Study of stream temperature dynamics and corresponding heat fluxes within Miramichi River catchments (New Brunswick,Canada)

Water temperature is a key physical habitat determinant in lotic ecosystems as it influences many physical, chemical, and biological properties of rivers. Hence, a good understanding of the thermal regime of rivers and river heat fluxes is essential for effective management of water and fisheries resources. This study dealt with the modelling of river water temperature using a deterministic model. This model calculated the different heat fluxes at the water surface and from the streambed using different hydrometeorological conditions. The water temperature model was applied on two watercourses of different sizes and thermal characteristics, but within a similar meteorological region, namely, the Little Southwest Miramichi River and Catamaran Brook (New Brunswick, Canada). The model was also applied using microclimate data, i.e. meteorological conditions within the river environment (1–2 m above the water surface), for a better estimation of river heat fluxes. Water temperatures at different depths within the riverbed were also used to estimate the streambed heat fluxes. Results showed that microclimate data were essential to get accurate estimates of the surface heat fluxes. Results also showed that for larger river systems, the surface heat fluxes were generally the dominant component of the heat budget with a correspondingly smaller contribution from the streambed. As watercourses became smaller and groundwater contribution more significant, the streambed contribution became important. For instance, approximately 80% of the heat fluxes occurred at the surface for Catamaran Brook (20% from the streambed) whereas the Little Southwest Miramichi River showed values closer to 90% (10% from the streambed). As was reported in previous studies, the solar radiation input dominated the contribution to the heat gain at 63% for Catamaran Brook and 89% for Little Southwest Miramichi River. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interpreting Variations in Groundwater Flows from Repeated Distributed Thermal Perturbation Tests

To better understand the groundwater resources of southern Nye County, Nevada, a multipart distributed thermal perturbation sensing (DTPS) test was performed on a complex of three wells. These wells penetrate an alluvial aquifer that drains the Nevada National Security Site, and characterizing the hydraulic properties and flow paths of the regional groundwater flow system has proven very difficult. The well complex comprised one pumping well and two observation wells, both located 18 m from the pumping well. Using fiber‐optic cables and line heaters, DTPS tests were performed under both stressed and unstressed conditions. Each test injects heat into the water column over a period of one to two days, and observes the rising temperature during heat injection and falling temperatures after heating ceases. Aquifer thermal properties are inferred from temperature patterns in the cased section of the wells, and fluxes through the 30‐m screened section are estimated based on a model that incorporates conductive and advective heat fluxes. Vertical variations in flux are examined on a scale of tens of cm. The actively flowing zones of the aquifer change between the stressed and unstressed test, and anisotropy in the aquifer permeability is apparent from the changing fluxes between tests. The fluxes inferred from the DTPS tests are compared to solute tracer tests previously performed on the same site. The DTPS‐based fluxes are consistent with the fastest solute transport observed in the tracer test, but appear to overestimate the mean flux through the system.     

Heat budget, energy storage and hydrological regime in a coastal lagoon

For this paper, a physical heat budget model has been implemented using a fine-scale high-resolution meteorological data set in order to explore the influence of external factors, such as solar radiation and wind speed on the thermal regime and, therefore, the ecological dynamics of a shallow coastal ecosystem, Nueva lagoon (Southeast Spain). In addition, our results reveal that micrometeorological data (recorded with at least a bihourly frequency) are required to obtain reliable results from such a model. Net radiation accounted on average for around 95% of the non-advective fluxes and long wave radiation emitted accounted for around 70% of the non-advective losses. Evaporation was also a considerable component of the energy budget, accounting for about 20% of the total energy losses. In relation to advective heat fluxes, results from a water budget in Nueva lagoon have shown that groundwater discharge and irrigation surpluses contributed to the heat storage of Nueva lagoon, whereas the effect of heat advected via rainfall was negligible.     

