Study Guide
Prerequisites
Make sure the required software for this course is installed on your computer. Section Open-source resources of the Appendix includes installation instructions and the on-line learning material that can get you started with the software. Below is a quick summary:
If you have not used the software above before we recommend the following resources to get your started (remember, more detailed instructions are available in the Appendix):
Day 1: Introduction and installation of software
This Module introduces the students to the key hydro-climatological characteristics of Central Asia. The main water resources management and planning challenges in the region will be presented and discussed. The question how hydrological models can help to address and resolve these becomes the key course topic.
Two catchments, i.e. the Chirchik and Gunt river basins, will be highlighted and used as detailed motivational examples. All course examples will build on these two catchments later.
For reading refer to the course Moodle reading folder and literature folder (optional).
H1
Software installation
Make sure you have the required software (see prerequisites above) installed and working.
Day 2: Hydrological processes & characterization
This module will introduce the basic catchment-scale hydrological processes. The concept of the water balance will be introduced and the difference between stocks and flows explained. Steady-state and transient conditions will be discussed. In a second step, the surface energy balance will be introduced to discuss the partitioning of available water into runoff and evaporation. By using parsimonious models, simple water balance calculations will be demonstrated to familiarise the students with the key concepts that provide the foundation for the later hydrological modeling exercises. A special emphasis is on snow- and glacier-melt-driven catchments that are ubiquitous in the region.
T: Please review reading recommendations: Read Chapter 3.
H2
Catchment characterization (graded)
Fill the table using data of your chosen catchment. See Chapter # Case Studies: Gunt River Basin for a finished example.
| ATTRIBUTE | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Basin Area | |
| Min. Elevation | |
| Max. Elevation | |
| Mean Elevation | |
| Hydrology | |
| Norm hydrological year discharge | |
| Norm cold season discharge | |
| Norm warm season discharge | |
| Annual norm discharge volume | |
| Annual norm specific discharge | |
| Climate | |
| Mean basin temperature | |
| Mean basin precipitation | |
| Potential evaporation | |
| Aridity Index | |
| Land Cover | |
| Shrubland | |
| Herbaceous Vegetation | |
| Crop Land | |
| Built up | |
| Bare / Sparse Vegetation | |
| Snow and Ice | |
| Permanent Water Bodies | |
| Land Ice | |
| Total glacier area | |
| Total glacier volume |
Day 3: Hydrological models & Introduction to RS Minerve
T: Please adapt text to be consistent with Moodle
Hydrological models require different types of data. Depending on the type of model under consideration, these data include geospatial data, including terrain and land surface data, hydrological station data, and climatological data. For impact studies of climate change, future climate projections are furthermore required. Using open-source data, it is shown how data can be accessed over the internet, downloaded, and processed for later inclusion in modeling. Using R and the riversCentralAsia R Package, data cleaning, including gap-filling, data analysis, and preparation for hydrological modeling are shown.
H3
Introduction to RS Minerve
Read the RS Minerve User Manual and reproduce Example 1 in the RS Minerve User Manual.
Day 4: Data for hydrological modeling
T: Please adapt text to be consistent with Moodle Different types of hydrological models are introduced, including physical models, conceptual models, and empirical models. Their characteristics and applications are discussed. The course then further focuses on conceptual models which are at the heart of many real-world river basin planning and water resources management optimization approaches. These models feature a good compromise between black-box models such as some types of machine learning models where real-world processes are not directly represented and the complex and computationally demanding physically-based models which are also difficult to implement. In a seminar, students will derive a conceptual model for their own sample catchment.
H4
Discharge characterization (graded)
Follow book Chapter 5.1 on Station Data and analyse the discharge of the sample catchment. Use the R code snippets provided in the book chapter.
Day 5: The HBV model
The HBV model is introduced. It is a widely used conceptual rainfall-runoff model and consists of different routines and simulates catchment discharge based on time series of precipitation and air temperature as well as estimates of monthly long-term potential evaporation rates. The model contains a snow routine with which snow can be accumulated and melted in a snow reservoir, depending on the climate conditions. Several HBV models can be connected/interlinked which allows for the simulation of more complex catchments with different tributaries that span over a number of elevation zones. The HBV model implemented in the modeling software RS MINERVE does not represent glaciers. However, where relevant and necessary, HBV models can be combined in RS MINERVE with GSM model which is is a glaciologist-hydrological model. In comparison to the HBV model, the GSM model also contains a glacier submodel that can accommodate processes in the cryosphere. As the HBV model, the GSM model is parsimonious and requires only three input time series, and is suited to be applied in data-scarce environments, like most high-mountain places in the world.
T please edit: Read Chapter 6.5 on the HBV model and the pre-requisite reading listed therein. It is recommended to do the tasks suggested in the course book to get more familiar with RS Minerve.
H4
RS Minerve model implementation (graded)
Implement your catchment using HBV models based on the activities that you performed in the past week.
Day 6: Model calibration and validation
T please add text and edit: Read Chapter 6.6 and go through the example of the Nauvalisoy catchment which illustrates the iterative model refinement process.
H6
Model calibration & validation (graded)
Calibrate and validate your RS Minerve model. The finished model will be graded.
Day 7: Case studies
A case study is presented that discusses climate impacts in the Gunt River. The Gunt River is a large right tributary of the Pandzh river. The Gunt river has a norm discharge of 104 m3/s and is located in the semi-arid to arid Pamirs in Tajikistan. As has been shown in numerous other studies, high-mountain Asia is particularly vulnerable to climatic changes. It will be shown how a semi-distributed hydrological model together with climate projection data can be utilized to study expected climate impacts in great detail. The same approach can be used for impact studies in other basins in the region and elsewhere. The material presented here is the result of a previous year MSc study by Mr. Orzu Odinaev.
H7
Submit an abstract for the final conference
Write an abstract about your modeling work for the final conference. Instructions for abstract writing are available here. The abstract submission deadline is Friday, May 14, 18:00 Almaty time.
Day 8: Real-world applications
This Course Module will touch upon opportunities and challenges for the operationalization of hydrological models, i.e. of putting them into practice and daily use by relevant organizations. The case studies presented here will draw on real-world examples where new, modern models were deployed in state agencies in Central Asia. Learnings and findings are presented and critically reviewed and factors for the successful deployment highlighted. Colleagues from the Operational Hydrology Divisions of the Kyrgyz and Uzbek Hydrometeorological Agencies will be joining and talking about their daily work to give the students direct inside insights.
H8
Finalize presentation
Finalize the presentation of your modelling work during this workshop for the final conference. Each student group will be alloted 15 minutes for their presentation.
Tips for oral presentations (AGU guidelines for oral presentations)
- Be considerate of other speakers and the audience by staying within your allotted time for your brief summary. Session chairs will hold you to the allotted time, which is essential to ensure adequate time for questions and discussion with the online audience.
- Take time to rehearse your brief presentation. If your presentation runs longer than your allotted time, eliminate the least essential material and rehearse again.
- Prepare your overview in advance so that your ideas are logically organized and your points are clear.
- Give an opening statement to acquaint the audience with the nature and purpose of the study. Speak slowly and clearly. Word choice should be simple: use active words and short sentences. Some viewers may be using online translation services.
Day 9: Student presentations and wrap-up of workshop
The last day of the workshop is organized as a student conference where students present their modeling work on their respective case study catchment. The groups need to prepare a presentation of 12 minutes duration. Each presentation will be followed by a 3 minutes Q&A session. After all the groups have presented, impressions and feedback will be shared by the teachers followed by a larger group discussion.