Analytical methods that use natural heat as a tracer to quantify surface water–groundwater exchange, evaluated using field temperature records

Rau, Gabriel C.; Andersen, Martin S.; McCallum, Andrew M.; Acworth, R. I.

doi:10.1007/s10040-010-0586-0

Cited by 126 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…reaches (Anderson, 2005;Andersen and Acworth, 2009;Anibas et al, 2011;Rau et al, 2010;Silliman and Booth, 1993). While quantification of water fluxes using temperature requires detailed subsurface temperature measurements over time, temperature mapping of rivers is a simple and effective method of identifying gaining and losing reaches (Becker et al, 2004).…”

Section: N P Unland Et Al: Investigating the Spatio-temporal Variamentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach

Unland

Cartwright

Andersen

et al. 2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The interaction between groundwater and surface water along the Tambo and Nicholson rivers, southeast Australia, was investigated using 222 Rn, Cl, differential flow gauging, head gradients, electrical conductivity (EC) and temperature profiles. Head gradients, temperature profiles, Cl concentrations and 222 Rn activities all indicate higher groundwater fluxes to the Tambo River in areas of increased topographic variation where the potential to form large groundwater-surface water gradients is greater. Groundwater discharge to the Tambo River calculated by Cl mass balance was significantly lower (1.48 × 10 4 to 1.41 × 10 3 m 3 day −1 ) than discharge estimated by 222 Rn mass balance (5.35 × 10 5 to 9.56 × 10 3 m 3 day −1 ) and differential flow gauging (5.41 × 10 5 to 6.30 × 10 3 m 3 day −1 ) due to bank return waters. While groundwater sampling from the bank of the Tambo River was intended to account for changes in groundwater chemistry associated with bank infiltration, variations in bank infiltration between sample sites remain unaccounted for, limiting the use of Cl as an effective tracer. Groundwater discharge to both the Tambo and Nicholson rivers was the highest under high-flow conditions in the days to weeks following significant rainfall, indicating that the rivers are well connected to a groundwater system that is responsive to rainfall. Groundwater constituted the lowest proportion of river discharge during times of increased rainfall that followed dry periods, while groundwater constituted the highest proportion of river discharge under baseflow conditions (21.4 % of the Tambo in April 2010 and 18.9 % of the Nicholson in September 2010).

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Section: N P Unland Et Al: Investigating the Spatio-temporal Variamentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach

Unland

Cartwright

Andersen

et al. 2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…CC BY 4.0 License. independent of sediment texture and location (Rau et al, 2010). It is difficult to estimate accurate physical and thermal parameters, particularly in the roughness river course of the permafrost region, leading many heat tracing studies to use reference values obtained in the laboratory.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating interaction between surface water and groundwater in a permafrost region using heat tracing methods

Gao

Liu

Zhang

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. Understanding the interactions between groundwater and surface water in permafrost regions is essential to the understanding of flood frequencies and river water quality of high latitude/altitude basins. The application of heat tracing methods, based on oscillating streambed temperature signals, is a promising geophysical method for identifying and quantifying the groundwater and surface water interactions. Analytical analysis based on one-dimensional convectiveconductive heat transport equation combined with the fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing measurements were applied 20 on a streambed of a mountainous permafrost region in the Yeniugou basin of northern Tibetan Plateau. The results indicated that low connectivity between the stream and groundwater in permafrost and active layer. The interaction between surface water and groundwater increased with thawing of the active layer. This study demonstrates that heat tracing method can be applied to study surface water-groundwater interactions over temporal and spatial scales in permafrost regions. 25The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi

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“…In addition, uncertainty in thermal diffusivity, sensor spacing, and the accuracy of temperature sensors can cause erroneous predictions of seepage velocities, especially for gaining conditions and low flow velocities (Shanafield et al, 2011). Rau et al (2010) tested the advantages, limitations and applicability of the methods of Hatch et al (2006) and Stallman (1965). They hypothesized that analyzing temperature profiles and time series caused by multi-dimensional flow using 1-D solutions may result in inaccurate estimates and that the conditions of a representative elementary volume (REV) needed in the analysis may not be satisfied at the scale of investigation.…”

Section: T Vogt Et Al: Investigating Riparian Groundwater Flow Closmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating riparian groundwater flow close to a losing river using diurnal temperature oscillations at high vertical resolution

Vogt

Schirmer

Cirpka³

2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. River-water infiltration is of high relevance for hyporheic and riparian groundwater ecology as well as for drinking water supply by river-bank filtration. Heat has become a popular natural tracer to estimate exchange rates between rivers and groundwater. However, quantifying flow patterns and velocities is impeded by spatial and temporal variations of exchange fluxes, insufficient sensors spacing during field investigations, or simplifying assumptions for analysis or modeling such as uniform flow. The objective of this study is to investigate lateral shallow groundwater flow upon river-water infiltration at the shoreline of the riverbed and in the adjacent riparian zone of the River Thur in northeast Switzerland. Here we have applied distributed temperature sensing (DTS) along optical fibers wrapped around tubes to measure high-resolution vertical temperature profiles of the unsaturated zone and shallow riparian groundwater. Diurnal temperature oscillations were tracked in the subsurface and analyzed by means of dynamic harmonic regression to extract amplitudes and phase angles. Subsequent calculations of amplitude attenuation and time shift relative to the river signal show in detail vertical and temporal variations of heat transport in shallow riparian groundwater. In addition, we apply a numerical two-dimensional heat transport model for the unsaturated zone and shallow groundwater to obtain a better understanding of the observed heat transport processes in shallow riparian groundwater and to estimate the groundwater flow velocity. Our results show that the observed riparian groundwater temperature distribution cannot be described by uniform flow, but rather by horizontal groundwater flow velocities varying over depth. In addition, heat transfer of diurnal temperature oscillations from the losing river through shallow groundwater is influenced by thermal exchange with the unsaturated zone. Neglecting the influence of the unsaturated zone would cause biased interpretation and underestimation of groundwater flow velocities. The combination of high resolution field data and modeling shows the complex hydraulic and thermal processes occurring in shallow riparian groundwater close to losing river sections as well as potential errors sources for interpreting diurnal temperature oscillations in such environments.

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Analytical methods that use natural heat as a tracer to quantify surface water–groundwater exchange, evaluated using field temperature records

Cited by 126 publications

References 45 publications

Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach

Investigating the spatio-temporal variability in groundwater and surface water interactions: a multi-technique approach

Estimating interaction between surface water and groundwater in a permafrost region using heat tracing methods

Investigating riparian groundwater flow close to a losing river using diurnal temperature oscillations at high vertical resolution

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