Simple Catchments and Where to Find Them: The Storage-Discharge Relationship as a Proxy for Catchment Complexity

• Published in: Frontiers in water 2021-02, Vol.3
• Main Authors: Jehn, Florian U., Breuer, Lutz, Kraft, Philipp, Bestian, Konrad, Houska, Tobias
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: catchment behavior; catchment complexity; catchment hydrology; climatic forcing; fill and spill; storage-discharge relationship
• ISSN: 2624-9375; 2624-9375
• DOI: 10.3389/frwa.2021.631651

Hydrological theory often assumes an exponential relationship between storage and discharge, but how often do we find such a behavior in real catchments? We analyze catchment attributes, discharge and weather conditions from 1992 to 2018 for 88 catchments in Hesse, Germany. All catchments have similar weather conditions, but a wide range of catchment characteristics. We find that only a fraction of catchments follow a roughly exponential behavior in their storage-discharge relationship. Far more catchments are complex and depict irregular patterns with even extreme variation from 1 year to another. This large set of catchments with similar weather conditions reveals that physical attributes that drive catchment complexity are diverse and include soil permeability, hydraulic conductivity, geology, and soil type. We link the examined simple and complex behavior to the fill and spill hypotheses and the interconnectedness of the catchments. Simpler catchments have more preferential flow and more connected hillslopes and thus lower runoff generation thresholds. This creates a more straightforward relationship between storage and discharge.