Heat as a groundwater tracer in shallow and deep heterogeneous media: Analytical solution,spreadsheet tool,and field applications

Groundwater flow advects heat, and thus, the deviation of subsurface temperatures from an expected conduction‐dominated regime can be analysed to estimate vertical water fluxes. A number of analytical approaches have been proposed for using heat as a groundwater tracer, and these have typically assumed a homogeneous medium. However, heterogeneous thermal properties are ubiquitous in subsurface environments, both at the scale of geologic strata and at finer scales in streambeds. Herein, we apply the analytical solution of Shan and Bodvarsson ( 2004 ), developed for estimating vertical water fluxes in layered systems, in 2 new environments distinct from previous vadose zone applications. The utility of the solution for studying groundwater‐surface water exchange is demonstrated using temperature data collected from an upwelling streambed with sediment layers, and a simple sensitivity analysis using these data indicates the solution is relatively robust. Also, a deeper temperature profile recorded in a borehole in South Australia is analysed to estimate deeper water fluxes. The analytical solution is able to match observed thermal gradients, including the change in slope at sediment interfaces. Results indicate that not accounting for layering can yield errors in the magnitude and even direction of the inferred Darcy fluxes. A simple automated spreadsheet tool (Flux‐LM) is presented to allow users to input temperature and layer data and solve the inverse problem to estimate groundwater flux rates from shallow (e.g., <1 m) or deep (e.g., up to 100 m) profiles. The solution is not transient, and thus, it should be cautiously applied where diel signals propagate or in deeper zones where multi‐decadal surface signals have disturbed subsurface thermal regimes.     

Flow visualization studies of two-phase thermal convection in a porous layer

Summary Two-phase thermal convection has been studied in a porous layer heated from below. A water saturated porous layer was heated so that boiling occurred on the lower boundary. In order to observe flow patterns one lateral dimension of the apparatus was made small. At moderate heat fluxes a water zone overlay a two-phase, steam-water zone. Water velocities and streamlines were obtained as well as the location of the two-phase zone for several heat fluxes. Within the water zone heat transfer took place due to both conduction and convection. In the two-phase zone heat transfer took place due to counterpercolation of steam and water.     

Scientific briefing: quantifying streambed heat advection associated with groundwater–surface water interactions

Stream thermal regimes are controlled by the interactions of external and internal energy fluxes with the water in the channel. Solar radiation is typically the dominant driver of stream water temperature, but streambed heat fluxes can be important in forested headwater streams. Past studies have presented seemingly disparate formulae for quantifying streambed heat advection from upwelling groundwater. This note details the sources of the differences in these alternative formulations. The equations illustrate the difficulties of attempting to isolate the thermal influence of groundwater–surface water interactions and highlight future research opportunities. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of atmospheric stability conditions on heat fluxes from small water surfaces in (semi-)arid regions

Atmospheric stability conditions over the water surface can affect the evaporative and convective heat fluxes from the water surface. Atmospheric instability occurred 72.5% of the time and resulted in 44.7 and 89.2% increases in the average and maximum estimated evaporation, respectively, when compared to the neutral condition for a small shallow lake (Binaba) in Ghana. The proposed approach is based on the bulk-aerodynamic transfer method and the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) using standard meteorological parameters measured over the surrounding land. For water surface temperature, a crucial parameter in heat flux estimation from water surfaces, an applicable method is proposed. This method was used to compute heat fluxes and compare them with observed heat fluxes. The heat flux model was validated using sensible heat fluxes measured with a 3-D sonic anemometer. The results show that an unstable atmospheric condition has a significant effect in enhancing evaporation alongside the sensible heat flux from water surfaces.     

Diurnal cycle of surface energy fluxes in high mountain terrain: High-resolution fully coupled atmosphere-hydrology modelling and impact of lateral flow

Water and energy fluxes are inextricably interlinked within the interface of the land surface and the atmosphere. In the regional earth system models, the lower boundary parameterization of land surface neglects lateral hydrological processes, which may inadequately depict the surface water and energy fluxes variations, thus affecting the simulated atmospheric system through land-atmosphere feedbacks. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the hydrologically enhanced regional climate modelling in order to represent the diurnal cycle of surface energy fluxes in high spatial and temporal resolution. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) and coupled WRF Hydrological modelling system (WRF-Hydro) are applied in a high alpine catchment in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau, the headwater area of the Heihe River. By evaluating and intercomparing model results by both models, the role of lateral flow processes on the surface energy fluxes dynamics is investigated. The model evaluations suggest that both WRF and coupled WRF-Hydro reasonably represent the diurnal variations of the near-surface meteorological fields, surface energy fluxes and hourly partitioning of available energy. By incorporating additional lateral flow processes, the coupled WRF-Hydro simulates higher surface soil moisture over the mountainous area, resulting in increased latent heat flux and decreased sensible heat flux of around 20–50 W/m² in their diurnal peak values during summertime, although the net radiation and ground heat fluxes remain almost unchanged. The simulation results show that the diurnal cycle of surface energy fluxes follows the local terrain and vegetation features. This highlights the importance of consideration of lateral flow processes over areas with heterogeneous terrain and land surfaces.     

Monitoring Soil Water Content by Vertical Temperature Variations

The availability of high sensitivity temperature sensors (0.001 K sensitivity platinum resistors), which can be positioned at intervals of a few centimeters along a vertical profile in the unsaturated zone, allows short‐term in situ determinations—one day or even less—of the thermal diffusivity. The development of high data storage capabilities also makes this possible over long periods and the relative variations in thermal diffusivity allow the monitoring of the variations in water content. The processing of temperature measurements recorded at different depths is achieved by solving the heat equation, using the finite elements method, with both conductive and convective heat transfers. A first set of measurements has allowed this approach to be validated. Water content variations derived from thermal diffusivity values are in excellent agreement with TDR measurements carried out on the experimental site at Boissy‐le‐Châtel (Seine et Marne, France).     

Data collection methodology for dynamic temperature model testing and corroboration

This article describes a data collection approach for determining the significance of individual heat fluxes within streams with an emphasis on testing (i.e. identification of possible missing heat fluxes), development, calibration and corroboration of a dynamic temperature model. The basis for developing this approach was a preliminary temperature modelling effort on the Virgin River in southwestern Utah during a low‐flow period that suggested important components of the energy balance might be missing in the original standard surface‐flux temperature model. Possible missing heat fluxes were identified as bed conduction, hyporheic exchange, dead zone warming and exchange and poor representation of the amount of solar radiation entering the water column. To identify and estimate the relative importance of the missing components, a comprehensive data collection effort was developed and implemented. In particular, a method for measuring shortwave radiation behaviour in the water column and an in situ method for separating out bed conduction and hyporheic influences were established. The resulting data and subsequent modelling effort indicate that hyporheic and dead zone heat fluxes are important, whereas solar radiation reflection at the water surface was found to be insignificant. Although bed conduction can be significant in certain rivers, it was found to have little effect on the overall heat budget for this section of the Virgin River. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

巢湖对冬季陆面辐射和热量过程的影响

从物理气候学的观点出发,分析了湖泊对水体和陆地辐射平衡和热量平衡各分量的影响。以巢湖地区冬季观测资料为例,揭示了在晴稳天气湖陆风环流对陆面显热输送的影响,以及在冷平流天气,湖泊对上下风方陆面显热输送的影响。     

Spatial distribution of surface energy fluxes over the Loess Plateau in China and its relationship with climate and the environment

China's Loess Plateau is located at the edge of the Asian summer monsoon in a transition zone of climate and ecology. In the Loess Plateau, climate and environments change along with space, which has an obvious impact on the spatial distribution of surface energy fluxes. Because of scarce land-surface observation sites and short observation time in this area, previous studies have failed to fully understand the land-surface energy balance characteristics over the entire the Loess Plateau and their effect mechanisms. In this paper, we first test the simulation ability of the Community Land Model(CLM) model by comparing its simulated data with observed data. Based on the simulation data for the Loess Plateau over the past thirty years, we then analyze the spatial distribution of surface energy fluxes and compare the pattern differences between the area averages for the driest year and wettest year. Furthermore, we analyze the relationship between the spatial distribution of the components of the surface energy balance with longitude, latitude, altitude, precipitation and temperature. The main results are as follows: the spatial distribution of surface energy fluxes are significantly different, with the surface net radiation and sensible heat flux increasing from south to north and latent heat flux and soil heat flux decreasing from southeast to northwest. The sensible heat flux at the driest point is nearly twice as high as that at the wettest point, whereas the latent heat flux and soil heat flux at the driest point are half as much as that at the wettest point. The impact of variations of annual precipitation on the components of the surface energy balance is also obvious, and the maximum magnitude of the changes to the sensible heat flux and latent heat flux is nearly 30%. To a certain extent, geographical factors(including longitude, latitude, and altitude) and climate factors(including temperature and precipitation) affect the surface energy fluxes. However, the surface net radiation is more closely related to latitude and altitude, sensible heat flux is more closely related to the monsoon rainfall and latitude, and latent heat flux and soil heat flux are more closely related to the monsoon rainfall.     

