Warning, (in Swedish), level 2, SwedenHydrological Research, FoUh, works to acquire, create and communicate knowledge of freshwater to the community at different time horizons and spatial scales. The work is often user-driven and performed mostly in collaboration with external partners in Sweden, Europe or other parts of the world. The focus is on:
Catchment Modelling from catchment to continental scale:
- For better hydrological forecasts and warnings
- Predictions of unmeasured regions (PUB: Predictions in Ungauged Basins)
- Estimation of hydrological consequences of global warming, through coupling to climate models
Environmental Hydrological modeling with a focus on:
- Soil leaching and solute transport via different flow paths,
-Turnover in rivers and lakes
- Effects of remedial measures for improving water status and to achieve environmental goals.
-Effects of global warming through coupling to climate models.
Mission
Our mission is to combine different types of spatial data and measurements (such as occasional field sampling, continuous field observations, satellite, radar, etc.) with the numerical modelling of processes and the use of general assumptions to describe large-scale systems at high resolution.
Such model systems are used to analyse the complex relationships and interactions between humans and the environment. Short term predictions can be made based on recent conditions while long term predictions are made using estimated changes ( i.e. remedial measures, climate changes)
An important part of the mission also includes assessing the accuracy of these predictions. These analyses are used for decision support and advances in knowledge are directly communicated to clients or to the community through expert-oriented web products and scientific articles.
FoUh also supports the SMHI's operational production through joint ventures and lending of staff. FoUh is also in charge of some specific technical management within SMHI and also performs development work requested by other departments. SMHI Products and Services.
HBV and HYPE - important tools
The main tool is the conceptual HBV model, which SMHI originally developed in the 1970s for flow predictions in a specific point. During the 2000s, a new model, HYPE, was developed to better meet society's demands for mapping of water status. HYPE model describes the flow paths in soil in more detail and is designed for large domain, yet high-resolution applications.
Modelling in collaboration
The development of the HYPE hydrological model is focused on linking models to observed data-series and field data where available. The models are therefore used to interpolate and extrapolate in time and space.
This work is mostly done in project form, often in close collaboration with other research groups at both national and international level. These projects are mostly funded externally through research councils and government collaboration. A HYPE Open Source Community was also launched during 2011.
