Janzing et al. (2025) Hyper-resolution large-scale hydrological modelling benefits from improved process representation in mountain regions

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich)
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-08
• Authors: Joren Janzing, Niko Wanders, Marit Van Tiel, Barry Van Jaarsveld, Dirk N. Karger, Manuela Brunner
• DOI: 10.3929/ethz-c-000789956

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated, but involves researchers working on the PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 model development and application.

Short Summary

This study enhances the hyper-resolution global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 for mountain regions by implementing structural and parametric changes, including an extended snow module, a glacier module, and adjusted runoff partitioning. It demonstrates that these process-based improvements, alongside high-resolution meteorological forcing, significantly enhance discharge simulations in complex mountain environments.

Objective

• To quantify how much improved process representation would increase the performance of large-scale hydrological models (LHMs) in mountain regions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional (larger Alpine domain) at hyper-resolution (approximately 1 km).
• Temporal Scale: Not explicitly stated, but implies continuous simulation over a period, likely daily or sub-daily, to capture seasonal hydrological cycles.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 (PCRaster Global Water Balance).
• Data sources:
  • Novel high-resolution meteorological forcing datasets.
  • Snow reanalysis product (for calibration of the snow module).

Main Results

• High-resolution meteorological forcing has a major, but mixed, effect on discharge simulations over the domain.
• Structural and parametric changes (snow module modification, glacier representation, and runoff partitioning) consistently improve discharge simulations in mountain regions.
• The extended snow module improves the representation of the snowmelt peak in high-elevation catchments.
• The integrated glacier module supplies additional water to glacierized catchments.
• The adjusted runoff partitioning scheme improves streamflow representation in flashy catchments at lower elevations.
• A new setup of the hyper-resolution PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 model is presented, better suited for studying hydrological processes in mountain regions.

Contributions

• Quantifies the impact of improved process representation on the performance of a hyper-resolution global hydrological model in mountain regions.
• Develops and integrates specific enhancements into PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 for mountain hydrology, including an extended snow module, an integrated glacier module, and an adjusted runoff partitioning scheme.
• Provides a new, robust setup of PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 tailored for mountain environments, offering a valuable tool for global hydrological studies.

Funding

Not explicitly stated in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Janzing2025Hyperresolution,
  author = {Janzing, Joren and Wanders, Niko and Tiel, Marit Van and Jaarsveld, Barry Van and Karger, Dirk N. and Brunner, Manuela},
  title = {Hyper-resolution large-scale hydrological modelling benefits from improved process representation in mountain regions},
  journal = {Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich)},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3929/ethz-c-000789956},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000789956}
}