Towards a pan-european integrated groundwater and surface water model: Development and applications

Abstract

During the last years, we have developed a model, which is able to simulate hydrological processes at a Pan-European scale. The model has multiple possible uses, including flood forecasting, identification of groundwater recharge / discharge zones and large-scale water resources management. The integrated model is based on the LISFLOOD model, which simulates hydrological processes with a focus on snow and soil hydrology and streamflow routing. The area of interest is the full European continent, divided in 5 × 5 km cells. A conceptual 2D MODFLOW model was linked to improve groundwater simulation. With this coupling, it is now possible to simulate the water exchanges between adjacent cells, and between groundwater and river. Available meteorological data from 1-1-1990 to 31-10-2014 were used as input for the coupled model, together with values of aquifer properties derived from literature. We used observed data of recharge, discharge and hydraulic heads from the Danube river basin to check if the model results correspond to reality. The results show a reasonably high degree of agreement between observed and simulated data, taking into account the limitations of large scale modelling. This model is the first step to improve integrated groundwater and surface water modelling which includes the collection of data and the production of Pan-European groundwater parameter maps.