@inproceedings{CaviedesVoulliemeJozefikHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Jozefik, Zoltan and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Towards a physically-based multi-scale ecohydrological simulator for semi-arid regions}, series = {European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017 Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2017}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017 Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2017}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {The use of numerical models as tools for describing and understanding complex ecohydrological systems has enabled to test hypothesis and propose fundamental, process-based explanations of the system system behaviour as a whole as well as its internal dynamics. Reaction-diffusion equations have been used to describe and generate organized pattern such as bands, spots, and labyrinths using simple feedback mechanisms and boundary conditions. Alternatively, pattern-matching cellular automaton models have been used to generate vegetation self-organization in arid and semi-arid regions also using simple description of surface hydrological processes. A key question is: How much physical realism is needed in order to adequately capture the pattern formation processes in semi-arid regions while reliably representing the water balance dynamics at the relevant time scales? In fact, redistribution of water by surface runoff at the hillslope scale occurs at temporal resolution of minutes while the vegetation development requires much lower temporal resolution and longer times spans. This generates a fundamental spatio-temporal multi-scale problem to be solved, for which high resolution rainfall and surface topography are required. Accordingly, the objective of this contribution is to provide proof-of-concept that governing processes can be described numerically at those multiple scales. The requirements for a simulating ecohydrological processes and pattern formation with increased physical realism are, amongst others: i. high resolution rainfall that adequately captures the triggers of growth as vegetation dynamics of arid regions respond as pulsed systems. ii. complex, natural topography in order to accurately model drainage patterns, as surface water redistribution is highly sensitive to topographic features. iii. microtopography and hydraulic roughness, as small scale variations do impact on large scale hillslope behaviour iv. moisture dependent infiltration as temporal dynamics of infiltration affects water storage under vegetation and in bare soil Despite the volume of research in this field, fundamental limitations still exist in the models regarding the aforementioned issues. Topography and hydrodynamics have been strongly simplified. Infiltration has been modelled as dependent on depth but independent of soil moisture. Temporal rainfall variability has only been addressed for seasonal rain. Spatial heterogenity of the topography as well as roughness and infiltration properties, has not been fully and explicitly represented. We hypothesize that physical processes must be robustly modelled and the drivers of complexity must be present with as much resolution as possible in order to provide the necessary realism to improve transient simulations, perhaps leading the way to virtual laboratories and, arguably, predictive tools. This work provides a first approach into a model with explicit hydrological processes represented by physicallybased hydrodynamic models, coupled with well-accepted vegetation models. The model aims to enable new possibilities relating to spatiotemporal variability, arbitrary topography and representation of spatial heterogeneity, including sub-daily (in fact, arbitrary) temporal variability of rain as the main forcing of the model, explicit representation of infiltration processes, and various feedback mechanisms between the hydrodynamics and the vegetation. Preliminary testing strongly suggests that the model is viable, has the potential of producing new information of internal dynamics of the system, and allows to successfully aggregate many of the sources of complexity. Initial benchmarking of the model also reveals strengths to be exploited, thus providing an interesting research outlook, as well as weaknesses to be addressed in the immediate future.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CaviedesVoulliemeDominHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Domin, Andrea and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Nonlinear effects of microtopography on macroscopic rainfall-runoff partitioning a the hillslope scale: a modelling study}, series = {European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017 Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2017}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017 Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2017}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {The quantitative description and prediction of hydrological response of hillslopes or hillslope-scale catchments to rainfall events is becoming evermore relevant. At the hillslope scale, the onset of runoff and the overall rainfall-runoff transformation are controlled by multiple interacting small-scale processes, that, when acting together produce a response described in terms of hydrological variables well-defined at the catchment and hillslope scales. We hypothesize that small scale features such microtopography of the land surface will will govern large scale signatures of temporal runoff evolution. This can be tested directly by numerical modelling of well-defined surface geometries and adequate process description. It requires a modelling approach consistent with fundamental fluid mechanics, well-designed numerical methods, and computational efficiency. In this work, an idealized rectangular domain representing a hillslope with an idealized 2D sinusoidal microtopography is studied by simulating surface water redistribution by means of a 2D diffusive-wave (zero-inertia) shallow water model. By studying more than 500 surfaces and performing extensive sensitivity analysis forced by a single rainfall pulse, the dependency of characteristic hydrological responses to microtopographical properties was assessed. Despite of the simplicity of periodic surface and the rain event, results indicate complex surface flow dynamics during the onset of runoff observed at the macro and micro scales. Macro scale regimes were defined in terms of characteristics hydrograph shapes and those were related to surface geometry. The reference regime was defined for smooth topography and consisted of a simple hydrograph with smoothly rising and falling limbs with an intermediate steady state. In constrast, rough surface geometry yields stepwise rising limbs and shorter steady states. Furthermore, the increase in total infiltration over the whole domain relative to the smooth reference case shows a strong non-linear dependency on slope and the ratio of the characteristic wavelength and amplitude of microtopography. The coupled analysis of spatial and hydrological results also suggests that the hydrological behaviour can be explained by the spatiotemporal variations triggered by surface connectivity. This study significantly extents previous work on 1D domains, as our results reveal complexities that require 2D representation of the runoff processes.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MaurerCaviedesVoulliemeHinzetal., author = {Maurer, Thomas and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph and Gerke, Horst H.}, title = {Dynamik der initialen ({\"o}ko-) hydrologischen Entwicklung - Modellierung von Anfangsbedingungen und Wasserfl{\"u}ssen in einem exemplarischen Einzugsgebiet}, series = {Abstract-Sammlung zu Posterbeitr{\"a}gen, eingereicht zum Tag der Hydrologie in Trier 2017, 23. 03. - 24. 03. 2017}, booktitle = {Abstract-Sammlung zu Posterbeitr{\"a}gen, eingereicht zum Tag der Hydrologie in Trier 2017, 23. 03. - 24. 03. 2017}, pages = {S. 20}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{MaurerCaviedesVoulliemeHinzetal., author = {Maurer, Thomas and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph and Gerke, Horst H.}, title = {Flow processes on the catchment scale - modeling of initial structural states and hydrological behavior in an artificial exemplary catchment}, series = {European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017 Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2017}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017 Vienna, Austria, 23-28 April 2017}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {Landscapes that are heavily disturbed or newly formed by either natural processes or human activity are in a state of disequilibrium. Their initial development is thus characterized by highly dynamic processes under all climatic conditions. The primary distribution and structure of the solid phase (i.e. mineral particles forming the pore space) is one of the decisive factors for the development of hydrological behavior of the eco-hydrological system and therefore (co-) determining for its - more or less - stable final state. The artificially constructed ‚H{\"u}hnerwasser' catchment (a 6 ha area located in the open-cast lignite mine Welzow-S{\"u}d, southern Brandenburg, Germany) is a landscape laboratory where the initial eco-hydrological development is observed since 2005. The specific formation (or construction) processes generated characteristic sediment structures and distributions, resulting in a spatially heterogeneous initial state of the catchment. We developed a structure generator that simulates the characteristic distribution of the solid phase for such constructed landscapes. The program is able to generate quasi-realistic structures and sediment compositions on multiple spatial levels (1 cm up to ∼ 100 m scale). The generated structures can be i) conditioned to actual measurement values (e.g., soil texture and bulk distribution); ii) stochastically generated, and iii) calculated deterministically according to the geology and technical processes at the excavation site. Results are visualized using the GOCAD software package and the free software Paraview. Based on the 3D-spatial sediment distributions, effective hydraulic van-Genuchten parameters are calculated using pedotransfer functions. The hydraulic behavior of different sediment distribution (i.e. versions or variations of the catchment's porous body) is calculated using a numerical model developed by one of us (Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me). Observation data are available from catchment monitoring are available for i) determining the boundary conditions (e.g., precipitation), and ii) the calibration / validation of the model (catchment discharge, ground water). The analysis of multiple sediment distribution scenarios should allow to approximately determine the influx of starting conditions on initial development of hydrological behavior. We present first flow modeling results for a reference (conditioned) catchment model and variations thereof. We will also give an outlook on further methodical development of our approach.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CaviedesVoulliemeDominFernandezPatoetal., author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Domin, Andrea and Fern{\´a}ndez-Pato, Javier and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {A numerical study on the influence of m{\`i}crotopography on ra{\`i}nfall-runoff-infiltration partitioning}, series = {4th International Symposium of Shallow Flows (ISSF 2017), Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands, 26.-28.06.2017}, booktitle = {4th International Symposium of Shallow Flows (ISSF 2017), Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands, 26.-28.06.2017}, abstract = {Microtopographic features, although minute relative to the hillslope scales, are not insignificant in terms of runoff generation, rain-runoff-infiltration partitioning and overall hillslope hydrological signals. As-sessing the effects of such small scale features, arguably requires mathematical models that can cope with microtopraphic complexity to adequately represent surface water dynamics, which in turn deter-mine hydrological signals at the hillslope scale. In this work, rain-runoff simulations are perfomed with a 2D shallow water model on a rectangular domain representing a hillslope with an idealized 2D sinusoidal microtopography. Several combinations of slope, wavelength and amplitudes were used to create over 500 surfaces on which simulations were performed in order to assess their hydrological response in terms of rainfallrunoff-infiltration partitioning. The results were analysed through several dimensionless indices which allow to observe the dependency of characteristic hydrological responses to mi-crotopography properties. They reveal a complex dependency of hydrological signatures to surface microtopography. In particular, the results show that the fraction of rainfall that results in infiltration is increased following a particular non-linear dependency on surface smoothness. Additionally, hydrograph properties and surface flow connectivity also show emerging patterns in response to microtopography.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {The role of topography and intra-annual rainfall variability in semi-arid vegetation self-organisation: a multi-scale modelling study}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2018, Vienna, Austria}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2018, Vienna, Austria}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {Coevolution of hydrological and vegetation dynamics in semi-arid regions has been widely observed to result in vegetation self-organisation (VSO). Many hypothesis of VSO's underlying ecohydrological processes and feedbacks have been studied relying on mathematical models, which have been key to evaluate the sensitivity of ecohydrological systems to environmental factors and drivers. Although this ecohydrological coevolution is essentially multiscale, researchers have continued to be constrained by the simplicity of the models which are unable to cope with the multiscale, process-based complexity of fast-moving surface water over complex topographies driven by varying rainfall, during decade-to-century long VSO processes. This limitation has not allowed deep exploration of the role and sensitivity of key environmental factors such as topography and rainfall variability, and the lack of proper hydrodynamics still constrains adequate sediment transport modelling and its feedback effects on VSO. We hypothesize that the intra-storm water redistribution by surface runoff at the hillslope scale is strongly controlled by both topography and storm intensity and may control VSO. This requires for these environmental factors to be accurately represented in models and their their hydraulic and hydrological effects properly reflected. This work provides the first systematic study of the effects of topography and intra-annual rainfall distributions on vegetation band formation at the hillslope scale. Simulations were performed with a physically-based numerical model solving the Zero-Inertia approximation to the shallow water equations for surface flow coupled to the HilleRisLambers-Rietkerk vegetation model, allowing to explicitly represent arbitrary topography. An idealized study of ecohydrological evolution over 30 years was performed, solving with a temporal resolution in the seconds scale. Plane, convex and convex hillslope topologies with different slopes were used, while forcing the model with different annual rainfalls along a semi-arid rainfall gradient, with discrete events of different frequencies. We describe results in terms of evolution of total biomass, hydrological water balance, and of the spatial properties of banded vegetation. Results show that both topography and intra-annual rainfall distribution can play a shaping and governing role in VSO by controlling surface water redistribution and the hydrologic water balance. Increasing slopes favours runoff over infiltration, reducing the available water for vegetation and resulting in different evolutions of vegetation band geometry and band migration. Hillslope topology plays a strong role in the internal water redistribution of the system. Plane and convex surfaces behave similarly, but concave surfaces exhibit a different ecohydrological behaviour, despite the very small topological differences. Different intra-annual rainfall distributions result in different rainfall intensities for the same total annual rainfall which strongly affect the band formation and evolution process: higher intensities lead to less available water, to which vegetation adapts by spatially clustering in bands with different geometrical properties. The study also shows that it is computationally feasible (a few hours runtime) to perform decade-to-century long simulations of these systems with physically-based numerical models paving the way to simulate natural systems with arbitrary topography and high-resolution rainfall data, and is a first step in introducing physically-based sediment transport processes and feedbacks in these studies.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BrueckAndezhathMohananCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {Br{\"u}ck, Yasemine and Andezhath Mohanan, Anju and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph and Zaplata, Markus K.}, title = {Spatio-temporal development of rill vegetation in the H{\"u}hnerwasser Catchment}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2018, Vienna, Austria}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2018, Vienna, Austria}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {The artificial catchment "H{\"u}hnerwasser" was built in a post-mining landscape, as a field experiment to observe and monitor early-development ecosystems at hillslope scale. Early on, rain-induced rill and channels formation was observed, followed by vegetation growth in between rills, and later on inside the rills. In this work, we aim to describe the temporal evolution of the spatial distribution of rill vegetation. In general terms, we hypothesize four different encroachment patterns might occur: (1) The vegetation spreads from the top of the rills downstream. The underlying hypothesis would be a higher establishment probability due to a lower velocity of surface runoff and therefore less transport probability compared to downstream rill segments. (2) The vegetation starts growing downstream and moves upwards. In this case we can hypothesize that the spatial distribution of the vegetation is dominated by water availability, which is higher or more stable downstream. (3) The vegetation encroaches from the sides into the rills, meaning that inter-rill vegetation governs vegetation encroachment inside the rills. (4) If no patterns are detected it might mean that the encroachment process depends strongly on very local conditions, or perhaps that the underlying assumption of an initially homogeneous seed distribution is false. To investigate the rills formation and rill vegetation encroachment processes, rills and vegetation patches inside these rills were identified and digitized from aerial photographs of the catchment from 2007 to 2012. Different vegetation types were identified based on the colour and texture of the patches. The geometrical properties of the rill segments and vegetation patches were used to define how the different vegetation types have distributed in space and how this distribution has changed over time. Rill mapping reveals a large increase of rill area from 2007 to 2008 and only a small rise from 2008 to 2009. Starting in 2010 dense vegetation prevents a precise mapping of the rills in the aerial photographs, so we assume that there is no change in rill area from 2009 to 2012. In 2007 vegetation covered only 1.4\% of the rill area. There is only a small increase of this area in 2008 compared to the later years. In 2012 more than 50\% of the rill area is covered by plants. Ten different vegetation types have been identified in the aerial photographs, starting with two types in 2007. By 2012 nine types are spotted in the rills of the catchment. Some of these vegetation types show an encroachment from up- to downstream (e.g. Tussilago farfara), some from down- to upstream like Phragmites australis, whose creeping rhizomes can also promote such spreading. Others reveal no patterns. To better assess and identify the underlying processes leading to these encroachment processes shown by the different vegetation types further data analysis -e.g. comparison with ground based vegetation mapping- and process-based hydrological modelling is necessary to fully explain these observations and assessing additional competition effects, which may be at play.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CaviedesVoulliemeAndezhathMohananBruecketal., author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Andezhath Mohanan, Anju and Br{\"u}ck, Yasemine and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Rill hydrodynamics and its impact on rill vegetation encroachment: a modelling study of the constructed H{\"u}hnerwasser catchment}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2018, Vienna, Austria}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2018, Vienna, Austria}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {The H{\"u}hnerwasser catchment is a monitored, early-development constructed catchment within the Lower Lausatia post-mining landscape in Germany. Observations have shown that a sequence of landscape-forming processes occurred, including the initial vegetation establishment stages, which are the main interest of this study. In the initial stages of geomorphic development a surface drainage network of rills was formed as vegetation started to appear on the hillslopes and subsequently inside the rill network. Observations and analysis of the rill vegetation establishment suggest that different vegetation types encroach into the rill network at different times, rates and form different directions. We hypothesize that these encroachment processes may respond to the runoff properties of the catchment at such time: velocity distribution in the rills might play a significant role in flushing seeds in high-velocity reaches of the rill network, thus favouring the appearance of vegetation in low-velocity regions. Consequently, the goal of this study is to assess the magnitudes and spatiotemporal behaviour of velocity in the rill network, to assess its possible impact on seed flushing and rill vegetation encroachment. One rill subcatchment of H{\"u}hnerwasser was selected to perform an explorative study of rill hydrodynamics and their impact on vegetation establishment. Two vegetation states were simulated: bare hillslopes and vegetated hillslopes. The vegetated cover polygons were obtained from digitized aerial photography, and stochastically dissagregated 10-minute resolution precipitation data were used, selecting events with early, middle and late peak storm intensities. A 2D explicit finite volume scheme solving the Zero-Inertia approximation to the shallow water equations was used to simulate surface flow in the subcatchment. The preliminary modelling results suggest that that there is no clear overall velocity gradient in the downstream direction along the rills. In fact, velocity in the rills may increase or decrease along the rill following local topography and rill geometry. Consequently, no global trend for the probability of seeds being transported can be established. The results also shows that varying rainfall intensity and rainfall intrastorm distribution -in the absence of hillslope vegetation- does not affect the rill locations of maximum velocities, but mostly affect the magnitude of velocity. In the presence of hillslope vegetation -and thus heterogeneous infiltration conditions in the hillslopes- the spatial distribution of velocity is strongly affected, and can be in fact governed not by topography or rill geometry, but by the spatial heterogeneity of infiltration capacity. Furthermore, the time at which maximum discharge and velocities occur may not match that of maximum intensity. That is, emerging temporal dynamics arise due to the introduction of spatial heterogeneity, which also manifests in the fact that outflow from the subcatchment exhibits a intensity-thresholded behaviour.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Convergent biomass, divergent patterns: Can initial conditions govern vegetation self-organisation?}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2018, Vienna, Austria}, booktitle = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2018, Vienna, Austria}, publisher = {European Geophysical Society}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {Vegetation self-organisation in water-limited ecosystems in semi-arid climates has been extensively studied by means of numerical simulation using a set of different reaction-diffusion-equations. Most of such models and studies have been concerned with the long-term steady ecohydrological states on domains with periodic boundaries and forced by steady rainfall, whilst little interest has been given to the transient states which lead to them as well as the spatiotemporal multiscale nature of the feedback processes. It is generally accepted that alternative random initial biomass distributions do not significantly affect the resulting steady state vegetation patterns. However, the role of the initial hydrological conditions -initial surface and subsurface water- has not been explored, mainly due to the interest in the long-term steady state. Nonetheless, vegetation patterns are directly linked to the water distribution occurring at much shorter time scales than vegetation growth, and because they have been shown to be sensitive to annual rainfall, it is reasonable that the initially available water will also play a role. We therefore hypothesize that the initially available water will play a role in the transient process leading to a steady ecohydrological state, and that the steady vegetation patterns will differ in response to the water availability in time during the entire process. In this contribution we explore the role of initial hydrological conditions on both the transient and longterm steady ecohydrological state. A simulation study was performed using the HilleRisLambers-Rietkerk ecohydrological model on a flatland varying the initial available water whilst also spanning the rainfall gradient (90 - 360 mm/year) . The results were assessed in terms of the evolution and steady state of total biomass yield and hydrological water balance, as well as a quantitative assessment of both transient and steady vegetation patterns. The results show that the initially available water does play a role, not only in the early transient state, but in the long-term steady state, and indeed in the geometry of the converged vegetation pattern. Furthermore, although the steady state biomass yield may be the same for varying initial conditions, the final patterns still differ, e.g., a reduction to one-fourth initial water availability results in more but smaller vegetation patches, while a reduction to one-eigth initial water results in less, but larger patches, and a reduction to one-sixteenth results in a completely new pattern, although total biomass is the same for all. This suggests that long-term average rainfall may govern the total biomass but the initial conditions may play a relevant shaping role in the long term spatial distributions of steady ecohydrological states of water-limited ecohydrosystems. This is relevant, among other reasons, because the resilience of the system is associated to the vegetation patterns. It also suggests that neither the temporal distribution of rainfall nor the system's evolution cannot be neglected to understand the environmental factors which lead to a steady ecohydrological state, since multiple paths may be possible. This warrants further developments from the ecohydrological modelling community and further study of transient states through process-based models.}, language = {en} } @misc{CaviedesVoulliemeFernandezPatoHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Fern{\´a}ndez-Pato, Javier and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Cellular Automata and Finite Volume solvers converge for 2D shallow flow modelling for hydrological modelling}, series = {Journal of Hydrology}, volume = {563}, journal = {Journal of Hydrology}, issn = {0022-1694}, doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.06.021}, pages = {411 -- 417}, abstract = {Surface flows of hydrological interest, including overland flow, runoff, river and channel flow and flooding have received significant attention from modellers in the past 30 years. A growing effort to address these complex environmental problems is in place in the scientific community. Researchers have stud-ied and favoured a plethora of techniques to approach this issue, ranging from very simple empirically-based mathematical models, to physically-based, deductive and very formal numerical integration of systems of partial-differential equations. In this work, we review two families of methods: cell-based simulators - later called Cellular Automata - and Finite Volume solvers for the Zero-Inertia equation, which we show to converge into a single methodology given appropriate choices. Furthermore, this convergence, mathematically shown in this work, can also be identified by critically reviewing the exist-ing literature, which leads to the conclusion that two methods originating from different reasoning and fundamental philosophy, fundamentally converge into the same method. Moreover, acknowledging such convergence allows for some generalisation of properties of numerical schemes such as error behaviour and stability, which, importantly, is the same for the converging methodology, a fact with practical implications. Both the review of existing literature and reasoning in this work attempts to aid in the effort of synchronising and cross-fertilizing efforts to improve the understanding and the outlook of Zero-Inertia solvers for surface flows, as well as to help in clarifying the possible confusion and parallel develop-ments that may arise from the use of different terminology originating from historical reasons. Moreover, synchronising and unifying this knowledge-base can help clarify model capabilities, applicability and modelling issues for hydrological modellers, specially for those not deeply familiar with the mathematical and numerical details.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CaviedesVoulliemeFernandezPatoHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Fern{\´a}ndez-Pato, Javier and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Zero-Inertia vs full shallow water equations: a comparison for rainfall-runoff modelling}, series = {Computational Methods in Water Resources XXII (CMWR 2018), Bridging gaps between data, models, and predictions}, booktitle = {Computational Methods in Water Resources XXII (CMWR 2018), Bridging gaps between data, models, and predictions}, pages = {2}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{CaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {An ecohydrological model to explore topographic and rainfall variability effects on vegetation self-organisation}, series = {Computational Methods in Water Resources XXII (CMWR 2018), Bridging gaps between data, models, and predictions}, booktitle = {Computational Methods in Water Resources XXII (CMWR 2018), Bridging gaps between data, models, and predictions}, pages = {2}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{VarraniCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Varrani, Arianna and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Dynamic mapping of surface topografy at rainfall events}, series = {Proceedings of the 5th IAHR Europe Congress — New Challenges in Hydraulic Research and Engineering}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 5th IAHR Europe Congress — New Challenges in Hydraulic Research and Engineering}, editor = {Armanini, Aronne and Nucci, Elena}, publisher = {IAHR Secretariat, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering}, address = {Madrid, Spain}, isbn = {978-981-11-2731-1}, pages = {139 -- 140}, abstract = {Landscape evolution forced by rainfall is simulated at the laboratory scale and dynamically tracked using six virtual sensors Kinect™ to ensure detailed meas-urements with relatively low-cost devices.}, language = {en} } @misc{AlmawazrehCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Almawazreh, Albara and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Solute dissipation regimes and rates controlled by soil evaporation and rainfall variability in heterogeneous soils}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, journal = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {Reactive solute leaching from the top soil has received wide attention as it relates to major environmental challenges like groundwater and river water pollution by leached reactive solutes such as agricultural pesticides or biochemical pollutants. Adequate understanding of how fast, when and how such solutes and possible contaminants are leached from the top soil is necessary to enhance agricultural practice, pollution risk assessment and overall water quality management. Many empirical studies have been carried on the subject, with varied their approaches and complexity, and have been carried out under different site and atmospheric conditions. Some ofsuch studies argue that properties of soils and solutes are dominant for the leaching process, while others emphasizeatmospheric drivers as a main trigger for preferential flow. Long residence times have also been observed, with solutes lingering in the soils long after initially introduced and after experiencing rainfall events. Modelling and analytical studies have been put forward to better explain these behaviours, but often neglecting some of of the sources of complexity (such as preferential flow and soil heterogeneity) or with simplified modelling strategies. In this work, we study reactive solute dissipation processes in a soil column with a contaminated top soil layer in response to rainfall events. To cope with a heterogeneous soil structure, within an intermediate-complexity and physically-based framework, we solve Richards equation together with a mobile-immobile soil model together with a non-equilibrium advection-diffusion reaction model in Hydrus1D. We perform an extensive analysis of the sensitivity of solute dissipation rates from the top soil in response to all permutations of a parameter space comprised of soil properties (immobile fraction, mobile-immobile mass transfer coefficient), solute properties (decay coefficient, adsorption coefficient), rainfall parameters (total precipitation, duration, frequency) and the presence or absence of evaporation. Results are assessed in terms of the resulting solute dissipation curves and are fitted to exponential decay curves for comparison purposes. The results show that different solute dissipation regimes exist in response to the dominant physical process under a particular set of conditions. We identify three dissipation regimes which exhibit characteristic time scales and dissipation curve shapes: an advection dominated regime occurring under particular rainfall conditions, an evaporation dominated regime occurring under low rainfall volume and intensity and a decay-dominated regime exists, in which the bio- or chemical- decay rate of the substance is large and therefore dominant. Our results also provide further evidence and rationale for long residence times (which have been previously noted in the literature) in the top soil under preferential flow conditions, as the complex interactions between different processes may favour at mobilisation or immobilisation of the solute, which can be related to the characteristic shapes of the dissipation curves and in turn the regimes. The results allow a better understanding of the controlling processes and the related parameters interactions that dominate each regime. The thorough sensitivity analysis shows that, within those regimes, certain properties have higher weight and respectively more attention should be given when investigating them in comprehensive leaching risk assessment.}, language = {en} } @misc{BrueckRojasCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {Br{\"u}ck, Yasemine and Rojas, Pedro and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Processing of aerial images to detect vegetation cover and evaluate transient vegetation patch characteristics of H{\"u}hnerwasser catchment}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, journal = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {The artificial catchment "H{\"u}hnerwasser" was built in a post-mining landscape, as a field experiment to observe and monitor early-development ecosystems at first catchment scale. As vegetation is a key driver of hydrological catchment behavior, spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of vegetation affects water redistribution from plot to catchment scale. In the context of early ecosystem development, quantifying changes in vegetation structures is an obvious indicator for state transitions. The first years of ecosystem development at the H{\"u}hnerwasser catchment showed rapidly increasing complexity of emerging structures associated with rising vegetation cover and increasing number of plant species. This work will focus on characterizing vegetation cover using aerial images aiming to describe spatial structures and how those evolve in time. The early stages are especially of interest. The structure is therefore characterized by the area of the catchment covered by vegetation, the number of vegetation patches, the mean and maximum patch size and a form factor (area of patch divided by its perimeter). Aerial images with a resolution at cm scale were taken once per year from 2007 to 2018. Binary maps are generated by setting thresholds for red, green and blue channels to differentiate between vegetation cover and bare soil. To evaluate the consistency of the binary images of each channel these images were stacked and compared. The performance of the method was tested by using a set of combinations of thresholds and a comparison with manual mapping of vegetation cover at an image subset was made. The blue channel seems to be very sensitive to detect vegetation and a better differentiation of vegetation and dark/wet soil can be achieved by setting the thresholds of the channels in a specific order. The structures derived by the classification into vegetated and bare soil are more important in the early years of ecosystem development. In those years (2007 to 2011) the most changes took place. As time advances vegetation became less patchy and other characteristics need to be implemented to describe the vegetation cover, taking into account different plant functional types.}, language = {en} } @misc{CaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Transient trajectories in vegetation patterns spawning from non-equilibrium initial conditions and singular perturbations}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, journal = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {Vegetation self-organisation in water-limited ecosystems in semi-arid climates has been extensively studied by means of numerical simulation using a set of different reaction-diffusion-equations. Most of such models and studies have been concerned with the long-term steady ecohydrological steady states on domains with periodic boundary conditions and forced by steady rainfall. A vast majority of the modelling literature on vegetation self-organisation exists around near-equilibrium conditions. One of the clearest examples of this is that most of the published numerical results have been obtained by evolving near-equilibrium initial conditions to asymptotic steady states, since researchers have been historically interested in the resilience and stability of the systems to perturbation around converged, steady (equilibrium) states and little interest has been given to the transient states which lead to the equilibrium states. Nonetheless, ecohydrological theory recognises that dryland ecosystems can often be far-from-equilibrium systems, in quasi-permanent transient condition, exhibiting non-linear responses to boundary conditions and forcings. This prompts the question of how different the behaviour of the system can be when far-from equilibrium. In this contribution we explore the role of far-from equilibrium initial hydrological conditions on both the transient and long-term asymptotically steady ecohydrological states. A simulation study was performed using the HilleRisLambers-Rietkerk ecohydrological model on a flatland varying the initial available water both near and far from equilibrium whilst also spanning the rainfall gradient (90 - 360 mm/year), performing simulations up to 200 years long. The results were assessed in terms of the evolution of total biomass yield and hydrological water balance, as well as a quantitative assessment of vegetation patterns. The results show that equilibrium conditions always yield smooth system trajectories, with little over- or undershooting, converging to the well-established patterns in the literature. However, as initial conditions move further away from equilibrium, the patterns start to differ, both in their temporal trajectory as in their long-term stable states. Conditions closer to equilibrium generate patterns with quantitative differences when compared to equilibrium conditions (e.g., larger spots). Conditions far from equilibrium can result in an entirely different hybrid patterns, consisting of a mix of spots, arcs and spirals. We evaluate these differences both qualitatively (by observing the patterns) and quantitatively, through a set of geometric indicators which describe the patterns. The results show that the patterns are history dependent and suggest that published results so far are only a subset of possible patterns. Additionally, the quantitative assessment of pattern properties in time shows that although patterns appear steady, they may indeed be slowly changing over time, while the total biomass and vegetation cover are steady early on. This has implications on the definitions of ecohydrological steady states. We also show that the effects of the idealised initial conditions on model results can be analogous to singular hydrometeorological events, as even stable patterns can be shifted into hybrid patterns by single events. Furthermore, we also explore how the new hybrid patterns compare to the well-established ones in terms of resilience to hydrological perturbations.}, language = {en} } @misc{KhoshBinGhomashCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Khosh Bin Ghomash, Shahin and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Effects of topography and infiltration heterogeneity on surface runoff and connectivity in the Huehnerwasser catchment}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, journal = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, abstract = {The Huehnerwasser catchment is a monitored, early-development constructed catchment within the Lower Lausatia post-mining landscape in Germany. From the initial bare catchment state, a sequence of landscape-forming processes occurred, including erosion-based topographic change and vegetation establishment, which are at the centre of this study. Erosion-based topographic change is strongly driven by surface runoff, while in turn itself also modifying runoff in the catchment. These topographic changes can have a significant impact on the hydrological response of a catchment, as they can affect flow paths, flow speeds and rainfall-runoff-infiltration partitioning, all of which manifest in different ways in runoff hydrographs in response to rainfall events. Vegetation establishment enhances local infiltration capacity, introducing infiltration heterogeneity, thus affecting the topography-controlled flowpaths as water infiltrates at vegetation patches. Critical-zone observatories and monitored early-development systems allow to document signatures of the evolution of catchments and to correlate certain behaviours to processes. However, readily and easily achievable runoff signatures often cannot provide a clear nor full description of process interactions, as the individual roles of processes are stacked together, and strongly shaped by the temporal distribution of rainfall, making it very difficult to disentangle the effects of each process, and making modelling a necessary approach to understand these interactions and their manifestations. All such processes occur at small spatial scales, and are difficult to observe or assess when experimentally studying catchment hydrology. Moreover, given that the complexity of processes contributing to morphological changes and the corresponding alteration of runoff signatures, single catchment experiments and even comprehensive monitoring programmes of whole catchments will neither allow to decipher all processes interactions nor will it allow to apply a statistically derived experimental. In this work, we study the effects that spatial distributions of surface topography and infiltration properties have on surface runoff and surface connectivity in response to single rainfall events, in the context of the Huehnerwasser catchment. We simulate rainfall/runoff processes by means of a physically-based, spatially explicit surface flow model, and assess the results in terms of hydrological signatures (hydrograph, hydrological balance), spatial distribution of the hydrodynamics of runoff, and surface flow connectivity. To do this, we use several DEMs of the H{\"u}hnerwasser catchment recorded during the erosion-based development of the surface (2006-2010), different hypothetical infiltration properties distributions, and a set of different singular rainfall events. The study allows to observe the individual effects that topographic properties and infiltration distributions have on the hydrograph signatures and connect cause-and-effect through an intermediate, conceptual property of the system: surface runoff connectivity, arguably an indicator of hydrological organisation of the runoff response. Moreover, by systematic analysis, the interactions between topography and infiltration can also be assessed in the hydrograph and explained through connectivity. The results show a range of possible magnitudes of influence of topography and infiltration on the runoff response, while highlighting that the onset of runoff and the rising limb of the hydrograph are mostly affected by these features and their interactions, and strongly related to surface runoff connectivity.}, language = {de} } @misc{KhoshBinGhomashCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Khosh Bin Ghomash, Shahin and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Effects of erosion-induced changes to topography on runoff dynamics}, series = {Journal of Hydrology}, volume = {573}, journal = {Journal of Hydrology}, issn = {0022-1694}, doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.04.018}, pages = {811 -- 828}, abstract = {Runoff generation from rainfall events is a complex, spatial and temporally dependent process strongly governed, among other factors, by catchment surface topography. Although it is widely known that many catchments experience morphological evolution, it is often ignored in analysis for different reasons ranging from simplification to lack of data. However, young catchments and early landscapes (such as those which are affected by natural or anthropogenic disturbances) do exhibit topography changes which in turn affect catchment hydrodynamics, hydrology and in particular runoff. In this work, we study the runoff generation and hydrodynamics of the H{\"u}hnerwasser artificial catchment (Brandenburg, Germany) during a period of erosion-based topographical changes (2006-2010). Nine Digital Elevation Models from such period were used as topography over which physically-based simulations were performed. The results suggest that topographic evolution in this catchment mostly affects the onset of runoff, whereas peak discharges and receding hydrograph limbs are less affected. These differences in hydrological signatures can be explained through the changes in the spatial distribution of runoff hydrodynamics and their impact on surface runoff connectivity. Relatively small topographical differences produce changing ponding conditions and modify flowpaths which becomes evident only through inspection of the spatial distribution of hydrodynamic variables. Moreover, the study shows that in order for simulations to be able to capture such responses, appropriate computational mesh and topographical data resolution are critical, since connectivity itself can be greatly affected by low resolution data or representation.}, language = {en} } @misc{KhoshBinGhomashCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Khosh Bin Ghomash, Shahin and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Effects of topography and infiltration heterogeneity on surface runoff and connectivity in the H{\"u}hnerwasser catchment.}, series = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, journal = {European Geosciences Union, General Assembly 2019, Vienna, Austria, 7-12 April 2019}, address = {Katlenburg-Lindau}, language = {en} } @misc{CaviedesVoulliemeFernandezPatoHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Fern{\´a}ndez-Pato, Javier and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Performance assessment of 2D Zero-Inertia and Shallow Water models for simulating rainfall-runoff processes}, series = {Journal of Hydrology}, volume = {584}, journal = {Journal of Hydrology}, issn = {0022-1694}, doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.124663}, pages = {20}, abstract = {Rainfall-runoff simulations are increasingly being performed with physically-based and spatially distributed solvers. The current computational and numerical technology enables the use of full shallow water equations solvers to be applied for these type of flow problems. Nonetheless, Zero-Inertia (diffusive wave) solvers have been historically favoured due to their conceptual and mathematical simplicity in comparison to shallow water solvers, with the working assumption that the simplifications introduced by Zero-Inertia will have some assumable impact on accuracy but will also allow for computational efficiency. Since both types of solvers have been primarily developed, benchmarked and compared to each other for fluvial and floodplain simulations, it is relevant to assess t-he relative performance for rainfall-runoff problems. In this work, both solvers are applied to a set of six well known test cases with reference solutions. The performance of the solvers is assessed in terms of global signatures such as hydrographs and flooded areas, but also in terms of spatial distributions of depth and velocity, as well as computational cost. Furthermore, the comparisons are performed across different spatial resolutions. The results show that for rainfall-runoff problems explicit, finite volumes solvers for both equations provide a similar accuracy, but the shallow water solver requires less computational time. The Zero-Inertia solver was found to be less sensitive to mesh refining than the full shallow water solver.