Water Balance And Climate Change

(Model tools: GROWA, mGROWA)

The empirical water balance model GROWA (Kunkel & Wendland, 2002, Tetzlaff et al., 2015) has been developed for modelling water balance components in large catchment areas or regions. GROWA displays a high spatial resolution (e.g. 100m x 100m and even higher) and account for the following water balance components:

• Total runoff
• Surface runoff
• Leachate rate
• Drainage runoff
• Natural Interflow
• Groundwater recharge

Moreover, runoff components calculated by GROWA are used as boundary conditions for the analysis of diffuse nutrient pollution at the river basin scale (e.g. Wendland et al., 2009; Tetzlaff et al., 2012; Kunkel et al., 2014).

In order to analyse climate change impacts on groundwater resources or drought severity, GROWA-model has been further developed to the water balance model mGROWA (Herrmann et al., 2013). mGROWA simulates water balance components on a daily basis and takes temporally and spatially highly resolved soil moisture dynamics into account. mGROWA model applications include ensemble simulations of different regional climate models (e.g. WETTREG, REMO, etc.) in order to account for different emission scenarios and to reduce uncertainty in the mGROWA model predeictions and the assessment of the current and possible future influence of groundwater-based irrigation on groundwater resources.

Knowledge transfer and outreach:

GROWA and mGROWA model results are used in the framework of the quantitative status assessment according to the requirements of the EU-WFD (2000) and the EU-Groundwater Directive (EU-GWD, 2008) in State Agencies of the Federal German States Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen. GROWA model has been transferred to the Environment Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (EAS). There, it is applied for various groundwater management related issues on European, national and regional level.

Key research projects:

Key publications:

