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INOM EXAMENSARBETE SAMHÄLLSBYGGNAD, AVANCERAD NIVÅ, 30 HP , STOCKHOLM SVERIGE 2016 INTEGRATED HYDROLOGIC FLOW CHARACTERIZATION OF THE KRYCKLAN CATCHMENT (SWEDEN) ELIN JUTEBRING STERTE KTH SKOLAN FÖR ARKITEKTUR OCH SAMHÄLLSBYGGNAD

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Page 1: INTEGRATED HYDROLOGIC FLOW CHARACTERIZATION OF …kth.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:952537/FULLTEXT01.pdfThe results as well as the calibration process helped with a deeper understanding

INOM EXAMENSARBETE SAMHÄLLSBYGGNAD,AVANCERAD NIVÅ, 30 HP

, STOCKHOLM SVERIGE 2016

INTEGRATED HYDROLOGIC FLOW CHARACTERIZATION OF THE KRYCKLAN CATCHMENT (SWEDEN)

ELIN JUTEBRING STERTE

KTHSKOLAN FÖR ARKITEKTUR OCH SAMHÄLLSBYGGNAD

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INTEGRATED HYDROLOGIC FLOW

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE KRYCKLAN

CATCHMENT (SWEDEN)

Elin Jutebring Sterte

Degree project no. 2016:14

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Architecture and Built Environment

Division of Land and Water Resources Engineering

SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

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TRITA-LWR Degree Project

ISSN 1651-064X

LWR-EX-2016:14

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Abstract

Currently there are urgent water related problems, such as use of groundwater and

surface water resources, which need a more integrated view on the hydraulic cycle and how

the different processes interact with each other. This has led to new ways of thinking in

management of watersheds, which sparked the creation of new integrated tools for flow

characterization. Characterization of a watersheds flow is an important step in future

research regarding water quality and climate change issues.

The Krycklan catchment, located in the northern part of Sweden, has been under

research for many years. With a great deal of measurements regarding stream water

chemistry as well as climate measurements (evaporation, transpiration and temperature),

the catchment has great potential regarding solute transportation and climate change

investigation.

This thesis was made to aid in future research by characterization of the catchments

groundwater and surface flow, by the use of an integrated model software tool, MIKE-SHE.

The model have been calibrated and validated with the help of real time observed

measurements at Krycklan combined with model data from SMHI:s HYPE-model.

Throughout the calibration it was discovered that the hydraulic conductivities were

important for the surface and groundwater interaction, regulating base flow as well as peak

flows. The shape and timing of the spring flood was also affected by the snow melt while

the summer peaks for the upstream rivers, probably due to the relatively large difference in

topography elevation, were more affected by the representation of the topography created

by the grid size.

A smaller grid-size resulted in a finer representation of the topography, which resulted

in a quicker runoff to the upstream rivers without an increase of base flow. This gave better

fitted hydrographs of the flows in the upstream rivers compared to observed

measurements. The final model created was able to capture the discharge-hydrograph and

groundwater fluctuations with small error and high correlation coefficients compared to

observed data and model data from SMHI.

The results as well as the calibration process helped with a deeper understanding of the

modeling tool itself as well. Future improvements that can be considered are to introduce

new calibration data and the use of an even smaller grid size. This can improve the

understanding of the catchment as well as the representation of the flow in the upstream

rivers. However, the effects of a smaller grid size must be reflected upon. The model will

most likely become more unstable and the run time of the model will greatly increase. One

suggestion to solve this issue is to look into a sub-catchment to reduce these complications.

Key words: Krycklan, MIKE-SHE, Integrated Model, Groundwater, Surface

water

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Summary in Swedish

Vattenrelaterade problem som t.ex. användandet av vattenresurser, så som gund- och

ytvatten, har lett till att det idag krävs en mer integrerad syn på hur de olika processerna i

den hydrauliska cykeln samverkar med varandra. Det nya synsättet samt hanteringen av

vattenresurser i avrinningsområden har krävt nya metoder och verktyg för

flödeskarakterisering, då flödeskarakterisering av ett avrinningsområde är ett viktigt steg i

forskning om exempelvis vattenkvalitet och klimatrelaterade frågor.

Krycklan avrinningsområde, som är beläget i norra Sverige, har varit ett forsknings

objekt under många år. Mätningar av vattenkemin i området samt klimat mätningar

(avdunstning, evapotranspiration och temperatur), har gett området en stor potential när

det gäller framtida forskning inom transport och klimatförändringar.

Denna avhandling gjordes för att underlätta framtida forskning genom karaktärisering

av avrinningsområdets grundvattenflöden och ytflöden, med hjälp av att skapa en

integrerad modell i datorprogrammet MIKE-SHE. Modellen har kalibrerats och validerats

med hjälp av observerade mätningar vid Krycklan i kombination med modelldata från

SMHI: s modell HYPE.

Under kalibreringprocessen observerades det att de hydrauliska konduktiviteterna var

mycket viktiga för interaktionen mellan yt- och grundvatten och reglerade både bas och

toppflöden för bäckarna i området. Formen och tidpunkten för vårfloden påverkades även

av snösmältning medan sommartoppar för bäckarna uppströms påverkades mer av

representationen av topografin i området. Detta troligtvis för att de var lokaliserade i de

högst belägna områdena där skillnaden i topografin var som störst.

En mindre cell-storlek gav en finare representation av topografin, vilket hade en

märkbart positiv effekt på resultaten. Det gav en snabbare avrinning till bäckarna

uppströms utan en ökning av basflöde och resulterade i en slutlig modell med hade hög

korrelation och relativt små fel jämfört med observerad data.

Resultaten samt kalibreringsprocessen har hjälpt till med en djupare förståelse av

modelleringsverktyget. Framtida förbättringar som kan ytterligare förbättra modellen

innefattar mindre cell-storlek storlek samt ny kalibreringsdata. Nya data kan underlätta

förståelsen för hur avrinningsområdet fungerar och den mindre cell-storleken kan

ytterligare förbättra representationen av flödena i området. Emellertid måste en mindre

cell-storlek övervägas, då en mindre storlek kommer sannolikt öka instabilliteten av

modellen samt öka körtiden av programmet. Ett förslag för att lösa detta problem är att

istället modellera en mindre del av avrinningsområdet.

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Acknowledgments

I like to firstly acknowledge my supervisor Sofie Soltani (Doctoral student at KTH) and

thank her for all her support, help and guidance throughout my thesis work. It has been an

honor to work with such a passionate teacher and researcher. Her insight in the modeling

tool and the modeling process, as well as her background in hydrology was very profitable

for the work. Secondly, I would also like to recognize my examiner Vladimir Cvetkovic

(Professor, Water Resources Engineering Deputy head and program director of research

studies), who didn’t just lend me his office, but also his computer during my stay at KTH.

Furthermore, a shout out should also be made to the researcher at Krycklan,

Hjalmar Laudon (Professor at the Department of Forest Ecology and Management) and

Johannes Tiwari (Experiment Technician at the Unit for Field-based Forest Research

Vindeln), who gave me quick answers regarding Krycklan whenever I needed their

assistance. Their knowledge and information about the catchment was very important for

my work, and I wouldn’t have been able to get this deep of an insight into the catchment

without them. Finally, I also like to thank my loving family, especially my mother, Monica

Jutebring, and my boyfriend, Anton Lövmar, for supporting me through the whole process

as well as keeping me happy and well fed.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 1

1.1. Problem formulation 2

1.2. Aim and objectives 2

2. Background Theory 3

2.1. Hydrologic cycle and processes 3

2.1.1. Precipitation and evaporation 3

2.1.2. Infiltration and groundwater flow 4

2.1.3. Overland and stream flow 4

2.2. Distributed watershed models 5

2.2.1. MIKE-SHE 5

2.2.2. MIKE 11 6

2.3. Krycklan catchment and conceptual model 7

2.3.1. Model domain 8

2.3.2. Soil, geology and land use 9

2.3.3. General water balance 13

3. Material and method 14

3.1. Data 14

3.1.1 Topography 14

3.1.2 Climate data 15

3.1.3 Land use 16

3.1.4 Saturated and unsaturated zone 17

3.1.5 Rivers (MIKE 11) 19

3.2. Method 21

3.2.1 Boundary conditions and initial values 21

3.2.2 MIKE-SHE Model Setup 23

3.2.3 Calibration and Validation 24

4. Calibration procedure and early runs 27

5. Result 34

5.1 Calibrated and validation result – observed measurements 34

5.2 Calibrated and validation results – modeled measurements 37

6. Discussion 40

6.1 Model grid size 40

6.2 Unsaturated zone 40

6.3 Snow melt 41

6.4 Calibration Data 41

6.5 Calibration and Validation results 41

7. Conclusions and final thoughts 42

8. References 43

9. Other sources 44

Appendix A I

Appendix B II

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Definitions and Abbreviations

Definitions

1 Aquifer A geological formation (e.g. a porous soil or a fractured

bedrock), with an amount of water that is profitable to

extract, e.g. as drinking water

2 Base flow The flow in a river which comes from groundwater.

Groundwater is the primary source of water for a river

or stream during dry weather.

3 Catchment An area where water is collected due to the landscape

and where precipitation and runoff is flowing towards

the same point

4 Discharge The rate of flow in a specific point in a channel

calculated as m3/s

5 Esker/Ice river sediments Long ridge of sand, sand and gravel or gravel, formed

during the last deglaciation.

6 Glacial deposit A soil created by a glacier. Examples are esker/ice river

sediments and tills.

7 Hydraulic conductivity A soils or bedrocks ability to release water taking into

account the properties of the fluid

8 Hydraulic head elevation Represents a fluids potential to flow through a porous

media and is calculated as the pressure head (m) added

to the elevation of the fluid above a reference elevation

(usually the sea level) (m).

9 Peak flow The maximum flow of a stream created by base flow and

surface runoff created during rainy events.

10 Permeability A soils or bedrocks ability to release water measured in

m2.

11 Porosity The amount of voids in % of a soil or bedrock

12 Precipitation The product off all atmospheric water vapour that falls

to the ground. Some of the main forms of precipitation

include snow and rain. Often measured in mm.

Abbreviations

1 m.a.s.l. Measurement that stands for “meter above sea level”.

2 m.b.g.s Measurement that stands for “meter below ground

surface”.

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1

1. INTRODUCTION

Flood impacts, water quality and water shortage are some of the more urgent water

related problems today. Traditionally surface and groundwater related issues have been

treated separately. However, lately there has been an increased understanding that these

issues cannot be handled individually, since they often are connected to one another. Use

of surface and groundwater resources requires an integrated management of both surface

and groundwater flow together with ecology and chemistry to allow a sustainable use of

water. Therefore, instead of looking at different parts of the hydraulic cycle, the focus has

been shifted to look at the interactions of the different parts hydraulic cycle of entire

watersheds (Singh & Frevert, 2005).

The shift in focus didn’t only need new ways of managing watersheds, but also new tools

for flow investigation. Traditional models couldn’t answer more complex questions

regarding water quality, wetland management, changes in land-use and impact of

groundwater and surface water use. For example, impacts of water pollution and urban

development are far from fully understood (Singh & Frevert, 2005). Furthermore, a

growing interest in the impacts of climate change has also increased the amount of

research relating to the complex interaction between the atmosphere and surface and

groundwater flow (Scibek, et al., 2007; Singh & Frevert, 2005). To be able to take in

consideration these interactions new types of modelling tools were needed, the so called

fully integrated modelling tools.

