Understanding the complexity of alpine hydro-meteorology

At large enough spatial and temporal scales, the hydrology of an alpine watershed may seem simple: entering precipitation is more or less balanced by the exiting streamflow. Zooming in and taking a closer look, however, reveals the system's much more complex dynamics. For the past four years, researchers from the EFLUM lab led by Professor Marc Parlange have been returning to Val Ferret to study this complexity in one of the most intact watersheds in Valais, Switzerland.
Using a wireless network of sensing stations that monitor meteorological and hydrological quantities in conjunction with numerical modeling techniques, they are studying how spatial and temporal heterogeneity influence hydro-meteorological processes such as wind flow, water runoff and subsurface flows, the distribution of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and snow and ice melt. A better understanding of the phenomena involved in driving small scale hydrological processes will provide a stronger scientific basis for hydrological model development, ultimately leading to more confidence in decisions regarding the management of one of Switzerland's most valuable natural resources: water.

D. Nadeau, E. Pardyjak, C. Higgins, H. J. S. Fernando and M. Parlange.
A Simple Model for the Afternoon and Early-Evening Decay of Turbulence over Different Land Surfaces.
Annual Meeting of the European Meteorological Society., Zurich, Switzerland, 13-17 Sept. 2010.

R. Mutzner
PhD thesis in progress