On the estimation of transport timescales case study: the Dez reservoir

摘要

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate an application of a hydroinformatics methodologynfor analysis of transport timescales in a large reservoir. Therefore, a laterally averagedntwo-dimensional numerical model was used to estimate the transit time, flushing times andncombination of these two timescales by modeling about 230 scenarios in the Dez reservoir.nThe model was calibrated using temperature profiles and then executed for a period of twonyears (2002–2004). A possible characterization of the flushing time as e-folding time wasninvestigated and the results revealed that the e-folding time, which is simpler to estimate, cannbe used in place of the flushing time in the Dez reservoir. The effects of the location of thenoutlet on each of these timescales were also investigated. Results indicated that the meannresidence and flushing times have their smallest value when the outlet is set in the middlenof the Dez dam. The mean flushing times were also less sensitive to thermal structuresnof the Dez reservoir than the transit times. Finally, the temporal patterns of thesentimescales were elucidated. It was found that no single transport timescale can be usednfor all conditions.