Wang et al. (2026) A comprehensive distributed hydrological framework for assessing flood responses to environmental change under multiple human disturbances

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-29
• Authors: Yuhao Wang, Ke Zhang, Edwark Park, Yuning Luo, Jie Liu, Shunzhang Li, Zhaoan Zhang, Sheng Wang
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136313

Research Groups

• State Key Laboratory of Water Disaster Prevention, Hohai University
• College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University
• Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development
• China Meteorological Administration Hydro-Meteorology Key Laboratory
• National Institute of Education, Earth Observatory of Singapore
• PowerChina Kunming Engineering Corporation Limited
• College of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Hohai University

Short Summary

This study enhances the GHydroMod-SIM-DAI model to develop a comprehensive distributed hydrological framework that explicitly represents human disturbances, improving flood response simulations under environmental change. The proposed framework demonstrates improved performance in assessing flood responses to multiple human disturbances.

Objective

• Investigate the impact of human disturbances on flood processes and simulate flood responses under environmental change

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Watersheds in the Haihe River Basin (China)
• Temporal Scale: 1980–2019, with a baseline period (1980–1991) and a change period (2006–2019)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: GHydroMod-SIM-DAI model enhanced with an underground reservoir module and field ridge interception module
• Data sources: Satellite data, observation data, and reanalysis data

Main Results

• The framework demonstrates improved performance in assessing flood responses to multiple human disturbances.
• Peak flow analysis indicates substantial attenuation due to human disturbances, with the largest reductions in the Qingshui River Basin (93.0%).
• Afforestation, water table decline, and field ridge interception are identified as the dominant mechanisms driving peak flow reduction in different watersheds.

Contributions

• This study provides a robust, process-based tool for quantifying flood responses to environmental change under multiple human disturbances.
• The framework improves performance in mountainous watersheds by incorporating an enhanced underground reservoir module.

Funding

• This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51679002) and the Yangtze River Delta Region Key Laboratory of Water Resources Development and Utilization (Grant No. YRDL2019-01).

Citation

@article{Wang2026comprehensive,
  author = {Wang, Yuhao and Zhang, Ke and Park, Edwark and Luo, Yuning and Liu, Jie and Li, Shunzhang and Zhang, Zhaoan and Kong, Yue and Wang, Sheng},
  title = {A comprehensive distributed hydrological framework for assessing flood responses to environmental change under multiple human disturbances},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136313},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136313}
}