Daily variation characteristics of CO_2 emission fluxes and contributions of environmental factors in semiarid grassland of Inner Mongolia, China

Soil respiration refers to the process of soil gener-ating and emitting CO2to the atmosphere under the synthetic effect of different environmental factors,which includes mineralization of soil organic matter involved by microorganism and respiration of plant root system and soil animals.The emission of CO2to the atmosphere through soil respiration is the most important link of carbon cycle process of grassland ecosystem,and also the key ecological process of grassland ecosystem exerting effec…     

Simultaneous water and vapour transfer in an unsaturated mudstone in badlands terrain,southwestern Taiwan

The simultaneous transfer of pore fluid and vapour was studied in the unsaturated shallow subsurface of a Plio-Pleistocene marine mudstone badland slope in southwestern Taiwan during the dry season using field monitoring data and numerical simulations. Data from field monitoring show mass-basis water contents of ~0.05 to ~0.10 that decrease towards the unsaturated ground surface and were invariant during the middle part of the dry season, except for daily fluctuations. In addition, the observed daily fluctuations in water content correlate with fluctuations in bedrock temperature, especially at depths of 2.5–5.0 cm. Periodic increases in water content occurred most notably during the day, when the bedrock temperature showed the greatest increase. Water contents then decreased to the previous state as bedrock temperature decreased during the night. Calculated vapour fluxes within the mudstone during the day increased up to 6 × 10⁻⁶–1 × 10⁻⁵ kg m⁻² s⁻¹, deriving a 0.01–0.02 increase in mass-basis water content at 2.5 cm depth for a 12-h period. This agrees with field monitoring data, suggesting that increases in water content occurred due to vapour intrusions into the bedrock. Pore water electrical conductivity (EC) showed periodic variations due to vapour intrusion, and gradually increased between the ground surface and depths of 2.5–5.0 cm. In contrast, pore water EC gradually decreased between 15 and 40 cm depth. Calculated water fluxes at depths of 2.5–40.0 cm varied from −4 × 10⁻⁶ to −2 × 10⁻⁹ kg m⁻² s⁻¹. These fluxes generated an increase in solute concentrations at the ground surface, with negative values of water flux indicating an upwards movement of water towards the surface. We show that the increase in solute content due to solute transfer from depth is highly dependent on variations in water flux with depth. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal Imagery of Groundwater Seeps: Possibilities and Limitations

Quantifying groundwater flow at seepage faces is crucial because seepage faces influence the hydroecology and water budgets of watersheds, lakes, rivers and oceans, and because measuring groundwater fluxes directly in aquifers is extremely difficult. Seepage faces provide a direct and measurable groundwater flux but there is no existing method to quantitatively image groundwater processes at this boundary. Our objective is to determine the possibilities and limitations of thermal imagery in quantifying groundwater discharge from discrete seeps. We developed a conceptual model of temperature below discrete seeps, observed 20 seeps spectacularly exposed in three dimensions at an unused limestone quarry and conducted field experiments to examine the role of diurnal changes and rock face heterogeneity on thermal imagery. The conceptual model suggests that convective air‐water heat exchange driven by temperature differences is the dominant heat transfer mechanism. Thermal imagery is effective at locating and characterizing the flux of groundwater seeps. Areas of active groundwater flow and ice growth can be identified from thermal images in the winter, and seepage rates can be differentiated in the summer. However, the application of thermal imagery is limited by diverse factors including technical issues of image acquisition, diurnal changes in radiation and temperature, and rock face heterogeneity. Groundwater discharge rates could not be directly quantified from thermal imagery using our observations but our conceptual model and experiments suggest that thermal imagery could quantify groundwater discharge when there are large temperature differences, simple cliff faces, non‐freezing conditions, and no solar radiation.     

Influence of a rock glacier spring on the stream energy budget and cold‐water refuge in an alpine stream

The thermal regimes of alpine streams remain understudied and have important implications for cold‐water fish habitat, which is expected to decline due to climatic warming. Previous research has focused on the effects of distributed energy fluxes and meltwater from snowpacks and glaciers on the temperature of mountain streams. This study presents the effects of the groundwater spring discharge from an inactive rock glacier containing little ground ice on the temperature of an alpine stream. Rock glaciers are coarse blocky landforms that are ubiquitous in alpine environments and typically exhibit low groundwater discharge temperatures and resilience to climatic warming. Water temperature data indicate that the rock glacier spring cools the stream by an average of 3 °C during July and August and reduces maximum daily temperatures by an average of 5 °C during the peak temperature period of the first two weeks in August, producing a cold‐water refuge downstream of the spring. The distributed stream surface and streambed energy fluxes are calculated for the reach along the toe of the rock glacier, and solar radiation dominates the distributed stream energy budget. The lateral advective heat flux generated by the rock glacier spring is compared to the distributed energy fluxes over the study reach, and the spring advective heat flux is the dominant control on stream temperature at the reach scale. This study highlights the potential for coarse blocky landforms to generate climatically resilient cold‐water refuges in alpine streams.     

