Luisa HoppUniversity of Bayreuth · Chair of Hydrology
Luisa Hopp
Dr. rer. nat.
About
61
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Additional affiliations
January 2012 - present
January 2007 - December 2011
Publications
Publications (61)
Knowledge of the sources of surface water in riparian zones and floodplains is critical to understanding its role in runoff generation and impact on biogeochemical and ecological processes. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of integrated surface‐subsurface hydrologic modeling (HydroGeoSphere) in combination with a hydraulic mixing‐cell ap...
Understanding the controls on event-driven dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export is crucial as DOC is an important link between the terrestrial and the aquatic carbon cycles. We hypothesized that topography is a key driver of DOC export in headwater catchments because it influences hydrological connectivity, which can inhibit or facilitate DOC mobi...
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition in streams reflects the dynamic interplay between DOM sources, mobilization mechanisms, and biogeochemical transformations within soils and receiving water bodies. The information regarding DOM sources being mobilized during baseflow can improve our ability to predict hydrological and biogeochemical respon...
Environmental tracers have been used to separate streamflow components for many years. They allow to quantify the contribution of water originating from different sources such as direct runoff from precipitation, subsurface stormflow or groundwater to total streamflow at variable flow conditions. Although previous studies have explored the value of...
Understanding the controls on event-driven DOC export is crucial, as DOC is an important link between the terrestrial and the aquatic carbon cycles. We hypothesize that topography is a key driver of DOC export because it influences hydrologic connectivity, which can inhibit or facilitate DOC mobilization. To test this we studied the mechanisms cont...
Understanding water sources for crop water uptake in agricultural and agroforestry systems is an essential step to develop more efficient and sustainable water management strategies, which is increasingly important in the light of current world population growth, changing climatic conditions and consequent growing pressures on agricultural- and agr...
In this study, we explored the spatio-temporal variability of surface saturation within a forested headwater catchment using a combined simulation–observation approach. We simulated the occurrence of surface saturation in the Weierbach catchment (Luxembourg) with the physically based model HydroGeoSphere. We confronted the simulation with thermal i...
The occurrence of preferential flow in the subsurface has often been shown in field experiments. However, preferential flow is rarely included in models simulating the hydrological response at the catchment scale. If it is considered, preferential flow parameters are typically determined at the plot scale and then transferred to larger‐scale simula...
The occurrence of preferential flow in the subsurface has often been shown in field experiments. However, preferential flow is rarely included in models simulating the hydrological response at the catchment scale. If it is considered, preferential flow parameters are typically determined at the plot scale and then transferred to larger‐scale simula...
The inundation of flood-prone areas varies in space and time and can have crucial impacts on runoff generation and water quality when the surface saturated areas become connected to the stream. In this study, we aimed to investigate and explain the variability of surface saturation patterns and dynamics within a forested headwater catchment. On the...
Despite ubiquitous field observations of nonuniform flow processes, preferential flow paths are rarely considered in hydrological models, especially at catchment scale. In this study, we investigated the extent to which plot-scale observations of preferential flow paths are informative for rainfall–runoff simulations at larger scales. We used data...
In this commentary, we summarize and build upon discussions that emerged during the workshop "Isotope-based studies of water partitioning and plant-soil interactions in forested and agricultural environments" held in San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Italy, in September 2017. Quantifying and understanding how water cycles through the Earth's critical zo...
In this commentary, we build on discussions that emerged during the workshop "Isotope-based studies of water partitioning and plant-soil interactions in forested and agricultural environments" held in San Casciano Val di Pesa, Italy, in September 2017. Quantifying and understanding how water cycles through the Earth's critical zone is important to...
Subsurface Stormflow (SSF) is a well-recognized and important
runoff generation process in mountainous catchments in humid
climates. Generally Subsurface Stormflow develops in vertical
structured soils where the bedrock or a less permeable soil layer
is overlaid by a permeable soil layer and vertical percolating water
is deflected more or less in a...
