S, et al. 2001. Global assessment of current water resources using total runoff integrating pathways. Hydrol Sci J, 46: 983–996

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian, T T, Dai A G, Trenberth K E. 2007. Hydroclimatic trends in the Mississippi River Basin from 1948 to 2004. J Clim, 20: 4599–4614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi X Z, Yu D S, Pan X Z, et al. 2004. A framework for the 1:1000000 soil database of China. In: Proceedings of the 17th World Congress of Soil Science Paper Number, 2002 (1757). 1–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Koike T, Yang K, et al. 2009. Development of a distributed biosphere hydrological model and its evaluation with the Southern Great Plains Experiments (SGP97 and SGP99). J Geophys Res, doi: 10.1029/2008JD010800.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Koike T, Yang K. 2010. Frozen soil parameterization in a distributed biosphere hydrological model. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci, 14: 557–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Yang D, Lei Z, et al. 2008. Spatial and temporal variation of runoff in the Yangtze River Basin during the past 40 years. Quat Int, 186: 32–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang D, Herath S, Musiake K. 1998. Development of a geomorphology-based hydrological model for large catchments. Annu J Hydraul Eng, JSCE, 42: 169–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang D, Herath S, Musiake K. 2000. Comparison of different distributed hydrological models for characterization of catchment spatial variability. Hydrol Process, 14: 403–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang D, Herath S, Musiake K. 2001. Spatial resolution sensitivity of catchment geomorphologic properties and the effect on hydrological simulation. Hydrol Process, 15: 2085–2099

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang D, Herath S, Musiake K. 2002. Hillslope-based hydrological model using catchment area and width functions. Hydrol Sci J, 47: 49–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang D, Li C, Ni G H, et al. 2004. Application of a distributed hydrological model to the Yellow River basin (in Chinese with English abstract). J Geogr Sci, 59: 143–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin Z, Xiao H, Zou S, et al. 2014. Simulation of hydrological processes of mountainous watersheds in inland river basins: Taking the Heihe Mainstream River as an example. J Arid Land, 6: 16–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zang C, Liu J. 2013. Trend analysis for the flows of green and blue water in the Heihe River Basin, Northwestern China. J Hydrol, 502: 27–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Cheng G, Li X, et al. 2013. Coupling of a simultaneous heat and water model with a distributed hydrological model and evaluation of the combined model in a cold region watershed. Hydrol Process, 27: 3762–3776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou J, Pomeroy J W, Zhang W, et al. 2014. Simulating cold regions hydrological processes using a modular model in the west of China. J Hydrol, 509: 13–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydro-science and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    DaWen Yang, Yang Jiao, HuiMin Lei, HanBo Yang & ZhenTao Cong

  2. School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Bing Gao

  3. Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    YanLin Zhang

Authors
  1. DaWen Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bing Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yang Jiao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. HuiMin Lei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. YanLin Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. HanBo Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. ZhenTao Cong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to DaWen Yang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, D., Gao, B., Jiao, Y. et al. A distributed scheme developed for eco-hydrological modeling in the upper Heihe River. Sci. China Earth Sci. 58, 36–45 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-014-5029-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-014-5029-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation