Hydrological models have become important tools for research as well as decision support. The demand for modeling and forecasting of water resources availability is driving an increasingly systematic research, in particular because of a widespread access to significant computer power and experimental data. According to Brutsaert (2005), hydrological modeling can be classified into physical, conceptual, or systems modeling, and in each of these categories, different modeling approaches can be used depending on the spatial scale of the modeled area, the purpose of the modeling, and parameter availability. Some authors favor the use of physically based models, which are commonly based on conservation equations of fluid mechanics, while others argue that the number of model parameters needed and the heterogeneity of hydraulic properties in watersheds makes application of physically-based models impractical. One of the advantages of implementing physically based models is that physical constraints can be used to reduce the range of model parameters (Loague and Van der Kwaak, 2004). Here, we describe an application a physically-based, three-dimensional catchment scale model. The model is primarily intended to simulate complex hydrologic patterns in contexts where simple one-dimensional or two-dimensional schemes are not suitable, and phenomena related with surface runoff coupled with subsurface flow are of interest. This is especially frequent in agriculture-dominated landscapes. We used a fully-integrated, three-dimensional hydrological model that includes both saturated and unsaturated subsurface flow as well as overland flow. We applied this model to experimental data from a laboratory core infiltration, a field-scale flow, and a catchment-scale experiment.

CRITERIA-3D: A Mechanistic Model for Surface and Subsurface Hydrology for Small Catchments

BITTELLI, MARCO;
2011

Abstract

Hydrological models have become important tools for research as well as decision support. The demand for modeling and forecasting of water resources availability is driving an increasingly systematic research, in particular because of a widespread access to significant computer power and experimental data. According to Brutsaert (2005), hydrological modeling can be classified into physical, conceptual, or systems modeling, and in each of these categories, different modeling approaches can be used depending on the spatial scale of the modeled area, the purpose of the modeling, and parameter availability. Some authors favor the use of physically based models, which are commonly based on conservation equations of fluid mechanics, while others argue that the number of model parameters needed and the heterogeneity of hydraulic properties in watersheds makes application of physically-based models impractical. One of the advantages of implementing physically based models is that physical constraints can be used to reduce the range of model parameters (Loague and Van der Kwaak, 2004). Here, we describe an application a physically-based, three-dimensional catchment scale model. The model is primarily intended to simulate complex hydrologic patterns in contexts where simple one-dimensional or two-dimensional schemes are not suitable, and phenomena related with surface runoff coupled with subsurface flow are of interest. This is especially frequent in agriculture-dominated landscapes. We used a fully-integrated, three-dimensional hydrological model that includes both saturated and unsaturated subsurface flow as well as overland flow. We applied this model to experimental data from a laboratory core infiltration, a field-scale flow, and a catchment-scale experiment.
2011
Soil Hydrology, Land Use and Agriculture
253
265
M. Bittelli; A. Pistocchi; F. Tomei; P.P. Roggero; R. Orsini; M. Toderi; G. Antolini; M. Flury
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/105636
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