Campoverde et al. (2025) Streamflow simulations for the extreme drought event of 2018 on the Rhine River Basin using WRF-Hydro

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Identification

• Journal: International Journal of River Basin Management
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-02
• Authors: Andrea L. Campoverde, Uwe Ehret, Patrick Ludwig, Joaquim G. Pinto
• DOI: 10.1080/15715124.2025.2581608

Research Groups

Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study assessed the capability of WRF-Hydro to reproduce the 2018 extreme drought conditions in the Rhine River basin, finding that the model reasonably reproduced the observed variability and low water levels, indicating its suitability for future drought analyses.

Objective

• To assess the capability of the Weather Research and Forecasting with Hydro extension (WRF-Hydro) to reproduce the 2018 extreme drought conditions in the Rhine River basin.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Rhine River basin.
• Temporal Scale: Simulation of the 2018 extreme drought event; model calibrated using 2016-2017 observed discharge values.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Weather Research and Forecasting with Hydro extension (WRF-Hydro).
• Data sources: ERA5 reanalysis dataset, observed discharge values (for calibration), land cover information, digital elevation model (DEM).

Main Results

• Statistical metrics showed median values of Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.50 and Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE) of 0.62.
• WRF-Hydro reasonably reproduced the variability and low water levels observed during the 2018 drought event.
• The lake module, when used for Lake Constance, excessively dampened streamflow; excluding it produced more realistic hydrographs.

Contributions

• First application of WRF-Hydro to explore extreme low streamflow events (droughts) in the Rhine River basin, where it has primarily been used for flood studies.
• Innovative estimation of essential hydrological parameters: infiltration scaling (REFKDT) and percolation (SLOPE) factors from land cover information, and surface retention depth (RETDEPRTFAC) from digital elevation model (DEM) derived slope.
• Demonstrated WRF-Hydro's suitability for analyzing recent and future drought events in the Rhine River basin under extreme climate conditions.

Funding

Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Campoverde2025Streamflow,
  author = {Campoverde, Andrea L. and Ehret, Uwe and Ludwig, Patrick and Pinto, Joaquim G.},
  title = {Streamflow simulations for the extreme drought event of 2018 on the Rhine River Basin using WRF-Hydro},
  journal = {International Journal of River Basin Management},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1080/15715124.2025.2581608},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2025.2581608}
}