Modeling hydrological functioning of karst aquifer systems in Slovenia using geomorphological features and random forest algorithm

IF 5 2区地球科学 Q1 WATER RESOURCES

Journal of Hydrology-Regional Studies Pub Date : 2025-09-19 DOI:10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102774

Mitja Janža , Valter Hudovernik , Luka Serianz , Andrej Stroj

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Study region

Slovenia

Study focus

This study investigates the relationship between the hydrological functioning of karst aquifer systems and the geomorphological characteristics of their catchments. It is based on the analysis of discharge time series from 15 karst springs. Hydrograph analysis of these time series was used to estimate 11 hydrological parameters that characterize aquifer system functioning. A spatial analysis of morphological, geological, and hydrological data was carried out to assess 7 lumped geomorphological features of the catchments. These features (independent variables) and hydrological parameters (dependent variables) were used to develop random forest models for predicting the hydrological functioning of karst springs.

New hydrological insights for the region

The developed methodological approach provides a basis for improved characterization and prediction of the hydrological functioning of ungauged karst systems. Groundwater availability in these systems is largely controlled by aquifer retention capacity and spring discharge variability. These characteristics can be inferred from hydrological parameters that can be predicted using the developed random forest models. Feature importance analysis indicated that catchment area, cave density, and slope gradient are the most important geomorphological features for predicting the hydrological characteristics of spring discharge.

查看原文本刊更多论文

利用地貌特征和随机森林算法模拟斯洛文尼亚喀斯特含水层系统的水文功能

研究区域斯洛文尼亚研究重点本研究探讨喀斯特含水层系统水文功能与其流域地貌特征之间的关系。本文对15个岩溶泉的流量时间序列进行了分析。这些时间序列的水文曲线分析被用来估计表征含水层系统功能的11个水文参数。对流域的形态、地质和水文数据进行了空间分析，评价了流域的7个集总地貌特征。利用这些特征（自变量）和水文参数（因变量）建立预测喀斯特泉水文功能的随机森林模型。开发的方法方法为改进未测量喀斯特系统水文功能的表征和预测提供了基础。这些系统的地下水可用性主要受含水层保持能力和泉水流量变化的控制。这些特征可以从水文参数推断出来，而水文参数可以使用开发的随机森林模型进行预测。特征重要性分析表明，流域面积、溶洞密度和坡度是预测春流量水文特征最重要的地貌特征。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Hydrology-Regional Studies Earth and Planetary Sciences-Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

CiteScore

6.70

自引率

8.50%

发文量

284

审稿时长

60 days

期刊介绍： Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies publishes original research papers enhancing the science of hydrology and aiming at region-specific problems, past and future conditions, analysis, review and solutions. The journal particularly welcomes research papers that deliver new insights into region-specific hydrological processes and responses to changing conditions, as well as contributions that incorporate interdisciplinarity and translational science.