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Evaluation of Variability of Watershed Hydrological Partitioning: The Case of Mormora River, South Eastern Ethiopia

Received: 1 September 2021     Accepted: 28 September 2021     Published: 12 October 2021
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Abstract

Water resources management in a watershed requires the quantification of the water potential. This is usually achieved by the estimation of the hydrological and meteorological characteristics of the watershed using observed data to carry out statistical estimates. Hydrological and meteorological data for the Mormora watershed were collected to analyze the hydrologic partitioning behavior of the watershed. The available data include a daily record of stream flow data from 1990 to 2007, a thirty years (1983-2012) monthly average precipitation at meteorological stations with in or near the watershed, and a 31 years (1981-2011) maximum and minimum temperature data at the same meteorological stations. The missed data of stream flow was in filled by simple regression method, and an outlier test, F-test, and T-test was computed for the data to check its quality. Necessary information about the geography of the area was obtained from LuLc, Soil, River, DEM, and climate map of Ethiopia, using ArcGIS software. Daily stream flow was converted to monthly scale and was partitioned to base flow and direct runoff using WHAT software. The maximum and minimum temperature data were used to estimate the potential evapotranspiration of the watershed using the 1985 Hargreaves equation. Average areal rainfall was estimated by Thiessen polygon method using ArcGIS software. Following these, the annual water balance of the watershed was analyzed using ‎water ‎balance ‎theory. The inter-annual variability of the water balance, and hydrologic indices were analyzed. The relationship between climate and landscape is also studied. The result shows that the Horton Index and Humidity Index of the watershed are relatively constant with a coefficient‎ of‎ variation, ‎Cv≤0.127.‎Finally‎conclusions‎are‎drawn,‎and‎the‎difficulties‎in‎ making hydrological and meteorological estimates in a watershed with little or no data are highlighted.

Published in Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science (Volume 10, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15
Page(s) 122-128
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Mormora River, Watershed, WHAT

References
[1] B. Rao, Sandeep, V. M., V. U. M. and B. Venkateswarlu, 2012. Potential Evapotranspiration estimation for Indian conditions; improving accuracy through calibration coefficients, All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Agro meteorology, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad. 60p.
[2] C. Yeung, 2005. Rainfall-runoff and water-balance models for management of the Fena Valley Reservoir, Guam: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5287, 52 p.
[3] D. Brooks, A. Troch, M. Durcik, E. Gallo and M. Schlegel, 2011. Quantifying regional scale ecosystem response to changes in precipitation, resources research, vol. 47, w00j08, doi: 10.1029/2010WR009762.
[4] E. R. Dahmen, M. J. Hall. (1990). Screening of hydrological data, International Institute for.
[5] Eckhardt, K. (2005). How to Construct Recursive Digital Filters for Base flow Separation,. 507-515.
[6] J. Charlier, R. Moussa, P. Cattan, Y. Cabidoche, and M. Voltz, 2009. Modeling Runoff at the plot scale taking into account rainfall partitioning by vegetation: application to stem flow of banana (Musa spp.) plant, Journal of Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. Accessed on April, 26, 2014, www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci-discuss.net.
[7] L. Erie, O. French, D. Bucks, and k. Harris, 1982. Consumptive use of water for major Crops in the southwestern United States, United State Department of Agriculture.
[8] M. Pidwirny, (2006). Actual and Potential Evapotranspiration, Fundamentals of Physical Geography, 2nd Edition, accessed on 13, Jun, 2014, http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/8j.html).
[9] M. Sivapalan, A. Mary, J. Ciaran, X. Xu and A. Troch, 2011. Functional model of water balance variability at the catchment scale: 1; Evidence of hydrologic similarity and space-time symmetry, Water resources research, VOL. 47, W02522, doi: 10.1029/2010WR009568.
[10] S.‎ Maples,‎ Introduction‎ to ‎GIS‎ Mapping,‎ and‎ ESRI’s‎ Arc GIS‎ Software,‎ accessed‎on,‎ May‎ 26, 2014. www.library.yale.edu/maps.
[11] S. Tekleab, S. Uhlenbrook, Y. Mohamed, H. Savenije, M. Temesgen and J. Wenninger, 13 July 2011 Water balance modeling of Upper Blue Nile catchments using a top-down approach, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 2179–2193.
[12] T. Taffese, 2012. Physically based rainfall- runoff Modeling in the northern Ethiopian highlands: the case of Mizewa watershed, Water resource engineering, Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University.
[13] T. Wagener, C. Kelleher, F. Pianosi and B. McGlynn, 2014. Understanding hydrologic Partitioning: Combining mechanistic modeling with signature analysis to understand controls on hydrologic behavior in head water catchments, Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 16, EGU2014-10508.
[14] UNEP, 1997. Structural and institutional guidelines for land resources management in the 21st century, Jun, 18, 2014. http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/nr/images/resources.
[15] V. Ponce. (1995). A conceptual model of catchment water balance: Formulation. Journal of Hydrology, 27-40.
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  • APA Style

