Assessment of episodic acidification in Sierra Nevada,California

Monte-Carlo simulations were used to assess the extent of shortterm alkalinity depressions occuring in Sierra Nevada lakes due to acidic deposition events. The Episodic Event Model (EEM) was used to simulate spring snowmelt events. Snow course data, precipitation data and lake acidification surveys were used to derive values for the EEM parameters. Spring snowmelt events were shown to have great impacts on the water quality of Sierran lakes. Lakes are likely to be most affected by the early-spring snowmelt event because the epilimnion depth is at a minimum, which indicates minimum dilution. Under annual average loading conditions, no Sierran lake has been reported as acidic although 29% of the lakes have alkalinities less than 40 µeq/L indicating a sensitivity to acidification. In simulations of early-spring snowmelt events, using present-day acidic loading conditions, it was estimated 79% ± 9% of the lakes would experience shortterm lake alkalinity depressions to levels less than 40 µeq/L. The results provided by the model simulations are valuable in establishing upper and lower limits on the extent of possible episodic acidification to lake-resources-at-risk. The most critical parameters controlling the magnitude of lake alkalinity depressions during snowmelt episodic events are a) the lake area to watershed area ratio — a measure of input loading, and b) the epilimnion volume — a measure of dilution and mixing.     

Water‐quality response to a high‐elevation wildfire in the Colorado Front Range

Water quality of the Big Thompson River in the Front Range of Colorado was studied for 2 years following a high‐elevation wildfire that started in October 2012 and burned 15% of the watershed. A combination of fixed‐interval sampling and continuous water‐quality monitors was used to examine the timing and magnitude of water‐quality changes caused by the wildfire. Prefire water quality was well characterized because the site has been monitored at least monthly since the early 2000s. Major ions and nitrate showed the largest changes in concentrations; major ion increases were greatest in the first postfire snowmelt period, but nitrate increases were greatest in the second snowmelt period. The delay in nitrate release until the second snowmelt season likely reflected a combination of factors including fire timing, hydrologic regime, and rates of nitrogen transformations. Despite the small size of the fire, annual yields of dissolved constituents from the watershed increased 20–52% in the first 2 years following the fire. Turbidity data from the continuous sensor indicated high‐intensity summer rain storms had a much greater effect on sediment transport compared to snowmelt. High‐frequency sensor data also revealed that weekly sampling missed the concentration peak during snowmelt and short‐duration spikes during rain events, underscoring the challenge of characterizing postfire water‐quality response with fixed‐interval sampling. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial and temporal perspectives on spring break‐up flooding in the Slave River Delta,NWT

Spatial and temporal patterns of spring break‐up flooding in the Slave River Delta (SRD), Northwest Territories, are characterized during three years (2003–2005) using water isotope tracers and total inorganic suspended sediment (TSS) concentrations measured from lakewater samples collected shortly after the spring melt. Strongly contrasting spring melt periods led to a moderate flood in 2003, no flooding in 2004 and widespread flooding in 2005. Flooded lakes have isotopically‐depleted δ¹⁸O (δ²H) signatures, ranging between ? 19·2‰ (?145‰) and ? 17·1‰ (?146‰) and most have high TSS concentrations (>10 mg L^?1), while non‐flooded lakes have more isotopically‐enriched δ¹⁸O (δ²H) signatures, ranging between ? 18·2‰ (?149‰) and ? 10·6‰ (?118‰) and low TSS concentrations (<10 mg L^?1). These results, in conjunction with the isotopic signatures of Slave River water and snowmelt, are used to estimate the proportion of river‐ or snowmelt‐induced dilution in delta lakes during the spring of each study year. Calculations indicate river flooding caused dilution of ～70–100% in delta lakes, while snowmelt dilution in the absence of river flooding ranged from ～0–56%. A positive relationship exists between the spatial extent of spring flooding in the SRD and level and discharge on the Slave River and upstream tributaries, suggesting that upstream flow generation plays a key role in determining the magnitude of spring flooding in the SRD. Parallel variations in the 46‐year instrumental Slave River discharge record and flood stratigraphy in the active delta indicate that there is potential for extending the flood history of the SRD, a development that will contribute to a more robust understanding of the drivers of historic, contemporary and future flood frequency in the delta. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dissolved organic matter dynamics during the spring snowmelt at a boreal river valley mire complex in Northwest Russia