Adapting a model of heat and mass exchange between a water body and the atmosphere taking into account the effect of shallows: Case study of the Ivankovo Reservoir

The paper is based on a box model of heat and mass exchange with the incorporation of a block for calculating latent heat flux, supplemented by parameterization of heat and mass exchange between shallow water area and the atmosphere. The results of calculation of evaporation from the water area of the Ivankovo Reservoir, with allowance made for more intense evaporation from shallows, are given. The latent heat fluxes from shallow and deep-water zones of the water body are shown to differ, depending on weather conditions and water level; the increase in the evaporated-water volume due to taking into account the shallow-water effect is evaluated.     

非均匀灌溉棉田能量平衡特征研究

运用国际能量平衡实验(EBEX-2000)的湍流、净辐射和土壤观测资料,运用涡动相关法分析了非均匀灌溉引起的热内边界层发展条件下近地层感热、潜热通量特征,并对有无灌溉两种条件下的能量闭合度进行了对比分析.在计算感热、潜热通量过程中,分别将Schotanus订正和Webb订正纳入了考虑范围,研究了两种订正方法对计算湍流热通量的影响.研究结果发现,由于非均匀灌溉生成的热内边界层使得近地层感热通量受到抑制,潜热通量出现波动,该现象在8.7 m比2.7 m 更为显著.非均匀灌溉导致的热内边界层的存在使得近地层能量闭合度偏低,能量平衡比率约为0.65;而没有热内边界层存在时,近地层能量平衡比率约为0.70.本实验中,Schotanus订正使得感热通量显著减小,其订正量日平均值约为-8 W/m²,占净辐射的近4%;Webb订正量日平均值约为2 W/m²,对能量平衡的影响较小.     

Three-dimensional flow patterns at the river–aquifer interface — a case study at the Danube

The three-dimensional groundwater flow patterns in a gravel bar at the Danube east of Vienna were investigated and are discussed in this paper. The observed groundwater level gradients are highly dynamic and respond very quickly to changes in the river water levels. A variably saturated groundwater model was calibrated to the data to describe the complex dynamics of flow in the gravel bar. The model results suggest that short-term (6–48 h) fluctuations of river water levels cause variations in the exchange flow rates from − 35 l/s to 82 l/s. The highest rates occur during brief infiltration after rapidly rising river water levels. Simulations of different scenarios indicate that riverbank clogging will decrease the exchange fluxes by up to 80%, while clogging of both riverbank and riverbed essentially stops the flow exchange. The groundwater model is also used to simulate the transport of a conservative tracer. The variation of river water levels over time is shown to increase the extent of the active river–aquifer mixing zone in the gravel bar. These dynamic factors significantly enhance the dilution of conservative tracer concentrations in this zone.     

Features of the Atmospheric Temperature Variations Prior to Strong Earthquakes in Kamchatka and Their Relation to the Fluxes of Outgoing Infrared Radiation

The temperature variations of the near-surface atmosphere in Kamchatka at Paratunka observatory and fluxes of outgoing infrared radiation prior to strong Kuril earthquakes (November 15, 2006, M = 8.3; January 13, 2007, M = 8.1) have been analyzed. It is shown that the radiation fluxes at ground level, as measured on satellites above the epicenter of earthquakes and above a remote observatory, coincide with each other, both in magnitude and in the feature of their time variations. The temperature measured directly at the observatory and the temperature at surface level estimated from satellite observations differ in magnitude, but they coincide in the feature of their time variations. The detected temperature increase (despite the negative regular trend at this time of year) is caused by the appearance of an additional heat source entering in the nearsurface atmosphere. This result, together with the studies of variations of various geophysical data before strong earthquakes performed earlier in Kamchatka, led to the conclusion that the additional heat source is in the Earth’s crust.