This study investigated the added value of different data for calibrating a runoff model for small basins. The analysis was performed in the 66 ha Hydrological Open Air Laboratory, in Austria. An Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV) type, spatially lumped hydrologic model was parameterized following two approaches. First, the model was calibrated using only runoff data. Second, a step‐by‐step approach was followed, where the modules of the model (snow, soil moisture, and runoff generation) were calibrated using measurements of runoff and model state variables and output fluxes. These measurements comprised laser‐based measurements of precipitation, satellite and camera observations of snow, ultrasonic measurements of snow depth, eddy covariance measurements of evapotranspiration, time domain transmissometry‐based soil moisture measurements, time‐lapse photography of overland flow, and groundwater level measurements by piezometers. The two model parameterizations were evaluated on annual, seasonal, and daily time scales, in terms of how well they simulated snow, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, overland flow, storage change in the saturated zone, and runoff. Using the proposed step‐by‐step approach, the relative runoff volume errors in the calibration and validation periods were 0.00 and −0.01, the monthly Pearson correlation coefficients were 0.92 and 0.82, and the daily logarithmic Nash Sutcliffe efficiencies were 0.59 and 0.18, respectively. By using different sources of data besides runoff, the overall process consistency improved, compared to the case when only runoff was used for calibration. Soil moisture and evapotranspiration observations had the largest influence on simulated runoff, while the parameterization of the snow and runoff generation modules had a smaller influence.

The objective of this study was to understand whether spatial differences in runoff generation mechanisms affect the magnitudes of diurnal streamflow fluctuations during low flow periods and which part of the catchment induces the diurnal streamflow signal. The spatiotemporal variability of the streamflow fluctuations observed at 12 locations in the 66‐ha Hydrological Open Air Laboratory experimental catchment in Austria was explained by differences in the vegetation cover and runoff generation mechanisms. Almost a quarter of the volume associated with diurnal streamflow fluctuations at the catchment outlet was explained by transpiration from vegetation along the tributaries; more than three quarters was due to transpiration by the riparian forest along the main stream. The lag times between radiative forcing and evapotranspiration estimated by a solar radiation‐driven model increased from 3 to 11 hr from spring to autumn. The recession time scales increased from 21 days in spring to 54 days in autumn. Observations and model simulations suggest that a separation of scales in transpiration effects on low flows exists both in time and space; that is, the diurnal streamflow fluctuations are induced by transpiration from the riparian vegetation, while most of the catchment evapotranspiration, such as evapotranspiration from the crop fields further away from the stream, do not influence the diurnal signal in streamflow.

In summertime and during heat events the urban heat island can negatively impact human health in urban areas. In the context of climate change, climate adaptation receives more attention in urban planning. Microscale urban climate modelling can identify risk areas and evaluate adaptation strategies. Concurrently, evaluating the model results with observational data is essential. So far, model evaluation is mostly limited to short-term field campaigns or a small number of stations. This study uses novel crowdsourcing data from Netatmo citizen weather stations (CWS) to evaluate the urban microscale model PALM for a hot day (T_max ≥ 30°C) in Bochum in western Germany with anticyclonic atmospheric conditions. Urban-rural air temperature differences are represented by the model. A quality control procedure is applied to the crowdsourced data prior to evaluation. The comparison between the model and the crowdsourced air temperature data reveals a good model performance with a high coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.86 to 0.88 and a root mean squared error (RMSE) around 2 K. Model accuracy shows a temporal pattern and night-time air temperatures during the night are underestimated by the model, likely due to unresolved cloud cover. The crowdsourced air temperature data proved valuable for model evaluation due to the high number of stations within urban areas. Nevertheless, weaknesses related to data quality such as radiation errors must be considered during model evaluation and only the information derived from multiple stations is suitable for model evaluation. The procedure presented here can easily be transferred to planning processes as the model and the crowdsourced air temperature data are freely available. This can contribute to making informed decisions for climate adaptation in urban areas.

Keywords: Cultural Heritage, GIS, Three-dimensional, Virtual Globe, Web based Inspired by the visionary idea of Digital Earth, as well as from the tremendous improvements in geo-technologies, use of virtual globes has been changing the way people approach to geographic information on the Web. Unlike the traditional 2D-visualization typical of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), virtual globes offer multi-dimensional, fully-realistic content visualization which allows for a much richer user experience. This research investigates the potential for using virtual globes to foster tourism and enhance cultural heritage. The paper first outlines the state of the art for existing virtual globes, pointing out some possible categorizations according to license type, platform-dependence, application type, default layers, functionalities and freedom of customization. Based on this analysis, the NASA World Wind virtual globe is the preferred tool for promoting tourism and cultural heritage. This is because its open source nature allows unlimited customization (in terms of both data and functionalities), and its Java core supports platform-independence. Relevant tourism-oriented World Wind-based applications, dealing with both the Web promotion of historical cartography and the setup of a participatory Web platform exploiting crowd-sourced data, are described. Finally, the paper presents a project focusing on the promotion of the Via Regina area (crossing the border between Italy and Switzerland) through an ad hoc World Wind customization. World Wind can thus be considered an ideal virtual globe for tourism applications, as it can be shaped to increase awareness of cultural history and, in turn, enhance touristic experience.

Measuring evaporation and transpiration at the field scale is complicated due to the heterogeneity of the environment, with point measurements requiring upscaling and field measurements such as eddy covariance measuring only the evapotranspiration. During the summer of 2014 an eddy covariance device was used to measure the evapotranspiration of a growing maize field at the HOAL catchment. The stable isotope technique and a Lagrangian near field theory (LNF) were then utilized to partition the evapotranspiration into evaporation and transpiration, using the concentration and isotopic ratio of water vapour within the canopy. The stable isotope estimates of the daily averages of the fraction of evapotranspiration (Ft) ranged from 43.0–88.5%, with an average value of 67.5%, while with the LNF method, Ft was found to range from 52.3–91.5% with an average value of 73.5%. Two different parameterizations for the turbulent statistics were used, with both giving similar R ² values, 0.65 and 0.63 for the Raupach and Leuning parameterizations, with the Raupach version performing slightly better. The stable isotope method demonstrated itself to be a more robust method, returning larger amounts of useable data, however this is limited by the requirement of much more additional data.

Knowledge of the evaporation (E) and transpiration (T) components of evapotranspiration (ET) is important for ecohydrological modeling and agricultural productivity. The stable-isotope method offers the possibility to partition E and T due to the distinct differences in the isotopic signals of the sources. In this study, the concentration and isotopic ratios for oxygen-18 (¹⁸O) of water vapor in the ecosystem boundary layer of a growing maize field at the Hydrological Open Air Laboratory (HOAL) catchment in Austria were measured using a high-frequency field-sampling device. In conjunction with isotope samples from the soil and maize plants, these data were used to partition ET using the Keeling plot technique. Eddy covariance and sap flow measurements were used to provide a comparison to test the stable-isotope method. The fraction of transpiration (Ft) calculated with the stable-isotope method showed good agreement with the sap flow method. Overall daily average values of Ft were in a range from 43.0 to 88.5% with T accounting for an average value of 67.5% of the evapotranspiration over the nine days of the experimental period. Following a precipitation event of 9.7 mm, Ft increased from 63.4 to 88.5% over the next four days as the upper layer of the soil dried out while the plants accessed deeper soil water.