Boreal mire landscapes are rich in soil carbon and significantly contribute to the carbon input of aquatic ecosystems. They are composed of different mesoscale ecohydrological subunits, whose individual contributions to the water and carbon export of mire catchments are not well understood. The spring snowmelt period is the major hydrological event in the annual water cycle of the boreal regions and strongly influences the carbon flux between the terrestrial and aquatic systems. The aim of this study was (1) to provide a conceptual understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of the surface water chemistry along a swamp forest‐fen‐bog gradient during the snowmelt period, (2) to quantify the exported dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content in the runoff and (3) to identify the ecohydrological landscape unit that contributes most to DOC export during the snowmelt period in a heterogeneous mire complex in Northwest Russia. The highest DOC concentrations were detected in the swamp forest, and the lowest concentrations were observed at the treeless bog by the end of the snowmelt period (swamp forest: 37–43 mg l^?1, bog: 13–17 mg l^?1). During the spring snowmelt period, a significant amount (~1.7 g C m^?2) of DOC was transferred by the ~74 mm of runoff from the catchment into the river. Variability in the thawing periods led to differences in the relative contributions of each ecohydrological zone to the carbon export measured at a stream channel draining the studied part of the mire complex. An increased understanding of the variation in DOC concentrations and contributions from the mesoscale ecohydrological subunits to carbon export can help to predict the potential regional loss of DOC based on land cover type under climate change. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the role of forests in mitigating eutrophication downstream of pasture during spring snowmelt

Little research has examined whether forests reduce stream water eutrophication in agricultural areas during spring snowmelt periods. This study evaluated the role of forests in ameliorating deteriorated stream water quality in agricultural areas, including pasture, during snowmelt periods. Temporal variation in stream water quality at a mixed land‐use basin (565 ha: pasture 13%, forestry 87%), northern Japan, was monitored for 7 years. Synoptic stream water sampling was also conducted at 16 sites across a wide range of forest and agricultural areas in a basin (18.3 km²) in spring, summer and fall. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) deposition were measured for 4 years. The results showed that concentration pulses of nitrate, organic N and total P in stream water were observed when discharge increased during spring snowmelt. Their concentrations were high when silicate concentrations were low, suggesting surface water exported from pasture largely contributed to stream water pollution during snowmelt. Atmospheric N and P deposition (4.1 kg N ha^?1 y^?1; 0.09 kg P ha^?1 y^?1, respectively) was too low to affect the background concentrations of N and P in streams from forested areas. Reduction of eutrophication caused by nutrients from pasture was mainly due to dilution by water containing low concentrations of N and P exported from forested areas, whereas in‐stream reduction was not a dominant process. Results indicate that forests have a limited capacity to reduce the concentration pulses of N and P in stream water during snowmelt in this study basin. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitivity to acidification of subalpine ponds and lakes in north‐western Colorado

Although acidifying deposition in western North America is lower than in many parts of the world, many high‐elevation ecosystems there are extremely sensitive to acidification. Previous studies determined that the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area (MZWA) has the most acidic snowpack and aquatic ecosystems that are among the most sensitive in the region. In this study, spatial and temporal variability of ponds and lakes in and near the MZWA were examined to determine their sensitivity to acidification and the effects of acidic deposition during and after snowmelt. Within the areas identified as sensitive to acidification based on bedrock types, there was substantial variability in acid‐neutralizing capacity (ANC), which was related to differences in hydrological flowpaths that control delivery of weathering products to surface waters. Geological and topographic maps were of limited use in predicting acid sensitivity because their spatial resolution was not fine enough to capture the variability of these attributes for lakes and ponds with small catchment areas. Many of the lakes are sensitive to acidification (summer and autumn ANC < 100 µeq L^?1), but none of them appeared to be threatened immediately by episodic or chronic acidification. In contrast, 22 ponds had minimum ANC < 30 µeq L^?1, indicating that they are extremely sensitive to acidic deposition and could be damaged by episodic acidification, although net acidity (ANC < 0) was not measured in any of the ponds during the study. The lowest measured pH value was 5·4, and pH generally remained less than 6·0 throughout early summer in the most sensitive ponds, indicating that biological effects of acidification are possible at levels of atmospheric deposition that occurred during the study. The aquatic chemistry of lakes was dominated by atmospheric deposition and biogeochemical processes in soils and shallow ground water, whereas the aquatic chemistry of ponds was also affected by organic acids and biogeochemical processes in the water column and at the sediment–water interface. These results indicate that conceptual and mechanistic acidification models that have been developed for lakes and streams may be inadequate for predicting acidification in less‐understood systems such as ponds. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seasonal insect emergence from three different temperate lakes

