Hydrological modelling with TOPMODEL of Chingaza páramo, Colombia

Published

2016-07-01

Modelación hidrológica con TOPMODEL en el páramo de Chingaza, Colombia

Keywords:

Ecohydrology, Modelling, Páramos, The Chucua basin, Topmodel (en)
Ecohidrología Modelación, Páramos, Cuenca La Chucua, Topmodel (es)

Downloads

PDF
HTML

Authors

Eydith Girleza Gil Morales Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Conrado Tobón Marín Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Abstract (en)
Abstract (es)

Páramo ecosystems are located on the upper parts of the tropical mountains, below the snow line areas or in isolated areas where no glacier ecosystems occur. These ecosystems are considered important for their biodiversity, but mainly because they are permanent source of water for populations located at the upper and middle parts of the Andes. Recent studies indicate that ecosystems located at high altitudes, are more vulnerable to climate change and to changes in land use, which threatens the ecosystem services derived from them. There are very few studies in these ecosystems, within which, studies on the hydrological functioning are even scarcer, which seems to be related to their position in the top of the mountains and difficulties associated with the access to them. This implies that there is a need to create tools that allow us to study these ecosystems, overcoming the current difficulties. Hydrological TOPMODEL is used to investigate the hydrological functioning of the páramo of Chingaza, through a case study in La Chucua basin. For this, we calibrate and validate the model using two data sets of climate and the hydrology of the basin (climate and discharge from 2008 and 2009, respectively). Through the calibration procedure we obtain a high efficiency value of 0.76 model (coefficient Nash - Sutcliffe), which adequately represents the hydrological behavior of the páramo. Simulations with better adjustment between measured and predicted values of discharge, have low values of surface infiltration excess runoff, indicating high water storage capacity on the soils. This agrees with the predominance of subsurface flow in studied ecosystem, given the special characteristics of soils. Results also show the large influence of factors represented in the model (topography and soils), on water basin response to rainfall events. This is significant evidence of exceptional hydrological behavior of the páramos, mainly related to the presence of soil with high organic matter content. These results imply that TOPMODEL is a robust tool, able to represent in a precise manner the hydrological functioning of the basin La Chucua, and consequently it is expected that TOPMODEL can also represent hydrological conditions of Chingaza páramo.

Los páramos son ecosistemas localizados hacia las partes altas de las montañas, por debajo de las zonas de nieves perpetuas o en áreas aisladas, donde no hay glaciar. Estos ecosistemas son considerados importantes, tanto por su biodiversidad, como por ser fuente permanente de agua para poblaciones ubicadas hacia las partes medias y altas de las montañas andinas. Estudios recientes indican que ecosistemas localizados en altitudes altas, son más vulnerable al cambio climático y cambios en el uso del suelo, lo que pone en peligro los servicios ecosistémicos que se derivan desde estos. Son muy pocos los estudios realizados en estos ecosistemas, dentro de los cuales, estudios sobre su funcionamiento hidrológico son aún más escasos, lo que parece estar relacionado con las dificultades asociadas con el acceso a los mismos. Esto implica que existe una necesidad de generar herramientas que nos permitan estudiar estos ecosistemas, sobreponiéndose a las dificultades actuales. En este sentido en la presente investigación, se utilizó el modelo hidrológico TOPMODEL con el fin de investigar el funcionamiento hidrológico del páramo de Chingaza, a través de un estudio de caso en la cuenca La Chucua. Para esto se calibró y validó el modelo, mediante dos series de datos del clima y la hidrología de la cuenca (clima y caudales de los años 2008 y 2009, respectivamente), obteniéndose un valor alto de eficiencia del modelo de 0.76 (coeficiente Nash-Sutcliffe), el cual representa adecuadamente el comportamiento hidrológico del páramo. Las simulaciones de mayor ajuste presentaron bajos valores de escorrentía superficial por exceso de infiltración, lo que indica alta capacidad de almacenamiento de agua en el suelo, y coincide con la predominancia de la escorrentía subsuperficial, dadas las características especiales de los suelos allí presentes. Se comprobó la influencia que tienen los factores representados en el modelo (topografía y suelos), sobre la respuesta hídrica de la cuenca. Esto constituye evidencia significativa del comportamiento hídrico excepcional de los páramos, debido a sus suelos. Estos resultados implican que TOPMODEL es una herramienta robusta, capaz de representar de una manera precisa el funcionamiento hidrológico de la cuenca La Chucua, y por ende se espera que pueda representar igualmente las condiciones del páramo de Chingaza.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Albek M, Ogutveren UB and Albek E. 2004. Hydrological modeling of Seydi Suyu watershed (Turkey) with HSPF. Journal of Hydrology 285: 260-271. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2003.09.002.