• Frank Herrmann, Klaus Keuler, Tim Wolters, Sabine Bergmann, Michael Eisele, Frank Wendland (2020): Mit der Modellkette RCP-GCM-RCM-mGROWA projizierte Grundwasser-neubildung als Datenbasis für zukünftiges Grundwassermanagement in Nordrhein-Westfalen.- Grundwasser (akzeptiert)
• Kreins, Peter; Henseler, Martin; Anter, Jano; Herrmann, Frank; Wendland, Frank (2018): Simulating the regional agricultural irrigation demand in a North-Western German landscape. In: Sychev, Viktor G.; Mueller, Lothar (Hrsg.): Novel methods and results of landscape research in Europe, Central Asia and Siberia. Vol. 5. Landscape planning, management and rehabilitation. Moskau : Publishing House FSBSI “Pryanishnikov Institute of Agrochemistry”, 2018, S. 120-123. DOI 10.25680/3438.2018.69.18.371
• Pisinaras, V., A. Panagopoulos, F. Herrmann, H.R. Bogena, C. Doulgeris, A. Ilias,E. Tziritis, and F. Wendland. (2018): Hydrologic and geochemical research at Pinios Hydrologic Observatory: Initial results. Vadose Zone J.17:180102.DOI:10.2136/vzj2018.05.0102
• Arampatzis G., Panagopoulos A., Pisinaras V., Tziritis E., Wendland F. (2018): Identifying potential effects of climate change on the development of water resources in Pinios River Basin, central Greece.- Applied Water Science (2018) 8: 51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-018-0690-1
• Frank Herrmann, Lena Hübsch, Jörg Elbracht, Nicole Engel, Luise Keller, Ralf Kunkel, Udo Müller, Herbert Röhm, Harry Vereecken, Frank Wendland (2017): Mögliche Auswirkungen von Klimaänderungen auf die Grundwasserneubildung in Niedersachsen.- Hydrologie und Wasserbewirtschaftung 61. 2017, H.4, 244-260.
• Ambe Emmanuel Cheoa, Hans-Jürgen Voigt, Frank Wendland (2017): Modeling groundwater recharge through rainfall in the Far-North region of Cameroon.- Groundwater for Sustainable Development 5 (2017) 118–130.
• Herrmann, F., Kunkel, R., Ostermann, U., Vereecken, H. & Wendland, F.: Projected impact of climate change on irrigation needs and groundwater resources in the metropolitan area of Hamburg (Germany).- Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:1104 DOI: 10.1007/s12665-016-5904-y
• Herrmann, F., Keller, L., Kunkel, R., Vereecken, H. & Wendland, F. (2015): Determination of spatially differentiated water balance components including groundwater recharge on the Federal State level – A case study using the mGROWA model in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany).- Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 294-312.
• Herrmann, F., Baghdadi, N., Blaschek, M., Deidda, R., Duttmann, R., La Jeunesse e, I., Sellami, H., Vereecken, H., Wendland, F (2015): Simulation of future groundwater recharge using a climate model ensemble and SAR-image based soil parameter distributions — A case study in an intensively-used Mediterranean catchment.- Sci. Total Environ.-http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.036.
• Ehlers, L., Herrmann, F., Blaschek, M., Wendland, F. & Duttmann, R. (2015): Sensitivity of mGROWA-simulated groundwater recharge to changes in soil and land use parameters in a Mediterranean environment and conclusions in view of ensemble-based climate impact simulations. Sci. Total Environ. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv. 2015.04.122
• Kreins, P., Henseler, M., Anter, J., Herrmann, F., Wendland, F. (2015): Quantification of Climate Change Impact on Regional Agricultural Irrigation and Groundwater Demand.- Water Resources Management, Volume 29, Issue 10, pp 3585-3600.
• Panagopoulos, A., Arampatzis, G., Kuhr, P., Kunkel, R., Tziritis, E. & Wendland, F. (2015): Area-differentiated modeling of water balance in Pinios Basin, central Greece.- Global Nest.- Vol. 17.
• Tetzlaff, B., Andjelov, M., Kuhr, P., Uhan, J. u. Wendland, F. (2015): Model-based assessment of groundwater recharge in Slovenia.- Environmental Earth Sciences, 74, 6177–6192, DOI: 10.1007/s12665-015-4639-5.
• Panagopoulos, A., Arampatzis, G., Tziritis, E., Pisinaras, V., Herrmann, F., Kunkel, R. & Wendland, F. (2014): Assessment of climate change impact in the hydrological regime of River Pinios Basin, central Greece.- Desalination and Water Treatment. DOI: 10.1080/19443994.2014.984926.
• Herrmann, F., Wendland, F., Hübsch, L., Müller, U. (2014): Auswirkung von möglichen Klimaänderungen auf die Grundwasserneubildung in der Metropolregion Hamburg. energie | wasser-praxis. 6/2014: S. 34f
• Herrmann, F., Chen, S., Hübsch, L., Engel, N., Kunkel, R., Müller, U., Vereecken, H., Wendland, F. (2014): Auswirkung von möglichen Klimaänderungen auf den Bodenwasserhaushalt und die Grundwasserneubildung in der Metropolregion Hamburg. In: Kaden, S., Dietrich, O. Theobald, S. (Hrsg.). Wassermanagement im Klimawandel – Möglichkeiten und Grenzen von Anpassungsmaßnahmen. oekom Verlag.
• Herrmann, F., Chen, S., Heidt, L., Elbracht, J., Engel, N., Kunkel, R., Müller, U., Röhm, H., Vereecken, H. & Wendland, F. (2013): Zeitlich und räumlich hochaufgelöste flächendifferenzierte Simulation des Landschaftswasserhaushalts in Niedersachsen mit dem Model mGROWA. Hydrologie und Wasserbewirtschaftung, 57(5): 206-224.
• Herrmann, F., Jahnke, C., Jenn, F., Kunkel, R., Voigt, H-J., Voigt, J. & Wendland, F. (2009): Groundwater recharge rates for regional groundwater modelling: a case study using GROWA in the Lower Rhine lignite mining area, Germany.- Hydrogeology Journal, 8, 2049 – 2060
• Montzka, C., M. Canty, R. Kunkel, G. Menz, H. Vereecken & F. Wendland (2008): Modelling the water balance of a mesoscale catchment basin using remotely sensed land cover data. Journal of Hydrology, 353 (3-4), 322-334.
• Kunkel, R., H. Bogena, B. Tetzlaff & F. Wendland (2006): Digitale Grundwasserneubildungskarte von Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hamburg und Bremen: Erstellung und Auswertungsbeispiele. Hydrologie und Wasserbewirtschaftung, 50, 212-219.
• Bogena, H., R. Kunkel, T. Schobel, H. P. Schrey & E. Wendland (2005): Distributed modeling of groundwater recharge at the macroscale. Ecological Modelling, 187, 15-26.
• Bogena, H., R. Kunkel, C. Montzka & F. Wendland (2005): Uncertainties in the simulation of groundwater recharge at different scales. Advances in Geosciences, 5, 1-6.
• Tetzlaff, B., Kunkel, R., Taugs, R. u. Wendland, F. (2004): Grundlagen für eine nachhaltige Bewirtschaftung von Grundwasserressourcen in der Metropolregion Hamburg.- Forschungszentrum Jülich, Reihe Umwelt/Environment, Bd. 46, Jülich, 87 S.
• Tetzlaff, B., G. Dörhöfer, R. Kunkel & F. Wendland (2003): GIS-gestützte Ermittlung der Grundwasserneubildung in Niedersachsen. Wasser und Boden, 7/8, 53-57.
• Wendland, F., Kunkel, R. Tetzlaff, B. & Dorhofer, G. (2003): GIS-based determination of the mean long-term groundwater recharge in Lower Saxony. Environmental Geology, 45, 273-278.
• Kunkel, R. & F. Wendland (2002): The GROWA98 model for water balance analysis in large river basins - the river Elbe case study. Journal of Hydrology, 259, 152-162.
• de Wit, M., C. Meinardi, F. Wendland & R. Kunkel (2000): Modelling water fluxes for the analysis of diffuse pollution at the river basin scale. Hydrological Processes, 14, 1707-1723.
• Wendland, F. & Kunkel, R. (1999): Der Landschaftswasserhaushalt im Elbeeinzugsgebiet (Deutscher Teil). Hydrologie und Wasserbewirtschaftung, 43, 226-233.