Knowing the aquatic resources, such as emerging insects, that are entering terrestrial systems is important for food web and conservation studies, especially when water availability or quality is limited. Even though studies concerning benthic macroinvertebrates are numerous, insect emergence from lakes is less studied.To understand if water parameters (e.g., water temperature, oxygen concentration etc) determine insect emergence and the possible seasonal differences, we collected emergent insects from three different lakes in South Germany, during three seasons. We searched for common patterns of insect emergence at the three lakes. Moreover, the relative contribution of insects of aquatic origin to aerial flying arthropods was assessed, with collecting aerial flying arthropods at the shore.Chironomidae constituted the highest number of emerged insects in all lakes, however different patterns of emergence occurred in each lake (unimodal vs. bimodal) with different season-dependent times for the emergence peaks (spring, summer, beginning of autumn). Aquatic insects constituted a considerable proportion (at least 17%) of the aerial flying arthropods at the shore. The variation in insect emergence was explained by water temperature, however not by other water parameters or the nutrient values. Seasonal and spatial differences in insect emergence, should be considered when investigating aquatic-terrestrial interactions and designing conservation plans. A total biomass of up to 1.8 g m⁻² of emerging insects from the littoral zone of Lake Constance can enter the terrestrial system in a year. We also provide length-dry weight relationships for emerged (adult) Chironomidae. These equations are useful to estimate the dry insect biomass from length data and currently such data lack for adult aquatic insects.     

Variations of the Present-Day Annual and Seasonal Runoff in the Far East and Siberia with the Use of Regional Hydrological and Global Climate Models

A method of spatial calibration and verification of regional numerical physically based models of river runoff formation, incorporating runoff formation processes in the main river channel and its tributaries, was used to obtain a statistical estimate of the quality of river runoff calculation by conventional and alternative criteria focused on runoff reproduction in different phases of water regime and the characteristics of its variations. The analysis of the simulation quality of the annual and mean monthly river runoff (average runoff, standard deviation, and the coefficient of variation) at the near-mouth gages over the historical period with boundary conditions represented by data of global climate models showed the results to be satisfactory. This allows the proposed combination of climate and hydrological models to be used to study physically based regional variations of water regime under different physiographic and climatic conditions in the examined river basins with flood runoff regime (the Amur R.) and the predominant snowmelt runoff during spring flood (the Lena R.).     

Infiltration into frozen soil: From core‐scale dynamics to hillslope‐scale connectivity