Integrated models are based on a petrophysical model combined with a traditional flow

simulator. The combination of these models allows calculations that can aid to monitor e.g.

fluid movements in porous media (Fanchi, John, 2000). Since they take different parts of

the hydrogeological cycle into consideration at the same time they have an advantage when

looking into transport and climate scenarios. A well characterized groundwater and surface

water flow in one of these integrated models can therefore later be used when looking into

e.g. transport of pollutants were exchange between different hydrologic processes are

important, such as overland flow and groundwater flow (Singh & Frevert, 2005).

A watershed catchment in Sweden that has been undergoing long term research

regarding climate and water quality is the Krycklan catchment. The catchment is situated

in the northern part of Sweden, northwest of the city Umeå (Laudon, et al., 2013), and

consists of a landscape which is characteristic for around 30 % of the world’s forest areas.

The landscape is made up of mires, streams, lakes and forests, which also is a

representative landscape for 70 % of Sweden (Laudon, 2013). The catchment is about 6780

ha large and is a part of Svartberget, which is an experimental park and a field station. The

Swedish Forestry Service created the park in the 1920th and today the park belongs to the

Swedish University of Agricultural Science (Taberman, 2015). It provides a long-term field

research that is easily accessible and since the start over a thousand scientific publications

and about a hundred PhD-theses has contained results from the park. Half of the

information is presumed to come from the Krycklan catchment (Laudon, 2013).

About 30 % of the Swedish ICOS sites (Integrated carbon observatory system) are

located at Svartberget. These include two ecosystem sites and one atmospheric tower. The

tower, which is located in Krycklan, is 150 m high and integrates the carbon signal for the

northern part of Sweden. At lower levels in the terrain the tower is complimented by

sensors which locally measure exchanges rates of carbon, energy and water between the

soil/forest canopy and the atmosphere (Laudon, 2013).

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2

Thinning effects and forest paludification were some of the early study areas related to

the catchment. In the 1970s, during the time the Svartberget field station was created, the

research focus changed into biogeochemical cycling and forest hydrology. This research

was followed by about 10 years of an intensive study regarding acid deposition in the

1990th (Laudon, et al., 2013). Some of the more recent studies made on the area includes

research on boreal streams (Laudon, et al., 2007) and discharge variability in a boreal

landscape (Lyon, et al., 2012).

1.1. Problem formulation

During the autumn of 2016, Sofie Soltani (Doctoral student and teacher at KTH Royal

Institute of Technology) will make a more intensive research regarding natural attenuation

in Krycklan. Natural attenuation (self-purification) consists of all processes that directly or

indirectly change the structure or phase of pollutants. These processes can be divided into

two main groups; abiotic attenuation (e.g. hydrolysis, radioactive decay, redox reactions,

sorption, precipitation, volatilization and complexation) and biological attenuation

(degradation and recycling of pollutants directly made by microorganisms). To contribute

to the future research of Sofie Soltani, an integrated model over the catchment area is to be

made. This type of model could be very important in order to have a basis for further

investigation regarding water quantity and quality matters.

1.2. Aim and objectives

The aim of this study is to get a better understanding of the hydrology of the Krycklan

catchment in an integrated manner. The tool to be used to evaluate the flow in the

catchment is the distributed integrated flow model MIKE-SHE.

The integrated model will include a saturated zone, an unsaturated zone, a runoff model

as well as a model for river flow (MIKE 11). To achieve a model that later can be used for

research of e.g. natural attenuation, the model must also be calibrated and validated

through field data and measurements from the catchment area. More specific objectives

are specified below:

To set up a working groundwater model in MIKE-SHE and couple it with a river flow

model made in MIKE 11.

Base the model on local meteorological data and including all metrological aspects in

the model (precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, temperature and snowmelt).

Create an unsaturated zone and saturated zone based on field data acquired from the

researchers at Krycklan.

Include land use in the model, e.g. differences in vegetation types, root depth etc.

Manually calibrating the model by the use of time varying groundwater level

measurements and surface runoff measurements.

Validating the model by ensuring that it works for another time period than used for the

calibrating process.

Evaluate the models performance and look in to future possible model improvements

Get a better understanding about the model tool and what parameters that effects the

different processes in MIKE-SHE

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3

2. BACKGROUND THEORY

The MIKE-SHE software program is an integrated model based on the hydrological

cycle. Important input data that is needed is e.g. a description of the soil and geology, as

well and climate data. To get a better understanding for these different parts, this section is

dedicated for describing the important parts of the hydrologic cycle as well as the modeling

tool and the Krycklan catchment.

2.1. Hydrologic cycle and processes

The hydrological cycle is a major part of hydrology and describes the important

hydrological processes on earth and how these processes are connected to each other

(Chow, et al., 1988). These processes main energy source is the solar energy and the mayor

parts of the hydrological cycle are (Fig 1.) (Rast, et al., 2014):

Precipitation and evaporation

Infiltration and groundwater flow

Surface runoff and stream flow

2.1.1. Precipitation and evaporation

Precipitation is the part of the hydrological cycle that includes e.g. rain, and snow,

which are processes when water falls onto the ground surface. The process when water is

later transformed from a liquid to a vapor is called evaporation. The process mainly gets its

energy from the solar radiation which provides the latent heat that is needed for the

vaporization process. One of the most important factors for evaporation is the temperature

at the surface. The higher the temperature, the more effective the evaporation is. At

locations with large water content (e.g. mires) or locations with open water surfaces (e.g.

lakes and oceans) the majority of the water evaporates, but there is also a significant

Figure 1 – The main parts of the hydraulic cycle

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amount of water which evaporates from surfaces with vegetation. This type of evaporation

is called transpiration (Andréasson, 2006).

Transpiration is the part of water which evaporates from vegetation through plant

leaves (Andréasson, 2006). Factors that define the effectiveness of a plant to do

transpiration are the plants stages of development as well as the characteristics of the

plants leaves and roots. All plants are different, and different crops will also absorb

different amount of solar energy to preform transpiration (Tanguy, 2013). Evaporation and

transpiration are together called evapotranspiration (Andréasson, 2006).

2.1.2. Infiltration and groundwater flow

The part of the precipitation that doesn’t evaporate is called net precipitation (Knutsson

& Morfeldt, 1993). This is the part of the precipitation that has the ability to land on the

ground and create overland flow, ponded water or seeping through the ground surface,

which is also known as infiltration.

Factors that affect the infiltration and the infiltration rate are e.g. the soils hydraulic

conductivity, the local vegetation and the soils moisture content. When a soil reaches the

maximum rate at which a soil can absorb water in a specific condition (infiltration

capacity), ponded water is created (Chow, et al., 1988). The water that has infiltrated is

firstly stored in the root zone and unsaturated zone (the part of the soil which pores is not

completely filled with water) and is available for the vegetation. When the soil reaches the

field capacity (the amount of water a soil can hold) the water percolates to the ground

water.

The saturated zone is the zone which soils pores are completely filled with water

(Andréasson, 2006). Water in the ground is driven from areas with higher potential energy

to areas with lower potential energy. A simplified description of the flow in the saturated

zone, assuming the soil to be uniform in all directions, can be described by Darcy’s law as

(Knutsson & Morfeldt, 1993):

𝑄 = 𝐾 × 𝑖 × 𝑎 (1)

𝑄 = 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 [𝑚3

𝑠]

𝐾 = 𝐻𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 [𝑚

𝑠]

𝑖 = 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 [𝑚

𝑚]

𝑎 = 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 − 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 [𝑚2]

2.1.3. Overland and stream flow

Overland flow occurs only when the saturated zone reaches the ground surface or if the

infiltration capacity is reached due to e.g. high rain intensity (Rumynin, 2015). On its way

downhill it will be gradually concentrated into channels. The flow depth and velocity of

these streams and rivers can be described with the help of Manning’s equation which states

that (Chow, et al., 1988):

𝑉 = 𝑅2

3 × 𝑆1

2 ×1

𝑛 (2)

𝑉 = 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 [𝑚/𝑠]

𝑆 = 𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙 𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚 [𝑚/𝑚]

𝑅 = 𝐻𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 [𝑚]

𝑛 = 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔′𝑠 𝑟𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 [𝑠/𝑚1

3]

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2.2. Distributed watershed models

It is important when modelling large scale catchment to take in consideration the

spatial variability since it usually have more various hydrological conditions than smaller

catchments. Furthermore, watersheds that include varied topography generally have

greater diversity in geology, soil, vegetation and climate. Thus larger catchment areas

usually pose a greater challenge from a modelling stand point than smaller catchments

(Wang, et al., 2012).

There has been a surge for developing distributed watershed models due to the

increasing availability of spatial data (Sorooshian, et al., 2008). The characteristics of a

catchment are represented by giving data to grid points in a network. Sometimes there is a

need to use about a 1000 grid points which are assigned several different variables and

parameters. This is one of the main differences between a distributed watershed model and

a lumped model. The lumped model is usually regarded as a single unit with some

parameters and variables used to characterize the model area (Refsgaard, 1997). Spatial

variability is disregarded in these types of models and one is instead trying to relate the

input and outputs of the model. Here the inputs usually works as forcing data (Sorooshian,

et al., 2008).

The amount of parameters that can be changed during calibration has been a critique

against distributed watershed models. The concern is that the potential for

overparameterization is greater for a distributed model than a lumped model (Beven,

1996). However the parametersation procedure is considered essential to avoid

methodological issues in the later stage of model calibration and validation (Refsgaard,

1997). During the parameterization process, the range of the parameters should be

established so that they reflect the acquired field data, e.g. by using representative values

for different soil types. This can significantly reduce the amount of “free” (excessive)

parameters that will be needing adjustments during the calibration process (Refsgaard,

1997), since excessive parameters are regarded as the main source of errors in distributed

models (Sorooshian, et al., 2008).

2.2.1. MIKE-SHE

A distributed watershed model that is capable of simulating the major parts of the

hydrologic cycle is MIKE-SHE (Rahim, et al., 2012). The model is based on the tool named

Système Hydrologique Européen (SHE) which was firstly operational in 1982. DHI

(Danish Hydraulic Institute), one of the model developers continued to improve the model

and today it consists of several water quality modules and a water movement module

(Zhang, et al., 2008). The version used for this project is 2016, powered by DHI (Danish

Hydraulic Institute).

Through the model the catchment area is discretized both vertically and horizontally by

the creation of a grid network. The grid network enables spatial variability in parameters

in the catchment such as land cover (evaporation and transpiration parameters) and

hydraulic parameters for soil and bedrock (Yan & Zhang, 2001). The equations that

represent the different processes in the model are listed below. Equations for interception

and snowmelt are solved by empirical equations which have been obtained from research

made by DHI. The following partial equations are however solved by finite difference

methods (Rahim, et al., 2012):

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Overland flow: Two-dimensional (2D) diffusive wave approximation Saint Venant

equation

Channel flow: One-dimensional (2D) diffusive wave approximation Saint Venant

equation

ET – The methods of Kristensen and Jensen

Unsaturated flow: One-dimensional (1D) Richards equation

Saturated flow (subsurface flows): Three-dimensional (3D) Boussinesq equation

In MIKE-SHE a modified degree-day method is used to describe snowmelt. The

program uses two snow storage methods; one for frozen and one for melted snow. Melted

snow storage is used to simulate the fact that snowmelt does not become runoff until it’s

too wet for the snowmelt to hold the water. During melting, dry snow is firstly converted to

wet snow and later becomes runoff when the user specified storage fraction is met.

