Modeling the Genetic Components of River Runoff for the Mozhaisk Reservoir Watershed

Abstract

The physically-based ECOMAG model of river runoff formation has been adapted to simulate the processes in the Mozhaisk Reservoir watershed. The main goal of the study was to correctly simulate the genetic components of the runoff considering the hydrochemical methods of identifying the water masses in calibrating the model parameters. To break down the runoff hydrograph by genetic components, a technique was applied, based on the chemical–statistical analysis of the composition of the water mass mixture. The many years’ runoff hydrographs from 3 gauging stations and hydrochemical data from which the genetic components of the river runoff have been determined were used to calibrate model parameters. A satisfactory agreement has been obtained between the runoff hydrographs from gauge stations and the hydrographs simulated by the model and obtained by analyzing hydrochemical data of the genetic components of the river water. The regularities of the annual distribution of the genetic runoff components have been analyzed and the genetic types of waters prevailing in different phases of water regime have been demonstrated. The proposed method of determining model parameters by hydrometric and hydrogeochemical data allows simulation of the behavior of the water sources and description of the spatial-temporal genetic structure of the river runoff.