Infiltration into frozen soil is a key hydrological process in cold regions. Although the mechanisms behind point‐scale infiltration into frozen soil are relatively well understood, questions remain about upscaling point‐scale results to estimate hillslope‐scale run‐off generation. Here, we tackle this question by combining laboratory, field, and modelling experiments. Six large (0.30‐m diameter by 0.35‐m deep) soil cores were extracted from an experimental hillslope on the Canadian Prairies. In the laboratory, we measured run‐off and infiltration rates of the cores for two antecedent moisture conditions under snowmelt rates and diurnal freeze–thaw conditions observed on the same hillslope. We combined the infiltration data with spatially variable data from the hillslope, to parameterise a surface run‐off redistribution model. We used the model to determine how spatial patterns of soil water content, snowpack water equivalent (SWE), and snowmelt rates affect the spatial variability of infiltration and hydrological connectivity over frozen soil. Our experiments showed that antecedent moisture conditions of the frozen soil affected infiltration rates by limiting the initial soil storage capacity and infiltration front penetration depth. However, shallow depths of infiltration and refreezing created saturated conditions at the surface for dry and wet antecedent conditions, resulting in similar final infiltration rates (0.3 mm hr^?1). On the hillslope‐scale, the spatial variability of snowmelt rates controlled the development of hydrological connectivity during the 2014 spring melt, whereas SWE and antecedent soil moisture were unimportant. Geostatistical analysis showed that this was because SWE variability and antecedent moisture variability occurred at distances shorter than that of topographic variability, whereas melt variability occurred at distances longer than that of topographic variability. The importance of spatial controls will shift for differing locations and winter conditions. Overall, our results suggest that run‐off connectivity is determined by (a) a pre‐fill phase, during which a thin surface soil layer wets up, refreezes, and saturates, before infiltration excess run‐off is generated and (b) a subsequent fill‐and‐spill phase on the surface that drives hillslope‐scale run‐off.     

Soil moisture states,lateral flow,and streamflow generation in a semi‐arid,snowmelt‐driven catchment

Hydraulic connectivity on hillslopes and the existence of preferred soil moisture states in a catchment have important controls on runoff generation. In this study we investigate the relationships between soil moisture patterns, lateral hillslope flow, and streamflow generation in a semi‐arid, snowmelt‐driven catchment. We identify five soil moisture conditions that occur during a year and present a conceptual model based on field studies and computer simulations of how streamflow is generated with respect to the soil moisture conditions. The five soil moisture conditions are (1) a summer dry period, (2) a transitional fall wetting period, (3) a winter wet, low‐flux period, (4) a spring wet, high‐flux period, and (5) a transitional late‐spring drying period. Transitions between the periods are driven by changes in the water balance between rain, snow, snowmelt and evapotranspiration. Low rates of water input to the soil during the winter allow dry soil regions to persist at the soil–bedrock interface, which act as barriers to lateral flow. Once the dry‐soil flow barriers are wetted, whole‐slope hydraulic connectivity is established, lateral flow can occur, and upland soils are in direct connection with the near‐stream soil moisture. This whole‐slope connectivity can alter near‐stream hydraulics and modify the delivery of water, pressure, and solutes to the stream. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When to conduct an isotopic survey for lake water balance evaluation in highly seasonal climates

One‐time or short‐term lake water isotopic surveys are often employed to evaluate regional lake water balance. However, it can be difficult to determine the optimal time‐window for sampling to obtain a representative long‐term perspective of lake water balance in settings influenced by seasonal variations in precipitation, evaporative loss, glacial/snow meltwater, and larger seasonal shifts in isotopic composition of precipitation. This is especially true for areas of the Tibetan Plateau that are influenced by the summer Indian monsoon. Although high‐frequency sampling is always preferred as the most rigorous approach to characterize the water budget of lakes or watersheds, this may be impractical in remote regions and over large spatial scales. To assess the potential sensitivity of isotope balance characterization to seasonal variability, we used a weekly lake water isotope data set acquired over a period of 3 years on the Tibetan Plateau to evaluate the potential inaccuracies that might have arisen from using isotopic data collected during narrower time‐windows. For this assessment, we use weekly isotopic data collected during the study and assume that these sampling events were stand‐alone one‐time surveys. We then demonstrate the sensitivity of the isotope balance method in this setting, particularly for the rainy season that significantly underestimated the evaporation/inflow. In contrast, isotopic composition of the lake water was found to be more representative of long‐term conditions when sampled in October on the Tibetan Plateau. To broaden our evaluation of seasonality effects over a range of climatic zones, published high‐frequency isotopic data were also compiled, and a similar assessment was carried out for selected regions of the world. The synthesized data and model outputs, which confirm pronounced variations in lake water isotopic composition and evaporation/inflow across a range of seasonal climates, were used to determine optimal sampling windows for these specific regions.     

