<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The objective of the study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of peakflow pre-event water contributions and streamwater residence times with emphasis on land use patterns in 38 subcatchments within the 687 km2 large mesoscale transboundary catchment Lužická Nisa. Mean residence times between 8 and 27 months and portions of pre-event water between 10 and 97% on a storm event peakflow were determined, using 18O data in precipitation and streamwater from a weekly monitoring of nearly two years. Only a small tracer variation buffering effect of the lowland tributaries on the main stem was observed, indicating the dominant impact on the mountainous headwaters on the runoff generation. Longest mean streamwater residence times of 27 months were identified in the nearly natural headwaters of the Jizera Mountains, revealing no ambiguous correlation between the catchment area and altitude and the mean residence time of streamwater. Land use control on the pre-event water portions were determined for three land use categories with percentage of urban areas from 0 to 10%, 10 to 20% and more than 20%. The fraction of pre-event water in the first category decreases from 97% to 65% with the increasing percentage of forest from 76% to 100%, revealing that forests may provide only a limited infiltration of precipitation due to leaf interception and soil water use for transpiration. Fractions of pre-event water of 39–87% in the second (agricultural catchments) and of 10–35% in the third (urbanized catchments) category increase with percentage of non-urban areas.</abstract>

The objective of the study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of peakflow pre-event water contributions and streamwater residence times with emphasis on land use patterns in 38 subcatchments within the 687 km2 large mesoscale transboundary catchment Lužická Nisa. Mean residence times between 8 and 27 months and portions of pre-event water between 10 and 97% on a storm event peakflow were determined, using 18O data in precipitation and streamwater from a weekly monitoring of nearly two years. Only a small tracer variation buffering effect of the lowland tributaries on the main stem was observed, indicating the dominant impact on the mountainous headwaters on the runoff generation. Longest mean streamwater residence times of 27 months were identified in the nearly natural headwaters of the Jizera Mountains, revealing no ambiguous correlation between the catchment area and altitude and the mean residence time of streamwater. Land use control on the pre-event water portions were determined for three land use categories with percentage of urban areas from 0 to 10%, 10 to 20% and more than 20%. The fraction of pre-event water in the first category decreases from 97% to 65% with the increasing percentage of forest from 76% to 100%, revealing that forests may provide only a limited infiltration of precipitation due to leaf interception and soil water use for transpiration. Fractions of pre-event water of 39–87% in the second (agricultural catchments) and of 10–35% in the third (urbanized catchments) category increase with percentage of non-urban areas.

Pre-event water contributions and streamwater residence times in different land use settings of the transboundary mesoscale Lužická Nisa catchment

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of peakflow pre-event water contributions and streamwater residence times with emphasis on...

Pre-event water contributions and streamwater residence times in different land use settings of the transboundary mesoscale Lužická Nisa catchment

Publié en ligne: 20 mars 2017

Pages: 154 - 164

Reçu: 05 mai 2016

Accepté: 14 oct. 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/johh-2017-0003

Mots clés
O isotope, Stormflow event, Peak pre-event contributions, Mean residence time, Land use

© 2017 Martin Šanda et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Pre-event water contributions and streamwater residence times in different land use settings of the transboundary mesoscale Lužická Nisa catchment

Publié en ligne: 20 mars 2017

Pages: 154 - 164

Reçu: 05 mai 2016

Accepté: 14 oct. 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/johh-2017-0003

Mots clésO isotope, Stormflow event, Peak pre-event contributions, Mean residence time, Land use

© 2017 Martin Šanda et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
O isotope, Stormflow event, Peak pre-event contributions, Mean residence time, Land use