The highly dynamic processes within a hillslope-riparian-stream (HRS) continuum are known to affect streamflow generation, but are yet not fully understood. Within this study, we simulated a headwater HRS continuum in western Luxembourg with an integrated hydrologic surface subsurface model (HydroGeoSphere). The model was set up with thorough consi...
In hydrological models, variably saturated flow is often described using the Richards equation, either in a fully three-dimensional (3D) implementation or using a quasi-3D framework based on the 1D Richards equation for vertical flow and a flow-approximation for the other two dimensions. However, it is unclear in which configuration or under which...
The climate of South Korea is strongly influenced by the East Asian summer monsoon. It is hypothesized that the high precipitation regime of the summer monsoon causes significant changes in the hydrological behaviour of forested catchments, namely in water quantity, quality and flow paths. We conducted high frequency hydrometric, isotopic, hydroche...
The climate of South Korea is strongly influenced by the East Asian summer monsoon. It is hypothesized that the high precipitation regime of the summer monsoon causes significant changes in the hydrological behaviour of forested catchments, namely in water quantity, quality and flow paths. We conducted high frequency hydrometric, isotopic, hydroche...
Throughfall was measured in a 500 m2 plot on a forested hillslope dominated by beech and chestnut trees in the Italian pre-Alps using two types of throughfall collectors: buckets and rain gauges. The collectors differed in size, number and spatial arrangement. The results show that despite the order of magnitude difference in the area covered by th...
INTRODUCTION
It is generally accepted that human well-being depends mainly on ecosystem services, which are defined as “the benefits people obtain from ecosystems” (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). In South Korea, the provision of freshwater from the Soyang reservoir is a highly valued ecosystem service by a significant percentage of the pop...
In South Korea, water yield is an important aspect of the ecosystem services provided by the Soyang Reservoir to the population. Water yield of the Soyang Reservoir is tightly linked to water discharge of the forested catchments covering 85 per cent of the Soyang Watershed area. There is a lack of knowledge on the sources, paths and timing of water...
Information on the main drivers of subsurface flow generation on hillslopes of alpine headwater catchments is still missing. Therefore, the dominant factors controlling the water table response to precipitation at the hillslope scale in the alpine Bridge Creek Catchment, Northern Italy, were investigated. Two steep hillslopes of similar size, soil...
Improving the understanding of the controls on subsurface stormflow generation has been the goal of numerous experimental and modeling studies. However, the effect of the spatial variability of throughfall on soil moisture patterns and subsurface stormflow (SSF) generation has not yet been studied in detail. The objectives of this study are three-f...
This paper explores the effect of hillslope hydrological behavior on slope stability in the context of transient subsurface saturation development and landslide triggering. We perform a series of virtual experiments to address how subsurface topography affects the location and spatial pattern of slip surface development and pore pressure dynamics....
Water discharge is an important aspect of the ecosystem services provided by the Soyang Lake to the South Korean population. The water discharge of the lake is tightly linked to the water discharge of the forested catchments covering 85% of the Soyang Watershed area. The general objective of this project is to quantify the annual variability of wat...
The provision of water from the Soyang Reservoir is a highly valued ecosystem service by a
significant percentage of the South Korean population. In order to maintain the benefits
obtained from this service, sufficient levels of water quality and water yield must be
sustained. Nutrient elements have a strong influence on the Reservoir water quality...
The ecohydrological controls on soil erosion and landscape evolution are difficult to quantify and poorly understood. In many parts of the world, cyclone-induced tree throw is a major source of disturbance. Tree throw may increase sediment transport by exposing a mound of fresh soil as well as providing a pit which may act as a knickpoint triggerin...
A better understanding of the controls on subsurface stormflow
generation has been the focus of numerous experimental and modelling
studies. However, the effect of the spatial variability of throughfall
on soil moisture patterns and subsurface stormflow (SSF) generation has
not yet been studied in detail. The objectives of this study are
three-fold...