Almeida S, Bulygina N, McIntyre N, Wagener T and Buytaert W. 2013. Improving parameter priors for data-scarce estimation problems. Water Resources Research 49(9): 6090-6095. doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20437.

Beven KJ and Kirkby MJ. 1979. A physically based, variable contributing area model of basin hydrology. Hydrological Sciences Bulletin-des Sciences Hydrologiques 24(1): 43 - 69. doi: 10.1080/02626667909491834.

Beven KJ, Kirkby MJ, Schofield N and Tagg AF. 1984. Testing a physically-based flood forecasting model (TOPMODEL) for three U.K. catchments. Journal of Hydrology 69(1-4): 119-143.

Beven KJ and Binley A. 1992. The future of distributed models: model calibration and uncertainty prediction. Hydrological Processes 6: 279-298. doi: 10.1002/hyp.3360060305.

Beven K. 1997. TOPMODEL: A critique. Hydrological Processes 11(9): 1069-1085.

Beven K and Freer J. 2001. Equifinality, data assimilation, and uncertainty estimation in mechanistic modelling of complex environmental systems using the GLUE methodology. Journal of Hydrology 249(1-4): 11-29. doi: 10.1016/S0022-1694(01)00421-8.

Beven KJ. 2001. Rainfall-runoff modelling: the primer. 2nd edition. Wiley-Blackwell, 360p.

Blasone RS, Madsen H and Rosbjerg D. 2008. Uncertainty assessment of integrated distributed hydrological models using GLUE with Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. Journal of Hydrology 353(1-2): 18-32. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.12.026.

Buytaert W, Celleri R, De Bièvre B, Deckers J and Wyseure G. 2003. Modelización del comportamiento hidrológico de microcuencas de páramo en el sur del Ecuador usando TOPMODEL. http://paramo.cc.ic.ac.uk/pubs/ES/topmodel.pdf.

Buytaert W, Célleri V, De Bièvre B, Cisneros F, Wyseure G, Deckers J and Hofstede R. 2006a. Human impact on the hydrology of the Andean páramos. Earth-Science Reviews 79(1-2): 53-72. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2006.06.002.

Buytaert W, Célleri R, Willems P, De Bièvre B, Wyseure G. 2006b. Spatial and temporal rainfall variability in mountainous areas: a case study from the south Ecuadorian Andes. Journal of Hydrology 329: 413-421. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.02.031

Buytaert W, Reusser D, Krause S and Renaud J.P. 2008. Why can't we do better than TOPMODEL?. Hydrological Processes 22: 4175-4179. doi: 10.1002/hyp.7125.

Buytaert W, Célleri R and Timbe L. 2009. Predicting climate change impacts on water resources in the tropical Andes: the effects of GCM uncertainty. Geophysical Research Letters 36(L07406). http://paramo.cc.ic.ac.uk/pubs/2009_GRL.pdf.

Buytaert W and Beven K. 2011. Models as multiple working hypotheses: hydrological simulation of tropical alpine wetlands. Hydrological Processes 25(11): 1784-1799. doi: 10.1002/hyp.7936.

Buytaert W, Cuesta F and Tobón C. 2011. Potential impacts of climate change on the environmental services of humid tropical alpine regions. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20(1): 19-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00585.

Buytaert W and De Bièvre B. 2012. Water for cities: The impact of climate change and demographic growth in the tropical Andes. Water Resources Research 48(8): 1-13. doi: 10.1029/2011WR011755.

Buytaert W and Breuer L. 2013. Water resources in South America: sources and supply, pollutants and perspectives. pp. 106-113. In: Proceedings of the IAHS-IAPSO-IASPEI Assembly, Gothenburg, Sweden, July 2013 (IAHS Publ. 359, 2013).

Campling P, Gobin A, Beven K and Reyen J. 2002. Rainfall-runoff modelling of a humid tropical catchment: the TOPMODEL approach. Hydrological Processes 16: 231-253. doi: 10.1002/hyp.341.

Croke BFW, Merritt WS and Jakeman AJ. 2004. A dynamic model for predicting hydrologic response to land cover changes in gauged and ungauged catchments. Journal of Hydrology 291(1-2): 115-131. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2003.12.012.

Da Silva RV and Kobiyama M. 2007a. Estudo Comparativo de Três Formulações do TOPMODEL na Bacia do Rio Pequeno, São José dos Pinhais, PR. Revista Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos, Porto Alegre 12(2): 93-105. https://www.abrh.org.br/SGCv3/index.php?PUB=1&ID=20&SUMARIO=287.