Effect of climatic change on snowmelt runoffs in mountainous regions of inland rivers in Northwestern China

Snow is one of the most active natural elements of snow cover through its high albedo, variation of the the cryosphere on the earth surface. Its unique proper- snow cover distribution and frozen soils in regional ties, such as areal extent, surface albedo, and snow scales not only affect local climate and environments, depth are important parameters in global energy bal- but also feedback to large-scale, or even global cli- ance models. On global and terrestrial scales, a large matic change th…     

A Methodology for Clustering Lakes in Alberta on the basis of Water Quality Parameters

In this study, a methodology for clustering 18 lakes in Alberta, Canada using the data of 19 water quality parameters for a period of 11 years (1988–2002) is presented. The methods consist of (i) principal component analysis (PCA) to determine the dominant water quality parameters, (ii) cluster analysis techniques to develop the characteristics of the clusters, and (iii) pattern‐match lakes to determine the appropriate cluster for each of the lakes. The PCA revealed that three principal components (PCs) were able to explain ～88% of the variability and the dominant water quality parameters were total dissolved solids, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll‐a. We obtained five clusters for the period 1994–1997 by using the dominant parameters with water quality deteriorating as the cluster number increased from 1 to 5. Upon matching cluster patterns with the entire dataset, it was observed that some of the lakes belonged to the same cluster all the time (e.g., cluster 1 for lakes Elkwater, Gregg, and Jarvis; cluster 3 for Sturgeon; cluster 4 for Moonshine; and cluster 5 for Saskatoon), while others changed with time. This methodology could be applied in other regions of the world to identify the most suitable source waters and prioritize their management. It could be helpful to analyze the natural controlling processes, pollution types, impact of seasonal changes and overall quality of source waters. This methodology could be used for monitoring water bodies in a cost effective and efficient way by sampling only less number of dominant parameters instead of using a large set of parameters.     

Evaluating the SWAT's snow hydrology over a Northern Quebec watershed

The snow treatment becomes an important component of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)’s hydrology when spring flows are dominated by snow melting. However, little is known about SWAT's snow hydrology performance because most studies using SWAT were conducted in rainfall‐driven catchments. To fill this gap, the present study aims to evaluate the ability of SWAT in simulating snow‐melting‐dominated streamflow in the Outardes Basin in Northern Quebec. SWAT performance in simulating snowmelt is evaluated against observed streamflow data and compared to simulations from the operationally used Streamflow Synthesis and Reservoir Regulation (SSARR) model over that catchment. The SWAT 5‐year calibration showed a satisfactory performance at the daily and seasonal time scales with low volume biases. The SWAT validation was conducted over two (17‐year and 15‐year) periods. Performances were similar to the calibration period in simulating the daily and seasonal streamflows again with low model biases. The spring‐snowmelt‐generated peak flow was accurately simulated by SWAT both in magnitude and timing. When SWAT's results are compared to SSARR, similar performances in simulating the daily discharges were observed. SSARR simulates more accurately streamflow generated at the snowmelt onset whereas SWAT better predicts streamflow in summer, fall and winter. SWAT provided reasonable streamflow simulations for our snow‐covered catchment, but refinement of the process‐driven baseflow during the snowmelt onset could improve spring performances. Therefore, SWAT becomes an attractive tool for evaluating water resources management in Nordic environments when a distributed model is preferred or when water quality information (e.g. temperature) is required. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrological projections of future climate change over the source region of Yellow River and Yangtze River in the Tibetan Plateau: A comprehensive assessment by coupling RegCM4 and VIC model