}, language = {en} } @misc{CaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {From nonequilibrium initial conditions to steady dryland vegetation patterns: How trajectories matter}, series = {Ecohydrology}, volume = {13}, journal = {Ecohydrology}, number = {3}, issn = {1936-0584}, doi = {10.1002/eco.2199}, pages = {14}, abstract = {The multiscale nature of ecohydrological processes and feedbacks implies that vegetation patterns arising in water-limited systems are directly linked to water redistribution processes occurring at much shorter timescales than vegetation growth. This in turn suggests that the initially available water in the system can play a role in determining the trajectory of the system, together with the well-known role of the rainfall gradient. This work explores the role of initial hydrological conditions on vegetation dynamics and vegetation patterns. To do so, the HilleRisLambers-Rietkerk model was solved with different rainfall amounts and a large range of initial hydrological conditions spanning from near-equilibrium to far-from-equilibrium conditions. The resulting vegetation patterns and ecohydrological signatures were quantitatively studied. The results show that not only do initial hydrological conditions play a role in the ecohydrological dynamics but also they can play a dominating one even resulting in divergent vegetation patterns that exhibit convergent mean-field properties, including a new set of hybrid patterns. Our results highlight the relevance of assessing both global ecological and hydrological signatures and quantitatively assessing patterns to describe and understand system dynamics and in particular to determine if the systems are transient or steady. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the trajectories the system follows during its transient stages cannot be neglected to understand complex dependencies of the long-term steady state to environmental factors and drivers.}, language = {en} } @misc{SchuettCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Sch{\"u}tt, Claudia and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Exploring the effects of rainfall variability on banded vegetation}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4-8 May 2020}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4-8 May 2020}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13238}, language = {en} } @misc{RojasCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Rojas, Pedro and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Semi-automatic image analysis of spatiotemporal vegetation evolution in the H{\"u}hnerwasser catchment}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4-8 May 2020}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4-8 May 2020}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13522}, language = {en} } @misc{AhmadiniaCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {Ahmadinia, Ebrahim and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Coupled effects of microtopography and time-dependant infiltration capacity on rainfall-runoff-infiltration partitioning on a hillslope}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4-8 May 2020}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4-8 May 2020}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18200}, language = {en} } @misc{CaviedesVoulliemeOezgenXianHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and {\"O}zgen-Xian, Ilhan and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Surface runoff connectivity across scales: revisiting three simulation studies}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2021}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2021}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu21-5004}, language = {en} } @misc{CaviedesVoulliemeAhmadiniaHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Ahmadinia, Ebrahim and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Interactions of Microtopography, Slope and Infiltration Cause Complex Rainfall-Runoff Behavior at the Hillslope Scale for Single Rainfall Events}, series = {Water Resources Research}, volume = {57}, journal = {Water Resources Research}, number = {7}, issn = {1944-7973}, doi = {10.1029/2020WR028127}, pages = {20}, abstract = {Microtopography (MT) can govern runoff dynamics as a net result of local heterogeneities in the flow paths and ponding. This in turn controls the development of the surface water layer that connects and flows downslope. It is therefore important to understand which microtopographic features affect runoff generation dynamics and its macroscopic—hillslope scale—hydrological signatures (e.g., hydrographs, runoff and infiltration volumes). In this study, we numerically solve 2D overland flow from a single rain pulse on 1,460 idealized hillslopes with different slopes and sinusoidal microtopographies and different infiltration capacities. We assess hydrodynamic distributions, hydrographs and hydrological indices to assess the effects of MT and infiltration on the (local) hydrodynamic and (larger scale) hydrologic responses in terms of surface runoff regimes. The results show that MT enhances infiltration and that infiltration and runoff depend in a strong non-linear way on slope and the properties of MT. Three regimes of influence of MT were identified: one in which MT plays a negligible role but there is a high sensitivity to the infiltration capacity curve, a second regime in which hydrological partitioning is highly sensitive to MT and the infiltration capacity curve, and a third regime in which MT increases infiltration, but the response is insensitive to particular features, and more affected by the average slopes. The regimes are the product of the interplay between small (MT) and large scale (slope) properties. Furthermore, the results suggest that hydrological signatures can be interpreted and explained by the spatiotemporal variation of surface connectivity.}, language = {en} } @misc{KhoshBinGhomashBachmannCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {Khosh Bin Ghomash, Shahin and Bachmann, Daniel and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Impact of Rainfall Movement on Flash Flood Response: A Synthetic Study of a Semi-Arid Mountainous Catchment}, series = {Water}, volume = {14}, journal = {Water}, number = {12}, issn = {2073-4441}, doi = {10.3390/w14121844}, abstract = {Rainfall is a spatiotemporally varied process and key to accurately capturing catchment runoff and determining flood response. Flash flood response of a catchment can be strongly governed by a rainfall's spatiotemporal variability and is influenced by storm movement which drives a continuous spatiotemporal change throughout a rainfall event. In this work, the sensitivity of runoff and flooded areas to rainfall movement are assessed in the Kan catchment (Iran). The allochthonous nature of floods in the catchment and how they interact with the effects of rainfall movement are investigated. Fifty synthetic rain hyetographs are generated and traversed over the catchment under different velocities and directions and used to force a 1D/2D hydrodynamic model. The results suggest rainfall movement affects the runoff response in different degrees. Peak discharge, hydrograph shapes and flooded areas are affected. Storms with higher velocities result in higher peaks and faster onsets of runoff and consequently higher flooded areas in comparison to slower storms. The direction of the movement also plays a role. Storms moving along the average direction of the stream result in higher peaks and flooded areas. The relevance of storm direction is greater for slow moving storms. Additionally, the influence of rainfall movement is modulated by hyetograph structure, and the allochthonous behavior is greatly dependent on the location within the drainage network at which it is assessed.}, language = {en} } @misc{KhoshBinGhomashBachmannCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {Khosh Bin Ghomash, Shahin and Bachmann, Daniel and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Storm movement effects on the flash flood response of the Kan catchment}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23-27 May 2022}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23-27 May 2022}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2494}, abstract = {Rainfall is a complex, spatial and temporally variated process and one of the core inputs for hydrological and hydrodynamic modelling. Most rainfalls are known to be moving storms with varying directions and velocities. Storm movement is known to be an important influence on runoff generation, both affecting peak discharge and the shape of hydrographs. Therefore, exploring the extent rainfall dynamics affect runoff generation and consequently flooded areas, can be an asset in effective flood risk management. In this work, we study how storm movement (e.g. characterized by velocity and direction) can affect surface flow generation, water levels and flooded areas within a catchment. Moreover, the influence of rainfall temporal variability in correlation with storm movement is taken into account. This is achieved by means of numerical-based, spatially explicit surface flow simulations using the tool ProMaIDes (2021), a free software for risk-based evaluation of flood risk mitigation measures. The storm events are generated using a microcanonical random cascade model and further on trajected across the catchment area. The study area is the Kan river catchment located in the province of Tehran (Iran) with a total area of 836 km², which has experienced multiple flooding events in recent years. Due to its semi-arid climate, steep topography with narrow valleys, this area has high potential for flash flood occurrence as a result of high intensity precipitation. The results of this study show a range of possible magnitudes of influence of rainfall movement on the catchment´s runoff response. The resulting flood maps highlight the importance of rainfall velocity and most importantly the direction of the movement in the estimation of flood events as well as their likelihood in catchment area. Moreover, its shown that the magnitude of influence of storm velocity and direction on discharge strongly depends on the location within the river network which it is measured.}, language = {en} } @misc{KaestnerHinzCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {K{\"a}stner, Karl and Hinz, Christoph and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Frechen, Tobias Nanu and Vijsel, Roeland C. van de}, title = {A metaanalysis of the regularity of environmental spatialpatterns and a theory relating them to stochastic processes}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24-28 Apr 2023}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24-28 Apr 2023}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5817}, language = {en} } @misc{ShlewetCaviedesVoulliemeKaestneretal., author = {Shlewet, Marlin and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and K{\"a}stner, Karl and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Effects of urban structures on spatial and temporal flood distribution}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24-28 Apr 2023}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24-28 Apr 2023}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9498}, language = {en} } @misc{ShlewetKaestnerCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {Shlewet, Marlin and K{\"a}stner, Karl and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Einfluss urbaner Strukturen auf die r{\"a}umliche und zeitliche Dynamik pluvialer Fluten}, series = {Abstract-Band, Tag der Hydrologie 2023, Nachhaltiges Wassermanagement - Regionale und Globale Strategien, 22. \& 23.03.2023, Ruhr-Universit{\"a}t Bochum \& Hochschule Bochum}, journal = {Abstract-Band, Tag der Hydrologie 2023, Nachhaltiges Wassermanagement - Regionale und Globale Strategien, 22. \& 23.03.2023, Ruhr-Universit{\"a}t Bochum \& Hochschule Bochum}, language = {de} } @misc{KaestnerVijselCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {K{\"a}stner, Karl and Vijsel, Roeland C. van de and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Unravelling the spatial structure of regular environmental spatial patterns}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria \& Online, 14-19 April 2024}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria \& Online, 14-19 April 2024}, publisher = {Copernicus GmbH}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu24-3412}, abstract = {Spatial patterns where patches of high biomass alternate with bare ground occur in many resource-limited ecosystems. Especially fascinating are regular patterns, which are self-similar at a lag distance corresponding to the typical distance between patches. Regular patterns are understood to form autogenously through self-organization, which can be generated with deterministic reaction-diffusion models. Such models generate highly regular patterns, which repeat at the characteristic wavelength and are therefore periodic. Natural patterns do not repeat, as they are noisy and as the patch size and spacing vary. Natural patterns are therefore usually perceived as perturbed periodic patterns. However, the self-similarity of natural patterns decreases at longer lag distances, which indicates that their spatial structure is not a perturbed periodic structure originating through deterministic processes. Here, we provide an overview of our recent work on the spatial structure and formation of natural environmental spatial patterns as a basis for discussion: First, we develop a statistical periodicity test and compile a large dataset of more than 10,000 regular environmental spatial patterns. We find that neither isotropic (spotted) nor anisotropic (banded) patterns are periodic. Instead, we find that their spatial structure can be well described as random fields originating through stochastic processes. Second, we recognize the regularity as a gradually varying property, rather than a dichotomous property of being periodic or not. We develop a method for quantifying the regularity and apply it in a metastudy to a set of natural and model-generated patterns found in the literature. We find that patterns generated with deterministic reaction-diffusion models do not well reproduce the spatial structure of environmental spatial structure, as they are too regular. Third, we develop an understanding of pattern formation through stochastic reaction-diffusion processes, which incorporate random environmental heterogeneities. We find that regular patterns form through filtering of the environmental heterogeneities and identify stochastic processes which reproduce both isotropic and anisotropic patterns.}, language = {en} } @misc{KaestnerVijselCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {K{\"a}stner, Karl and Vijsel, Roeland C. van de and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {A scale-invariant method for quantifying the regularity of environmental spatial patterns}, series = {Ecological Complexity}, volume = {60}, journal = {Ecological Complexity}, publisher = {Elsevier BV}, issn = {1476-945X}, doi = {10.1016/j.ecocom.2024.101104}, pages = {13}, abstract = {Spatial patterns of alternating high and low biomass occur in a wide range of ecosystems. Patterns can improve ecosystem productivity and resilience, but the particular effects of patterning depend on their spatial structure. The spatial structure is conventionally classified as either regular, when the patches of biomass are of similar size and are spaced in similar intervals, or irregular. The formation of regular patterns is driven by scale-dependent feedbacks. Models incorporating those feedbacks generate highly regular patterns, while natural patterns appear less regular. This calls for a more nuanced quantification beyond a binary classification. Here, we propose measuring the degree of regularity by the maximum of a pattern's spectral density, based on the observation that the density of highly regular patterns consists of a narrow and high peak, while the density of highly irregular patterns consists of a low and wide lobe. We rescale the density to make the measure invariant with respect to the characteristic length-scale of a pattern, facilitating the comparison of patterns observed or modelled under different conditions. We demonstrate our method in a metastudy determining the regularity of natural and model-generated patterns depicted in previous studies. We find that natural patterns have an intermediate degree of regularity, resembling random surfaces generated by stochastic processes. We find that conventional deterministic models do not reproduce the intermediate regularity of natural patterns, as they generate patterns which are much more regular and similar to periodic surfaces. We call for appreciating the stochasticity of natural patterns in systems with scale-dependent feedbacks.}, language = {en} } @misc{KhoshBinGhomashBachmannCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {Khosh Bin Ghomash, Shahin and Bachmann, Daniel and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Effects ofWithin-Storm Variability on Allochthonous Flash Flooding: A Synthetic Study}, series = {Water}, volume = {15}, journal = {Water}, number = {4}, issn = {2073-4441}, doi = {10.3390/w15040645}, abstract = {Rainfall is a spatiotemporally variated process and one of the key elements to accurately capture both catchment runoff response and floodplain extents. Flash floods are the result of intense rainfall, typically associated to highly variable rain in both space and time, such as convective storms. In this work, the extent within-storm variability affects runoff and flooding is explored. The Kan catchment (Tehran, Iran) is used as base topography for the simulations. The allochthonous nature of floods in the catchment and how they interact with the effects of storm variability are further investigated. For this, 300 synthetic rainfall signals with different hyetograph variabilities are generated and imposed on a 1D/2D hydrodynamic model. Additionally, a set of simulations with different levels of spatial variability are performed. The results suggest that temporal and spatial variability affect the runoff response in different degrees. Peak discharge and hydrograph shapes, as well as flooded areas, are affected. The effect of storm temporal variability is shown to be significantly higher than storm spatial variability and storm properties such as return period, duration, and volume. Further on the influence of storm spatiotemporal variability on stream discharge and flood response is seen to be strongly dependent on the location within the drainage network at which it is assessed.}, language = {en} } @misc{KhoshBinGhomashBachmannCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {Khosh Bin Ghomash, Shahin and Bachmann, Daniel and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Introducing a dynamic spatiotemporal rainfall generator for flood risk analysis}, series = {EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24-28 Apr 2023}, journal = {EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24-28 Apr 2023}, doi = {10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2599}, abstract = {Precipitation scenario analysis is a crucial step in flood risk assessment, in which storm events with different probabilities are defined and used as input for the hydrological/hydrodynamic calculations. Rainfall generators may serve as a basis for the precipitation analysis. With the increase in the use of high resolution spatially-explicit hydrological/hydrodynamic models in flood risk calculations, demand for synthetic gridded precipitation input is increasing. In this work, we present a dynamic spatiotemporal rainfall generator. The model is capable of generating catchment-scale rainfields containing moving storms, which enable physically-plausible and spatiotemporally coherent precipitation events. This is achieved by the tools event-based approach, where dynamic storms are identified as clusters of related data that occur at different locations in space and time, and are then used as basis for event regeneration. The implemented methodology, mainly inspired by Dierden et al. (2019), provides an improvement in the spatial coherence of precipitation extremes, which can in turn be beneficial in flood risk calculations. The model has been validated under different databases such as the radar-based RADALON dataset or spatially-interpolated historical raingauge timeseries of different catchments in Germany, which is also presented in this work. The validation indicates the models ability to adequately preserve observed storm statistics in the generated timeseries. The generator is developed as an extension to the state-of-the-science flood risk modelling tool ProMaIDes (Promaides 2023). The model also puts great focus on user accessibility with offering features such as an easy installation process, support for most operating systems, a user interface and an online user manual.