It is well known that riparian zones are important natural filters at
the interface between terrestrial and aquatic environments. In
agricultural watersheds the use of riparian buffers to reduce nitrate
concentrations has been widely promoted and the usual metric for
assessing nitrate removal is buffer width. Generally, high organic
matter and anae...
On a first order, low relief, forested watershed at the Savannah River
Site (SRS) in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina, we are
monitoring soil moisture, shallow piezometric behavior, interflow,
groundwater dynamics, and streamflow to identify critical flow pathways,
characterize system behavior, and parameterize distributed hydrologic
model...
The effect of throughfall input patterns on the hydrological response of forested hillslopes is not well understood. While field studies have contributed to our understanding of subsurface stormflow generation at the hillslope scale, such work is still of limited value because of the small number of places and events that have been characterized to...
The performance of cover systems over waste rock piles in humid, temperate regions (i.e., where annual precipitation > annual potential evapotranspiration) is likely to be defined largely by their ability to shed water laterally within the cover. Lateral flow processes in this context are still poorly understood. Here we present a field and modelin...
In many regions of the world tree throw occurs as a result of storms. The fall of a tree usually produces a pit where the tree roots and surrounding soil are removed and a mound of dumped soil placed adjacent to the pit. This pit-mound topography has the potential to increase sediment transport and also be a point of incision for the commencement o...
It has been shown that the spatial pattern of soil depth is important for determining the hydrological response of a hillslope or catchment to storm events. This importance is due to the combined effect of differing water storage and the generation of the hydraulic routing surface. However, in general there is limited information available on soil...
Lateral subsurface stormflow at the hillslope scale has been shown as an important contributor to flow at transport in upland terrain. In low relief environments, lateral subsurface stormflow flow is often considered negligible and not considered in vadose zone flow and transport models. Here we test the null hypothesis that lateral subsurface stor...
There is still a debate in rainfall-runoff modeling over the advantage of using three-dimensional models based on partial differential equations describing variably saturated flow vs. models with simpler infiltration and flow routing algorithms. Fully explicit 3D models are computationally demanding but allow the representation of spatially complex...
The generation and behaviour of subsurface stormflow at the hillslope scale is still poorly understood. Interactions between the permeable soil and the less permeable bedrock can cause a high non-linearity in the subsurface flow and depend on several hillslope attributes like soil depth, slope angle, and bedrock permeability. Furthermore, also the...
Connectivity between landscape elements has been an important consideration in landscape ecology since at least the mid-1980s. In particular, the use of random landscapes to study the interaction between connectivity, landscape structure, and dispersal mechanisms has provided insight into metapopulation behavior and dynamics. More recently, the con...
Many studies have demonstrated links between vegetation water-use and streamflow at the headwater catchment scale which has led to the conceptual model of piston-like flow of water through a watershed and the assumption of complete mixing of water in the soil. Recent field experiments at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon, USA, however, h...
Recent studies have called for a new unifying hydrological theory at the hillslope and watershed scale, emphasizing the importance of coupled process understanding of the interactions between hydrology, ecology, pedology, geochemistry and geomorphology. The Biosphere 2 Hillslope Experiment is aimed at tackling this challenge and exploring how clima...
The links between soil water movement at the plot scale and runoff generation at the hillslope scale are highly non-linear and still not well understood. As such, a framework for the general characterization of hillslopes is still lacking. Here we present a number of virtual experiments with a 3D physically-based finite element model to systematica...
From several field experiments we know that the soil moisture distribution is highly heterogeneous on a hillslope, and also lateral subsurface flow appears to develop irregular flow paths along its way downslope. However, knowledge is still lacking on which processes are causing this spatial distribution. One of the possible explanations could be i...
This talk attempts to synthesize the current state of the art of hillslope hydrological processes understanding. We begin by presenting a number of hillslope case studies from a variety of steep, upland humid environments around the world to illustrate the various dominant behaviors of subsurface stormflow generation. After exposing the litany of f...
