Academic literature on the topic 'Spatiotemporal behavior-Soil moisture'

Focusing on the shortages of moisture estimation and time scale in the self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI), this study proposed a new Palmer variant by introducing the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model in hydrologic accounting module, and modifying the standardization process to make the index capable for monitoring droughts at short time scales. The performance of the newly generated index was evaluated over the Yellow River Basin (YRB) during 1961–2012. For time scale verification, the standardized precipitation index (SPI), and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) at a 3-month time scale were employed. Results show that the new Palmer variant is highly correlated with SPI and SPEI, combined with a more stable behavior in drought frequency than original scPDSI. For drought trend detection, this new index is more inclined to reflect comprehensive moisture conditions and reveals a different spatial pattern from SPI and SPEI in winter. Besides, two remote sensing products of soil moisture and vegetation were also employed for comparison. Given their general consistent behaviors in monitoring the spatiotemporal evolution of the 2000 drought, it is suggested that the new Palmer variant is a good indicator for monitoring soil moisture variation and the dynamics of vegetation growth.

Abstract. Recent studies have called for a new unifying hydrological theory at the hillslope and watershed scale, emphasizing the importance of coupled process understanding of the interactions between hydrology, ecology, pedology, geochemistry and geomorphology. The Biosphere 2 Hillslope Experiment aims at exploring how climate, soil and vegetation interact and drive the evolution of the hydrologic hillslope behavior using a set of three large-scale hillslopes (18 m by 33 m each) that will be built in the climate-controlled experimental biome of the Biosphere 2 facility near Tucson, Arizona, USA. By minimizing the initial physical complexity of these hillslopes, the spontaneous formation of flow pathways, soil spatial heterogeneity, surface morphology and vegetation patterns can be observed over time. This paper documents the hydrologic design process for the Biosphere 2 Hillslope Experiment, which was based on design principles agreed upon among the Biosphere 2 science community. Main design principles were that the hillslopes should promote spatiotemporal variability of hydrological states and fluxes, facilitate transient lateral subsurface flow without inducing overland flow and be capable of supporting vegetation. Hydrologic modeling was used to identify a hillslope configuration (geometry, soil texture, soil depth) that meets the design objectives. The recommended design for the hillslopes consists of a zero-order basin shape with a 10 degree overall slope, a uniform soil depth of 1 m and a loamy sand soil texture. The sensitivity of the hydrologic response of this design to different semi-arid climate scenarios was subsequently tested. Modeling results show that the timing of rainfall in relation to the timing of radiation input controls the spatiotemporal variability of moisture within the hillslope and the generation of lateral subsurface flow. The Biosphere 2 Hillslope Experiment will provide an excellent opportunity to test hypotheses, observe emergent patterns and advance the understanding of interactions.

Abstract. Recent studies have called for a new unifying hydrological theory at the hillslope and watershed scale, emphasizing the importance of coupled process understanding of the interactions between hydrology, ecology, pedology, geochemistry and geomorphology. The Biosphere 2 Hillslope Experiment is aimed at tackling this challenge and exploring how climate, soil and vegetation interact and drive the evolution of the hydrologic hillslope behavior. A set of three large-scale hillslopes (18 m by 33 m each) will be built in the climate-controlled experimental biome of the Biosphere 2 facility near Tucson, Arizona, USA. By minimizing the initial physical complexity of these hillslopes, the spontaneous formation of flow pathways, soil spatial heterogeneity, surface morphology and vegetation patterns can be observed over time. This paper documents the hydrologic design process for the Biosphere 2 Hillslope Experiment, which was based on design principles agreed upon among the Biosphere 2 science community. Main design principles were that the hillslopes should promote spatiotemporal variability of hydrological states and fluxes, facilitate transient lateral subsurface flow without inducing overland flow and be capable of supporting vegetation. Hydrologic modeling was used to identify a hillslope configuration (geometry, soil texture, soil depth) that meets the design objectives. The recommended design for the hillslopes consists of a zero-order basin shape with a 10 degree overall slope, a uniform soil depth of 1 m and a loamy sand soil texture. The sensitivity of the hydrologic response of this design to different semi-arid climate scenarios was subsequently tested. Our modeling showed that the timing of rainfall in relation to the timing of radiation input controls the spatiotemporal variability of moisture within the hillslope and the generation of lateral subsurface flow. The Biosphere 2 Hillslope Experiment will provide an excellent opportunity to test hypotheses, observe emergent patterns and advance the understanding of interactions.

