Temporal 222Rn distributions to reveal groundwater discharge into desert lakes: Implication of water balance in the Badain Jaran Desert, China

Luo, Xin; Jiao, Jiu Jimmy; Wang, Xusheng; Liu, Kun

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.12.051

Cited by 69 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…It is widely accepted that the groundwater has been recharging the hundreds of permanent lakes in the BJD under the hyper-arid environment, which are increasing the attraction for tourists [45,[96][97][98][99]. Although the total area of the lake region is small (approximately 20 km 2 ) compared with the whole study region, the groundwater resources underneath the desert are considered to be rich [100].…”

Section: The Impact Of the Increasing Tourism On Desert Lakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Loss Due to Increasing Planted Vegetation over the Badain Jaran Desert, China

et al. 2018

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Abstract:Water resources play a vital role in ecosystem stability, human survival, and social development in drylands. Human activities, such as afforestation and irrigation, have had a large impact on the water cycle and vegetation in drylands over recent years. The Badain Jaran Desert (BJD) is one of the driest regions in China with increasing human activities, yet the connection between human management and the ecohydrology of this area remains largely unclear. In this study, we firstly investigated the ecohydrological dynamics and their relationship across different spatial scales over the BJD, using multi-source observational data from 2001 to 2014, including: total water storage anomaly (TWSA) from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), lake extent from Landsat, and precipitation from in situ meteorological stations. We further studied the response of the local hydrological conditions to large scale vegetation and climatic dynamics, also conducting a change analysis of water levels over four selected lakes within the BJD region from 2011. To normalize the effect of inter-annual variations of precipitation on vegetation, we also employed a relationship between annual average NDVI and annual precipitation, or modified rain-use efficiency, termed the RUE mo . A focus of this study is to understand the impact of the increasing planted vegetation on local ecohydrological systems over the BJD region. Results showed that vegetation increases were largely found to be confined to the areas intensely influenced by human activities, such as croplands and urban areas. With precipitation patterns remaining stable during the study period, there was a significant increasing trend in vegetation greenness per unit of rainfall, or RUE mo over the BJD, while at the same time, total water storage as measured by satellites has been continually decreasing since 2003. This suggested that the increased trend in vegetation and apparent increase in RUE mo can be attributed to the extraction of ground water for human-planted irrigated vegetation. In the hinterland of the BJD, we identified human-planted vegetation around the lakes using MODIS observations and field investigations. Four lake basins were chosen to validate the relationship between lake levels and planted vegetation. Our results indicated that increasing human-planted vegetation significantly increased the water loss over the BJD region. This study highlights the value of combining observational data from space-borne sensors and ground instruments to monitor the ecohydrological dynamics and the impact of human activities on water resources and ecosystems over the drylands.

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Section: The Impact Of the Increasing Tourism On Desert Lakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Loss Due to Increasing Planted Vegetation over the Badain Jaran Desert, China

et al. 2018

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“…Stable isotopes of water (J. J. Gibson, Birks, & Yi, ; J. J. Gibson, Birks, Yi, Moncur, & McEachern, ; Hofmann, Knöller, & Lessmann, ; Knöller et al, ; Knöller & Strauch, ; Krabbenhoft, Anderson, & Bowser, ) and the radioisotope radon (Corbett, Burnett, Cable, & Clark, ; Dimova & Burnett, ; Schmidt, Stringer, Haferkorn, & Schubert, ) or a combination of both (Arnoux, Barbecot, et al, ; Arnoux, Gibert‐Brunet, et al, ; Schmidt, Gibson, Santos, Schubert, & Tattrie, ) are well‐established in groundwater–lake interaction studies. For instance, Luo, Jiao, Wang, and Liu () and Dimova and Burnett () reported on significant temporal variation of LGD on a multi‐day timescale based on radon for a Chinese desert lakes and small lakes in central Florida (United States), respectively. Kluge et al () and Dimova, Burnett, Chanton, and Corbett () demonstrated LGD variability also on a seasonal timescale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of groundwater discharge rates and water residence time of groundwater‐fed lakes by stable isotopes of water (¹⁸O, ²H) and radon (²²²Rn) mass balances

