This thesis details the development and calibration of a model created by coupling a land surface simulation model named CLASS with a hydrologic model named WATFLOOD. The resulting model, known as WatCLASS, is able to serve as a lower boundary for an atmospheric model. In addition, WatCLASS can act independently of an atmospheric model to simulate fluxes of energy and moisture from the land surface including streamflow. These flux outputs are generated based on conservation equations for both heat and moisture ensuring result continuity. WatCLASS has been tested over both the data rich BOREAS domains at fine scales and the large but data poor domain of the Mackenzie River at coarse scale. The results, while encouraging, point to errors in the model physics related primarily to soil moisture transport in partially frozen soils and permafrost. Now that a fully coupled model has been developed, there is a need for continued research by refining model processes and test WatCLASS's robustness using new datasets that are beginning to emerge. Hydrologic models provide a mechanism for the improvement of atmospheric simulation though two important mechanisms. First, atmospheric inputs to the land surface, such as rainfall and temperature, are transformed by vegetation and soil systems into outputs of energy and mass. One of these mass outputs, which have been routinely measured with a high degree of accuracy, is streamflow. Through the use of hydrologic simulations, inputs from atmospheric models may be transformed to streamflow to assess reliability of precipitation and temperature. In this situation, hydrologic models act in an analogous way to a large rain gauge whose surface area is that of a watershed. WatCLASS has been shown to be able to fulfill this task by simulating streamflow from atmospheric forcing data over multi-year simulation periods and the large domains necessary to allow integration with limited area atmospheric models. A second, more important, role exists for hydrologic models within atmospheric simulations. The earth's surface acts as a boundary condition for the atmosphere. Besides the output of streamflow, which is not often considered in atmospheric modeling, the earth's surface also outputs fluxes of energy in the form of evaporation, known as latent heat and near surface heating, known as sensible heat. By simulating streamflow and hence soil moisture over the land surface, hydrologic models, when properly enabled with both energy and water balance capabilities, can influence the apportioning of the relative quantities of latent and sensible heat flux that are required by atmospheric models. WatCLASS has shown that by improving streamflow simulations, evaporation amounts are reduced by approximately 70% (1271mm to 740mm) during a three year simulation period in the BOREAS northern old black spruce site (NSA-OBS) as compared to the use of CLASS alone. To create a model that can act both as a lower boundary for the atmosphere and a hydrologic model, two choices are available. This model can be constructed from scratch with all the caveats and problems associated with proving a new model and having it accepted by the atmospheric community. An alternate mechanism, more likely to be successfully implemented, was chosen for the development of WatCLASS. Here, two proven and well tested models, WATFLOOD and CLASS, were coupled in a phased integration strategy that allowed development to proceed on model components independently. The ultimate goal of this implementation strategy, a fully coupled atmospheric - land surface - hydrologic model, was developed for MC2-CLASS-WATFLOOD. Initial testing of this model, over the Saguenay region of Quebec, has yet to show that adding WATFLOOD to CLASS produces significant impacts on atmospheric simulation. It is suspected, that this is due to the short term nature of the weather simulation that is dominated by initial conditions imposed on the atmospheric model during the data assimilation cycle. To model the hydrologic system, using the domain of an atmospheric model, requires that methods be developed to characterize land surface forms that influence hydrologic response. Methods, such as GRU (Grouped Response Unit) developed for WATFLOOD, need to be extended to taken advantage of alternate data forms, such as soil and topography, in a way that allows parameters to be selected <I>a priori</I>. Use of GIS (Geographical Information System) and large data bases to assist in development of these relationships has been started here. Some success in creating DEMs, (Digital Elevation Model) which are able to reproduce watershed areas, was achieved. These methods build on existing software implementations to include lake boundaries information as a topographic data source. Other data needs of hydrologic models will build on relationships between land cover, soil, and topography to assist in establishing grouping of these variables required to determine hydrologic similarity. This final aspect of the research is currently in its infancy but provides a platform from which to explore for future initiatives. Original contributions of this thesis are centered on the addition of a lateral flow generation mechanism within a land surface scheme. This addition has shown a positive impact on flux returns to the atmosphere when compared to measured values and also provide increased realism to the model since measured streamflow is reproduced. These contributions have been encapsulated into a computer model known as WatCLASS, which together with the implementation plan, as presented, should lead to future atmospheric simulation improvements.

