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Water resources of the Black Sea Basin at high spatial and temporal resolution
Author(s) -
Rouholahnejad Elham,
Abbaspour Karim C.,
Srinivasan Raghvan,
Bacu Victor,
Lehmann Anthony
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1002/2013wr014132
Subject(s) - environmental science , water resources , groundwater recharge , hydrology (agriculture) , evapotranspiration , water quality , water cycle , aquifer , water resource management , groundwater , geology , ecology , geotechnical engineering , biology
The pressure on water resources, deteriorating water quality, and uncertainties associated with the climate change create an environment of conflict in large and complex river system. The Black Sea Basin (BSB), in particular, suffers from ecological unsustainability and inadequate resource management leading to severe environmental, social, and economical problems. To better tackle the future challenges, we used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model the hydrology of the BSB coupling water quantity, water quality, and crop yield components. The hydrological model of the BSB was calibrated and validated considering sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. River discharges, nitrate loads, and crop yields were used to calibrate the model. Employing grid technology improved calibration computation time by more than an order of magnitude. We calculated components of water resources such as river discharge, infiltration, aquifer recharge, soil moisture, and actual and potential evapotranspiration. Furthermore, available water resources were calculated at subbasin spatial and monthly temporal levels. Within this framework, a comprehensive database of the BSB was created to fill the existing gaps in water resources data in the region. In this paper, we discuss the challenges of building a large‐scale model in fine spatial and temporal detail. This study provides the basis for further research on the impacts of climate and land use change on water resources in the BSB.