Abstract Drought indices that compute drought events by their statistical properties are essential stratagems for the estimation of the impact of drought events on a region. This research presents a quantitative investigation of drought events by analyzing drought characteristics, considering agro-meteorological aspects in the Heilongjiang Province of China during 1980 to 2015. To examine these aspects, the Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSI), Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), and Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (MSDI) were used to evaluate the drought characteristics. The results showed that almost half of the extreme and exceptional drought events occurred during 1990–92 and 2004–05. The spatiotemporal analysis of drought characteristics assisted in the estimation of the annual drought frequency (ADF, 1.20–2.70), long-term mean drought duration (MDD, 5–11 months), mean drought severity (MDS, −0.9 to −2.9), and mild conditions of mean drought intensity (MDI, −0.2 to −0.80) over the study area. The results obtained by MSDI reveal the drought onset and termination based on the combination of SPI and SSI, with onset being dominated by SPI and drought persistence being more similar to SSI behavior. The results of this study provide valuable information and can prove to be a reference framework to guide agricultural production in the region.

AbstractA 10-yr simulation of shallow groundwater table (GWT) depth over a temperate region in northwestern Europe, using a physics-based integrated hydrological model at kilometer scale, exhibits a strong seasonal cycle. This is also well captured in terms of near-surface soil moisture anomalies, terrestrial water storage anomalies, and shallow GWT depth anomalies from observations over the region. The modeled monthly anomaly of GWT depth exhibits a statistically significant (p < 0.05) moderate positive/negative correlation with non-rain- and rain-affected monthly anomalies of incoming solar radiation. The vegetation cover also produces a strong local control on the variability of shallow GWT depth. Thus, much of the variability in the simulated seasonal cycle of shallow GWT depth could be linked to the distribution of clouds and vegetation. The spatiotemporal distribution of clouds, partly influenced by the Rhine Massif, modulates the seasonal variability of incoming solar radiation and precipitation over the region. Particularly, the southwestern and northern part of the Rhine Massif divided by the Rhine Valley exhibits a dipole behavior with relatively high (low) shallow GWT depth fluctuations, associated with positive (negative) anomaly of incoming solar radiation and negative (positive) anomaly of precipitation.

This study was focused on a key aspect of drought monitoring that has not been systematically studied in the literature: evaluation of the capacity of evapotranspiration data retrieved using geostationary meteorological satellites for use as a water stress precursor. The work was methodologically based on comparisons between constructed indexes of vegetation water stress (evapotranspiration drought index (ETDI) and evaporative stress ratio (ESR)) derived from the EUMETSAT LSASAF METREF and DMET satellite products and soil moisture availability (SMA) from a SVAT model. Long-term (2011–2021) data for regions with strong land–atmosphere coupling in Southeastern Europe (Bulgaria) were used. Stochastic graphical analysis and Q–Q (quantile–quantile) analyses were performed to compare water stress metrics and SMA. Analyses confirmed the consistency in the behavior of vegetation water-stress indexes and SMA in terms of their means, spatiotemporal variability at monthly and annual levels, and anomalous distributions. The biophysical aspects of the drought evaluation confirmed the complementary and parallel interaction of potential (METREF) and actual (DMET) evapotranspiration (in view of the Bouchet hypothesis) for the studied region. Anomalies in evapotranspiration stress indexes can provide useful early signals of agricultural/ecological drought, and the results confirm the validity of using their satellite-based versions to characterize SMA in the root zone and drought severity.

Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 5-year simulated nitrogen (N) deposition on soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), nitrogen (MBN), microbial community activity and diversity in subtropical old-growth forest ecosystems.Area of study: The study was conducted in forest located at subtropical forest in Anhui, east China.Material and methods: Three blocks with three fully randomized plots of 20 m × 20 m with similar forest community and soil conditions were established. The site applied ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) to simulate N deposition (50 and 100 kg N ha−1 year −1). From three depths (0–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm), were collected over four seasons (December, March, June and September), and then measured by community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs).Main results: N addition had no significant effect on MBC and MBN. The spatiotemporal variations in MBC and MBN were controlled by seasonality and soil depth. Soil microbial activities and diversity in the growing season (June and September) were apparently higher than the dormant season (March and December), there were significantly lower diversity indices found following N addition in September. However, N addition enhanced microbial activities and increased diversity indices in the dormant season. Redundancy analysis showed that pH, soil moisture, NO3--N and total phosphorus were the most important factors controlling the spatial pattern of microbial metabolic activity.Research highlights: These results suggest that soil microbial community function is more easily influenced than microbial biomass. The site has a trend of P-limited or near-N saturation, and will threaten the whole forest ecosystem with the increasing duration of N addition.Keywords: Nitrogen deposition; Seasonality; Soil microbial biomass; Microbial community; Subtropical old-growth forest.

