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The Luxembourg Gutland Landscape pp 73–87Cite as

Contrasting Hydrologic Response in the Cuesta Landscapes of Luxembourg

Abstract

The Attert River basin in Luxembourg is characterised by a large variety of clean and mixed physiogeographical settings (i.e. topography, soil types, land use, bedrock geology, etc.). This in turn generates manifold configurations of rainfall-runoff transformation processes. Here, we provide experimental data from more than a decade of hydro-meteorological observations carried out in a nested catchment set-up, and develop on past and ongoing research on fundamental hydrological functions of catchments: water collection, storage and release. In a first section, we detail the characteristics of the Attert River basin and a set of 9 nested sub-catchments. The second section provides insights into the seasonal and spatial variability of hydrological responses along a wide range of landuse, soil and bedrock settings. The analysis of double-mass curves between precipitation and discharge provided insights into how certain physiogeographic characteristics control hydrological responses. In the third section, we develop on dynamic catchment storage and how it differs between catchments with contrasted landuse and lithology. The fourth section provides insights into the spatial and temporal variability of forest canopy and forest floor storage capacity. Given the considerable amount of precipitation that is intercepted at annual scale, the process is likely to have a substantial influence on catchment storage dynamics.

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Acknowledgements

Data and results presented in this chapter have been partially obtained through research projects funded in the framework of FNR (Fonds National de la Recherche du Luxembourg) programmes (CYCLEAU, STORE-AGE, CAOS-1, CAOS-2, SOWAT, BIGSTREAM, ECSTREAM). We acknowledge support during multiple field campaigns to Cyrille Taillez and Jérôme Juilleret at LIST.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Catchment and Eco-Hydrology Group, Environmental Research and Innovation Department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, 41 Rue Du Brill, 4422, Belvaux, Luxembourg

    L. Pfister, C. Hissler & J. F. Iffly

  2. Water Resources Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft Technical University, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN, Delft, The Netherlands

    M. Coenders

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    R. Teuling & A. Arens

  4. University of Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Science Park 904, 1098XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    L. H. Cammeraat

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  1. L. Pfister
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  2. C. Hissler
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  3. J. F. Iffly
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  7. L. H. Cammeraat
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Correspondence to L. Pfister .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Dr. A. M. Kooijman

  2. Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Dr. L.H. Cammeraat

  3. Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Dr. A.C. Seijmonsbergen

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Pfister, L. et al. (2018). Contrasting Hydrologic Response in the Cuesta Landscapes of Luxembourg. In: Kooijman, A., Cammeraat, L., Seijmonsbergen, A. (eds) The Luxembourg Gutland Landscape. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65543-7_4

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