    Girma Kebebew Tufa, Ebbawak Saboka Megarsa. (2021). Evaluation of Variability of Watershed Hydrological Partitioning: The Case of Mormora River, South Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science, 10(5), 122-128. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15

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    ACS Style

    Girma Kebebew Tufa; Ebbawak Saboka Megarsa. Evaluation of Variability of Watershed Hydrological Partitioning: The Case of Mormora River, South Eastern Ethiopia. J. Water Resour. Ocean Sci. 2021, 10(5), 122-128. doi: 10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15

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    AMA Style

    Girma Kebebew Tufa, Ebbawak Saboka Megarsa. Evaluation of Variability of Watershed Hydrological Partitioning: The Case of Mormora River, South Eastern Ethiopia. J Water Resour Ocean Sci. 2021;10(5):122-128. doi: 10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15,
      author = {Girma Kebebew Tufa and Ebbawak Saboka Megarsa},
      title = {Evaluation of Variability of Watershed Hydrological Partitioning: The Case of Mormora River, South Eastern Ethiopia},
      journal = {Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science},
      volume = {10},
      number = {5},
      pages = {122-128},
      doi = {10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.wros.20211005.15},
      abstract = {Water resources management in a watershed requires the quantification of the water potential. This is usually achieved by the estimation of the hydrological and meteorological characteristics of the watershed using observed data to carry out statistical estimates. Hydrological and meteorological data for the Mormora watershed were collected to analyze the hydrologic partitioning behavior of the watershed. The available data include a daily record of stream flow data from 1990 to 2007, a thirty years (1983-2012) monthly average precipitation at meteorological stations with in or near the watershed, and a 31 years (1981-2011) maximum and minimum temperature data at the same meteorological stations. The missed data of stream flow was in filled by simple regression method, and an outlier test, F-test, and T-test was computed for the data to check its quality. Necessary information about the geography of the area was obtained from LuLc, Soil, River, DEM, and climate map of Ethiopia, using ArcGIS software. Daily stream flow was converted to monthly scale and was partitioned to base flow and direct runoff using WHAT software. The maximum and minimum temperature data were used to estimate the potential evapotranspiration of the watershed using the 1985 Hargreaves equation. Average areal rainfall was estimated by Thiessen polygon method using ArcGIS software. Following these, the annual water balance of the watershed was analyzed using ‎water ‎balance ‎theory. The inter-annual variability of the water balance, and hydrologic indices were analyzed. The relationship between climate and landscape is also studied. The result shows that the Horton Index and Humidity Index of the watershed are relatively constant with a coefficient‎ of‎ variation, ‎Cv≤0.127.‎Finally‎conclusions‎are‎drawn,‎and‎the‎difficulties‎in‎ making hydrological and meteorological estimates in a watershed with little or no data are highlighted.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Evaluation of Variability of Watershed Hydrological Partitioning: The Case of Mormora River, South Eastern Ethiopia
    AU  - Girma Kebebew Tufa
    AU  - Ebbawak Saboka Megarsa
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15
    T2  - Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science
    JF  - Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science
    JO  - Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science
    SP  - 122
    EP  - 128
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7993
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wros.20211005.15
    AB  - Water resources management in a watershed requires the quantification of the water potential. This is usually achieved by the estimation of the hydrological and meteorological characteristics of the watershed using observed data to carry out statistical estimates. Hydrological and meteorological data for the Mormora watershed were collected to analyze the hydrologic partitioning behavior of the watershed. The available data include a daily record of stream flow data from 1990 to 2007, a thirty years (1983-2012) monthly average precipitation at meteorological stations with in or near the watershed, and a 31 years (1981-2011) maximum and minimum temperature data at the same meteorological stations. The missed data of stream flow was in filled by simple regression method, and an outlier test, F-test, and T-test was computed for the data to check its quality. Necessary information about the geography of the area was obtained from LuLc, Soil, River, DEM, and climate map of Ethiopia, using ArcGIS software. Daily stream flow was converted to monthly scale and was partitioned to base flow and direct runoff using WHAT software. The maximum and minimum temperature data were used to estimate the potential evapotranspiration of the watershed using the 1985 Hargreaves equation. Average areal rainfall was estimated by Thiessen polygon method using ArcGIS software. Following these, the annual water balance of the watershed was analyzed using ‎water ‎balance ‎theory. The inter-annual variability of the water balance, and hydrologic indices were analyzed. The relationship between climate and landscape is also studied. The result shows that the Horton Index and Humidity Index of the watershed are relatively constant with a coefficient‎ of‎ variation, ‎Cv≤0.127.‎Finally‎conclusions‎are‎drawn,‎and‎the‎difficulties‎in‎ making hydrological and meteorological estimates in a watershed with little or no data are highlighted.
    VL  - 10
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, Arba Minch Water Technology Institute, Arba Minch, Ethiopia

  • Faculty of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering, Arba Minch Water Technology Institute, Arba Minch, Ethiopia

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