Abstract A superconducting gravimeter has observed with high accuracy (to within a few nm s−2) and high frequency (1 Hz) the temporal variations in the earth’s gravity field near Moxa, Germany, since 1999. Hourly gravity residuals are obtained by time averaging and correcting for earth tides, polar motion, barometric pressure variations, and instrumental drift. These gravity residuals are significantly affected by hydrological processes (interception, infiltration, surface runoff, and subsurface redistribution) in the vicinity of the observatory. In this study time series analysis and distributed hydrological modeling techniques are applied to understand the effect of these hydrological processes on observed gravity residuals. It is shown that the short-term response of gravity residuals to medium- to high-rainfall events can be efficiently modeled by means of a linear transfer function. This transfer function exhibits an oscillatory behavior that indicates fast redistribution of stored water in the upper layers (interception store, root zone) of the catchment surrounding the instrument. The relation between groundwater storage and gravity residuals is less clear and varies according to the season. High positive correlation between groundwater and gravity exists during winter months when the freezing of the upper soil layers immobilizes water stored in the unsaturated zone of the catchment. To further explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of the relevant hydrological processes and their relation to observed gravity residuals, a GIS-based distributed hydrological model is applied for the Silberleite catchment. Driven by observed atmospheric forcings (precipitation and potential evapotranspiration), the model allows the authors to compute the variation of water storage in three different layers: the interception store, the snow cover store, and the soil moisture store. These water storage dynamics are then converted to predicted gravity variation at the location of the superconducting gravimeter and compared to observed gravity residuals. During most of the investigated period (January 2000 to January 2004) predictions are in good agreement with the observed patterns of gravity dynamics. However, during some winter months the distributed hydrological model fails to explain the observations, which supports the authors’ conclusion that groundwater variability dominates the hydrological gravity signal in the winter. More hydrogeological research is needed to include groundwater dynamics in the hydrological model.

