Staff profile

Sim Reaney’s research is centred on the movement of water through the landscape and the representation of these hydrological processes within both simulation models and geospatial analysis. His work includes the impact of diffuse pollution from the landscape on water quality, catchment hydrological processes and working with natural processes approaches to flood risk management. The connection between these different areas of work is the concept of hydrological connectivity. The testing and representation of how different parts of the landscape connect via hydrological pathways is key to the understanding of these different environmental pressures.

The importance of hydrological connectivity is embedded within the SCIMAP diffuse pollution risk mapping toolset. SCIMAP uses geospatial analysis to map source areas for sediments, nutrients and microbial pollution to enable effective catchment management. In this analysis, SCIMAP calculates detailed connectivity and source maps at the landscape extent with sub field detail. The SCIMAP water quality work spans sediment, nutrients (N and P), microbial pollution and flood risk. The approach has been widely adopted within the UK and overseas and is supported by a series of user group meetings.

Sim Reaney designed and developed the CRUM3 catchment model that has been used to research how geomorphology and rainfall patterns lead to the connection and disconnection of different parts of the landscape. This model has been used to represent how natural flood risk management mitigation schemes disconnect surface water flows that least to flood events. The model has also been used to represent how projected climate change may affect river flows and how the changing climate may affect the strength of the hydrological connectivity. Research projects, government agencies and industry have used either the model directly or predictions from the model to inform decision making.

Sim Reaney is currently working on the measurement and modelling of flood risk in Java, Indonesia, and in Nepal and refining approach to landscape managmeent within the UK. He is supervising postgraduate research on flood risk reduction in Nepal and Java and on water quality modelling in the UK. He is applying detailed drone mapping to produce fine-scale topographic maps that capture small scale features in the landscape that effect the generation and export of diffuse pressures. He is teaching on hydrological processes, catchment management and simulation modelling of catchment hydrology and flood risk. More details of his work are on his website and Twitter. 

• Agricultural diffuse (non point) pollution - N, P and fine sediment
• Catchment based hydrological modelling
• Connectivity of environmental flows
• Flood hazards
• Minimal complexity approaches to environmental problems
• Physical hydrological processes

