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，它使我们能够在广泛的空间和时间尺度上探索和预测状态变量的动态变化以及子系统之间的相互作用。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流域或含水层盆地为代表的中等尺度。主要主题和目标围绕下列研究问题展开：如何将模型的复杂性与数据的可获得性、计算资源和分析目标相匹配；如何评估不断演变的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；如何在多学科应用中将水文学模型与其他模拟器和工具相结合；以及如何解决大气/陆地-地表/土壤/含水层/河流连续体中不同界面上的过程之间的交换或耦合问题。这项拟议的研究由申请人和其他三所大学的同事多年来开发，拟使用的模拟模型包括与基于路径的地表路线模块耦合的3D Richards方程地下求解器、3D变密度流动和传输程序，以及任意几何形状的倾斜含水层中的Boussinesq方程模型。这些研究模式引起了人们的极大兴趣，并导致了国际上不断扩大的合作者网络(包括许多学生和年轻研究人员)，他们在各种应用中使用这些工具。本提案中申请的资金将用于支持一个由1名博士生、1名博士后研究员(半薪)和1名实习生/暑期学生组成的研究小组。除了允许继续沿着所述主题进行基础研究和开发外，这被认为是维持和管理合作、培训机会和申请者研究计划和活动所产生的申请所需的最低配置。

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.