VARIABILIDADE ESPACIAL E ESTABILIDADE TEMPORAL DO ARMAZENAMENTO DE ÁGUA EM SOLO ARENOSO CULTIVADO COM VIDEIRAS IRRIGADAS LUIS CÉSAR DE AQUINO LEMOS FILHO1; LUÍS HENRIQUE BASSOI2 E MANOEL ALVES DE FARIA3 1 Professor Doutor, Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Departamento de Ciências Ambientais e Tecnológicas - Campus Mossoró, Av. Francisco Mota, nº 572, Costa e Silva, 59.625-900, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil. E-mail: lcalfilho@ufersa.edu.br2 Pesquisador Doutor, Embrapa Instrumentação - São Carlos, São Paulo. E-mail: luis.bassoi@embrapa.br3 Professor Doutor, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Departamento de Engenharia - Lavras, Minas Gerais. E-mail: mafaria@deg.ufla.br 1 RESUMO O comportamento espaço-temporal da água no solo é fundamental para um manejo preciso da irrigação. Assim, este trabalho analisa o comportamento espacial e a estabilidade temporal do armazenamento de água no solo, a fim de determinar pontos da área que possam representar o valor médio espacial da umidade. O trabalho foi realizado numa área com solo predominantemente arenoso (Neossolo Quartizarênico), cultivado com videira e irrigado por microaspersão, em Petrolina-PE. O monitoramento da água no solo foi realizado por tensiometria. As análises estatísticas e geoestatísticas foram realizadas pelos softwares Statistica Development Environment, GS+ e GeoR. As técnicas sugeridas por Vachaud et al. (1985) e Kachanoski e De Jong (1988) foram usadas para avaliar a estabilidade temporal da água no solo, ao longo do tempo. A geoestatística foi adequada para descrever a estrutura de dependência espacial do armazenamento de água no solo e, para algumas datas, estabilidade temporal foi boa, em todos os pontos (39) monitorados na área. Para a camada de 0-20 cm, os pontos 32 e 10 foram os mais indicados como representativos da média espacial do armazenamento de água no solo; já para a camada de 20-40 cm foi o ponto 37 que melhor representou a média espacial. Logo, esses pontos (10, 32 e 37) são os melhores representantes para realização de uma amostragem de água no solo; além disso, esses pontos, poderiam ser utilizados para o monitoramento, para fins de manejo de irrigação. A variabilidade espacial da água no solo mostra a importância do manejo diferenciado da irrigação, considerando-se as diferentes zonas do solo e não a área como sendo homogênea (como é feito na atualidade). Palavras-chave: semivariogramas, krigagem, teste de Spearman, teste de Pearson. LEMOS FILHO, L. C. de A.; BASSOI, L. H.; FARIA, M. A. deSPATIAL VARIABILITY AND TIME STABILITY OF WATER STORED IN A SANDY SOIL CULTIVATED WITH IRRIGATED VINES 2 ABSTRACT The water spatiotemporal behavior in soil is crucial for precise irrigation management. This work analyzes the spatial behavior and the temporal stability of water storage in the soil, in order to determine points of the area that can represent the spatial average value of moisture. The study was conducted in an area with predominantly sandy soil (Quartzarenic Neosol), cultivated with vine and micro sprinkler irrigation system in Petrolina. Monitoring soil water was carried out by tensiometry. Statistical analysis and geostatistical were performed by Statistica software development environment, GS + and GeoR. The techniques suggested by Vachaud et al. (1985) and Kachanoski and De Jong (1988) were used to evaluate the temporal stability of the water in the soil over time. Geostatistics was adequate to describe the spatial dependence structure of water storage in the soil and, for certain dates, temporal stability was good in all points (39) in the monitored area. For 0-20 cm, paragraphs 32 and 10 were the most indicated as representative of the spatial average water storage in the soil; already for the 20-40 cm layer was point 37 that best represented the spatial average. Therefore, these points (10, 32 and 37) are the best representatives for the realization of a water sampling in soil; In addition, these points could be used for monitoring for the irrigation purposes. The spatial variability of soil water shows the importance of different irrigation management, considering the different soil zones and not the area to be homogeneous (as is done today). Keywords: variogram, kriging, Spearman test, Pearson test.

Abstract. Floods and droughts are common, recurring natural hazards in East African nations. Studies of hydro-climatology at daily, seasonal, and annual time scale is an important in understanding and ultimately minimizing the impacts of such hazards. Using daily in-situ data over the last two decades combined with the recently available multiple-years satellite remote sensing data, we analyzed and simulated, with a distributed hydrologic model, the hydro-climatology in Nzoia, one of the major contributing sub-basins of Lake Victoria in the East African highlands. The basin, with a semi arid climate, has no sustained base flow contribution to Lake Victoria. The short spell of high discharge showed that rain is the prime cause of floods in the basin. There is only a marginal increase in annual mean discharge over the last 21 years. The 2-, 5- and 10-year peak discharges, for the entire study period showed that more years since the mid 1990's have had high peak discharges despite having relatively less annual rain. The study also presents the hydrologic model calibration and validation results over the Nzoia Basin. The spatiotemporal variability of the water cycle components were quantified using a physically-based, distributed hydrologic model, with in-situ and multi-satellite remote sensing datasets. Moreover, the hydrologic capability of remote sensing data such as TRMM-3B42V6 was tested in terms of reconstruction of the water cycle components. The spatial distribution and time series of modeling results for precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (ET), and change in storage (dS/dt) showed considerable agreement with the monthly model runoff estimates and gauge observations. Runoff values responded to precipitation events that occurred across the catchment during the wet season from March to early June. The hydrologic model captured the spatial variability of the soil moisture storage. The spatially distributed model inputs, states, and outputs, were found to be useful for understanding the hydrologic behavior at the catchment scale. Relatively high flows were experienced near the basin outlet from previous rainfall, with a new flood peak responding to the rainfall in the upper part of the basin. The monthly peak runoff was observed in the months of April, May and November. The analysis revealed a linear relationship between rainfall and runoff for both wet and dry seasons. The model was found to be useful in poorly gauged catchments using satellite forcing data and showed the potential to be used not only for the investigation of the catchment scale water balance but also for addressing issues pertaining to sustainability of the resources within the catchment.