Petermann

Gibson

Knöller

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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Lacustrine groundwater discharge (LGD) and the related water residence time are crucial parameters for quantifying lake matter budgets and assessing its vulnerability to contaminant input. Our approach utilizes the stable isotopes of water (δ18O, δ2H) and the radioisotope radon (222Rn) for determining long‐term average and short‐term snapshots in LGD. We conducted isotope balances for the 0.5‐km2 Lake Ammelshainer See (Germany) based on measurements of lake isotope inventories and groundwater composition accompanied by good quality and comprehensive long‐term meteorological and isotopic data (precipitation) from nearby monitoring stations. The results from the steady‐state annual isotope balances that rely on only two sampling campaigns are consistent for both δ18O and δ2H and suggested an overall long‐term average LGD rate that was used to infer the water residence time of the lake. These findings were supported by the good agreement of the simulated LGD‐driven annual cycles of δ18O and δ2H lake inventories with the observed lake isotope inventories. However, radon mass balances revealed lower values that might be the result of seasonal LGD variability. For obtaining further insights into possible seasonal variability of groundwater–lake interaction, stable water isotope and radon mass balances could be conducted more frequently (e.g., monthly) in order to use the derived groundwater discharge rates as input for time‐variant isotope balances.

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“…Most detailed studies of groundwater–surface water interactions focus on timescales ranging from hours to months. Short‐term studies can provide high spatial and temporal resolution of groundwater–surface water interactions [ Burnett and Dulaiova , ; Santos et al ., ; Sadat‐Noori et al ., ; Luo et al ., ], and reveal any groundwater driven interactions between hydrologic dynamics and biogeochemical processes [ Fleckenstein et al ., ; Atkins et al ., ; Makings et al ., ]. However, short‐term studies are limited in their ability to quantify the contribution of groundwater to the total water balance because of hydrological time lags and temporal bias in sampling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraining the annual groundwater contribution to the water balance of an agricultural floodplain using radon: The importance of floods

Webb

Santos

Robson

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

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The water balance of drained floodplains is highly dynamic with complex groundwater–surface water interactions operating over varying spatial and temporal scales. Here we hypothesize that the majority of groundwater discharge will follow flood events in a modified wetland. To test this hypothesis, we developed a detailed water balance that quantifies the contribution of groundwater discharge to the annual water budget of an extensively drained agricultural floodplain. A clear relationship between surface water radon measurements and groundwater level indicated alternating connection–disconnection dynamics between the drains and shallow groundwater. This relationship was used to develop a radon mass balance to quantitatively model groundwater discharge continuously throughout the year. Groundwater discharge varied by four orders of magnitude over the study period, with daily average rates ranging from 0 to 27,200 m3 d−1, peaking just a few hours after floods receded. Flood events occurred only 12% of the time yet contributed 72–76% of the total groundwater discharge. During flood recession periods, aerial groundwater discharge rates reached up to 325 cm d−1 which were some of the highest rates ever estimated. We proposed that the high drainage density of this site (12.4 km constructed drains km−2 catchment area) enhanced groundwater discharge during wet periods due to increased connectivity with the soil. Overall, groundwater discharge contributed 30–80% to the total surface water discharge. This study offers insight into the dynamic behavior of groundwater within an extensively drained floodplain, and the importance of capturing flood events to quantify total groundwater contribution to floodplain water balances.

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Temporal 222Rn distributions to reveal groundwater discharge into desert lakes: Implication of water balance in the Badain Jaran Desert, China

Cited by 69 publications

References 60 publications

Water Loss Due to Increasing Planted Vegetation over the Badain Jaran Desert, China

Water Loss Due to Increasing Planted Vegetation over the Badain Jaran Desert, China

Determination of groundwater discharge rates and water residence time of groundwater‐fed lakes by stable isotopes of water (¹⁸O, ²H) and radon (²²²Rn) mass balances

Constraining the annual groundwater contribution to the water balance of an agricultural floodplain using radon: The importance of floods

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Temporal 222Rn distributions to reveal groundwater discharge into desert lakes: Implication of water balance in the Badain Jaran Desert, China

Cited by 69 publications

References 60 publications

Water Loss Due to Increasing Planted Vegetation over the Badain Jaran Desert, China

Water Loss Due to Increasing Planted Vegetation over the Badain Jaran Desert, China

Determination of groundwater discharge rates and water residence time of groundwater‐fed lakes by stable isotopes of water (18O, 2H) and radon (222Rn) mass balances

Constraining the annual groundwater contribution to the water balance of an agricultural floodplain using radon: The importance of floods

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Determination of groundwater discharge rates and water residence time of groundwater‐fed lakes by stable isotopes of water (¹⁸O, ²H) and radon (²²²Rn) mass balances