The Humber catchment and its coastal area: from UK to European perspectives

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

2004

The distributions of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium at various monitoring sites across the Humber basin (area 24 000 km 2 ) were examined within a Geographical Information System (GIS) framework. This basin contains diverse characteristics, from areas of high population and industry to rural and arable regions. The Humber River is a major provider of nutrient fluxes to the North Sea from the UK. Within the GIS analysis, the distributions of mean and mean flow weighted concentrations, flux and flux per unit area, were investigated. Empirical relationships between land characteristics and water quality for the whole catchment draining to each water quality monitoring site were established. Thirty-eight catchments were chosen for this analysis, with areas ranging from 46 km 2 to 8225 km 2 . These catchments are distributed across the Humber, encompassing the different conditions across the basin, thus allowing relationships between water quality and catchment characteristics to be used to estimate the nitrogen concentrations and flux throughout the basin river network. The main water quality data source was the Land Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS) dataset. The Environment Agency of England and Wales water quality datasets were used to infill areas of sparse LOIS monitoring network density within the Humber. The work shows the feasibility of estimating nitrate and, to a lesser extent, nitrite and ammonium concentrations and fluxes across the river network based on land characteristics, using a GIS methodology. The estimations work particularly well for the main river channels. However, there are local anomalies which are more difficult to predict. Maps showing concentration variations at 500 m intervals along the Humber basin river networks are presented; these are of particular value for environmental managers and socio-economists.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GIS-based methodologies for assessing nitrate, nitrite and ammonium distributions across a major UK basin, the Humber

Davies

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

2004

“…Such initiatives have been undertaken to monitor the environment, understand the key processes operating and to model the dynamics of catchment systems in relation to environmental science and environmental management. The issues covered are of national and international significance within programmes such as the Land Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS), the study of European Catchments (EUROCAT), European Land Ocean Interaction Study (ELOISE), and the Land Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone study (LOICZ), which extend to the global level within the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) (Leeks and Jarvie, 1998;Cave et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rainfall and runoff water quality of the Pang and Lambourn, tributaries of the River Thames, south-eastern England

Skeffington

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

et al. 2004

Rainfall and runoff water quality of the Pang and Lambourn, tributaries of the River Thames, south-eastern England 601 Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 8(4), 601613 (2004) AbstractThe water quality of rainfall and runoff is described for two catchments of two tributaries of the River Thames, the Pang and Lambourn. Rainfall chemistry is variable and concentrations of most determinands decrease with increasing volume of catch probably due to wash out processes. Two rainfall sites have been monitored, one for each catchment. The rainfall site on the Lambourn shows higher chemical concentrations than the one for the Pang which probably reflects higher amounts of local inputs from agricultural activity. Rainfall quality data at a long-term rainfall site on the Pang (UK National Air Quality Archive) shows chemistries similar to that for the Lambourn site, but with some clear differences. Rainfall chemistries show considerable variation on an event-to-event basis. Average water quality concentrations and flow-weighted concentrations as well as fluxes vary across the sites, typically by about 30%. Stream chemistry is much less variable due to the main source of water coming from aquifer sources of high storage. The relationship between rainfall and runoff chemistry at the catchment outlet is described in terms of the relative proportions of atmospheric and within-catchment sources. Remarkably, in view of the quantity of agricultural and sewage inputs to the streams, the catchments appear to be retaining both P and N.

“…DPSIR is a causal framework for describing on the one hand the interactions between society and the environment, and one the other hand, key phases in policy development and intervention adopted by the European Environment Agency [23]. This approach has been applied recently in various ways by scientists and managers, in an attempt to close the gaps between scientific evidence, management, and decision making [4,69].…”

Section: Some Management Aspects and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking Environmental Magnetism to Geochemical Studies and Management of Trace Metals. Examples from Fluvial, Estuarine and Marine Systems

2014

Among the diverse research fields and wide range of studies encompassed by environmental magnetism, the present work elaborates on critical aspects of the geochemistry of trace metals that emerged through years of original research in a variety of environmental compartments. This review aims at sharing the insights gained on (a) tracing metal pollution sources; and (b) identifying processes and transport pathways from sources to depositional environments. Case studies on the Elefsis Gulf (Greece) and the Gulf of Lions (France) demonstrate the potential of combined magnetic measurements and chemical analysis to trace pollution signals resulting from land-based sources and atmospheric deposition. Case studies on estuarine environments, namely the Louros, Acheloos, and Asopos Estuaries (Greece), address modes of trace metal behavior under the influence of different hydrological regimes and elucidate in situ processes within the transitional estuarine zone, that define their ultimate fate. As sources, transport pathways, and processes of trace metals are fundamental in environmental management assessments, the involvement of magnetic measurements in the policy cycle could facilitate the development and implementation of appropriate regulatory measures for the integrated management of river basins, coastal, and marine areas. OPEN ACCESSMinerals 2014, 4 717