Der Landschaftswasserhaushalt stellt die Integrationsebene der Geokomponenten Klima, Boden und Landnutzung dar und unterliegt aktuell einer intensiven Forschungstätigkeit. Die charakteristische Ausprägung des Landschaftswasserhaushaltes ist in der mitteleuropäischen Kulturlandschaft das Ergebnis einer von vielfältigen Triebkräften bestimmten komplexen Nutzung. Diese existierenden Nutzungsansprüche werden aber nicht gezielt zur Optimierung des Landschaftswasserhaushaltes koordiniert, da die handelnden Akteure teils völlig gegensätzlichen Zielrichtungen verfolgen. Insgesamt gesehen bietet die Optimierung der nicht besiedelten Landfläche auf Grund ihrer großen Flächeninanspruchnahme die größten Potentiale der Beeinflussung des Landschaftswasserhaushaltes. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden mit der hydrologischen Modellierung und der funktionalen Landschaftsbewertung zwei völlig unterschiedliche methodische Ansätze zur Analyse hydrologischer Prozesse im Landschaftswasserhaushalt genutzt, um die Reaktion des Wasserhaushaltes auf Landschaftsveränderungen zu untersuchen. Es wird am Beispiel eines Flusseinzugsgebietes im Erzgebirge gezeigt, inwieweit sich durch ein Niederschlag-Abfluss-Modell Änderungen im Wasserhaushalt von Landnutzungsszenarien aufzeigen lassen, die auf der Grundlage von Landschaftsbewertungsverfahren erstellt wurden. Es sollen also mittels hydrologischer Modellierung die qualitativen Resultate eines deutlich einfacher zu realisierenden Planungsverfahrens quantifiziert werden. Auf der Basis der bewerteten Landschaftsfunktionen Abflussregulationsfunktion, Wassererosionswiderstand, Ertragspotential und physikochemisches Filtervermögen des Bodens wurden durch multikriterielle Optimierung mit der Software LNOPT zwei sich unterscheidende Szenarien, ein eher realistisch angelegtes Szenario (Realszenario) und ein Szenario mit möglichst hoher Retentionswirkung (Szenario Abflussminimierung) entwickelt. Beide Szenarien sind an die Realität angelehnt und nicht fiktiv, wodurch sich starke Einschränkungen hinsichtlich der optimierbaren Fläche ergeben. So stehen nur 36,5 % der Gesamtfläche zur Landnutzungsoptimierung zur Verfügung wovon nur 12,5 % der Fläche durch den Optimierungsprozess in ihrer Nutzung umgewidmet wird. Der Wasserhaushalt der entwickelten Landnutzungsszenarien wurde mit dem Wasserhaushaltssimulationsmodell WaSiM-ETH in zehn ausgewählten Teileinzugsgebieten modelliert. Die Gebietsanpassung erfolgte dabei an den Pegeln Lauenstein und Geising mit einem multi-response Ansatz, der auch Ergebnisse einer Ganglinienseparation und Vergleiche zu einer Arbeit im benachbarten Weißeritzeinzugsgebiet berücksichtigt. Im Ergebnis zeigte die Validierung eine gelungene Gebietsanpassung des Modells WaSiM-ETH mit geringen Schwächen im Winter und bei außergewöhnlichen Extremereignissen. Insgesamt zeigt sich in allen modellierten Teileinzugsgebieten ein Rückgang des Gesamtabflusses, allerdings in Größenordnungen, die sich räumlich sehr stark unterscheiden. Berechnet wurde dabei nur der Wasserhaushalt für das Szenario „Abflussminimierung“, da sich beide Szenarien in den hydrologisch ähnlichen Teileinzugsgebieten nur wenig unterscheiden. Die statistische Auswertung der Ergebnisse erfolgte mit Spearmans Rangkorrelations¬koeffizient und zeigte: • dass mit steigender Höhenlage die Möglichkeiten der Abflussminimierung durch Landnutzungsveränderungen abnehmen. Im Indikator Höhenlage spiegeln sich dabei mehrere Parameter wider, welche die sich mit der Höhe wandelnden Klima-, Boden- und Reliefbedingungen ausdrücken. • dass mögliche Abflussminderungen mit dem Ackeranteil eines Einzugsgebietes positiv signifikant korreliert sind. Die Abflussminderungspotentiale steigen also mit steigendem Ackeranteil an. • dass die absolute Niederschlagsmenge keinen direkten Einfluss auf die Abflussminderung hat, vielmehr ist die jährliche Niederschlagsverteilung bedeutsam für die Möglichkeiten des Wasserrückhaltes in der Fläche. Als Voraussetzung für die erfolgreiche Anwendung von LNOPT im Rahmen hydrologischer Fragestellungen sind die Berücksichtigung beziehungsweise Bearbeitung folgender Punkte: • Ermittlung der hydrologischen Senkenpotentiale zu Beginn des Planungsprozesses um sich auf Gebiete mit hohem hydrologischen Senkenpotential zu konzentrieren, • Planung von Landnutzungsveränderungen hinsichtlich Nutzungstyp, Nutzungsart oder Nutzungsintensität anhand von Bewertungsverfahren, welche die hydrologischen Differenzen gut widerspiegeln, • Einbeziehung der handelnden Akteure in den Planungsprozess um die möglichst vollständige Umsetzung der geplanten Maßnahmen zu ermöglichen. Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass im Mittelgebirgsraum Abflussminderungspotentiale im Zuge von Landnutzungsveränderungen vorhanden sind, diese aber regional sehr stark differenziert ausgeprägt sind. Methodisch konnte demonstriert werden, dass das eingesetzte Verfahren der multikriteriellen Landnutzungsoptimierung zur Planungsunterstützung im Rahmen hydrologischer Fragestellungen genutzt werden kann, wenn die genannten Rahmenbedingungen beachtet werden. / The hydrological balance of a landscape integrates different geocomponents such as climate, soil and land use and is an object of intensive research activities. The specific characteristic of the hydrological balance of a landscape shows the result of a complex utilisation system which is caused by manifold driving forces. Due to different strategic objectives of thestakeholders, their demands are contrasting and therefore it is very difficult to coordinate these demands with respect to influencing the hydrological balance of a landscape. Changes of land use in non-settled areas have the highest potential of modifying the hydrological balance of a landscape due to the large extent of affected area. In this thesis two different methodical approaches are used to analyse the hydrological processes in the water balance of a landscape in order to investigate the effects of land use changes on the hydrological balance of a landscape. The applied methods are hydrological modelling and functional landscape assessment. Hydrological modelling quantifies the water balance of scenarios made by a much easier to realise planning method on the basis of a functional landscape assessment. Land use scenarios on the basis of a functional landscape assessment can be build through a multi-criteria optimisation process using the software LNOPT (“land use op-timisation”). By using this method, the hydrological balance of a landscape and the specific local conditions are described by the following landscape functions: runoff regulation, resistance against water erosion, biotic yield potential and physical-chemical cleaning potential of soils. On the basis of the assessment of these landscape functions, two land use scenarios were developed using the method of multi-criteria optimisation, namely, a more realistic scenario and one with the highest possible water retention potential. Even though both scenarios are different in their closeness to reality, they are both inspired by reality and not just fictitious. Due to different restrictions only 36.5 % of the entire catchment area could be used in the optimisation process. In the scenario with the highest possible water retention potential only 12.5 % of the land use was changed and in the more realistic scenario the changes were slightly smaller. The water balance simulation model WaSiM-ETH is well suited to quantify changes in the hydrological balance in the context of land-use changes at the meso-scale. The adaptations to the catchment area characteristics were done by the calibration on the gauges Lauenstein and Geising in a multi response approach considering results of a hydrograph curve separation and the results of a research in the neighbouring Weisseritz catchment. The validation shows a successful adaptation to the regional catchment area characteristics with minor shortcomings in winter and by extraordinary high precipitation events. In the whole investigated area possible changes of the hydrological balance are rather negligible due to only small land use changes. But in 10 selected subcatchments the hydrological modelling shows a decrease of discharge in the scenario with the highest possible water retention potential. The dimensions of the decrease in the discharge are regionally very different due to varying spatial characteristics. These differences get systemised through a statistical analysis using the Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient. The following correlations were found: • The possibilities of a decrease in