Evaluation and field-scale application of an analytical method to quantify groundwater discharge using mapped streambed temperatures

Schmidt, Christian; Conant, Brewster; Bayer‐Raich, Martí; Schirmer, Mario

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.08.022

Cited by 160 publications

(162 citation statements)

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“…Schmidt et al, 2007;Anibas et al, 2009;Hannah et al, 2004Hannah et al, , 2009Constantz et al, 2003;Cardenas and Wilson, 2007;Krause et al, 2011b). Streambed heat transfer is controlled by three processes: (i) advective heat transfer, (ii) conductive heat transfer, and (iii) radiative heat transfer (Constantz, 2008;Hannah et al, 2004;Webb et al, 2008).…”

Section: Heat As Tracer For Exchange Fluxes At the Aquifer-river Intementioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating patterns and controls of groundwater up-welling in a lowland river by combining Fibre-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing with observations of vertical hydraulic gradients

Krause

Blume

Cassidy

2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

140

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Abstract. This paper investigates the patterns and controls of aquifer-river exchange in a fast-flowing lowland river by the conjunctive use of streambed temperature anomalies identified with Fibre-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing (FO-DTS) and observations of vertical hydraulic gradients (VHG).FO-DTS temperature traces along this lowland river reach reveal discrete patterns with "cold spots" indicating groundwater up-welling. In contrast to previous studies using FO-DTS for investigation of groundwater-surface water exchange, the fibre-optic cable in this study was buried in the streambed sediments, ensuring clear signals despite fast flow and high discharges. During the observed summer baseflow period, streambed temperatures in groundwater up-welling locations were found to be up to 1.5 • C lower than ambient streambed temperatures. Due to the high river flows, the cold spots were sharp and distinctly localized without measurable impact on down-stream surface water temperature.VHG patterns along the stream reach were highly variable in space, revealing strong differences even at small scales. VHG patterns alone are indicators of both, structural heterogeneity of the stream bed as well as of the spatial heterogeneity of the groundwater-surface water exchange fluxes and are thus not conclusive in their interpretation. However, in combination with the high spatial resolution FO-DTS data we were able to separate these two influences and clearly identify locations of enhanced exchange, while also obtaining information on the complex small-scale streambed transmissivity patterns responsible for the very discrete exchange patterns. The validation of the combined VHG and FO-DTS approach provides an effective strategy for analysing drivers and controls of groundwater-surface water exchange, with implications for the quantification of biogeochemical cycling and contaminant transport at aquifer-river interfaces.

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Section: Heat As Tracer For Exchange Fluxes At the Aquifer-river Intementioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating patterns and controls of groundwater up-welling in a lowland river by combining Fibre-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing with observations of vertical hydraulic gradients

Krause

Blume

Cassidy

2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

140

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“…The groundwater discharge velocity across the streambed was quantified using an analytical solution to the 1D steadystate heat-diffusion-advection equation (Schmidt et al, 2007):…”

Section: Streambed Temperature Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…where K fs is the thermal conductivity of the solid-fluid system (site-specific value of 1.45 J s −1 m −1 K −1 taken from Schmidt et al, 2007), ρ f ·c f the volumetric heat capacity of the fluid (4.19 · 10 6 Jm −3 K −1 ), z the depth below the streambed surface and n the porosity (site-specific values between 0.45-0.56 taken from Conant, 2004). Although the surface water temperature varied by 4.6 °C on the day of measurement, quasi-steady state conditions can be assumed at the measurement depth of 30 cm as indicated by numerical simulation of the effect of diurnal temperature variations and the surface water temperature can be approximated by the average temperature (Schmidt et al, 2007).…”

Section: Streambed Temperature Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the surface water temperature varied by 4.6 °C on the day of measurement, quasi-steady state conditions can be assumed at the measurement depth of 30 cm as indicated by numerical simulation of the effect of diurnal temperature variations and the surface water temperature can be approximated by the average temperature (Schmidt et al, 2007). An average groundwater temperature T L of 9.8 °C (Hunkeler et al, 2004) and the average surface water temperature T 0 for the measurement day of 18.1 °C were used.…”

Section: Streambed Temperature Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the fate of chlorinated ethenes in streambed sediments by combining stable isotope, geochemical and microbial methods

