The Peak Over Threshold Method (POT) was used as an alternative technique to the traditional analysis of annual discharge maxima of the Danube River. The POT method was applied to a time-series of daily discharge values covering a period of 60 years (1931-1990) at the following gauge stations: Achleiten, Kienstock, Wien, Bratislava and Nagymaros. The first part of the paper presents the use of the POT method and how it was applied to daily discharges. All mean daily discharges exceeding a defined threshold were considered in the POT analysis. Based on the POT waves independence criteria the maximum daily discharge data were selected. Two theoretical log-normal (LN) and Log-Pearson III (LP3) distributions were used to calculate the probability of exceeding annual maximum discharges. Performance of the POT method was compared to the theoretical distributions (LN, LP3). The influence of the data series length on the estimation of the N-year discharges by POT method was carried out too. Therefore, with regard to later regulations along the Danube channel bank the 40, 20 and 10-year time data series were chosen in early of the 60-year period and second analysed time data series were selected from the end of the 60-year period. Our results suggest that the POT method can provide adequate and comparable estimates of N-year discharges for more stations with short temporal coverage. and Príspevok sa zaoberá analýzou extrémnych hydrologických udalostí na Dunaji metódou Peak Over Threshold (POT). Metóda POT sa používa ako alternatíva určovania N-ročných prietokov k metóde ročných maxím pri analýzach extrémnych hydrologických udalostí. Pre výskyt vrcholových prietokov sa zvyčajne predpokladá Poissonova distribúcia. Základnými vstupnými údajmi pre štatistickú analýzu sú 60-ročné časové rady priemerných denných prietokov a 60-ročné rady maximálnych ročných prietokov v nami zvolených staniciach: Achleiten, Kienstock, Viedeň, Bratislava a Nagymaros - za obdobie 1931-1990. Extrémne hydrologické udalosti na Dunaji boli analyzované metódou POT, ktorá zahŕňa všetky maximálne denné prietoky povodní za dané obdobie, presahujúce zvolenú prahovú hodnotu. Na zostavenie teoretickej čiary prekročenia boli vybrané dve teoretické rozdelenia pravdepodobnosti: logaritmicko-normálne rozdelenie (LN) a Pearsonovo rozdelenie III. typu (LP III). Druhým cieľom príspevku bolo analyzovať vplyv zmeny dĺžky časového radu na odhad N-ročných prietokov. V práci boli 60-ročné časové rady údajov skrátené na 40, 20 a 10-ročné rady. V závere sme porovnali a zhodnotili získané výsledky štatistických odhadov N-ročných prietokov vo zvolených staniciach. Z výsledkov analýzy vyplýva, že metóda POT dáva pomerne dobré odhady N-ročných prietokov aj pre krátke časové rady údajov.
The main objective of this study is to develop a model procedure for predicting low flows for a large set of gauged basins located in the Rhine-Meuse area. The methodology is primarily based on the analysis of recession curves, river discharges being essentially provided by groundwater flow during drought period. Our objective is to use recession coefficients in order to calibrate base flow predictions coming out from a groundwater reservoir. Problems related to the temporal variability of recession coefficients are discussed. We come to the conclusion that lows flows prediction can be improved by implementing a new groundwater reservoir into the RR model based on our knowledge of low flow processes. and Jednou z požiadaviek Rámcovej smernice o vode (WFD, 2000/60/EC) je analýza trendov a dlhodobá predpoveď vývoja znečistenia povrchových tokov. Pri odhade vývoja znečistenia toku je potrebné brať do úvahy nielen možné zdroje znečistenia, ale je potrebné uvažovať aj s vývojom množstva vody v tokoch a so zvyšovaním teploty tokov v dôsledku očakávanej klimatickej zmeny a zmeny vo využívaní vodných zdrojov. V príspevku je analyzovaný vývoj mesačných koncentrácií vybraných ukazovateľov kvality vody v toku Dunaja v stanici Bratislava (napr. Chl-a, Ca, EC, SO4 2-, Cl- , O2, BSK5, N-celk, PO4-P, NO3-N, NO2-N a pod.) za obdobie r. 1991-2005. Za účelom dlhodobej predpovede koncentrácií každého ukazovateľa kvality vody sme na základe štatistických testov vybrali najlepší autoregresný Box-Jenkinsov model s dvoma regresormi: 1. prietokmi a 2. teplotami vody. Scenáre pre mesačné prietoky a mesačné teploty vody boli vytvorené pre tri stavy: i) priemerné podmienky - medián prietokov a teploty vody; ii) nízke prietoky a vysoké teploty vody; a iii) vysoké prietoky a nízke teploty vody. Tieto scenárové podmienky boli vypočítané z denných údajov z obdobia 1931-2005 ako percentily (1. percentil, medián, 99. percentil). Použijúc tieto scenáre sme vybranými Box-Jenkinsovými modelmi s dvoma regresormi simulovali extrémne mesačné hodnoty vybraných ukazovateľom kvality vody v Dunaji pre extrémne hydrologické a teplotné podmienky.