discharge through land use modification are getting smaller with an increase in altitude. The complex indicator “altitude” contains different parameters which reflect the shifting of climatic, soil and relief conditions with changing altitude. • The possibilities of a decrease in discharge are getting higher with the percentage of arable land in the subcatchments. • The amount of precipitation has no direct influence of the possible decrease in discharge in the subcatchments. The influence of the annual variation of precipitation is larger than the absolute annual amount of precipitation. For a successful application of LNOPT for the development of land use scenarios with a hydrologic context the following requirements have to be considered: • ahead of the planning process, pedological and geological potentials of the investigated area in terms of a decrease in discharge should be investigated • landscape functions which show hydrological differences in terms of land use types, the kind and the intensity of land use should be used • local steak holders should be integrated in the planning process to ensure the complete implementation of the planned measures as much as possible. In this thesis it could be shown that mountainous regions have a potential for a decrease in discharge caused by a land use change, but with substantial regional variations. The evaluation of the used methods demonstrated that the multi-criteria optimisation software LNOPT is well suited to support hydrological related planning processes if conditions mentioned above are considered.

<p>Land and water resources degradation are the major problems on the Ethiopian highlands. Poor land use practices and improper management systems have played a significant role in causing high soil erosion rates, sediment transport and loss of agricultural nutrients. So far limited meas-ures have been taken to combat the problems. In this study a physically based watershed model, SWAT2005 was applied to the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia for modelling of the hydrology and sediment yield. The main objective of this study was to test the performance and feasibility of SWAT2005 model to examine the influence of topography, land use, soil and climatic condi-tion on streamflows, soil erosion and sediment yield. The model was calibrated and validated on four tributaries of Lake Tana as well as Anjeni watershed using SUFI-2, GLUE and ParaSol algo-rithms. SWAT and GIS based decision support system (MCE analysis) were also used to identify the most erosion prone areas in the Lake Tana Basin. Streamflows are more sensitive to the hy-drological response unites definition thresholds than subbasin discretization. Prediction of sedi-ment yield is highly sensitive to subbasin size and slope discretization. Baseflow is an important component of the total discharge within the study area that contributes more than the surface runoff. There is a good agreement between the measured and simulated flows and sediment yields with higher values of coefficients of determination and Nash Sutcliffe efficiency. The an-nual average measured sediment yield in Anjeni watershed was 24.6 tonnes/ha. The annual aver-age simulated sediment yield was 27.8 and 29.5 tonnes/ha for calibration and validation periods, respectively. The SWAT model indicated that 18.5 % of the Lake Tana Basin is erosion potential areas. Whereas the MCE result indicated that 25.5 % of the basin are erosion potential areas. The calibrated model can be used for further analysis of the effect of climate and land use change as well as other different management scenarios on streamflows and soil erosion. The result of the study could help different stakeholders to plan and implement appropriate soil and water conser-vation strategies.</p>

