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Investigation of the Mekong River basin hydrology for 1980–2000 using the YHyM
Author(s) -
Hapuarachchi Hapu Arachchige Prasantha,
Takeuchi Kuniyoshi,
Zhou Maichun,
Kiem Anthony Stuart,
Georgievski Mikhail,
Magome Jun,
Ishidaira Hiroshi
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.6934
Subject(s) - hydrology (agriculture) , evapotranspiration , surface runoff , precipitation , structural basin , drainage basin , environmental science , streamflow , mekong river , geology , geography , meteorology , ecology , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , biology
This study investigates the Mekong River basin hydrology for the 1980–2000 period using a grid‐based distributed hydrological model called Yamanashi Hydrological Model (YHyM). The performance of the model is evaluated using data observed at different locations and the results justify the physical soundness of the model. The seasonal variations of climatic and hydrological characteristics of the basin such as soil moisture, ground water saturation deficit, runoff, precipitation, evapotranspiration, etc. are analysed. On the basis of the simulated results, it is noticeable that there is no significant trend in the precipitation, discharge, or soil moisture state of the basin during the simulated period, though there are some seasonal variations which seem to be natural. However the analysis on the precipitation elasticity ( E ) of the river flow shows that the E values for all sub‐basins are greater than unity, which indicates that x % change in annual precipitation can cause > x % change in annual river flow. Further the basin hydrological responses are analysed for a long term synthetically‐induced drought the results of which show the significance of the base flow of the Mekong River basin. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.