Understanding climate change impacts on hydrological regime and assessing future water supplies are essential to effective water resources management and planning, which is particularly true for the Tibetan Plateau (TP), one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change. In this study, future climate change in the TP was projected for 2041–2060 by a high‐resolution regional climate model, RegCM4, under 3 representative concentration pathways (RCPs): 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5. Response of all key hydrological elements, that is, evapotranspiration, surface run‐off, baseflow, and snowmelt, to future climate in 2 typical catchments, the source regions of Yellow and Yangtze rivers, was further investigated by the variable infiltration capacity microscale hydrological model incorporated with a 2‐layer energy balance snow model and a frozen soil/permafrost algorithm at a 0.25°×0.25° spatial scale. The results reveal that (a) spatial patterns of precipitation and temperature from RegCM4 agree fairly well with the data from China Meteorological Forcing Dataset, indicating that RegCM4 well reproduces historical climatic information and thus is reliable to support future projection; (b) precipitation increase by 0–70% and temperature rise by 1–4 °C would occur in the TP under 3 RCPs. A clear south‐eastern–north‐western spatial increasing gradient in precipitation would be seen. Besides, under RCP8.5, the peak increase in temperature would approach to 4 °C in spring and autumn in the east of the TP; (c) evapotranspiration would increase by 10–60% in 2 source regions due to the temperature rise, surface run‐off and baseflow in higher elevation region would experience larger increase dominantly due to the precipitation increase, and streamflow would display general increases by more than 3% and 5% in the source regions of Yellow and Yangtze rivers, respectively; (d) snowmelt contributes 11.1% and 16.2% to total run‐off in the source regions of Yellow and Yangtze rivers, respectively, during the baseline period. In the source region of Yangtze River, snowmelt run‐off would become more important with increase of 17.5% and 18.3%, respectively, under RCP2.6 and RCP4.5 but decrease of 15.0% under RCP8.5.     

Response characteristics of DOC flushing in an alpine catchment

The spatial distribution of source areas and associated residence times of water in the catchment are significant factors controlling the annual cycles of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration in Deer Creek (Summit County, Colorado). During spring snowmelt (April–August 1992), stream DOC concentrations increased with the rising limb of the hydrograph, peaked before maximum discharge, then declined rapidly as melting continued. We investigated catchment sources of DOC to streamflow, measuring DOC in tension lysimeters, groundwater wells, snow and streamflow. Lysimeter data indicate that near-surface soil horizons are a primary contributor of DOC to streamflow during spring snowmelt. Concentrations of DOC in the lysimeters decrease rapidly during the melt period, supporting the hypothesis that hydrological flushing of catchment soils is the primary mechanism affecting the temporal variation of DOC in Deer Creek. Time constants of DOC flushing, characterizing the exponential decay of DOC concentration in the upper soil horizon, ranged from 10 to 30 days for the 10 lysimeter sites. Differences in the rate of flushing are influenced by topographical position, with near-stream riparian soils flushed more quickly than soils located further upslope. Variation in the amount of distribution of accumulated snow, and asynchronous melting of the snowpack across the landscape, staggered the onset of the spring flush throughout the catchment, prolonging the period of increased concentrations of DOC in the stream. Streamflow integrates the catchment-scale flushing responses, yielding a time constant associated with the recession of DOC in the stream channel (84 days) that is significantly longer than the time constants observed for particular locations in the upper soil. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantifying the role of the snowpack in generating water available for run‐off during rain‐on‐snow events from snow pillow records

Rain‐on‐snow events have generated major floods around the world, particularly in coastal, mountainous regions. Most previous studies focused on a limited number of major rain‐on‐snow events or were based primarily on model results, largely due to a lack of long‐term records from lysimeters or other instrumentation for quantifying event water balances. In this analysis, we used records from five automated snow pillow sites in south coastal British Columbia, Canada, to reconstruct event water balances for 286 rain‐on‐snow events over a 10‐year period. For large rain‐on‐snow events (event rainfall >40 mm), snowmelt enhanced the production of water available for run‐off (WAR) by approximately 25% over rainfall alone. For smaller events, a range of antecedent and meteorological factors influenced WAR generation, particularly the antecedent liquid water content of the snowpack. Most large events were associated with atmospheric rivers. Rainfall dominated WAR generation during autumn and winter events, whereas snowmelt dominated during spring and summer events. In the majority of events, the sensible heat of rain contributed less than 10% of the total energy consumed by snowmelt. This analysis illustrated the importance of understanding the amount of rainfall occurring at high elevations during rain‐on‐snow events in mountainous regions.     