I denna rapport undersöks hur mängden organiskt kol, TOC (Totalt organiskt kol), varierar i tid och rum i Mälarens avrinningsområde, samt vad det är som styr TOC-halten i Mälaren. Det är viktigt att förstå dynamiken hos TOC i Mälaren och i dess avrinningsområde eftersom ökat TOC i vattnet påverkar vattenkvaliteten och orsakar problem vid beredning av dricksvatten. TOC kan bland annat reagera med klor/UV-ljus och bilda cancerframkallande ämnen. Det kan också öka antal mikrober i vattnets distributionssystem. Arbetet omfattar analys av samband mellan elementen, transportberäkningar per ytenhet av elementen till Mälaren och en modelleringsansats för ett av avrinningsområdena. Rapporten innehåller även en jämförelse mellan de olika vattenföringsmodellerna samt uppmätt vattenföring för analys av eventuella systematiska skillnader mellan dessa som påverkar beräkningen av TOC och de andra elementens transport till Mälaren. Analysen av sambanden mellan variablerna TOC (mg/l), kaliumpermanganat förbrukning (KMnO4, mg/l), absorbans_F (F=filtrerad), järn (mg/l), mangan (mg/l) och SO4_IC (sulfat mätt med hjälp av jonkromatografi, mg/l), visade att vissa av dessa variabler är korrelerade med varandra. TOC mot KMnO4 och TOC mot absorbans_F hade de bästa anpassningarna med respektive R2- värden 0,65 och 0,59 och p-värden &lt;0,001. Årsnederbörd är positivt korrelerad med TOC per ytenhet för Kolbäcksån med R2-värde 0,63 och p-värde &lt;0,01, vilket innebär att sambandet är signifikant. Ökad årsnederbörd leder till ökad tillförsel av TOC till Mälaren. Det finns däremot inget signifikant samband mellan TOC-transport per ytenhet och årsmedeltemperatur. Arealflödesberäkningar tyder på att den största tillförseln av TOC- transport per ytenhet kommer från den nordöstra delen av Mälaren. Fyrisån står för den största tillförseln av TOC. Hydrologiska, kemiska och meteorologiska data inkluderades i modeller för att kunna skatta TOC-halten i Mälaren. Temperatur-, evapotranspirations- och nederbördsdata användes i en hydrologisk modell, HBV- modellen, för att simulera vattenföringen från avrinningsområdet. Sedan användes en processbaserad modell, INCA- C, som drivs av hydrologisk data och beräknade grundvattenbildning och markfuktighet för att simulera tidsmässiga mönster i TOC. Invariablerna till INCA-modellen, markfuktigheten och HER (grundvattenbildning), simulerades med hjälp av HBV- modellen. Dessa modeller tillämpades i Kolbäcksån (ett av Mälarens största avrinningsområden). Modelleringen av Kolbäcksåns TOC- halt resulterade i en modell som anpassade dynamiken mellan 1996 och 2009, men missar den mellan 2009 och juni 2010, med bäst anpassning mellan 2006 och 2008. R2- och NS värden som erhölls för modellen var 0,086 och -0,059. / In this report, it has been investigated how the amount of organic carbon, TOC, varies in time and space in the basin of Mälaren, and what controls the TOC content in the lake. It is important to understand the dynamics of the TOC in the lake and its catchment because increased TOC in the water affects water quality and causes problems in the preparation of drinking water. Particularly, it can react with chlorine / UV- light and form carcinogenic substances. It can also increase the number of microbes in water distribution systems. In addition the work includes analysis of the relation between water chemistry variables, annual fluxes calculations (g/m2/year) of element flows to the lake and a modeling approach to a watershed. Annual fluxes calculations (g/m2/year) indicate that the largest supply of TOC to the lake comes from the northeast of the lake. Fyrisån accounts for the largest input of TOC to the lake. The high TOC-flux is due to a small proportion of open water in the catchment. Hydrological, chemical and meteorological data have been included in models to estimate the TOC content in the Mälaren. Input data processing, especially precipitation data, has been an important part of the work as it affects the whole model. Temperature, evapotranspiration and precipitation data were used in a hydrological model, HBV model, to simulate the flow from the catchment area. Then a process-based model, INCA-C, operated by the hydrological data and soil moisture, has been used to simulate the temporal patterns in TOC. The input variables to INCA-C- model, soil moisture and HER (Hydrological effective rainfall), have been simulated using the HBV- model. Those models were applied in Kolbäcksån, one of the lake's largest catchments. The modeling of Kolbäcksån resulted in a model that captured the dynamics of a few periods of the whole time series. The modeling of Kolbäcksån TOC-concentration resulted in a model that captured the dynamics between 1996 and 2009, but misses it between 2009 and June 2010. R2 and NS values obtained for the model were 0.086 and -0.059, respectively.