Journal Article

• Rahayu, R., Mathias, S. A., Reaney, S., Vesuviano, G., Suwerman, R., & Ramdhan, A. M. (2023). Impact of land cover, rainfall and topography on flood risk in West Java. Natural Hazards, 116(2), 1735-1758. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-022-05737-6
• Pearson, C., Reaney, S., Perks, M., Hortobagyi, B., Rosser, N., & Large, A. (2022). Identification of floodwater source areas in Nepal using SCIMAP‐Flood. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 15(4), Article e12840. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12840
• Reaney, S. M. (2022). Spatial targeting of nature‐based solutions for flood risk management within river catchments. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 15(3), Article e12803. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12803
• Lashford, C., Lavers, T., Reaney, S., Charlesworth, S., Burgess-Gamble, L., & Dale, J. (2022). Sustainable Catchment-Wide Flood Management: A Review of the Terminology and Application of Sustainable Catchment Flood Management Techniques in the UK. Water, 14(8), Article 1204. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14081204
• Mathias, S. A., Reaney, S. M., & Kenabatho, P. K. (2021). Transmission loss estimation for ephemeral sand rivers in Southern Africa. Journal of Hydrology, 600, Article 126487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126487
• Sinha, P., Rollason, E., Bracken, L. J., Wainwright, J., & Reaney, M. S. (2020). A new framework for integrated, holistic, and transparent evaluation of inter-basin water transfer schemes. Science of the Total Environment, 721, Article 137646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137646
• Reaney, S., Mackay, E., Haygarth, P., Fisher, M., Molineux, A., Potts, M., & Benskin, C. M. (2019). Identifying critical source areas using multiple methods for effective diffuse pollution mitigation. Journal of Environmental Management, 250, Article 109366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109366
• Lane, R. A., Coxon, G., Freer, J. E., Wagener, T., Johnes, P. J., Bloomfield, J. P., Greene, S., Macleod, C. J., & Reaney, S. M. (2019). Benchmarking the predictive capability of hydrological models for river flow and flood peak predictions across over 1000 catchments in Great Britain. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 23(10), 4011-4032. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-4011-2019
• Snell, M., Barker, P., Surridge, B., Benskin, C. M. H., Barber, N., Reaney, S., Tych, W., Mindham, D., Large, A., Burke, S., & Haygarth, P. (2019). Strong and recurring seasonality revealed within stream diatom assemblages. Scientific Reports, 9(1), Article 3313. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37831-w
• Porter, K. D., Quilliam, R. S., Reaney, S. M., & Oliver, D. M. (2019). High resolution characterisation of E. coli proliferation profiles in livestock faeces. Waste Management, 87, 537-545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.02.037
• Adams, R., Quinn, P., Barber, N., & Reaney, S. (2018). The Role of Attenuation and Land Management in Small Catchments to Remove Sediment and Phosphorus: A Modelling Study of Mitigation Options and Impacts. Water, 10(9), Article 1227. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091227
• Oliver, D. M., Bartie, P. J., Louise Heathwaite, A., Reaney, S. M., Parnell, J. A., & Quilliam, R. S. (2018). A catchment-scale model to predict spatial and temporal burden of E . coli on pasture from grazing livestock. Science of the Total Environment, 616-617, 678-687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.263
• Porter, K. D., Reaney, S. M., Quilliam, R. S., Burgess, C., & Oliver, D. M. (2017). Predicting diffuse microbial pollution risk across catchments: The performance of SCIMAP and recommendations for future development. Science of the Total Environment, 609, 456-465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.186
• Perks, M., Warburton, J., Bracken, L., Reaney, S., Emery, S., & Hirst, S. (2017). Use of spatially distributed time-integrated sediment sampling networks and distributed fine sediment modelling to inform catchment management. Journal of Environmental Management, 202, 469-478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.01.045
• Ockenden, M., Deasy, C., Benskin, C., Beven, K., Burke, S., Collins, A., Evans, R., Falloon, P., Forber, K., Hiscock, K., Hollaway, M., Kahana, R., Macleod, C., Reaney, S., Snell, M., Villamizar, M., Wearing, C., Withers, P., Zhou, J., & Haygarth, P. (2016). Changing climate and nutrient transfers: Evidence from high temporal resolution concentration-flow dynamics in headwater catchments. Science of the Total Environment, 548-549, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.086
• Oliver, D., Porter, K., Pachepsky, Y., Muirhead, R., Reaney, S., Coffey, R., Kay, D., Milledge, D., Hong, E., Anthony, S., Page, T., Bloodworth, J., Mellander, P.-E., Carbonneau, P., McGrane, S., & Quilliam, R. (2016). Predicting microbial water quality with models: Over-arching questions for managing risk in agricultural catchments. Science of the Total Environment, 544, 39-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.086
• Perks, M., Owen, G., Benshin, C., Jonczyk, J., Deasy, C., Burke, S., Reaney, S., & Haygarath, P. (2015). Dominant mechanisms for the delivery of fine sediment and phosphorus to fluvial networks draining grassland dominated headwater catchments. Science of the Total Environment, 523, 178-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.03.008
• Greene, S., Johnes, P., Bloomfield, J., Reaney, S., Lawley, R., El Khatib, Y., Freer, J., Odoni, N., Macleod, C., & Percy, B. (2015). A geospatial framework to support integrated biogeochemical modelling in the United Kingdom. Environmental Modelling and Software, 68, 219-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2015.02.012
• Pattison, I., Lane, S., Hardy, R., & Reaney, S. (2014). The role of tributary relative timing and sequencing in controlling large floods. Water Resources Research, 50(7), 5444-5458. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013wr014067
• Snell, M., Barker, P., Surridge, B., Large, A., Jonczyk, J., Benskin, C. M. H., Reaney, S., Perks, M., Owen, G., Cleasby, W., Deasy, C., Burke, S., & Haygarth, P. (2014). High frequency variability of environmental drivers determining benthic community dynamics in headwater streams. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 16(7), 1629-1636. https://doi.org/10.1039/c3em00680h
• Reaney, S., Bracken, L., & Kirkby, M. (2014). The importance of surface controls on overland flow connectivity in semi-arid environments: results from a numerical experimental approach. Hydrological Processes, 28(4), 2116-2128. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9769
• Bracken, L., Wainwright, J., Ali, G., Tetzlaff, D., Smith, M., Reaney, S., & Roy, A. (2013). Concepts of hydrological connectivity: Research approaches, pathways and future agendas. Earth-Science Reviews, 119, 17-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.02.001
• necessary components and recurring challenges. Hydrological Processes, 27(2), 313-318. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9560
• Milledge, D., Lane, S., Heathwaite, A., & Reaney, S. (2012). A Monte Carlo approach to the inverse problem of diffuse pollution risk in agricultural catchments. Science of the Total Environment, 433, 434-449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.06.047
• Oven, K., Curtis, S., Reaney, S., Riva, M., Stewart, M., Ohlemuller, R., Dunn, C., Nodwell, S., Dominelli, L., & Holden, R. (2012). Climate change and health and social care: Defining future hazard, vulnerability and risk for infrastructure systems supporting older people’s health care in England. Applied Geography, 33, 16-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2011.05.012
• Reaney, S., Lane, S., Heathwaite, A., & Dugdale, L. (2011). Risk-based modelling of diffuse land use impacts from rural landscapes upon salmonid fry abundance. Ecological Modelling, 222(4), 1016-1029. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.08.022
• Wall, D., Jordan, P., Melland, A., Buckley, C., Reaney, S., & Shortle, G. (2011). Using the nutrient transfer concept to evaluate the European Union Nitrates Directive National Action Programme. Environmental Science and Policy, 14(6), 664-674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2011.05.003
• Lane, S. N., Reaney, S. M., & Heathwaite, A. L. (2009). Representation of landscape hydrological connectivity using a topographically driven surface flow index. Water Resources Research, 45(8), Article W08423. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008wr007336
• Reaney, S. (2008). The use of agent based modelling techniques in hydrology: determining the spatial and temporal origin of channel flow in semi-arid catchments. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 33(2), 317-327. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1540
• Reaney, S., Bracken, L., & Kirkby, M. (2007). Use of the connectivity of runoff model (CRUM) to investigate the influence of storm characteristics on runoff generation and connectivity in semi-arid areas. Hydrological Processes, 21(7), 894-906. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6281
• Lane, S., Brookes, C., Heathwaite, A., & Reaney, S. (2006). Surveillant Science: Challenges for the Management of Rural Environments Emerging from the New Generation Diffuse Pollution Models. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 57, 239-257
• Kirkby, M., Bracken, L., & Reaney, S. (2002). The influence of land use, soils and topography on the delivery of hillslope runoff to channels in SE Spain. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 27(13), 1459-1473. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.441

Report

• Thomas, I., Bruen, M., Mockler, E., Werner, C., Mellander, P., Reaney, S., Rymszewicz, A., McGrath, G., Eder, E., Wade, A., Collins, A., & Arheimer, B. Catchment Models and Management Tools for Diffuse Contaminants (Sediment, Phosphorus and Pesticides): DiffuseTools Project. [No known commissioning body]