Sub-arctic river bank dynamics and driving processes during the open-channel flow period

There is growing concern that rapidly changing climate in high latitudes may generate significant geomorphological changes that could mobilise floodplain sediments and carbon; however detailed investigations into the bank erosion process regimes of high latitude rivers remain lacking. Here we employ a combination of thermal and RGB colour time-lapse photos in concert with water level, flow characteristics, bank sediment moisture and temperature, and topographical data to analyse river bank dynamics during the open-channel flow period (the period from the rise of the spring snowmelt flood until the autumn low flow period) for a subarctic river in northern Finland (Pulmanki River). We show how variations of bank sediment temperature and moisture affect bank erosion rates and locations, how bank collapses relate to fluvial processes, and elucidate the seasonal variations and interlinkages between the different driving processes. We find that areas with high levels of groundwater content and loose sand layers were the most prone areas for bank erosion. Groundwater seeping caused continuous erosion throughout the study period, whereas erosion by flowing river water occurred during the peak of snowmelt flood. However, erosion also occurred during the falling phase of the spring flood, mainly due to mass failures. The rising phase of the spring flood therefore did not affect the river bank as much as its peak or receding phases. This is explained because the bank is resistant to erosion due to the prevalence of still frozen and drier sediments at the beginning of the spring flood. Overall, most bank erosion and deposition occurrences were observed during the low flow period after the spring flood. This highlights that spring melt, while often delivering the highest discharges, may not be the main driver of bank erosion in sub-arctic meandering rivers. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of seasonal snowmelt contribution using a distributed energy balance model for a river basin in the Altai Mountains of northwestern China

Snowmelt water is a vital freshwater resource in the Altai Mountains of northwestern China. Yet its seasonal hydrological cycle characteristics could change under a warming climate and more rapid spring snowmelt. Here, we simulated snowmelt runoff dynamics in the Kayiertesi River catchment, from 2000 to 2016, by using an improved hydrological distribution model that relied on high-resolution meteorological data acquired from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (Fnl-NCEP) that were downscaled using the Weather Research Forecasting model. Its predictions were compared to observed runoff data, which confirmed the simulations' reliability. Our results show the model performed well, in general, given its daily validation Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.62 (from 2013 to 2015) and a monthly NSE score of 0.68 (from 2000 to 2010) for the studied river basin of the Altai Mountains. In this river basin catchment, snowfall accounted for 64.1% of its precipitation and snow evaporation for 49.8% of its total evaporation, while snowmelt runoff constituted 29.3% of the annual runoff volume. Snowmelt's contribution to runoff in the Altai Mountains can extend into non-snow days because of the snowmelt water retained in soils. From 2000 to 2016, the snow-to-rain ratio decreased rapidly, however, the snowmelt contribution remained relatively stable in the study region. Our findings provide a sound basis for making snowmelt runoff predictions, which could be used prevent snowmelt-induced flooding, as well as a generalizable approach applicable to other remote, high-elevation locations where high-density, long-term observational data are currently lacking. How snowmelt contributes to water dynamics and resources in cold regions is garnering greater attention. Our proposed model is thus timely perhaps, enabling more comprehensive assessments of snowmelt contributions to hydrological processes in those alpine regions characterized by seasonal snow cover.     

Effects of sampling effort on the estimation of spatial gradients in a tropical reservoir impacted by an oil refinery

We investigated the effects of increase in sampling effort (30-1043 sampling points) on the accuracy of assessment of the spatial patterns of surface-water quality in a eutrophic tropical reservoir. The investigation was carried out during the dry season, when previous investigations showed that the spatial heterogeneity is more stable. A multi-parameter Yellow Springs Instruments probe coupled to a TechGeo D-GPS was used. This system is equipped to measure and store in a continuous recording mode, several physical and chemical parameters linked to geographical coordinates obtained with a precision of less than 1 m. We used different geostatistical approaches to determine the optimal number of sampling points required to reflect the real spatial patterns of water quality in the system. This approach was tested in a small tropical reservoir (Ibirité) that receives effluents from an oil refinery (the state-owned REGAP oil refinery, PETROBRAS) located near the city of Belo Horizonte. The study showed not only that the spatial patterns of water quality are significantly affected by sampling effort but also it was demonstrated that the establishment of an adequate sampling program is a critical point for the precise identification of source points of pollution. The results of this investigation enabled us to demonstrate the potential uses and limits of this method for rapid assessment of the water quality of lakes and reservoirs that receive external inputs of water contaminants or nutrients.