Inland waters are known to be laden with high levels of suspended particulate matter (SPM). Remotely sensed data have been shown to provide a true synoptic view of SPM over vast areas. However, as to date, there is no universal technique that would be capable of retrieving SPM concentrations without a complete reliance on time-consuming and costly ground measurements or a priori knowledge of inherent optical properties of water-borne constituents. The goal of this paper is to present a novel approach making use of the synergy found between the reflectance in the visual domain (~ 400-700 nm) with the near-infrared portion of the spectrum (~ 700-900 nm). The paper begins with a brief discourse of how the shape and spectral dependence of reflectance is determined by high concentrations of SPM. A modeled example is presented to mimic real-world conditions in fluvial systems, with specific absorption and scattering coefficients of the virtual optically active constituents taken from the literature. Using an optical model, we show that in the visual spectral domain (~ 400-700 nm) the water-leaving radiance responds to increasing SPM (0-100 g m-3) in a non-linear manner. Contrarily to the visual spectra, reflectance in the near infrared domain (~ 700-900 nm) appears to be almost linearly related to a broad range of SPM concentrations. To reduce the number of parameters, the reflectance function (optical model) was approximated with a previously experimentally verified exponential equation (Schiebe et al., 1992: Remote sensing of suspended sediments: the Lake Chicot, Arkansas project, Int. J. Remote Sensing, 13, 8, 1487-1509). The SPM term in Schiebe’s equation was expressed as a linear function of top-of-atmosphere reflectance. This made it possible to calibrate the reflectance in the visual domain by reflectance values from the near-IR portion of the spectrum. The possibility to retrieve SPM concentrations from only remote sensing data without any auxiliary ground mea-surements is tested on a Landsat ETM + scene acquired over a reservoir with moderately turbid water with SPM concentrations between 15-70 g m-3. The retrieved concentrations (on average) differ from in-situ measurement by ~ 10.5 g m-3. and Cieľom príspevku je prezentovať alternatívne spracovanie satelitných snímok na odhad koncentrácie suspendovaných sedimentov vo vodných útvaroch. Prvá časť článku sa venuje teórii a fyzikálnej podstate reflektancie a vplyvu prirodzene sa vyskytujúcich opticky aktívnych prvkov vo vode (suspendované sedimenty, pigmenty a rozpustené látky) na reflektanciu snímanú prostriedkami diaľkového prieskumu Zeme. Na modelovom príklade sme ukázali, že so zvyšovaním koncentrácie suspendovaných látok dochádza k saturácii signálu reflektancie.V druhej časti príspevku sme opísali spôsob využitia nelineárnosti vzťahu medzi reflektanciu vo viditeľnej časti (~ 400-700), a kvázi-linearitov v infračervenej časti (~ 700-900 nm) elektromegnetického spektra a koncentrácie suspendovaných sedimentov. Optimalizáciou tohto nelineárneho vzťahu sme odhadli koncentrácie suspendovaných sedimentov pre zdrž Hrušov pri Bratislave s RMSE 10.5 g m-3.
The ways how water from rain or melting snow flows over and beneath the Earth‘s surface affects the timing and intensity at which the same water leaves a catchment. Several mathematical techniques have been proposed to quantify the transit times of water by e.g. convolving the input-output tracer signals, or constructing frequency response functions. The primary assumption of these techniques is that the transit time is regarded time-invariant, i.e. it does not vary with temporarily changing e.g. soil saturation, evaporation, storage volume, climate or land use. This raises questions about how the variability of water transit time can be detected, visualized and analyzed. In this paper we present a case study to show that the transit time is a temporarily dynamic variable. Using a real-world example from the Lower Hafren catchment, Wales, UK, and applying the Continuous Wavelet Transform we show that the transit time distributions are time-variant and change with streamflow. We define the Instantaneous Transit Time Distributions as a basis for the Master Transit Time Distribution. We show that during periods of elevated runoff the transit times are exponentially distributed. A bell-shaped distribution of travel times was observed during times of lower runoff. This finding is consistent with previous investigations based on mechanistic and conceptual modeling in the study area according to which the diversity of water flow-paths during wet periods is attributable to contributing areas that shrink and expand depending on the duration of rainfall. The presented approach makes no assumptions about the shape of the transit time distribution. The mean travel time estimated from the Master Transit Time Distribution was ~54.3 weeks.