The partitioning of precipitation upon the land surface into
evaporation, transpiration, infiltration, recharge, runoff and stream
flow and subsequent controls on hydrologic storages and flow paths
remains an open research question. Experimental studies to date have
suffered from scale issues and uncertain boundary conditions. The
Biosphere 2 Exper...
Forested hillslopes exhibit a baffling array of heterogeneity in landscape properties and complexity of their responses to fixed hillslope attributes (e.g. slope, soil depth etc.) and temporally varying throughfall. One widely reported spatio-temporal pattern of hydrological response at the hillslope scale is the threshold nature of subsurface stor...
The complex and multi-scale patterns of watershed rainfall-runoff response are difficult to reproduce with current models and theory. Much of the work to date has focused on how surface topography can locate and predict key runoff features such as zones of saturation excess overland flow, zones of subsurface water collection or landscape-scale hydr...
This research combined the use of selective extractions and X-ray spectroscopyto examine the fate of As and Cr in a podzolic soil contaminated by chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Iron was enriched in the upper 30 cm due to a previous one-time treatment of the soil with Fe(II). High oxalate-soluble Al concentrations in the Bs horizon of the soil and...
The highly non-linear links between soil hydrology and runoff generation at the hillslope scale are poorly understood. As such, a framework for the general characterization of hillslopes is still lacking. While field studies have contributed to our understanding, such work is still of limited value because of the small number of places and events t...
Contamination of industrial sites by wood preservatives such as chromated copper arsenate (CCA) may pose a serious threat to groundwater quality. The objective of this study was to characterise the spatial variability of As and Cr concentrations in the solid phase and in the soil water at a former wood impregnation plant and to reveal the fundament...
In dieser Arbeit wird eine umfassende Charakterisierung von Mechanismen, die die Bindung und den Transport von Arsen und Chrom in einem durch den Eintrag von arsen- und chromhaltigen Holzschutzmitteln stark belasteten Boden kontrollieren, präsentiert. Der Einsatz vielfältiger Methoden erlaubte darüber hinaus eine Evaluierung von Versuchsansätzen zu...
Heavy metal contaminations in the top-soil layers can impose serious threats to groundwater quality. A seepage water prognosis of probable future contaminant entries at the groundwater surface has to take into account the emission characteristics of the source zone and the reactive transport of the contaminated leachate through the unsaturated zone...
The German Soil Protection Law prescribes in case of a supposed soil contamination - a prognosis of the quality and quantity of the water percolating through the unsaturated (vadose) zone into the groundwater. The methodology to accomplish this percolation water prognosis is not specified neither in the German Soil Protection Law, nor in the German...
The German Soil Protection Law (Bundesbodenschutzgesetz - BBodSchG, 1998) pre- scribes - in case of a supposed soil contamination - a prognosis of the quality and quan- tity of the water percolating through the unsaturated (vadose) zone into the groundwa- ter. The methodology to accomplish this percolation water prognosis is not specified neither i...
Forested hillslopes are subject to pronounced heterogeneity in landscape properties and complexity of their responses to fixed hillslope attributes (e.g. slope, soil depth etc.) and temporally varying throughfall. One widely reported spatio-temporal pattern of hydrological response at the hillslope scale is the threshold nature of subsurface stormf...
Projects
Project (1)
In this project we will combine thermal infrared imaging, stable isotope and hydrochemical tracer, and the 3-dimensional physically based hydrological model HydroGeoSphere to decipher water source and water flowpaths in the schistose forested Weiherbach headwater catchment in Luxembourg (0.45 sqkm). The catchment shows a strong bi-modal character in rainfall-runoff transformation between the dry and the wet season switching from a single peaked to a double peaked
hydrograph. The objective of this project is to better understand the controls on this behaviour and which water sources and flowpaths contribute to the different parts of the hydrograph. We will achieve this by a multi-data (groundwater, soil moisture, streamflow, saturation area extent) validated 3- dimensional physically based model. The model will be combined with a particle tracking scheme to model and validate isotope/hydrochemical results. Eventually this model will be applied in a virtual experiment approach to model water source and water flowpath under different forcings and antecedent conditions.