Freezing occurs when the temperature falls below the freezing point. At this temperature

melted snow is also refrozen (DHI, 2007).

The St. Venants equation is used for the overland flow. This equation neglects

momentum losses due to inflows from the sides which are perpendicular to the flow

direction. It also neglects the momentum losses due to local and convective acceleration

(DHI, 2007).

In MIKE-SHE, evaporation includes transpiration, interception and evaporation from

open waters, snow covers and soil moisture. The soil moisture content as well as the

evapotranspiration is calculated through the Kristensen and Jensen method by taking in

consideration root depth, leaf area index and the potential evapotranspiration. The leaf

area index describes the ratio between the area of a plant and the total leaf area covered by

it (Bosson, et al., 2010; DHI, 2007).

Unsaturated flow in MIKE-SHE is based on the one dimensional Richards equation,

which is a sufficient method for most applications since gravity is the dominant force

acting on infiltration. For the saturated zone, however, a three-dimensional (3D)

Boussinesq equation is used. The two modules (the saturated zone and unsaturated zone)

works parallel to each other to allow them different time steps. The saturated zone usually

has a time step of hours to days, while the unsaturated zone usually has a time of minutes

to hours. If the groundwater level reaches ground level, exchange of water can be done

directly between the saturated zone and the overland flow (DHI, 2007).

Model limitations are that the model requires extensive amount physical parameters

and data, which may not be available in all cases. The model is also proprietary, which

means that the model code cannot be changed by the user to fit specific projects better. The

model has however been well tested prior to release and gives the user the additional

capabilities for graphical pre- and post-processing which often is a missing features in

other model tools (Yan & Zhang, 2001).

2.2.2. MIKE 11

MIKE 11 is a modelling tool that can be used to simulate e.g. flows and channels. It is a

fully dynamic one dimensional modelling tool that can be used on both simple and

complex river systems. The model can be linked to the groundwater simulation made in

MIKE-SHE so that water may be exchanged between the two modules (DHI, 2003a). There

are several different methods for coupling MIKE-SHE with MIKE 11 described in (DHI,

2003b). However, in this model the overbank spilling option is used as in (Bosson, et al.,

2010). This option treats the river banks as weirs allowing water from a river to spill onto

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the MIKE-SHE model. Overbanking occurs when the water level is above either left or

right bank elevation or if the water level in MIKE 11 is higher than the elevation of ponded

water in MIKE-SHE. If the MIKE-SHE model however has a depth of overland water

which allows overland flow, this will be added to the MIKE 11 model as lateral flow.

Weather water will spill from the MIKE 11 model onto the MIKE-SHE model is based on

the weir formula (Bosson, et al., 2010):

𝑄 = ∆𝑥 × 𝐶 × (𝐻𝑢𝑠 − 𝐻𝑤)𝑘 × (1 − (𝐻𝑑𝑠−𝐻𝑤

𝐻𝑢𝑠−𝐻𝑤)

𝑘)

0.385

(3)

𝑄 = 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑒𝑟 [𝑚3

𝑠]

∆𝑥 = 𝐶𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ [𝑚]

𝐶 = 𝑊𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 [𝑚1

2/𝑠]

𝐻𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑑𝑠 =

𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑝𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑒𝑟 [𝑚]

𝐻𝑤 = 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑟 [𝑚]

𝑘 = ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡

MIKE 11 is built up on several editors. The main editors used for flow simulations are

called:

Simulation editor

River network editor

Cross-section editor

HD editor

Boundary editor

The simulation editor is used to start the MIKE 11 simulation as well as connect the

different editors to the network editor. The network editor is the key editor of the program

and gives an overview of all the components in the model and it is here the rivers

coordinates/location and connections to MIKE-SHE are made. Here, the locations of the

cross-sections made in the cross-section editor are also visible. The cross-sections are used

to describe the shape and slope of the rivers and streams and it is necessary to at least have

one cross-section for each river or stream used in the MIKE 11 model. The HD

(hydrodynamic) editor includes additional data which is needed for the simulation.

However, most of these parameters have default values that are sufficient for most

simulations. The last editor is the boundary editor which is used to specify boundaries to

the MIKE 11 model (DHI, 2003b). All upstream and downstream ends of the model require

boundary conditions. In MIKE 11, the upstream boundary conditions are usually based on

a discharge hydrograph or a constant discharge from e.g. a reservoir. The downstream

boundary conditions are instead based on either a constant water level (if the river

discharges into a large water body), a time series for a water level or a well-defined rating

curve (DHI, 2009).

2.3. Krycklan catchment and conceptual model

The conceptual model contains a description of the model domain, soil and geology and

a description of the rivers and lakes in the area. The section ends with a rough estimation

of the water balance.

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2.3.1. Model domain

Krycklan catchment, the model domain, is located in the northern part of Sweden (64°,

14’N, 19°46’E). The topography of the area defines the catchment, where the mountains to

the east, northwest and south is assumed to act as water divides (Fig. 2). These include the

mountains:

Näverliden, Buberget and Ö Kryckeltjärn (east)

Koverberget and Abborrtjärn (northwest)

Mullkälen and Riskälen (south)

Figure 2 – The Krycklan Catchment boundaries. The catchment is marked in purple. The figure was acquired

from (©Sveriges geologiska undersökning; ©Lantmäteriet, 2016a)

Outside of the catchment area, close to the borders there are some larger rivers called

Yttersjön (north) and Abborrtjärnen (southwest). The river Vindälven is located to the west

of the catchment. Within the catchment area, there are some smaller lakes and pounds.

There are also some streams in the area. The main streams are called Åhedbäcken,

Långbäcken, Nymyrbäcken and Krycklan. There is also a smaller creek at site 7, were

discharge rates have been measured since 1980th (Fig. 3).

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The catchment have been divided into 18 smaller sub-catchments for research purposes,

where the oldest monitoring station is located at site 7, which was established in 1980.

Later in 1984, site 2 and 4 were established and were later expanded to 18 sites in 2002

(Fig. 2). At Site 7, the discharge from the main sub-catchment creek has been monitored,

and daily data is available on Krycklan database (www.slu.se). There is also available data of

the chemistry of the main streams of the sub catchment alongside daily climate data

measurements of temperature, precipitation and potential evapotranspiration made at

Svartbergets climate station.

Figure 3 – Research sites in Krycklan (red circles) and location of Svartberget field station. The figure was

acquired from (Laudon, 2013).

2.3.2. Soil, geology and land use

Krycklan is mostly covered by till, sand and silt, with some smaller areas covered by

other soils such as peatlands (Fig. 4 and 5). The areas with silt/clay and postglacial

deposits are mostly located alongside the small streams within the catchment area

(©Sveriges geologiska undersökning; ©Lantmäteriet, 2016a), below what was once the

highest postglacial sea level at approximately 257 m.a.s.l (Laudon, et al., 2013). Above the

highest postglacial sea level the area is mostly covered by till, where areas with peat is

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located alongside the rivers. The elevation of the area ranges between 405 to 114 m.a.s.l

and is undergoing isostatic rebound due to the last deglaciation (Laudon, et al., 2013).

In the south the esker Vindelälvsåsen is located (Fig. 6). The esker has a

recharge/discharge area outside of the catchment located close to the city Häggnäs, where

the esker is exposed. Around the esker the soil is of a sandy character.

Figure 4 - Soil types of the catchment of Krycklan, taken from (©Sveriges geologiska undersökning;

©Lantmäteriet, 2016a). At the higher elevations the soil mainly consist of till, while sandy sediments is the

dominating soil type downhill.

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Figure 5 – Soil types of

Krycklan, acquired from

(Laudon, 2013). At the

higher elevations of the

catchment the main soil

consists of till, while more

silty materials dominates

the soils in the valleys.

Figure 6 – The esker

Vindälvsåsen and its

withdrawal opportunities.

The figure was acquired

from (©Sveriges geologiska

undersökning. &

©Lantmäteriet, 2016c).

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Granite, gneiss, pegmatite and schist are some of the bedrock types that are located

within the area (© Sveriges geologiska undersökning; © Lantmäteriet, 2016b) and 94 % of

the area covered by bedrock classified as Svecofennian metasediments (Laudon, et al.,

2013). Furthermore, two deformation zones are connected within the catchment area (Fig.

7).

Through the contact with Hjalmar Laudon (Professor at the Department of Forest

Ecology and Management) and Johannes Tiwari (Experimental Assistant at the

Department of Forest Ecology and Management) some soil samples could be obtained.

The drilling samples have been gathered from five different sites; site 2, 9, 13, 16 and 22.

Whit these drilling samples, combined with information of soil types from (©Sveriges

geologiska undersökning; ©Lantmäteriet, 2016a) an overall soil layer map could be made

(Fig. 8). This soil layer map is the basis for the soil layers for the MIKE-SHE model. It is

assumed that the catchment area is mostly covered by a sandy/silty till. At high altitudes,

where water may have been trapped, peatlands and small lakes have been created. These

peatlands are assumed to be approximately 5 m in depth with an underlying clay layer (L1

and L5), going by the information given in (Laudon, et al., 2013). Furthermore, going by

information from the soil samples, combined with information from SGU, there seems to

be a silty/sandy layer covering most of the glacial sediments (L3).

Figure 7 – Deformation zones in Krycklan, acquired from (© Sveriges geologiska undersökning; ©

Lantmäteriet, 2016b)

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Figure 8 – Conceptual soil layer map

The predominated vegetation type is forest, which covers almost 90 % of the catchment

and the dominating tree species are Scots pine and Norway spruce, which makes up about

63 % and 26 % of the tree population respectively. Beneath the trees the undergrowth

mainly consists of ericaceous shrubs on a mat of moss. Dominating moss species are

Pleurozium schreberi and Hylocomium splendens while the ericaceous shrubs mainly

consist of bilberry and cowberry and the peatlands are mostly covered by

Sphagnum species (Laudon, et al., 2013). Even though about approximately 25 % of the

area have been under protections since 1922, the main land use is still forestry and second

growth forest. There have also been around 76 deforestation areas identified within the

area between 1922 and 2010. This is about 7 % of the catchment area. The amount of

people living in the area is however rather low, with only about 100 inhabitants and with

only about 2 % of the area is made up of farmland (Laudon, et al., 2013).

2.3.3. General water balance

The water balance is based on a rough estimation of average annual precipitation over

the catchment area during the year 2012-2014. The precipitation is based on measured

data from Krycklan field station. Since most the boundaries are assumed to be no flow

boundaries (see section 4.2.1.), the precipitation is assumed to be the main input of water

into the area. To make an estimation of net precipitation (the water left for infiltration after

evapotranspiration) the average annual evapotranspiration have been used for the same

time period. Furthermore, for this rough estimation, the infiltration fraction (the amount

of water that will become groundwater recharge) is assumed to be 20 % (the model will

however base the infiltration on the hydrological prosperities of the unsaturated zone). The

remainder of water is assumed to become overland flow (Table 1).

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2012 2013 2014

Annual average

Unit Table 1 – General water

balance. The water balance is

based on assumptions and

average yearly values

between the years 2012 and

2014

Catchment area

6780 ha

67.8 km2

Precipitation 927 646 584 729 mm/year

Evapotranspiration 379 489 513 460 mm/year

Net precipitation 530 155 71 269 mm/year

Net precipitation ratio

57 24 12 37 %

Infiltration fraction 20 %

Groundwater recharge

106 31 14 54 mm/year

Overland flow 424 123 57 215 mm/year

The precipitation and evaporation values are higher than the values presented in

(Laudon, et al., 2013). The values presented in (Laudon, et al., 2013) are however based on

measurements from 1981 to 2010. The mean annual precipitation during these years was

614 mm and the mean annual evaporation was 303 mm with a net runoff ratio (net

precipitation ratio) of approximately 50 %.

3. MATERIAL AND METHOD This section is dedicated to describe the most important parts of data used in the model

as well as the method used to calibrate and validate the model. Furthermore, this section

also introduces important information regarding boundary conditions and

calibration/validation data.

3.1. Data

The data used in the MIKE-SHE model was mostly acquired from the Krycklan data

service (Laudon, 2013), SGU and SMHI. The data is in more detail described below.

3.1.1 Topography

The topography is based on a 2*2m grid file acquired from GSD (2011). In MIKE-SHE

the model uses bilinear interpolation to resample the data to the same cell size as the

model domain (Fig. 9)

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Figure 9 – Topographical map in m a.s.l. based on GSD (2011)

3.1.2 Climate data

The climate data has been acquired from Krycklan database (Fig. 10 and 11).

Measurements of the different climate factors have been made from Svartbergets climate

station and the data includes daily measurements of precipitation, evapotranspiration and

air temperature which dates back to 1981. The air temperature is measured in Celsius, the

precipitation is calculated in mm and the potential evapotranspiration is calculated in mm.

All climate data is assumed to be uniform for the whole catchment area. When data has

been missing for the potential evapotranspiration due to e.g. equipment failure at the

measuring station, the value from the same date the year before has been used. The

periods with missing evaporation data are:

2012-09-21 to 2012-10-14

2013-01-01 to 2013-01-31

2013-11-01 to 2014-02-28

2014-08-02 to 2014-08-04

2014-11-01 to 2014-12-31

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Figure 10 – Climate data used in the MIKE She model, including Precipitation and evapotranspiration measured in mm

Figure 11 – Temperature data used in the MIKE-SHE model. The temperature is measured in degree Celsius

3.1.3 Land use

The vegetation file used in MIKE-SHE is a 25×25 m size grid file acquired from (GSD,

2010). In MIKE-SHE, the model uses bilinear interpolation to resample the data to the

same cell size as the model domain. The land cover data (Fig. 12) is based on the classification and interpretation of:

Landsat TM satellite data with input from mainly Lantmäteriets general map databases

(Terrain Map, GGD, Road Map, vegetation maps, orthophotos, etc.),

The National Forest Survey Data from SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural

Sciences)

Data from SMHI (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute )

Data from SCB (Statistics Sweden)

Data from Sweden (SGU geological survey)

Data from Environmental Protection Agency

Data from the County Administrative Board environmental devices

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2012-0

6-3

0

2012-0

8-3

1

2012-1

0-3

1

2012-1

2-3

1

2013-0

2-2

8

2013-0

4-3

0

2013-0

6-3

0

2013-0

8-3

1

2013-1

0-3

1

2013-1

2-3

1

2014-0

2-2

8

2014-0

4-3

0

2014-0

6-3

0

2014-0

8-3

1

2014-1

0-3

1

2014-1

2-3

1

mm

Climate Data

Precipitation Reference evaporation

-25

-15

-5

5

15

25

2012-0

6-3

0

2012-0

8-3

1

2012-1

0-3

1

2012-1

2-3

1

2013-0

2-2

8

2013-0

4-3

0

2013-0

6-3

0

2013-0

8-3

1

2013-1

0-3

1

2013-1

2-3

1

2014-0

2-2

8

2014-0

4-3

0

2014-0

6-3

0

2014-0

8-3

1

2014-1

0-3

1

2014-1

2-3

1

Tem

pera

ture

(C

)

Temperature

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Figure 12 – A 25×25 vegetation grid file based on GSD (2010)

MIKE-SHE also requires a land use set up file. The one used in this model is based on

(Bosson, et al., 2010) and includes values for leaf area index (LAI), root depths and crop

coefficients (Kc). LAI is described as the area of leaves divided by the area of ground and

depends on the vegetation type. The root depth also depends of the vegetation type, but

also varies during the year. The reference evaporation of a specific crop is then adjusted to

the actual evapotranspiration with the help of the Kc values (DHI, 2007).

3.1.4 Saturated and unsaturated zone

The soil map in MIKE-SHE is based on ©Sveriges geologiska undersökning and

©Lantmäteriet (2016a), Laudon (2013) and the soil samples acquired from Krycklan (Fig.

13). The maximum soil depth has been taken from SGU, where the soil depth data has been

interpolated between wells in Sweden. SGU, however, points out that the soil depth is more

insecure the further away from a well the interpolation has been made. When it comes to

specific yield values and specific storage values, they have been set to an average for each

soil type in relation the values presented in Bosson, et al (2010). The unsaturated model

data setup for the soil layers is also taken from Bosson, et al (2010). In the model, the soil

layers are based on the schematic soil stratigraphy described in section 2.4. Because there

is little information regarding the differences in the vertical and horizontal hydraulic

conductivities in the area, these have been initially set to the same value in the model

(Table 2)

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The vertical discretization was taken from (Bosson, et al., 2010) (Table 3). To avoid that

the saturated zone falls below the bottom level of the unsaturated zone (causing errors in

the MIKE-SHE model), the bottom level had to be extended to 52 m.b.g.s.

In the model there is also a 50 m deep bed rock layer with the bedrock deformation

zones seen in section 3.3.2. The deformation zones have been given a high hydraulic

conductivity of 1E-3 m/s to allow flow in the fractures, while the rock has been given a

lower hydraulic conductivity of 1E-7. At lower depth than 50 m, the bedrock is given a very

low hydraulic conductivity (1E-10 m/s) to take in consideration the rock stresses at lower

depth.

Figure 13 – Soil map constructed by the use of soil samples from Krycklan as well as the soil maps

acquired from ©Sveriges geologiska undersökning and ©Lantmäteriet (2016a) and Laudon (2013)

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Table 2 – Unsaturated zone model set up and saturated zone properties assigned to the model. The

hydraulic conductivities are the initial conditions set for the model (see section 5.1.)

Unsaturated zone Saturated zone

Soil type Layer

Layer

symbol m.b.g.s

Hydraulic

conductivity (m/s)

Specific

yield (-)

Specific

storage (1/m)

Sandy/silty

sediments

Silt L3 1.2 1E-7 0.1 0.003

Sand L2a 3.8 5e-5 0.2 0.004

Silty clay L3b 4 5E-8 0.1 0.003

Sand L2b 10 5e-5 0.2 0.004

Sand/Gravel L8 Bottom

of Soil 1E-4 0.2 0.004

Sandy

sediments

Sand L2a 0.8 5e-5 0.2 0.004

Silty clay L3b 3 5E-8 0.1 0.003

Till L7 Bottom

of Soil 5E-6 0.03 0.001

Glacial

deposits Sand/Gravel L8

Bottom

of Soil 1E-4 0.2 0.004

Water (Lake

sediments)

Clay L5 5 1E-8 0.1 0.003

Till L7 Bottom

of Soil 5E-6 0.03 0.001

Till Till L7 Bottom

of Soil 5E-6 0.03 0.001

Bedrock

outcrops

Bedrock

outcrops L6

Bottom

of Soil 1E-10 0.15 0.001

Silty clay

Silty Clay L3b 3 5E-8 0.1 0.003

Till L7 Bottom

of Soil 5E-6 0.03 0.001

Peat

Peat L1 5 1E-6 0.2 0.006

Clay L5 7 1E-8 0.1 0.003

Till L7 Bottom

of Soil 5E-6 0.03 0.001

From depth To depth Cell height No of cells Table 3 – Vertical discretization of MIKE-SHE

model. The distances are measured in m 1 0 1 0.1 10

2 1 5 0.5 8

3 5 10 1 5

4 10 52 3 14

3.1.5 Rivers (MIKE 11)

The main streams in Krycklan have been extracted using the 2×2m topography grid file

from GSD (2011). The streams included in the model are Site 7, Nymyrbäcken Långbäcken,

Åhedbäcken and Krycklan (Fig. 14). The cross-sections for these streams were made with

the help of Jaremalm & Nolin (2006), which is a field survey over the streams of Krycklan

(Fig. 15). The bed resistance of the streams were described using a uniform value of

manning’s n (Manning’s n is equal to 1/Manning M). According to Chow (1959), a natural

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channel can have a manning n between 0.1 and 0.03 s/m(1/3). This is approximately equal to

Manning M 10 to 30 m(1/3)/s. The initial value were set to 20 m(1/3)/s, but was later

calibrated (see section 3.2.3).

Figure 14 – Streams included in

the MIKE-SHE model. The red

circles displays the locations

were discharge calibration data

have been obtained from

Krycklan database and SMHI

Figure 15 – Krycklan streams in

the network editor together with

the location of the cross-section

made in MIKE 11. The cross-

sections are marked with a red

square and the start and end of

the streams are marked with a

blue square

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3.2. Method

Using new soil sample information gathered from Krycklan catchment, alongside updated

soil type information from SGU, a new unsaturated and saturated zone layering could be

crated and implemented in MIKE-SHE. Some of the model parameters (the parameters

which had the most influence on the model result) were then calibrated through manual

calibration (see section 3.2.3). Using visual estimation and statistical evaluation, the

parameters were optimized to fit the time varying calibration data acquired from Krycklan

data service, SGU and SMHI (see section 3.2.3.).

3.2.1 Boundary conditions and initial values

Since the boundaries are topographical boundaries it is assumed that these are of the type

no flow (Fig. 16). However, to allow subsurface flow in the glacial sediments, a constant

head have been used as a boundary for the west and southeast. The constant head to the

west is based on the water level in the lake Gröntjärnen (171.3 m a.s.l.) (SMHI, 2012). This

lake is located within the glacial sediments themselves and is closely located to the

boundary of the catchment. To the southeast, the constant head have been calculated as an

average of the groundwater level measurements recovered from site 16 (-0.85 m.b.g.s).

Figure 16 – Boundary conditions used in the Model. Two fixed heads are used to the west and east of the

model, while the others are regarded as no-flow boundaries

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The initial groundwater level is set to a level made from an earlier run when the initial

conditions were set to a global value of 0.5 m.b.g.s (base case). However, a six month run

up period is used before the calibration period to ensure that the initial conditions don’t

have to large influence on the model result. The calibration model start date is set to 2012-

06-30 and the end date is set to 2013-12-31, where the period between 2012-06-30 and

2013-01-01 is seen as a run up period and is not included when calibrating the model.

