Assessment of the Effects of Climate Variability and Land-Use Changes on the Hydrology of the Meuse River Basin

ABSTRACT 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Problem definition 1.2 General review 1.3 Research objectives and methodologies 1.4 Structure of the thesis 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1 Brief description of the Meuse basin 2.2 Inventory of hydrological and meteorological data 2.3 Reconstruction of the discharge records 2.4 Estimation of the areal precipitation 2.5 Estimation of potential evapotranspiration 2.6 Synoptic data 2.7 Observed changes resulting from human activities 2.8 Statistical trend detection methods 3 CHANGES IN THE DISCHARGE REGIMES 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Change in the mean flows 3.3 Change in the high flows 3.4 Change in the peaks-over-threshold 3.5 Change in the low flows 3.6 Discussion 3.7 Concluding remarks 4 CHANGES IN THE PRECIPITATION REGIMES 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Change in the precipitation totals 4.3 Change in the precipitation extremes 4.4 Change in the frequency of precipitation events 4.5 Discussion 4.6 Concluding remarks 5 LINKING PRECIPITATION VARIABILITY TO LARGE-SCALE ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Grosswetterlagen system 5.3 North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index 5.4 Discussion 5.5 Concluding remarks 6 ASSESSMENT OF THE RAINFALL-RUNOFF RELATIONSHIPS 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Changes in the rainfall-runoff relations 6.3 Effect of antecedent precipitation on the flood peaks 6.4 Effects of precipitation and evapotranspiration on the low flows 6.5 Hydrological simulation of the influence of forest type change 6.6 Discussion 6.7 Concluding remarks 7 EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON THE DISCHARGE REGIMES. 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Effects on the mean flows 7.3 Effects on the flood flows 7.4 Effects on the low flows 7.4.3 Meuse river 7.5 Synthesis 7.6 Concluding remarks 8 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS