The Role of Reservoirs in Shaping The Dominant Cyclicity And Energy Of Mountain River Flows

Abstract

The main objective of the paper is to determine the role of mountain reservoirs in shaping the dominant cyclicity and energy of river flows. The paper compares a large complex composed of two reservoirs (Czorsztyn–Sromowce Wyżne) with a smaller reservoir (Besko). These reservoirs are located in the Polish Carpathians and are characterised by very different parameters and functions. Moreover, they operate on rivers (the Dunajec and the Wisłok) with different hydrologic regimes. Using Fourier spectral analysis of daily inflows, outflows and water levels in reservoirs for the period 1998–2012, it has been possible to identify the dominant frequencies of the considered time series with a percentage of spectral energy for these frequencies. Moreover, for signals created by river flow rates, changes in signal energy are associated with adequate changes in river energy. Therefore, by calculating the energy of the signal in the time domain, changes in signal energy can be observed before and after the water passes through the reservoir. Data on cyclicity of water levels in these reservoirs forms the background to the analysis of reservoir-induced changes in cyclicity of river flows. The conducted analysis revealed that reservoirs strengthen the regularity of the annual periodicity of stream flow in the studied rivers. Besides, these reservoirs significantly reduce the energy of water flowing out of them compared to the energy of inflow. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.