The boundary conditions for the river model made in MIKE 11 are upstream set to a

fixed discharge of zero flow and the boundary condition downstream was set to be a water

level time series as recommended by DHI (2009). The downstream boundary condition,

however, had to be calculated using Manning’s equation and the discharge rate at Krycklan

outlet. Discharge rate values, which include daily discharge values from the catchment,

have been acquired from SMHI:s model for runoff (HYPE). To solve the Manning’s

equation for y (water level) the mathematical computing software program MATLAB was

used since y had to be iterated for each time step. The water level was calculated through

the following relationships (Fig.17):

Figure 17 – Manning equation for a non-rectangular channel. The water depth is calculated as y

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The values for the variables connected to the area of the outflow cross-section were

taken from (Jaremalm & Nolin, 2006). The slope (S) of the channel was obtained by

extracting the elevation difference between the Krycklan river outlet and the elevation of

the river 1000 m downstream by the use of the 5 m grid map also used for the topography.

A 5 m drop in elevation was obtained, giving the slope a value of 0.005 m/m. Manning M

(M=1/n) was initially assumed to be 20 m(1/3)/s, but was later manually calibrated.

3.2.2 MIKE-SHE Model Setup

Some model parameters were initially assumed as of the previous modeling studies on

sites with rather similar hydrologic characteristics (Bosson, et al., 2010) (Table 4). A few of

these parameters underwent calibration, since they have a great effect on the peak flows

and the magnitude of overland flow. For more specific information about the unsaturated

zone and the saturated zone, please read section 3.1.4 and for more information about the

calibration see section 3.2.3. Even though the model set up is foremost based on the model

set up presented in (Bosson, et al., 2010), the grid size is smaller (200 m instead of 1000

m) to get a better representation of the surface topography.

Unit Included in calibration Table 4 – MIKE-SHE

model set up. Some

model set up

parameters will

undergo calibration

and are therefore

marked with a “yes”

Simulation specification

Simulation period

Start date 2012-06-30

End date 2014-12-31

Time step control

Initial time step 1 hrs

Max allowed OL time step 1 hrs

Max allowed UZ time step 1 hrs

Max allowed SZ time step 3 hrs

Model domain

Cell size 200 m

Snow melt

Melting temperature 0.5 Yes

Overland flow

Manning M 10 m1/3/s Yes

Detention storage 2 mm Yes

Saturated zone

Drainage

Drain depth -1 m.b.g.s Yes

Drain constant 1e-6 Yes

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3.2.3 Calibration and Validation

Three groundwater level series were used for calibration. These comes from

groundwater measurements from the middle of the catchment area and have the area

codes; 33_101, 33_104 and 33_105 (Fig. 18). The data was acquired from SGU (2016) and

includes e.g. coordinates and groundwater elevation time series (both in m.b.g.s and

m.a.s.l.). The m.b.g.s measurement was used, instead of m.a.s.l to take in consideration

that with a course grid of 200 m, the elevation level will be smoothen out and not get the

exact same elevation as reality, making m.a.s.l. real measurements in m.a.s.l. ending up

ether much lower or higher the ground surface compared to when measuring the

groundwater level in m.b.g.s.

Figure 18 – Location of measuring wells in Krycklan Catchment

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There was also available discharge data for one of Krycklans sub-catchment, site 7. This

data was acquired from Krycklan database service. For the other parts of the catchment

calibration data was acquired by using model runoff data created by SMHI. The runoff data

comes from a conceptual hydrological model called HYPE (HYdrological Predictions for

the Environment) which calculates the water balance for watersheds and sub-watershed

based on land use, elevation and soil type. Available was e.g. daily measurements in m3/s

and it could be acquired for the streams Krycklan, Åhedbacken, Långbäcken and

Nymyrbäcken (Table 5).

Calibration data Type Source Table 5 – Summary of

calibration data Site 7 Discharge (Laudon, et al., 2013)

Well 101 Groundwater level (SGU, 2016)

Well 104 Groundwater level (SGU, 2016)

Well 105 Groundwater level (SGU, 2016)

Åhedbäcken Modeled discharge (SMHI, 2016)

Nymyrbäcken Modeled discharge (SMHI, 2016)

Långbäcken Modeled discharge (SMHI, 2016)

Krycklan Modeled discharge (SMHI, 2016)

The model was manually calibrated. During the manual calibration, the model

performance was evaluated using the visual difference between the models simulated

values and the observed/modeled values. For discharge measurements this was combined

with the statistical evaluation of RMSE (root mean square error), ME (mean error) MAE

(absolute error, and R (Pearson Correlation coefficient) and for groundwater

measurements the visual calibration was combined with ME and MAE.

𝑀𝐸 =∑ (𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑖,𝑡−𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖,𝑡)𝑡

𝑁 (4)

𝑀𝐴𝐸 =∑ |(𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑖,𝑡−𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖,𝑡)|𝑡

𝑁 (5)

𝑅𝑀𝑆𝐸 = √1

𝑁∑ (𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑖,𝑡 − 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖,𝑡)2𝑁

𝑖=1 (6)

𝑅 =∑ (𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑖,𝑡−𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑖,𝑡 )(𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖,𝑡−𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖,𝑡 )𝑁

𝑖=1

√∑ (𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑖,𝑡−𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑖,𝑡 )2𝑁𝑖=1 √∑ (𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖,𝑡−𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖,𝑡 )2𝑁

𝑖=1

(7)

OBS = Observed measurement Sim = simulated measurement 𝑂𝑏𝑠𝑖,𝑡

=Mean Observed measurement 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑖,𝑡

= Mean simulated measurement

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The closer ME, MAE and RMSE is to zero, the better the result. R, however, should be as

close to 1 as possible and describes how well the simulated values correlate to the observed

values. According to Evans (1996), the strength of the Pearson coefficient can be

interpreting as:

0.00-0.19 very weak

0.20-0.39 weak

0.40-0.59 moderate

0.60-0.79 strong

0.80-1.00 very strong

The parameters selected to undergo calibration (Table 6) seemed to have the most

influence on the model result. During the calibration phase, the modeled calibration data

from HYPE was given a lower priority than the real measured discharge and groundwater

levels in Krycklan.

Table 6 – Initial values and upper/lower limits for the parameters undergoing calibration

Upper limit Lower limit Initial value Unit

Hydraulic conductivities

L2a and L2b – Sand 1e-3 1e-6 5e-5 m/s

L3a – Silt 1e-6 1e-8 1e-7 m/s

L3b - Silt/clay 1e-7 1e-9 5e-8 m/s

L7 – Till 1e-3 1e-8 5e-6 m/s

L8 – Glacial deposits 1e-3 1e-7 1e-4 m/s

Other parameters

Melting temperature 0.5 0 0.5 C

Melting constant 4 2 2 mm/C/day

Manning Number overland flow (M) 20 2.5 10 m(1/3)/s

Detention Storage 50 1 2 mm

Drainage level -0.5 -1 -1 m.b.g.s

Drain constant 1e-6 1e-7 1e-6

Manning number channel flow (MIKE 11) 30 10 20 m(1/3)/s

The drainage depth was initially set to 0.5 m.b.g.s because a typical drainage depth is

usually between 0.5 to 1 m (Larsen, et al., 2010). Drainage is directed downhill based on

neighboring drain levels. Subsurface flow as drain is allowed as long as there is a

downward slope located within the model and will continue until the drain flow crosses a

river or the model boundary. The drain constant will affect the velocity of the drain flow

(DHI, 2007). It is usually set to a value between 1e-7 and 1e-6 (DHI, 2007) and will mostly

affect the peaks of the hydrographs (Larsen, et al., 2010).

For overland flow, manning M is used as the bed resistance. A lower M value will

decrease the velocity of the overland flow, leaving more water time to infiltrate. This will

reduce the amount of overland flow and therefore reduces the peaks of runoff flow (Larsen,

et al., 2010). According to Cronshey (1986), Manning’s n for overland flow seems to

depend on the vegetation. A fallow or a flat surface can have Manning’s n values down to

0.05 and 0.011s/m(1/3) respectively while woods with dense overgrowth can have Manning’

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n values up to 0.80s/m(1/3). For this model the upper and lower limits for Manning’s n for

overland flow is set to 0.05 to 0.8 s/m(1/3). These are approximately equal to Manning’s M

of 1 to 20 m(1/3)/s. For channel flow (natural flow), Manning M is usually set between about

10 and 30 m(1/3)/s (Chow, 1959).

Before overland flow can occur, the overland water depth must have reached the

detention storage. A larger detention storage will reduce overland flow and let more water

infiltrate to the ground surface. More ponded water will therefore have a potential to

increase the water table in an area (Dai, et al., 2010). According to DHI (2007), a detention

storage could be set to around 2 mm, but there have been instances when a much larger

detention storage have been seen giving an optimum result for a MIKE-SHE model (up to

50mm) (Dai, et al., 2010). The upper and lower limits of this model have been set to 1 to 50

mm.

The hydraulic conductivities for the saturated zone influence both the base flow to the

rivers, as well as the peak flows. The vertical hydraulic conductivity effects mostly the

infiltration (if the soil is completely saturated) and larger vertical values increase the

infiltration rate and reducing overland flow. Larger vertical values will therefore result in

smother hydrograph, i.e. reducing peak flows. The horizontal values will both affect the

base and peak flows. By lowering the value of the horizontal hydraulic conductivities, the

subsurface flow can be delayed (Larsen, et al., 2010).

There is a large uncertainty regarding the composition of the glacial deposits in the area,

since there haven’t been any drilling samples taken directly from them. That includes

depth, width and material composition. The upper and lower limits of the hydraulic

conductivity of glacial deposits have therefore been taken from (Stephenson, et al., 1988)

which states that glacial deposits from ice river outwash usually consist of sand or of a

mixture of sand and gravel with a hydraulic conductivity ranging from 102 to 10-2 m/d

(approximately 10-3 to 10-7 m3/s). The calibrated value from (Bosson, et al., 2010) at 10-4

m/s will however stand as an initial condition for the model. The remaining upper and

lower limits of the hydraulic conductivities have been taken from (Knutsson & Morfeldt,

1993). Areas with silt/clay have however been given a slightly lower limits than silt, but a

slightly higher limit than clay.

The calibration was made for the period 2013-01-01 to 2013-12-31 with a run up period

of 6 month to reduce influences from the initial conditions. Model validation is made for a

period that is not used for calibration, nor for run up period. The period is run without

changing the values adjusted during the calibration stage. It’s said that the model is

validated if the calibrated model is able to be used for the validation period within some

predefined limits of acceptance (Henriksen, et al., 2003). 2014-01-01 to 2014-12-31 is

therefore used as a validation period and the level of acceptance is set to plus 10 % of the

RMSE error optimized during the calibration period.

4. CALIBRATION PROCEDURE AND EARLY RUNS

In this section the procedure of the calibration will be described in further detail to get a

better understanding of some of the calibration decisions made. During the earlier part of

the procedure the calibration was made mainly through looking at the visual effects of the

groundwater and discharge charts developed by MIKE-SHE. These charts were combined

with analyzation of the water balance of the domain. The combined information was used

to decide the next step of model calibration.

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Without changes to the initial values the downstream rivers experienced too large base

flows while the upstream rivers did not receive enough water during the summer, i.e. no

peak flows during the summer month. All rivers also experienced a too early spring flood

created by the snow melt. It was therefore concluded that the base flow had to be reduced

and the overland flow to the upstream rivers increased. A water balance over the situation

was created for a better understanding of the hydrologic interactions in the catchment

(Fig.19).