}, language = {en} } @misc{KaestnerVijselCaviedesVoulliemeetal., author = {K{\"a}stner, Karl and Vijsel, Roeland C. van de and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Frechen, Nanu T. and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Unravelling the spatial structure of regular dryland vegetation patterns}, series = {CATENA}, volume = {247}, journal = {CATENA}, publisher = {Elsevier BV}, issn = {0341-8162}, doi = {10.1016/j.catena.2024.108442}, pages = {13}, abstract = {Many resource-limited ecosystems exhibit spatial patterns where patches of biomass alternate with bare ground. Patterns can enhance ecosystem functioning and resilience, depending on their spatial structure. Particularly conspicuous are regular patterns, where patches are of similar size and spaced in similar intervals. The spatial structure of regular patterns is often described to be periodic. This has been corroborated by statistical testing of natural patterns and generation of periodic patterns with deterministic reaction-diffusion models. Yet, natural regular patterns appear conspicuously erratic compared to periodic patterns. So far, this has been attributed to perturbations by noise, varying patch size and spacing. First, we illustrate by means of an example that the spatial structure of regular vegetation patterns cannot be reproduced by perturbing periodic patterns. We then compile a large dataset of regular dryland patterns and find that their spatial structure systematically differs from periodic patterns. We further reveal that previous studies testing for periodicity overlook two aspects which dramatically inflate the number of false positives and result in the misclassification of patterns as periodic. We amend the test procedure by accounting for both aspects, finding that regular natural patterns have no significant periodic components. Lastly, we demonstrate that stochastic processes can generate regular patterns with similar visual appearance, spatial structure and frequency spectra as natural regular patterns. We conclude that new methods are required for quantifying the regularity of spatial patterns beyond a binary classification and to further investigate the difference between natural and model generated patterns.}, language = {en} } @misc{MaurerCaviedesVoulliemeGerkeetal., author = {Maurer, Thomas and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Gerke, Horst H. and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {A 3D-spatial approach for modeling soil hydraulic property distributions on the artificial Huehnerwasser catchment}, series = {Geophysical Research Abstracts}, volume = {21}, journal = {Geophysical Research Abstracts}, pages = {1}, abstract = {Knowledge of catchment 3D spatial heterogeneity is crucial for the assessment and modeling of eco-hydrological processes. Especially during the initial development phase of a hydro-geo-system, the primary structural properties have the potential to determine further development pathways. Small-scale heterogeneity (cm to m scale) may have significant effects on processes on larger spatial scales, but is difficult to measure and quantify. The H{\"u}hnerwasser (Chicken Creek) catchment offers the unique opportunity to study early ecosystem development within an initial structural setup that is well-known, from the plot up to the catchment scale. Based on information on the open-cast mining technology, catchment boundaries and sediment properties, we developed a structure generator program for the process-based modeling of specific dumping structures and sediment property distributions on the catchment. The structure generator reproduces the trajectories of spoil ridges and can be conditioned to reproduce actual sediment distributions according to remote sensing and soil sampling data. Alternatively, sediment distribution scenarios can be generated based on geological data from the excavation site, or can be distributed stochastically. Using pedotransfer functions, the effective hydraulic van-Genuchten parameters are then calculated from sediment texture and bulk density. The main application of the 3D catchment model is to provide detailed 3D-distributed flow domain information for hydrological flow modeling. Observation data are available from catchment monitoring are available for determining the boundary conditions (e.g., precipitation), and the calibration / validation of the model (catchment discharge, ground water). The analysis of multiple sediment distribution scenarios allows to evaluate the effect of initial conditions on hydrological behavior development. Generally, the modeling approach can be used to pinpoint the influx of specific soil structural features on ecohydrological processes across spatial scales.}, language = {en} } @misc{KaestnerCaviedesVoulliemeHinz, author = {K{\"a}stner, Karl and Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Formation of spatial vegetation patterns in heterogeneous environments}, series = {PLOS One}, volume = {20}, journal = {PLOS One}, number = {5}, editor = {Li, Pan}, publisher = {Public Library of Science (PLoS)}, address = {San Francisco, California}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0324181}, pages = {1 -- 38}, abstract = {Functioning of many resource-limited ecosystems is facilitated through spatial patterns. Patterns can indicate ecosystems productivity and resilience, but the interpretation of a pattern requires good understanding of its structure and underlying biophysical processes. Regular patterns are understood to form autogenously through self-organization, for which exogenous heterogeneities are negligible. This has been corroborated by reaction-diffusion models which generate highly regular patterns in idealized homogeneous environments. However, such model-generated patterns are considerably more regular than natural patterns, which indicates that the concept of autogenous pattern formation is incomplete. Models can generate patterns which appear more natural when they incorporate exogenous random spatial heterogeneities (noise), such as microtopography or spatially varying soil properties. However, the mechanism through which noise influences the pattern formation has not been explained so far. Recalling that irregular patterns can form through stochastic processes, we propose that regular patterns can form through stochastic processes as well, where spatial noise is filtered through scale-dependent biophysical feedbacks. First, we demonstrate that the pattern formation in nonlinear reaction-diffusion models is highly sensitive to noise. We then propose simple stochastic processes which can explain why and how random exogenous heterogeneity influences the formation of regular and irregular patterns. Finally, we derive linear filters which reproduce the spatial structure and visual appearance of natural patterns well. Our work contributes to a more holistic understanding of spatial pattern formation in self-organizing ecosystems.}, language = {en} } @misc{CaviedesVoulliemePueyoHinz, author = {Caviedes-Voulli{\`e}me, Daniel and Pueyo, Yolanda and Hinz, Christoph}, title = {Topography and rainfall variability shaping dryland vegetation self-organisation : insights from a numerical modelling study}, series = {Catena : an interdisciplinary journal of soil science, hydrology, geomorphology focusing on geoecology and landscape evolution}, volume = {264}, journal = {Catena : an interdisciplinary journal of soil science, hydrology, geomorphology focusing on geoecology and landscape evolution}, publisher = {Elsevier BV}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0341-8162}, doi = {10.1016/j.catena.2026.109791}, pages = {1 -- 23}, abstract = {The coevolution of hydrological and vegetation dynamics in semi-arid regions often leads to vegetation self-organisation (VSO). While numerous hypotheses on the ecohydrological processes driving VSO have been explored through mathematical models, these have struggled to capture the multiscale complexity emerging from short-term surface runoff over heterogeneous topographies under variable rainfall. This limitation hinders understanding of how natural topography and rainfall variability shape long-term vegetation patterns. Previous studies suggest that intra-storm water redistribution at the hillslope scale - controlled by topography and storm intensity - plays a key role in VSO. However, these factors have rarely been considered together due to methodological constraints in numerical solvers. We argue that accurately representing these processes is essential to investigate their interactions. This study systematically examines the effects of hillslope topography and intra-annual rainfall distributions on vegetation band formation using a physically based model that couples the Zero-Inertia (Diffusive Wave) approximation of the shallow water equations with the HilleRisLambers-Rietkerk vegetation model. Idealised 30-year simulations were conducted at second-scale hydrodynamic resolution across different hillslope forms (plane, convex, concave), slopes, and rainfall regimes along a semi-arid gradient. Results show that both topography and rainfall variability strongly influence band formation through their control on water redistribution and hydrological balance. Steeper slopes enhance runoff over infiltration, reducing water availability and altering band geometry and migration. Concave hillslopes exhibit distinct runoff convergence and redistribution patterns compared to plane or convex slopes. Rainfall intermittency interacts with topography to further affect pattern stability and morphology. While both drivers shape pattern characteristics differently, their joint effects mainly influence band migration without providing a strong stabilising mechanism. These results demonstrate the feasibility of long-term, physically based ecohydrological simulations, paving the way for more comprehensive models including sediment transport and geomorphic feedbacks.}, language = {en} }