Download or read book Model Signatures and Aridity Indices Enhance the Accuracy of Water Balance Estimations in a Data-scarce Eastern Mediterranean Catchment written by Anne Gunkel and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Study region:Wadi Faria catchment, PalestineStudy focus: The upper part of the Faria catchment (139 km2) is a typical semi-arid karstcatchment in the Eastern Mediterranean, where, up to recently, data availability has hin-dered the accurate assessment of renewable water resources. Newly available six-yeartime-series of rainfall and runoff data, combined with thorough field campaigns, enabledthe application of the distributed TRAIN-ZIN watershed model. The model was constrainedusing seven hydrological signatures derived from the available time-series. New hydrological insights for the region: We found that the mean annual actual evapotranspi-ration was about 70% of precipitation, recharge was about 30% and natural runoff (excludingbaseflow) 1%. Aggregated model results also supported aridity indicators that show thepresence of Infiltration Excess (Hortonian) Overland Flow, as well as the importance ofindirect groundwater recharge and evaporation from soil during dry months. In total, max-imum annual water availability was of the same order of magnitude as actual demandestimates (23 MCM). However, high spatial and inter-annual variability, and the presenceof karst features suggest that water resources in the region are highly vulnerable