Through the water balance chart, it could be established that the main contribution to

peak flows were overland flow, while base flow mainly came from groundwater. Drain

appeared to increase both peak flows and base flows, since it contributes with waters to the

rivers as soon as the groundwater level reaches the drain level assigned in the model.

During calibration of the parameters presented in section 3.1.3 it was established that

some parameters had more influence than others.

Figure 19 – Water balance

created from the initial

values. The water balance is

measured in mm,

accumulated flow and is

calculated for the calibration

year 2013 for the whole

catchment. Too much

groundwater is going to the

rivers as base flow

The hydraulic conductivities with the most influence on the base flow were the till (L7) for

site 7 and the glacial deposits (L8) and sand (L2b) for the streams Krycklan and

Åhedbäcken. The drain level mostly had effect on the amount of extra base flow that was

given to the rivers, not taking into account the peak flows. Lastly the melting constant had

the most influence on the shape of the spring flood.

In comparison of the initial trial with test A it could be concluded that the snow melt

and base flow could be calibrated by the parameters listed in section 3.1.3, however the

upstream peak flows was very little or not at all influenced by the calibrated parameters

(Fig. 20). Neither increasing Manning M for overland flow nor decreasing the detention

storage improved the results. Therefore the attention was switched to the vertical hydraulic

conductivity of the unsaturated zone, since the vertical hydraulic conductivity is

responsible for the infiltration rate. The purpose was to try to increase the overland flow

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and drain to the uphill rivers, without increasing the base flow, nor peak flows for the

downstream rivers.

Figure 20 a. Discharge hydrograph using the initial

model set up. The initial trial is compared against

observed data at the site. The river receives no

peak flows during the summer months and the

spring flood arrives early and is slightly small

Figure 20 b. Discharge hydrograph using with

calibrated hydraulic parameters of the saturated

zone and snow melt. Test A is compared against

observed data at the site. Good timing and shape

of spring flood, although it’s large. No peak flows

during the summer months

Figure 20 c. Discharge hydrograph using the initial

model set up. The initial trial is compared against

model acquired from SMHI:s HYPE-model. The

river receives a large base flow compared to

observed data

Figure 20 d. Discharge hydrograph using with

calibrated hydraulic parameters of the saturated

zone and snow melt. Test A is compared against

model acquired from SMHI:s HYPE-model. Both

peak flows and base flows are well represented

Figure 20 – An example of one of the upstream rivers, Site 7, and the downstream river Åhedbäcken. The

figure. displays the impact on the discharge of test A compared to the initial trial

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The unsaturated hydraulic conductivities, especially of the soil type till, had a larger

impact on the peak flows than the other already calibrated parameters. Test A and B

concluded that there was an increase in overland flow using a finer till but the groundwater

fluctuation decreased (Fig. 21) as well as a reduction of drain to the rivers (Table 7 and 8).

Most noticeable are the small peak flows for the upstream rivers due to more overland flow

and reduction of the spring flood for the downstream rivers du to less total flow to the

rivers (Fig. 21).

To ensure groundwater fluctuations, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the till

had to be set to around 1e-6 m/s. Lower values gave a non-responsive groundwater (Fig.

20) and low drain (Table 10). This hydraulic conductivity gave however no peak flows for

the upstream rivers, but worked well for the downstream rivers. Therefore the till was

divided into two parts; one uphill site 7 and one downhill site 7.

Figure 21 - Groundwater

fluctuation example chart. The

initial trial, Test A and G all

experience groundwater

fluctuation during approximately

the same time period as the

observed measurements. When

using a fine till (a till with a

hydraulic conductivity around 1e-7

m/s) for the whole catchment the

groundwater fluctuations levels

out as in Test B

A layer of finer till had to be placed on top of a courser till uphill to get groundwater

fluctuation, but still getting enough water for peak flows during the summer month. It was

decided to further evaluate some of the test to see how the water balance was affected by

changes in the hydraulic conductivity in the unsaturated zone (Table 7 and 8). For an

overall evaluation of all tests A to F, see appendix A. Water balance charts for the tests in

Table 7 and 8 are also available in Appendix B.

Test E and G concluded that there was a slight improvement of the summer peak flows

with a fine till on top of the coarser till uphill without a reduction of the downstream spring

flood (Fig. 22 and Table 8). The most amount of water given to the rivers in these tests

were to test G, which had slightly more overland flow than test A, without a large reduction

in drain (Table 7). The overland flow also seemed to end up in the uphill rivers, without

increasing the peak flows in the downhill rivers (Fig, 22). However, the uphill river peak

flows were still very small and hardly visible and there were still some problems with a

reduced spring flood for these rivers.

254

254,5

255

255,5

m.a

.s.l.

Groundwater fluctuations well 101

Initail trial Test A Test B

Test G Observed

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Figure 22 a. Discharge hydrograph of site 7 using

a finer till in the whole catchment. Test B is

compared against observed data at the site.

Delayed spring flood and reduced peak flows early

autumn. However, there are visible summer peak

flows

Figure 22 b. Discharge hydrograph of site 7 using

a finer till on top of the courser till uphill. Test G is

compared against observed data at the site.

Good shape and timing of the spring flood,

however it is reduced. Small, but visible peak flows

during summer and autumn

Figure 22 c. Discharge hydrograph over

Åhedbäcken using a finer till in the whole

catchment. Test B is compared against model

acquired from SMHI:s HYPE-model. Reduced

spring flood compared to observed measurements

Figure 22 d. Discharge hydrograph using a finer till

on top of the courser till uphill site 7. Test G is

compared against model acquired from SMHI:s

HYPE-model. Both peak flows and base flows

are well represented

Figure 22 – Discharge diagram example for one of the downstream rivers in Krycklan, Åhedbäcken.

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1

2013-0

8-0

1

2013-0

9-0

1

2013-1

0-0

1

2013-1

1-0

1

2013-1

2-0

1

m3/s

Åhedbäcken

Test B Observed

0

0,5

1

1,5

2013-0

1-0

1

2013-0

2-0

1

2013-0

3-0

1

2013-0

4-0

1

2013-0

5-0

1

2013-0

6-0

1

2013-0

7-0

1

2013-0

8-0

1

2013-0

9-0

1

2013-1

0-0

1

2013-1

1-0

1

2013-1

2-0

1

m3 /

s

Åhedbäcken

Test G Observed

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32

In an attempt to improve the results further the grid size was reduced from 200 m to

100 m to give a better representation of the topography in the area. The model became very

unstable and was unable to completely run (Test H and I). It could however run long

enough to be able to evaluate the discharge hydrographs, but not long enough to provide a

complete water balance (Table 7 and 8). Without a finer till uphill there were some peak

flows for the upstream rivers, however, they were very small. It could however be resolved

by the introduction of a fine till layer above the courser till uphill.

To stabilize to model, a finer till had also to be used in the bottom of the till soil profile

(Test J). Furthermore, the hydraulic conductivities of the saturated zone had to be re-

calibrated to slightly adjust the base flows. However, this model worked well for both

groundwater fluctuations and peak flows and the results ended up to be the best of the

model simulations. The model gave the most water for peak flows (drain and overland

flow) to the streams of all models, while still having a good base flow. Most noticeable is

the increase of drainage to the rivers (Table 7).To ensure that the fine till in the bottom of

the soil profile did not affect the water balance more than to stabilize the model, a new test

was made in a 200 m grid (Test K), with the same settings as in test G. The model gave the

same results as test G, i.e. did not have any noticeable effect on water balance results of the

model (Table 7 and 8).

Table 7 – Water balance evaluation of the tests. The table displays the main parts of the water balance

calculated as mm accumulated flow for year 2013

Test

A

Test

B

Test

E Test G Test H Test I Test J Test K

Total P 646 646 646 646 - - 646 646

Total E 488 486 487 486 - - 485 486

P-E 158 160 159 160 - - 161 160

Error 2 3 3 3 - - 3 3

Total flow to river

Total river flow 204 185 204 208 - - 212 208

OL to river 40 43 40 45 - - 46 45

Base flow to river 52 51 52 52 - - 40 52

Drain to river 112 91 112 111 - - 126 111

Different ET components

Snow 43 43 43 43 - - 43 43

Interception 149 149 149 149 - - 149 149

Open water 18 18 18 18 - - 20 18

Soil 57 57 57 57 - - 56 57

Transpiration 219 218 219 218 - - 217 218

SZ 1 0 0 0 - - 0 0

Recharge and infiltration

Infiltration from

OL to UZ 757 663 720 707 - - 660 707

UZ deficit change 0.42 -17 -9 -10 - - 0.43 -10

Recharge from UZ

to SZ 491 407 455 446 - - 390 446

SZ storage change -54 -24 -60 -60 - - -63 -60

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33

Table 8 – Evaluation results of the main impact of changes in the unsaturated zone and of the grid size

Test

A

Test

B

Test

E

Test

G

Test

H

Test

I

Test

J

Test

K

Un

satu

rate

d z

on

e d

escri

pti

on

Depth

m.

H. C

on.

Depth

m.

H. C

on.

Depth

m.

H. C

on.

Depth

m.

Depth

m.

Depth

m.

H. C

on.

Depth

m.

H. C

on.

Depth

m.

H. C

on.

Depth

m.

H. C

on.

Un

it

m

m/s

m

m/s

m

m/s

m

m/s

m

m/s

m

m/s

m

m/s

m

m/s

Up

str

eam

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-7

0.2

1e-7

0.2

1e-8

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

0.2

1e-8

0.2

1e-8

0.2

1e-8

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

5.3

1e-6

5.3

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-7

To b

edro

ck

1e-7

Do

wn

str

eam

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-7

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

5.3

1e-6

5.3

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-7

To b

edro

ck

1e-7

Gri

d s

ize

(m)

200

200

200

200

100

100

100

200

Evalu

ati

on

Peak f

low

s

up

hil

l

No

Sm

all

Very

Sm

all

Sm

all

Sm

all

Good

Good

Sm

all

Peak f

low

s

do

wn

hill

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Sp

rin

g f

loo

d

up

hil

l

Good

Good, b

ut

dela

yed

Reduced

Reduced

Good

Good

Good

Reduced

Sp

rin

g f

loo

d

do

wn

hill

Good

Reduced

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Gro

un

d-w

ate

r

flu

ctu

ati

on

s

Good

Very

Sm

all

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Good

Sta

ble

Model

Sta

ble

Model

Sta

ble

Model

Sta

ble

Model

Non-

sta

ble

model

Non-

sta

ble

model

Sta

ble

Model

Sta

ble

Model

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34

Test J (100 m grid) combined with the final calibrated values (Table 9) gave the

optimum result of the manual calibration. The groundwater and discharge results of this

model can be seen in section 5.1 and 5.2.

Table 9 – Calibrated parameters used in the final model called test J

5. RESULT

In this section the result of the calibration and the validation will be presented. Since

the calibration data from HYPE have been given a lower importance compared to the

observed measurements at Site 7, well 101, well 104 and well 105, these have been

separated from each other.

The calibration was made manually to reduce the ME and MAE of well measurements

and to establish a close visual fit to the calibration measurements. The statistical

evaluation of ME and MAE was combined with RMSE and R for the discharge

measurements.

5.1 Calibrated and validation result – observed measurements

These calibrated results include the real time measurements for site 7, well 101, well 104

and well 105 compared with the model values for these sites. Site 7 is made up by discharge

measurements in m3/s and well 101, well 104 and well 105 includes groundwater

measurements in m.a.s.l.