Da Silva RV and Kobiyama M. 2007b. TOPMODEL: Teoria integrada e revisão. Topmodel: integrated theory and review. R. RA'E GA. Curitiba, 14: 97-110. Editora UFPR.

De Bièvre B. 2009. Estado del conocimiento de la hidrología de ecosistemas andinos. In: Workshop on Integrated Space Technologies Applications for Sustainable Development in the Mountain Regions of Andean Countries. Lima, Peru, septiembre 14 a 18.

Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos USDA and Servicio de Conservación de Recursos Naturales NRCS. 2014. Claves para la taxonomía de suelos. Décima segunda edición. Montecillo, Texcoco, Estado de México. 410 p.

Dietterick BC, Lynch JA and Corbett ES. 1999. A calibration procedure using TOPMODEL to determine suitability for evaluating potential climate change effects on water yield. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 35(2): 457-468.

Foster P. 2001. The potential negative impacts of global climate change on tropical montane cloud forests. Earth-Science Reviews 55(1-2): 73-106.

Franchini M, Wendling J, Obled C and Todini E. 1996. Physical interpretation and sensitivity analysis of the TOPMODEL. Journal of Hydrology, 175(1-4): 293-338. doi: 10.1016/S0022-1694(96)80015-1.

Gallart F, Latron J, Llorens P and Beven K. 2007. Using internal catchment information to reduce the uncertainty of discharge and baseflow predictions. Advances in Water Resources 30(4): 808-823. doi: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2006.06.005.

Güntner A, Uhlenbrook S, Seibert J and Leibundgut C. 1999. Multi-criterial validation of TOPMODEL in a mountainous catchment. Hydrological Processes 13(11): 1603-1620.

Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Medio Ambiente -IDEAM. 2002. Páramos y Ecosistemas Alto Andinos de Colombia en Condición HotSpot y Global Climatic.

Monteith JL. 1965. Evaporation and environment. Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol, 19: 205-234 pp.

Nash JE and Sutcliffe JV. 1970. River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I. A discussion of principles. Journal of Hydrology 10(3): 282-290.

Pan F, Peters Lidard CD, Sale MJ and King AW. 2004. A comparison of geographical information systems-based algorithms for computing the TOPMODEL topographic index. Water Resources Research 40: 1-11. doi: 10.1029/2004WR003069.

Sklenár P. 2000. Vegetation ecology and phytogeography of Ecuadorian superpáramos. PhD Thesis. Charles University. Praga.

Tobón C. 1999. Monitoring and modeling hydrological fluxes in support of nutrient cycling studies in Amazonian rain forest ecosystems. The Tropenbos Foundation - III. - (Tropenbos Series; 17). ISBN 90-5113-035-X. Wageningen, the Netherlands. 169p.

Tobón C. 2009. Los bosques andinos y el agua. Serie de investigación y sistematización #4. Programa Regional ECOBONA - INTERCOOPERATION, CONDESAN. Quito, mayo 2009. 127 p.

TOPMODEL. 2011. Implementation of the hydrological model TOPMODEL in R version 0.7.2-2 (septiembre 2011). Buytaert W. Imperial College London. Disponible en: http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/topmodel/topmodel.pdf.

Viviroli D, Zappa M, Gurtz J and Weingartner R, 2009. An introduction to the hydrological modelling system PREVAH and its pre- and post-processing-tools. Environmental Modelling & Software 24(10): 1209-1222. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.04.001.

Vuille M, Francou B, Wagnon P, Juen I, Kaser G, Mark BG and Bradley RS. 2008. Climate change and tropical Andean glaciers: Past, present and future. Earth-Science Reviews 89(3-4): 79-96. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2008.04.002.

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The journal allows the author(s) to maintain the exploitation rights (copyright) of their articles without restrictions. The author(s) accept the distribution of their articles on the web and in paper support (25 copies per issue) under open access at local, regional, and international levels. The full paper will be included and disseminated through the Portal of Journals and Institutional Repository of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and in all the specialized databases that the journal considers pertinent for its indexation, to provide visibility and positioning to the article. All articles must comply with Colombian and international legislation, related to copyright.

Author Commitments

The author(s) undertake to assign the rights of printing and reprinting of the material published to the journal Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía Medellín. Any quotation of the articles published in the journal should be made given the respective credits to the journal and its content. In case content duplication of the journal or its partial or total publication in another language, there must be written permission of the Director.

Content Responsibility

The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and the journal are not necessarily responsible or in solidarity with the concepts issued in the published articles, whose responsibility will be entirely the author or the authors.