Through distributed stream network routing, it has quantitatively been shown that the relationship between flow travel time and discharge varies strongly nonlinearly with stream stage and with catchment-specific properties. Physically derived distributions of water travel times through a stream network were successfully used to parameterise the streamflow response function of a compartmental hydrological model. Predictions were found to improve compared to conventional statistically based parameterisation schemes, for most of the modelled scenarios, particularly for peakflow conditions. A Fourier spectral analysis of 55-110 years of daily discharge time series from 79 unregulated catchments in Sweden revealed that the discharge power spectral slope has gradually increased over time, with significant increases for 58 catchments. The results indicated that the catchment scaling function power spectrum had steepened in most of the catchments for which historical precipitation series were available. These results suggest that (local) land-use changes within the catchments may affect the discharge power spectra more significantly than changes in precipitation (climate change). A case study from an agriculturally intense catchment using historical (from the 1880s) and modern stream network maps revealed that the average stream network flow distance as well as average water levels were substantially diminished over the past century, while average bottom slopes increased. The study verifies the hypothesis that anthropogenic changes (determined through scenario modelling using a 1D distributed routing model) of stream network properties can have a substantial influence on the travel times through the stream networks and thus on the discharge hydrographs. The findings stress the need for a more hydrodynamically based approach to adequately describe the variation of streamflow response, especially for predictions of higher discharges. An increased physical basis of response functions can be beneficial in improving discharge predictions during conditions in which conventional parameterisation based on historical flow patterns may not be possible - for example, for extreme peak flows and during periods of nonstationary conditions, such as during periods of climate and/or land use change. / <p>QC 20150903</p>

Driven by many factors, the water supply services (streamflow and groundwater) of many rivers in the dryland area of China have declined significantly. This aggravates the inherent severe water shortages and results in increased severity in the water use conflicts that are threatening sustainable development in the region. Innovative strategies towards more water-efficient land management are vital for enhancing water quantity to ensure water supply security. A key step in the successful development and implementation of such measures is to understand the response of hydrological processes and related services to changes in land management and climate. To this end, it was decided to investigate these processes and responses in the upper reaches of the Jing River (Jinghe), an important meso-scale watershed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River on the Loess Plateau (NW China). It has been shown that vegetation restoration efforts (planting trees and grass) are effective in controlling soil erosion on the Loess Plateau. Shifts in land cover/use lead to modifications of soil physical properties. Yet, it remains unclear if the hydraulic properties have also been improved by vegetation restoration. A better understanding of how vegetation restoration alters soil structure and related soil hydraulic properties, such as water conductivity and soil water storage capacity, is necessary. Three adjacent sites, with comparable soil texture, soil type, and topography but contrasting land cover (Black locust forest, grassland, and cropland), were investigated in a small catchment in the upstream Jinghe watershed (near Jingchuan, Gansu province). Seasonal variations of soil hydraulic properties in topsoil and subsoil were examined. Results revealed that the type of land use had a significant impact on field-saturated, near-saturated hydraulic conductivity, and soil water characteristics. Specifically, conversion from cropland to grass or forests promotes infiltration capacity as a result of increased saturated hydraulic conductivity, air capacity, and macroporosity. Moreover, conversion from cropland to forest tends to promote the formation of mesopores that increase soil water storage capacity. Tillage in cropland temporarily created well-structured topsoil, but also compacted subsoil, as indicated by low subsoil saturated hydraulic conductivity, air capacity, and plant available water capacity. An impact of land cover conversion on unsaturated hydraulic conductivities was not identified, indicating that changes in land cover do not affect functional meso- and microporosity. Changes in soil hydraulic properties and associated hydrological processes and services due to soil conservation efforts need to be considered, should soil conservation measures be implemented in water-limited regions for sustaining adequate water supply. To differentiate between the impacts of land management and climate change on streamflow, the variation of annual streamflow, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and climatic water balance in a small catchment of the upstream Jinghe watershed (near Pingliang, Gansu province) was examined during the period of 1955 – 2004. During this time the relative contributions of changes in land management and climate to the reduction of streamflow were estimated. A statistically significant decreasing