The RMSE for the validation period site 7 was slightly lowered compared to the

calibration period, while the ME and MAE was slightly increased (Fig 23). The correlation

coefficient stayed high during both calibration and validation period (over 0.6) and it was

also increased between the calibration and the validation period. The model succeeds in

capturing the timing of the peaks and the base flow for both periods and the size of the

peak flows are often captured, even though they are at moments too high or too low.

Furthermore, the snow seams to melt somewhat early and too fast during April and May,

Horizontal hydraulic

conductivity

Vertical hydraulic

conductivity Unit

Hydraulic conductivities

L2a - Sand 1.0e-6 1.0e-6 m/s

L2b – Sand 8.2e-6 3.6e-6 m/s

L3a – Silt 1.0e-7 1.0e-7 m/s

L3b - Silt/clay 1.0e-8 1.0e-8 m/s

L7 - Till 1.0e-6 1.0e-7 m/s

L8 – Glacial deposits 1.0e-5 1.0e-5 m/s

Other parameters

Melting temperature 0 C

Melting constant 2 mm/C/day

Manning Number overland flow (M) 10 m(1/3)/s

Detention Storage 1 mm

Drainage level -0.96 m.b.g.s

Drain constant 1e-6

Manning number channel flow (MIKE 11) 30 m(1/3)/s

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35

mostly visible during the validation period. The fast snowmelt results in a high and short

peak flow during these months, which should be lower and stretched out more during a

longer time period according to observed measurements.

Figure 23 – Modeled and

observed discharge

measurements at site 7,

including run up period from

2012-06-30 to 2012-12-31,

calibration period from 2013-

01-01 to 2013-12-31 and

validation period from 2014-

01-01 to 2014-12-31

Calibration (2013) Validation (2014)

Unit m3/s

RMSE 0.00590 0.00495

ME 0.00037 0.00168

MAE 0,00272 0.00286

R 0.64 0.70

The groundwater fluctuations captured by the model have an MAE varying between 1.25

to 0.20 m, with the best statistical result for well 104 and well 105. Well 101, do however

capture the groundwater fluctuations better, though the groundwater lever is slightly

higher than observed measurements (Fig 24 to 26).

The flatter groundwater fluctuations in well 104 and 105 can however be due to the

drain level. At this level, water is transported downhill to the streams in the area, resulting

in a flatter groundwater levels at places where the groundwater level reaches the drain

level. All groundwater level measurements are however sustainable, meaning that the areas

aren’t drained faster than what they are refilled, which are shown by the ground water

levels not dipping in mean level with time.

0

0,01

0,02

0,03

0,04

0,05

0,06

0,07

2012-0

6-3

0

2012-0

8-3

1

2012-1

0-3

1

2012-1

2-3

1

2013-0

2-2

8

2013-0

4-3

0

2013-0

6-3

0

2013-0

8-3

1

2013-1

0-3

1

2013-1

2-3

1

2014-0

2-2

8

2014-0

4-3

0

2014-0

6-3

0

2014-0

8-3

1

2014-1

0-3

1

2014-1

2-3

1

m3/s

Site 7

Observed discharge Site 7 Modeled discharge Site 7

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36

Figure 24 - Modeled and

observed discharge

measurements for well 101,

including run up period from

2012-06-30 to 2012-12-31,

calibration period from 2013-

01-01 to 2013-12-31 and

validation period from 2014-

01-01 to 2014-12-31

Calibration (2013) Validation (2014)

Unit m

ME -1.25 -0.98

MAE 1.25 0.98

Figure 25 - Modeled and

observed discharge

measurements for well 104,

including run up period from

2012-06-30 to 2012-12-31,

calibration period from 2013-

01-01 to 2013-12-31 and

validation period from 2014-

01-01 to 2014-12-31

Calibration (2013) Validation (2014)

Unit m3/s

ME 0.15 0.20

MAE 0.20 0.20

254,5

255

255,5

256

256,5

257

257,52012-0

7-0

2

2012-0

9-0

2

2012-1

1-0

2

2013-0

1-0

2

2013-0

3-0

2

2013-0

5-0

2

2013-0

7-0

2

2013-0

9-0

2

2013-1

1-0

2

2014-0

1-0

2

2014-0

3-0

2

2014-0

5-0

2

2014-0

7-0

2

2014-0

9-0

2

2014-1

1-0

2

m a

.s.l.

Well 101

Modeled GW-level 101 Observed GW-level

254,4

254,8

255,2

255,6

20

12-0

7-0

2

20

12-0

9-0

2

20

12-1

1-0

2

20

13-0

1-0

2

20

13-0

3-0

2

20

13-0

5-0

2

20

13-0

7-0

2

20

13-0

9-0

2

20

13-1

1-0

2

20

14-0

1-0

2

20

14-0

3-0

2

20

14-0

5-0

2

20

14-0

7-0

2

20

14-0

9-0

2

20

14-1

1-0

2

m a

.s.l.

Well 104

104 Observed GW-level Modeled GW-level 104

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37

Figure 26 - Modeled and

observed discharge

measurements for well 105,

including run up period from

2012-06-30 to 2012-12-31,

calibration period from 2013-

01-01 to 2013-12-31 and

validation period from 2014-

01-01 to 2014-12-31

Calibration (2013) Validation (2014)

Unit m3/s

ME -0.13 0.04

MAE 0.34 0.25

5.2 Calibrated and validation results – modeled measurements

These results includes the MIKE-SHE calibrated model discharge levels for the rivers

Krycklan, Åhedbäcken, Nymyrbäcken and Långbäcken together with the modeled values

from SMHI Hype-model. Since these calibrated values are compared to already modeled

values, they have been seen as a lower priority than Site 7, well 101, well 104 and well 105.

However, since there is little data for the overall model area, these have still been included

to represent other parts of the model area.

Compared to site 7, the shape of the snow melt peak flows fits these streams better;

however, it is slightly low for Nymyrbäcken and Långbäcken (Fig. 27, 28, 29 and 30 ). The

model does however capture the size and timing of the peak flows for both calibration and

validation period for all streams, with a reasonable base flows. The highest correlation

coefficient was obtained for Långbäcken (0.97 during validation period) and the lowest was

obtained for Åhedbäcken (0.77 during the calibration period). The correlation coefficient

was however increased during the validation period for Åhedbäcken to 0.80 (Fig. 28 and

30).

Krycklan and Åhedbäcken are the two largest streams in the area, with an observed

maximal discharge at 5.1 m3/s and 1.4 m3/s respectively. The model manages to capture

both streams peak and base flows with strong correlation coefficients at 0.80 (Fig 27 and

28). The upstream rivers Långbäcken and Nymyrbäcken also had strong correlation with

the observed data, with correlations coefficients at 0.8 or above (Fig. 29 and 30).

233

234

235

2012-0

7-0

2

2012-0

9-0

2

2012-1

1-0

2

2013-0

1-0

2

2013-0

3-0

2

2013-0

5-0

2

2013-0

7-0

2

2013-0

9-0

2

2013-1

1-0

2

2014-0

1-0

2

2014-0

3-0

2

2014-0

5-0

2

2014-0

7-0

2

2014-0

9-0

2

2014-1

1-0

2

m a

.s.l.

Well 105

105 Observed GW-level Modeled GW-level 105

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38

Fig. 27 - Modeled and

observed discharge

measurements at stream

Krycklan, including run up

period from 2012-06-30 to

2012-12-31, calibration

period from 2013-01-01 to

2013-12-31 and validation

period from 2014-01-01 to

2014-12-31

Calibration (2013) Validation (2014)

Unit m3/s

RMSE 0.50 0.32

ME 0.15 0.19

MAE 0.25 0.22

R 0.80 0.89

Figure 28 - Modeled and

observed discharge

measurements at stream

Åhedbäcken, including

run up period from 2012-

06-30 to 2012-12-31,

calibration period from

2013-01-01 to 2013-12-

31 and validation period

from 2014-01-01 to 2014-

12-31

Calibration (2013) Validation (2014)

Unit m3/s

RMSE 0.17 0.13

ME 0.06 0.08

MAE 0.09 0.09

R 0.77 0.80

0

2

4

6

2012-0

6-3

0

2012-0

8-3

1

2012-1

0-3

1

2012-1

2-3

1

2013-0

2-2

8

2013-0

4-3

0

2013-0

6-3

0

2013-0

8-3

1

2013-1

0-3

1

2013-1

2-3

1

2014-0

2-2

8

2014-0

4-3

0

2014-0

6-3

0

2014-0

8-3

1

2014-1

0-3

1

2014-1

2-3

1

m3/s

Krycklan

HYPE discharge Krycklan Modeled discharge Krycklan

0

0,4

0,8

1,2

1,6

2012-0

6-3

0

2012-0

8-3

1

2012-1

0-3

1

2012-1

2-3

1

2013-0

2-2

8

2013-0

4-3

0

2013-0

6-3

0

2013-0

8-3

1

2013-1

0-3

1

2013-1

2-3

1

2014-0

2-2

8

2014-0

4-3

0

2014-0

6-3

0

2014-0

8-3

1

2014-1

0-3

1

2014-1

2-3

1

m3/s

Åhedbäcken

HYPE discharge Åhedbäcken Modeled discharge Åhedbäcken

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39

Figure 29 - Modeled

and observed

discharge

measurements at

stream Nymyrbäcken,

including run up

period from 2012-06-

30 to 2012-12-31,

calibration period from

2013-01-01 to 2013-

12-31 and validation

period from 20'14-01-

01 to 2014-12-31

Calibration (2013) Validation (2014)

Unit m3/s

RMSE 0.06 0.06

ME 0.02 0.04

MAE 0.03 0.04

R 0.91 0.88

Figure 30 - Modeled and

observed discharge

measurements at stream

Långbäcken, including

run up period from 2012-

06-30 to 2012-12-31,

calibration period from

2013-01-01 to 2013-12-

31 and validation period

from 2014-01-01 to 2014-

12-31

Calibration (2013) Validation (2014)

Unit m3/s

RMSE 0.10 0.08

ME 0.05 0.06

MAE 0.05 0.06

R 0.79 0.97

0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

2012-0

6-3

0

2012-0

8-3

1

2012-1

0-3

1

2012-1

2-3

1

2013-0

2-2

8

2013-0

4-3

0

2013-0

6-3

0

2013-0

8-3

1

2013-1

0-3

1

2013-1

2-3

1

2014-0

2-2

8

2014-0

4-3

0

2014-0

6-3

0

2014-0

8-3

1

2014-1

0-3

1

2014-1

2-3

1

m3/s

Nymyrbäcken

HYPE discharge Nymyrbäcken Modeled discharge Nymyrbäcken

0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1

2012-0

6-3

0

2012-0

8-3

1

2012-1

0-3

1

2012-1

2-3

1

2013-0

2-2

8

2013-0

4-3

0

2013-0

6-3

0

2013-0

8-3

1

2013-1

0-3

1

2013-1

2-3

1

2014-0

2-2

8

2014-0

4-3

0

2014-0

6-3

0

2014-0

8-3

1

2014-1

0-3

1

2014-1

2-3

1

m3/s

Långäcken

HYPE discharge Långbäcken Modeled discharge Långbäcken

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40

6. D ISCUSSION

The manually calibrated model was able to capture the main shape of the modelled

(HYPE) and observed calibration data. The major fluctuation of the groundwater was also

captured by the model. Even though the other hydrographs had less priority than Site 7,

the calibration still gave a rather well fitted hydrograph compared to HYPE measurements

with high correlations coefficients. However, there are still improvements and

uncertainties within the MIKE-SHE model that can be further analyzed and improved.

