Integrated physically-based modeling of hydrological processes at hillslope and catchment scales

基于过程的模拟模型是水资源管理中必不可少的支持工具，使我们能够探索和预测状态变量的动态以及子系统在大范围空间和时间尺度上的相互作用。拟议的研究将解决与水文过程建模有关的许多挑战，特别侧重于以山坡和小集水区或含水层盆地为代表的中间尺度。主要主题和目标围绕以下研究问题：如何将模型复杂性与数据可用性、计算资源和分析目标相匹配；如何评估演化模型中基本假设和新假设的有效性；如何最好地结合来自测量和模拟的信息，以减少不确定性并改进预测；如何将水文模型与多学科应用中的其他模拟器和工具相结合；以及如何解决在大气/陆地-地表/土壤/含水层/河流连续体的不同界面之间的过程之间的交换或耦合。该研究中使用的模拟模型是由申请人和其他三所大学的同事多年来开发的，包括与基于路径的地表路由模块耦合的3D Richards方程地下求解器、3D变密度流动和输送代码，以及用于任意几何形状的倾斜含水层地下水流动的Boussinesq方程模型。这些研究模型吸引了很多人的兴趣，并导致了一个国际和不断扩大的合作者网络（包括许多学生和年轻研究人员），他们正在各种各样的应用中使用这些工具。本课题拟资助1名博士生、1名博士后（半薪）、1名实习生/暑期生组成的研究团队。除了允许沿着所描述的主题继续进行基础研究和开发之外，这被认为是维持和管理合作、培训机会和申请人研究计划和活动所产生的申请所需的最小配置。

Process-based simulation models are essential support tools in water resources management, allowing us to explore and predict the dynamics of state variables and the interactions between subsystems over a wide range of space and time scales. The proposed research will address numerous challenges connected with the modeling of hydrological processes, with a particular focus on the intermediate scale represented by hillslopes and small catchment or aquifer basins. The main themes and objectives revolve around the following research questions: how to match model complexity to data availability, computational resources, and analysis goals; how to assess the validity of underlying assumptions and new hypotheses in evolving models; how to best combine information from measurements and simulations to reduce uncertainty and improve predictions; how to integrate hydrological models to other simulators and tools in multidisciplinary applications; and how to resolve the exchange, or coupling, between processes across the various interfaces in the atmosphere/land- surface/soil/aquifer/stream continuum. The simulation models to be used in the proposed research, developed over the years by the applicant and colleagues at three other universities, include a 3D Richards equation subsurface solver coupled to a path-based surface routing module, a 3D variable density flow and transport code, and a Boussinesq equation model for groundwater flow in sloping aquifers of arbitrary geometry. These are research models that have attracted much interest and have led to an international and expanding network of collaborators (including many students and young researchers) who are using these tools in a wide variety of applications. The funding being requested in this proposal will support a research team consisting of 1 PhD student, 1 postdoctoral researcher (half salary), and 1 intern/summer student. In addition to allowing continued basic research and development along the themes described, this is considered a minimal configuration needed to sustain and manage the collaborations, training opportunities, and applications arising from the applicant's research program and activities.