Tüm Modeller Yanlıştır, Ancak Bazıları Faydalıdır: Akım Gözlem İstasyonu Bulunmayan Havzalarda Düşük (Kurak) ve Yüksek (Taşkın) Akım Davranışlarının Belirlenmesi
Abdullah Akbaş, Hasan ÖzdemirHavzalarda aletli gözlemler havza süreçlerini anlamak için oldukça önemli bir konuma sahip olmasına rağmen tüm alanlarda aletli gözlem verilerini bulmak oldukça zordur. Bu çalışma ile akım gözlem istasyonu (AGİ) olmayan havzalarda düşük/yüksek akım karakteristiklerinin SWAT ile modellenmesi ve gözlemle arasındaki farklılıklarının karşılaştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla, Bartın Çayı havzası örnek alan olarak seçilmiş ve ALOS SYM temelinde 90 adet alt-havza çıkarılmıştır. Bu havzalarda arazi kullanımı, eğim ve toprak verisi çakıştırılarak Hidrolojik Tepki Birimleri/HRU elde edilmiştir. HRU ve havza içinde tüm hidrolojik süreçler su dengesi temelinde elde edilen meteorolojik verilerle simüle edilmiştir. Model sonuçları, E13A031 istasyonuna dayalı olarak SWAT-CUP vasıtasıyla kalibre edilmiştir. Modellenen sonuçların havza içi süreçleri modellemek için yeterli olduğu görülmüştür. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre hem düşük hem de yüksek akımlara ait farklı zaman serisi karakteristikleri (büyüklük, sıklık, süre, zamanlama) hesaplanmış ve gözlem verisiyle karşılaştırılmıştır. Modellenen düşük ve yüksek akım metrikleri genel olarak gözlem ile uyuşsa da, birçok belirsizlik kaynağından dolayı bazı akım metriklerini fazla veya düşük hesapladığını göstermiştir. Öte yandan, tüm alt-havzalara ait metrikler hesaplanmıştır. Sonuçlara göre, Kocanaz havzası diğer havzalara oranla düşük ve yüksek akım metriklerinde farklılık yansıtmıştır. Hidrolojik modellemeler bu bağlamda iklim değişikliği ve arazi kullanımı değişiminin anlaşılması açısından planlama ve havza yönetimi açısından fırsatlar sunmaktadır.
All Models Are Wrong, But Some Are Useful: Determining the Low (Drought) and High (Flood) Flow Characteristics in Ungauged Basins
Abdullah Akbaş, Hasan ÖzdemirAlthough instrumental observations in basins are essential for understanding basin processes, acquiring observational data from all locations is challenging. Therefore, this study aims to simulate low and high flows and compare them with observations. With this aim, 90 sub-basins were generated, and hydrological response units (HRUs) were obtained by overlaying data such as land use, slope, and soil. Hydrological processes were simulated based on water balance using meteorological data within the basin and the HRUs. The model results were used for calibration by means of the SWAT-CUP using data from station E13A031. The modeled results that were obtained for simulating basin processes are considered sufficient. The different time series characteristics (i.e., magnitude, frequency, duration, and timing) belonging to low and high flow characteristics have been estimated and compared with the observed data. Even though good coherence was present between the observed and modeled low/high flow metrics, many sources of uncertainty exist that caused over- and under-estimations regarding some metrics. Furthermore, the metrics for all sub-basins have been calculated. According to the results, the Kocanaz basin reflects high differences in the metrics for low and high flows compared to the other basins. In this context, hydrological models offer opportunities for planning and watershed management in order for understanding climate and land-use changes.
Instrumental observations in basins have an important place in understanding the spatial and temporal variations of river systems through processes such as sediment transportation, floods, and droughts. Furthermore, understanding the impact of climatic and anthropogenic changes in basins requires comprehensive and reliable data, because the processes for distinguishing whether something is climatic or anthropogenic in basins are so complex. However, observing reliable data for each basin is no easy task. Even if the positive trend for observational instruments such as gauges increases around the globe, obtaining data in some areas such as mountainous or densely forested areas remain quite difficult. For this reason, hydrological models that simulate all water balance parameters (e.g., runoff, evapotranspiration) are useful tools for modeling ungauged areas. However, these models still contain various types of uncertainties due to the many potential sources that result from things such as the internal structure of the models, observations, and scale factors. Although some observations made through remote sensing retrieve data from water balance parameters around the globe, even they need to be corrected by models. Therefore, hydrological models can help extract reliable information about earth system processes.
This study models the Bartın basin, which has been exposed to many flood events at higher frequencies, in order to obtain low (drought) and high (flood) characteristics for ungauged basins. Based on the Advance Land Observation System 30-meter Digital Elevation Model (ALOS World 3D-30m DEM), 90 sub-basins have extracted for the whole area of the Bartın river system. Furthermore, hydrological response unit (HRU) was generated by overlaying many different datasets such as land-use, soil, and slope using the full multiple HRU definition, with 1901 HRUs being obtained within the Bartın Basin. Simulations were carried out based on the water balance at a daily scale using many meteorological data from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM). The model parameters that are sensitive to high and low flows were calibrated using the SWAT-CUP calibration program. The calibration used the 1970-1986 period based on Station E13A031 data and used the 1987-2002 period for validation. The model results have been deemed sufficient for simulating the basin water balance based upon the evaluation criteria. After modeling the ungauged basin, many characteristics such as magnitude, frequency, duration, and timing with regard to low and high flows were calculated using the threshold values of the percentiles.
A comparison of the flow metrics illustrates good coherence to be present between the modeled and observed data regarding the high flow and low flow characteristics in terms of magnitude, frequency, duration, and timing. However, over- and under-estimations also occurred for some metrics such as timing, duration, and magnitude of the low and high flows, in particular for high flows. This situation may have emerged due to the many different sources of uncertainty, such as using scales from other data sources in the model, the number of the gauges/meteorological stations, and the number of calibration simulations. Moreover, the study has mapped different high and low flow metrics to distinguish spatial gradients in ungauged basins. The maps demonstrate the Kocanaz basin to vary in terms of timing, magnitude, duration, and frequency of the high and low flow characteristics compared to other sub-basins. In particular, the timing of the low and high flows in this basin explains the impact of topography (snowmelt) and different weather systems that can influence metrics.
Using these kinds of hydrological models can also help understand future perspectives on the dynamic earth. For example, land-use change has immense impacts on rainfall-runoff relations in terms of hydrological modeling. Furthermore, climate change will also affect many statistical characteristics of climatic sub-systems. Adding parameters to hydrological models will make comprehending the changing world more sensible. In this context, hydrological models offer opportunities for planning and watershed management in terms of understanding climate change and land-use change.