6.1 Model grid size

To get a better representation of the topography, the modelled grid size should be

reduced. At a grid size of 100 m times 100 m, there are some problems at the steepest

valleys of the area. The slopes get too blocky and create isolated cells. During rain events,

these cells fill up with water, creating pools of water where there should be none. The

simulation time step could also be reduced to provide a more stable model. However, a

smaller grid and time step will greatly increase the simulation time and would slow down

the calibration procedure. To avoid this issue a smaller area could be chosen for more in

depth simulation, e.g. the sub-catchment site 7. Decreasing the model domain would also

allow a smaller grid size which should improve the representation of the topography and

the interaction between MIKE-SHE and MIKE 11 through overbanking.

It is recommended by DHI forum that the grid is not larger than the rivers themselves

to get a well-functioning exchange between the MIKE-SHE and MIKE 11 model. This is to

make sure that the river bed level in MIKE 11 is at the same level as the topography in the

MIKE-SHE model. With a 100 m grid size, the bed level is not completely well represented

and there are differences between bed level and topography more or less in the model,

which can cause errors. However, the reduction of the grid size from 200 to 100 m was still

enough to be able to simulate the summer peak flows for the uphill rivers. Most noticeable

were the increase in drain to river, without the base flow increasing.

6.2 Unsaturated zone

During the calibration it was noticed that the upstream rivers weren’t given enough

water to create peak flows during this time period. The water was infiltrated before it could

reach the rivers. There are three major parts in the model that can reduce the infiltration

rate in the model; the vertical hydraulic conductivities (especially in the unsaturated zone),

the Manning M for overland flow and the detention storage. During the model calibration

it was discovered that the Manning M and the detention storage parameters had no, to very

little impact on the upper streams in the model. By trying to firstly reduce the model grid

from 200 m to 100 m, the issue was however improved.

To further improve the model, the upper part of the till in the unsaturated zone had to

be given a lower hydraulic conductivity. Since the model was improved by the model grid

size, it could be that it’s rather the topography that is not well represented by the grid and

that the low hydraulic conductivity of the upper part of the till only was needed to

compensate for that. A smaller grid size might resolve the issue by itself but would have

greatly increased the model time and could therefore not be implemented in this thesis

work due to time limit. To avoid increasing the model time, while still testing out a smaller

grid size, the model domain could be decreased in future work.

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41

6.3 Snow melt

The snow created in the model is what generated the large flows during April and May.

The shape of the hydrograph during this time period is heavily depended on evaporation,

temperature, melting temperature and the melting coefficient. Of these parameters it was

only the melting temperature and the melting coefficient that could be calibrated, since the

other two were based on real measured data. The melting temperature was set to zero as

recommended by DHI and the melting coefficient was calibrated to 2 mm/C/day.

According to DHI, the melting coefficient is normally between 2 and 4 mm/C/day. A larger

melting coefficient will increase the speed of snowmelt, resulting to a higher and earlier

snow melt. A lower coefficient will slow down the melting process resulting in a flatter

snowmelt curve with a peak later on the year. Looking at the result of the model compared

to the observed discharges levels at site 7, it can be concluded that the snow melt constant

might be needed to be reduced even further than the recommended values given by DHI

and could be further looked into in the future.

6.4 Calibration Data

To improve the model, more calibration data can be used. Especially the modeled

discharge values made taken from HYPE could be replaced with real observed

measurements to get more secure flow estimation in the area. Since this type of

measurements was lacking, the HYPE measurement was used to at least get an estimation

of the flow in the other parts of the model domain. This is however a large insecurity with

the model since it is now partly calibrated against already modeled data. However, since

the HYPE model data and the observed discharge rates in Site 7 had very similar shapes

with peaks occurring during the same time periods, the HYPE measurements were still

considered to give a good estimation of the flow in the area.

The water level used as the boundary condition in MIKE 11 is also based on HYPE

modeled measurements which is insecurity in the model. To improve the model, the water

level in the Krycklan outlet should be modeled against observed measurements.

6.5 Calibration and Validation results

The timing of the peaks and the base flow is well represented by the model. However,

some peaks are smaller and some peaks are larger than compared to the calibration data

used in the model. The peaks during April and May are mainly based on the snowmelt

parameters (see section 5.3) while the other peaks and the base flow were heavy affected by

the hydraulic conductivities and unsaturated zone composition as well as the topography

representation. During calibration it was noticed that the base flow for the rivers

Åhedbäcken and Krycklan was mainly affected by the saturated conductivity in the glacial

material, while the upstream rivers were heavily influenced by the horizontal hydraulic

conductivity of the till.

The peak flows were mainly affected by the hydraulic conductivity of the unsaturated

zone, as discussed in section 6.2, as well as the representation of the topography. The

vertical hydraulic conductivity of the unsaturated zone seemed to manly affect the amount

of overland flow in the area, while the representation of the topography both had an impact

on the overland flow, but also the drainage to the rivers. Especially the upstream rivers

were affected by the representation of the topography. In the model, water is drained from

one cell to the other based on the topography, when the drain level is met. At a too large

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42

grid size, it can be that the topography is not well enough represented which results in a

lower amount of drain and overland flow, especially for the upstream rivers which are

located were the topography has the largest inclinations in elevation in the catchment.

The calibrated values could be improved in the future; especially the composition, depth

and width of the glacial deposits in the area can be further looked in to. At a calibrated

hydraulic conductivity of 1e-5 m/s the glacial deposits mainly consists of coarse sand in the

model. If it would be concluded that the material mainly consists of a more gravelly

material this value may indicate that either the depth or the width of the material has been

overestimated in model. If it however would be concluded that the material would consist

of finer sand, the depth and width of material have probably been underestimated.

7. CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

The final model created is able to capture the discharge-hydrograph and groundwater

fluctuations with small error and high correlation coefficients compared to observed data

and model data from SMHI. However, even though the model today can represent the

channel flow and groundwater fluctuations in the catchment, some improvements should

be considered.

The main improvement of the model is to decrease the grid size to get a better

representation of the topography as well as the interactions between MIKE 11 and MIKE-

SHE. A reduced grid-size can resolve the differences between bed level and topography

elevation level in the MIKE-SHE and MIKE 11 model, since there can be an issue with the

size of the rivers. In Krycklan, the rivers are approximately about a half to one meter wide,

compared to MIKE-SHE:s grid size of 100 m. The size difference can cause errors between

the connections between overland flow and overbanking. Larger rivers might be able to

have a better connection between the MIKE-SHE model and the MIKE 11 model, resulting

in that larger grid sizes could be used, even at areas with steep hills. This is something that

however needs further evaluation.

Decreasing the grid size to get a better representation of the topography could also

affect the flow to the rivers in such an extent that a finer till on top of the courser till uphill

no longer is necessary to produce the peak flows uphill. To not greatly increase the model

time however, the model domain might be needed to be reduced to e.g. the sub-catchment

at Site 7, which is the sub-catchment with the most real time observed data. There can also

be issues regarding instability of the model whit to small cell-sizes.

Due to the relatively large impact the grid size had on the models ability to simulate

peak flows for the uphill rivers, it might not be recommended to use the MIKE-SHE

program for large catchments with steep hills and very small rivers. Especially if short

calibration times are desired the necessary grid size might become an issue. On flatter

areas, as in (Bosson, et al., 2010), a larger grid size seems to work a lot better, even for

large catchments. However, if the whole domain size is required some of the model

calibration data from SMHI is recommended to be replaced with real time measurements.

This would reduce some of the models insecurities since it is now partly calibrated against

already modeled data. Other improvements that can be considered in the future are also

that the composition of the glacial sediments in the area can be further studied.

The model could either be used in its current state or by incorporating some of the

suggested improvements discussed above for investigation of e.g. climate and transport

related questions. Although there are things to be considered before the model is used in

future work it is still a great first step in the characterization of the flow in the model area,

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43

and both the new knowledge about model itself and the new information regarding the

catchment, can be of a great importance in upcoming work.

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I

APPENDIX A – EVALUATION OF TEST A TO F

This section includes a general evaluation of the tests A-F. The evaluation also includes a

description of the unsaturated soil profile till.

Evaluation of the unsaturated zone setup of the till with focus on groundwater fluctuation as well as discharge

peak flows.

Te

st

A

Te

st

B

Te

st

C

Te

st

D

Te

st

E

Te

st

F

De

sc

rip

tio

n

De

pth

m.

H. C

on

.

De

pth

m.

H. C

on

.

De

pth

m.

H. C

on

.

De

pth

m.

H. C

on

.

De

pth

m.

H. C

on

.

De

pth

m.

H. C

on

.

Up

str

ea

m

un

sa

tura

ted

zo

ne

To

be

dro

ck

1e-6

To

be

dro

ck

1e-7

To

be

dro

ck

1e-8

0.5

1e-7

0.2

1e-7

0.1

1e-7

To

be

dro

ck

1e-6

To

be

dro

ck

1e-6

To

be

dro

ck

1e-6

Do

wn

str

eam

un

satu

rate

d

zo

ne

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-7

To b

edro

ck

1e-8

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

To b

edro

ck

1e-6

Gri

d

siz

e

(m)

200

200

200

200

200

200

Eff

ect

des

cri

pti

on

Gro

un

dw

ate

r

Flu

ctu

ati

on

s

Good

Very

Sm

all

Good

Good

Good

Good

Sp

rin

g f

loo

d

up

str

eam

Larg

e

Good

Reduced

Reduced

Slig

htly

Reduced

Good s

pring

flood

Peak f

low

s

su

mm

er

up

str

eam

No p

eak f

low

s

Very

sm

all

pe

ak

flow

s

Very

sm

all

pe

ak

flow

s

Very

sm

all

pe

ak

flow

s

Very

sm

all

pe

ak

flow

s

No p

eak f

low

s

Peak f

low

s a

nd

sp

rin

g

flo

od

do

wn

str

eam

Good p

eak flo

ws a

ll year

Good

peak f

low

s a

nd

reduced s

pring f

lood

Larg

e p

eak flo

ws a

nd

reduced s

pring f

lood

Good p

eak flo

ws a

ll year

Good p

eak flo

ws a

ll year

Good p

eak flo

ws a

ll year

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II

APPENDIX B – WATER BALANCE CHARTS

The water balance evaluations made in the calibration procedure (section 4.2) include

the water balance for test A, B, E, K, J and G. These are calculated for year 2013 in mm as

accumulated flow.

Water balance for test A. The grid size is 200*200m.

Water balance for test B. The grid size is 200*200m and the till soil profile consists completely of a fine till

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III

Water balance for test E. A

fine till is placed on top of the

till uphill site 7. The grid size

is 200*200m

Water balance for test K

and G. A very fine till is

placed on top of the till

uphill site 7. The grid size is

200*200m

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IV

Water balance for test J. A

very fine till is placed on top

of the till uphill site 7. The

grid size is 100*100m

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TRITA LWR Degree Project

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