trend of -1.14 mm y-1 in annual streamflow was detected. Furthermore, an abrupt streamflow reduction due to afforestation and construction of terraces and check-dams was identified around 1980. Remarkably, 74% of the total reduction in mean annual streamflow can be attributed to the soil conservation measures. Among various conservation measures, streamflow could be considerably reduced by afforestation and terracing (including damland creation), due to their low contribution to water yield. In contrast, slope farmland and grassland can maintain a certain level of water supply services due to higher runoff coefficients. According to a meta-analysis of the published studies on the Loess Plateau, the impact of changes in land management on annual streamflow appears to diminish with increasing catchment size while the impact of climate change appears uniform across space. This means that there is a dependency between the catchment size and the response of hydrological processes to environmental change. At least at the local scale, it appears that well-considered land management may help to ensure the water supply services. Due to limited surface water availability, groundwater is an essential water source for supporting ecosystem and socio-economic development in the dryland region. However, the groundwater process is susceptible and vulnerable to changes in climate and landscape (i.e., land cover and form) that in turn can result in profound adverse consequences on water supply services in water-limited regions. In addition, an improved understanding of the response of groundwater related processes to natural and artificial disturbances is likely to ensure more secure and more sustainable governance and management of such regions, as well as better options for adapting to climate change. Yet, this topic has seldom been researched, especially in areas that have already experienced large-scale alteration in landscape and are located in dryland regions, such as the Loess Plateau. Therefore, an investigation of the baseflow variation along the landscape change was conducted. The average annual baseflow has significantly decreased at catchment scale during the period of 1962 – 2002 without any obvious significant change in climate. At decadal scale, the reduction accounts for approximately 9% in the 1970s, 48% in the 1980s, and 92% in the 1990s, while the baseflow index declines averaging 5%, 16% and 67%, respectively. All of the monthly baseflow levels dropped at varying rates except in January, among which July was the most severe in terms of both magnitude (-4.17) and slope (-0.09 mm y-1). In perspective of landscape change, landform change (terrace and check-dam) tends to reduce baseflow by reallocation of surface fluxes and retention for crop growth causing limited deep drainage in other areas. Land cover change (i.e., afforestation) reduced the baseflow to a larger extent by enhanced evapotranspiration and thus hampered deep drainage as suggested by the soil moisture measurement underneath. The study indicates that knowledge about baseflow formation on catchment scale needs further improvement. Integrated soil conservation and water management for optimizing landscape structure and function in order to balance soil (erosion) and water (supply) related hydrological ecosystem services is vital. The governing processes to the changes of water-supply-services-related hydrological process (e.g., streamflow) are assumed to be different across space. To this end, the factors controlling streamflow were investigated on both a small and large scale. Streamflow in small catchments was found to be mainly controlled by precipitation and land cover type. On a larger scale, evaporative demand was found to be another additional major driving force. Hydrological modeling is a frequently used tool for the assessment of impacts of land use and climate change on water balance and water fluxes. However, application of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model in the upstream Jinghe watershed was unsuccessful due to difficulties in calibration. The inability of the SWAT model to take the influence of terraces on steep slopes into consideration and the method how to calculate lateral flow were the main reasons for unsatisfactory calibration, at least for the current version of SWAT used in this study. Alternatively, Budyko’s frameworks were applied to predict the annual and long-term streamflow. However, the effect of changes in land management (e.g., afforestation) on streamflow could not be assessed due to a lack of vegetation factors. Therefore, an empirical analysis tool was derived based on an existing relationship for estimation. This method was found to be the most effective in reproducing the annual and long-term streamflow. The incorporation of temporal changes in land cover and form in the approach enables the estimation of the possible impact of soil conservation measures (e.g., afforestation or terracing). The importance of adaptive land management strategies for mitigating water shortage and securing the water supply services on the Loess Plateau was highlighted. A cross-sectoral view of the multiple services offered by managed ecosystems at different spatial scales under changing environments needs to be integrated to improve adaptive land management policy. In a water limited environment, such as the Loess Plateau, multiple ecosystem services including hydrological services need to be balanced with minimum trade-offs. This can only be achieved when management is based on a holistic understanding of the interdependencies among various ecosystem services and how they might change under alternative land management.

