System-Analytical Simulation of Hydrochemical Runoff of Mountain Rivers: Case Study of Dissolved Iron

Abstract

Data on the medium and small rivers of the Altai–Sayan Highlands were used to develop a simulation balance model of seasonal and long-term dynamics of total dissolved iron. The input factors and variables of the model are monthly precipitation and mean monthly air temperatures, standardized and spatially generalized over the study region by the model of regional climate; water flows, calculated for individual landscapes in river basins by a model of water flow in mountain rivers; cartographic information for river basins, arable land area. Model sensitivity to natural variations of input factors was determined as contributions of individual factors to the variance of the observed values of hydrochemical runoff. The calculated criterion RSR = 0.57 and Nash−Sutcliffe efficiency NSE = 0.67 suggest the good quality of the model.