Abe

Aravena

Zopfi

et al. 2009

Journal of Contaminant Hydrology

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a b s t r a c tThe occurrence of chlorinated ethene transformation in a streambed was investigated using concentration and carbon isotope data from water samples taken at different locations and depths within a 15 × 25 m study area across which a tetrachloroethene (PCE) plume discharges. Furthermore, it was evaluated how the degree of transformation is related to groundwater discharge rates, redox conditions, solid organic matter content (SOM) and microbial factors. Groundwater discharge rates were quantified based on streambed temperatures, and redox conditions using concentrations of dissolved redox-sensitive species. The degree of chlorinated ethene transformation was highly variable in space from no transformation to transformation beyond ethene. Complete reductive dechlorination to ethane and ethene occurred at locations with at least sulfate-reducing conditions and with a residence time in the samples streambed zone (80 cm depth) of at least 10 days. Among these locations, Dehalococcoides was detected using a PCR method where SOM contents were N 2% w/w and where transformation proceeded beyond ethene. However, it was not detected at locations with low SOM, which may cause an insufficient H 2 supply to sustain a detectably dense Dehalococcoides population. Additionally, it is possible that other organisms are responsible for the biodegradation. A microcosm study with streambed sediments demonstrated the potential of VC oxidation throughout the site even at locations without a pre-exposure to VC, consistent with the detection of the epoxyalkane:coenzyme M transferase (EaCoMT) gene involved in the degradation of chlorinated ethenes via epoxidation. In contrast, no aerobic transformation of cDCE in microcosms over a period of 1.5 years was observed. In summary, the study demonstrated that carbon isotope analysis is a sensitive tool to identify the degree of chlorinated ethene transformation even in hydrologically and geochemically complex streambed systems. In addition, it was observed that the degree of transformation is related to redox conditions, which in turn depend on groundwater discharge rates.

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“…Streambed temperature measurements have been used to determine areas of maximum and minimum discharge within a stream reach (Conant, 2004), to develop a field-scale analytical solution for determining groundwater discharge rates (Schmidt et al, 2007), and to quantify groundwater flow in the vicinity of stream barriers, such as natural and constructed dams (Fanelli and Lautz, 2008). All of these studies describe the spatially heterogeneous role of groundwater discharge in stream-aquifer interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in stream temperatures in response to restoration of groundwater discharge and solar heating in a culverted, urban stream

Anderson

Thaxton

et al. 2010

Journal of Hydrology

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Changes in stream temperatures in response to restoration of groundwater discharge and solar heating in a culverted, urban stream A B S T R A C TBoone Creek is a mountainous headwater stream that lies within an urbanized environment in north-western North Carolina. The primary source of thermal pollution in Boone Creek is the urban infrastruc-ture, which affects stream temperatures through (1) heated runoff, which creates temperature surges and (2) the elimination of groundwater-surface water interactions. In this study, we use a Monte Carlo ther-mal mixing model to predict the thermal impact of removing a 700-m-long culvert. Our thermal mixing model balances stream discharge and temperatures with surface-heat exchange parameters and restored baseflow. We calculate the daily-average groundwater discharge velocity at 15 locations in the stream using signal decay in streambed temperatures, and utilize a Monte Carlo implementation of the hetero-geneous baseflow field in the thermal mixing model. We also calculate surface-heat exchange per unit area for conditions upstream and downstream of the existing culvert and utilize those values in the ther-mal mixing model. Our modeled temperatures suggest a decrease in summer stream temperatures down-stream of the culvert that average 1.35 ° C and 1.17 ° C for upstream and downstream surface-heat exchange conditions, respectively. The results of our study have implications for the balance between baseflow and the urban infrastructure in any high-gradient urban stream that experiences similar ther-mal effects.

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Evaluation and field-scale application of an analytical method to quantify groundwater discharge using mapped streambed temperatures

Cited by 160 publications

References 38 publications

Investigating patterns and controls of groundwater up-welling in a lowland river by combining Fibre-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing with observations of vertical hydraulic gradients

Investigating patterns and controls of groundwater up-welling in a lowland river by combining Fibre-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing with observations of vertical hydraulic gradients

Evaluating the fate of chlorinated ethenes in streambed sediments by combining stable isotope, geochemical and microbial methods

Changes in stream temperatures in response to restoration of groundwater discharge and solar heating in a culverted, urban stream

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