Συγκριτική θεώρηση των συστημάτων ταξινόμησης βραχομάζας rmr gsi και rmi σε υδροηλ/κες σήραγγες στη θέση Παλιούρης Ν. Ιωαννίνων / The comparison of rockmass classification systems, rmr, gsi, rmi in hydrological tunnels at Paliouris Ioanninon

This thesis describes the development of a decision support tool to be used in the operation of Vanderkloof Dam on the Orange River so that the supply of water to the lower Orange River can be optimised. The decision support tool is based on a hydrodynamic model that was customised to incorporate real time data recorded at several points on the river. By incorporating these data into the model the simulated flows are corrected to the actual flow conditions recorded on the river, thereby generating a best estimate of flow conditions at any given time. This information is then used as the initial conditions for forecast simulations to assess whether the discharge volumes and schedules from the dam satisfy the water demands of downstream users, some of which are 1400km or up to 8 weeks away. The various components of the decision support system, their functionality and their interaction are described. The details regarding the development of these components include: • The hydraulic model of the Orange River downstream of Vanderkloof Dam. The population and calibration of the model are described. • The modification of the code of the hydrodynamic engine so that real time recorded stage and flow data can be incorporated into the model • The development of a graphical user interface to facilitate the exchange of data between the real time network of flow gauging stations on the Orange River and the hydraulic model • The investigation into the effect of including the real time data on the simulated flows • Testing the effectiveness of the decision support system. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Global climate change is a naturally occurring phenomenon, influencing weather and climate patterns. However, the greatest cause for concern at present is the rate at which climate change is currently occurring. Natural shifts in climate take place over a period of many thousands of years, not in a matter of decades, which is what is occurring at present. In South Africa, climate change is projected to have different regional effects, which in turn could impact on the components of the terrestrial hydrological system, such as land use. The alteration of the catchment upstream of the estuaries could affect the quantity and quality of streamflows entering estuaries. This could impact negatively upon estuaries, thereby reducing the considerable biodiversity in estuaries and the ecosystems goods and services provided by estuaries which would reduce the significant revenue provided by these systems. The research undertaken in this project investigates the possible effects of climate change, and changes in upstream land use on freshwater inflows into estuarine ecosystems using a daily hydrological model. Owing to the regionality of climate change in South Africa 10 estuaries in different climatic regions were selected for this investigation. Climate output from five GCMs under the SRES A2 climate scenario for the present (1971 – 1990), intermediate (2046 – 2065) and distant future (2081 – 2100) periods was used as input for the selected climate input. Results of these simulations show that the eastern regions of South Africa may experience considerable increases in the occurrence of high intensity rainfall events into the future. This could influence the abiotic factors of the system which may impact upon the biotic components of estuaries, as these systems are physically controlled. In the western regions the difference of the magnitude of flows between present and projected future is minimal. However, projected increases in temperature could influence evaporation, thereby decreasing future flows into estuaries. This, in some instances, may result in systems turning hyper-saline, which could have far reaching implications, both ecologically and economically. Additionally, an investigation, as to the possible effects of irrigation and climate change combined on flows entering and breaching events of the Klein estuary, was undertaken. Hence, simulations including and excluding irrigation routines have been completed. Results from these simulations illustrate the detrimental effects of irrigation into the future periods, especially during 1 in 10 low flow years, when flows into the Klein estuary cease completely. Breaching event results illustrate that climate change could have a negative impact on this estuarine system as the number of events decreases into distant future period. The addition of agricultural abstractions decreases the number of breaching events markedly. Therefore, the link between the marine and terrestrial hydrological systems is lost which could, if this estuary is isolated from the ocean for an extended period of time, become extremely detrimental to the ecological integrity of the Klein estuary. This highlights the value and vulnerabilities of estuarine ecosystems in South Africa to future climate and upstream land use changes. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

A mechanistic understanding of transport and degradation processes of modern agricultural pesticides, including chiral pesticides, is critical for predicting their fate in the environment. In agricultural landscapes, wetlands can intercept pesticide-contaminated runoff or groundwater and improve water quality through various retention and degradation processes, which remain unknown. In a downscaling approach, three different wetlands receiving agricultural runoff were used as 'natural laboratories' to investigate the fate of widely used pesticides. Overall, our results showed that dynamics of hydrological and redox conditions largely influenced pesticide sorption mechanisms and their distribution over time within wetland compartments, thereby controlling degradation processes. While large-scale studies provide integrative information on pesticide dissipation and distribution patterns with respect to wetland functioning, small-scale investigations using novel methods such as isotope and enantiomer analyses characterize underlying molecular processes governing pesticide degradation.