Is there a superior conceptual groundwater model structure for baseflow simulation?

Previous work has shown that streamflow response during baseflow conditions is a function of storage, but also that this functional relationship varies among seasons and catchments. Traditionally, hydrological models incorporate conceptual groundwater models consisting of linear or non‐linear storage–outflow functions. Identification of the right model structure and model parameterization however is challenging. The aim of this paper is to systematically test different model structures in a set of catchments where different aquifer types govern baseflow generation processes. Nine different two‐parameter conceptual groundwater models are applied with multi‐objective calibration to transform two different groundwater recharge series derived from a soil‐atmosphere‐vegetation transfer model into baseflow separated from streamflow data. The relative performance differences of the model structures allow to systematically improve the understanding of baseflow generation processes and to identify most appropriate model structures for different aquifer types. We found more versatile and more aquifer‐specific optimal model structures and elucidate the role of interflow, flow paths, recharge regimes and partially contributing storages. Aquifer‐specific recommendations of storage models were found for fractured and karstic aquifers, whereas large storage capacities blur the identification of superior model structures for complex and porous aquifers. A model performance matrix is presented, which highlights the joint effects of different recharge inputs, calibration criteria, model structures and aquifer types. The matrix is a guidance to improve groundwater model structures towards their representation of the dominant baseflow generation processes of specific aquifer types. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards more systematic perceptual model development: a case study using 3 Luxembourgish catchments

The synthesis of experimental understanding of catchment behaviour and its translation into qualitative perceptual models is an important objective of hydrological sciences. We explore this challenge by examining the cumulative understanding of the hydrology of three experimental catchments and how it evolves through the application of different investigation techniques. The case study considers the Huewelerbach, Weierbach and Wollefsbach headwater catchments of the Attert basin in Luxembourg. Subsurface investigations including bore holes and pits, analysis of soil samples and Electrical Resistivity Tomography measurements are presented and discussed. Streamflow and tracer data are used to gain further insights into the streamflow dynamics of the catchments, using end‐member mixing analysis and hydrograph separation based on dissolved silica and electrical conductivity. We show that the streamflow generating processes in all three catchments are controlled primarily by the subsolum and underlying bedrock. In the Huewelerbach, the permeable sandstone formation supports a stable groundwater component with little seasonality, which reaches the stream through a series of sources at the contact zone with the impermeable marls formation. In the Weierbach, the schist formation is relatively impermeable and supports a ‘fill and spill’‐type of flow mechanism; during wet conditions, it produces a delayed response dominated by pre‐event water. In the Wollefsbach, the impermeable marls formation is responsible for a saturation‐excess runoff generating process, producing a fast and highly seasonal response dominated by event water. The distinct streamflow generating processes of the three catchments are represented qualitatively using perceptual models. The perceptual models are in turn translated into quantitative conceptual models, which simulate the hydrological processes using networks of connected reservoirs and transfer functions. More generally, the paper illustrates the evolution of perceptual models based on experimental fieldwork data, the translation of perceptual models into conceptual models and the value of different types of data for processes understanding and model representation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Catchments of German surface water bodies

The European Water Framework Directive demands to assess and report the chemical and ecological status of water bodies (WB). Linking their status to drivers and pressures and deriving suitable mitigation measures require knowledge of the shape and area of WB catchments. We derived a network of 26 570 WB catchments in Germany using the hydrologically-defined drainage basins of the German federal states. We established a network of 338 149 drainage basins. This network underwent plausibility checks and a validation with the catchment areas of 348 monitoring stations across Germany. To this network, we assigned the longest intersecting or the next downstream WB code. To account for geometric inaccuracies we revised spurious intersections resulting in splittings and cycles in the WB network. As WB may be ecologically but not hydrologically well defined, we split them at confluences and intersections. The network of drainage basins matched the monitoring stations with a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 1.00. The final WB network contained 11 005 out of the 11 586 original WBs longer than 1 m. The corresponding local catchment areas range from <<0.0001 to 446 km², with a median of 10 km². The dataset combines the requirements of hydrological and ecological modelling applications at basin or national scales with the needs of the EU reporting which can foster their acceptance by state authorities and river-basin management.     

Spatially controlled Fe and Si isotope variations: an alternative view on the formation of the Torres del Paine pluton

We present new Fe and Si isotope ratio data for the Torres del Paine igneous complex in southern Chile. The multi-composition pluton consists of an approximately 1 km vertical exposure of homogenous granite overlying a contemporaneous 250-m-thick mafic gabbro suite. This first-of-its-kind spatially dependent Fe and Si isotope investigation of a convergent margin-related pluton aims to understand the nature of granite and silicic igneous rock formation. Results collected by MC-ICP-MS show a trend of increasing δ⁵⁶Fe and δ³⁰Si with increasing silica content as well as a systematic increase in δ⁵⁶Fe away from the mafic base of the pluton. The marginal Torres del Paine granites have heavier Fe isotope signatures (δ⁵⁶Fe = +0.25 ± 0.02 2se) compared to granites found in the interior pluton (δ⁵⁶Fe = +0.17 ± 0.02 2se). Cerro Toro country rock values are isotopically light in both Fe and Si isotopic systems (δ⁵⁶Fe = +0.05 ± 0.02 ‰; δ³⁰Si = ?0.38 ± 0.07 ‰). The variations in the Fe and Si isotopic data cannot be accounted for by local assimilation of the wall rocks, in situ fractional crystallization, late-stage fluid exsolution or some combination of these processes. Instead, we conclude that thermal diffusion or source magma variation is the most likely process producing Fe isotope ratio variations in the Torres del Paine pluton.     

Biogenic volatile compound emissions from a temperate forest,China: model simulation

Emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) were measured using a relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) technique on an above-canopy tower in a temperate forest (Changbai Mountain, Jilin province, China) during the 2010 and 2011 summer seasons. Solar global radiation and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) were also measured. Based on PAR energy dynamic balance, an empirical BVOC emission and PAR transfer model was developed that includes the processes of BVOC emissions and PAR transfer above the canopy level, including PAR absorption and consumption, and scattering by gases, liquids, and particles (GLPs). Simulated emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes were in agreement with observations. The averages of the relative estimator biases for the flux were 39.3 % for isoprene, and 27.1 % for monoterpenes in the 2010 and 2011 growing seasons, with NMSE (normalized mean square error) values of 0.133 and 0.101, respectively. The observed and simulated mean diurnal variations of isoprene and monoterpenes in the 2010 and 2011 growing seasons were evaluated for the validation of the empirical model. Under observed atmospheric conditions, the sensitivity analysis showed that emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes were more sensitive to changes in PAR than to water vapor content or to the magnitude of the scattering factor. The emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes in the 2010 and 2011 growing seasons (from June to September) were estimated using this empirical model along with hourly observational data, with mean hourly emissions of 1.71 and 1.55 mg m^?2 h^?1 for isoprene, and 0.48 and 0.47 mg m^?2 h^?1 for monoterpenes in 2010 and 2011, respectively. As formaldehyde (HCHO) is considered as the main oxidation product of isoprene and monoterpenes, it is necessary to investigate the link between HCHO and BVOC emissions. GOME-2 HCHO vertical column densities (VCDs) can be used to estimate BVOC emission fluxes in the Changbai Mountain temperate forest.     

Initiation of large-volume silicic centers in the Yellowstone hotspot track: insights from H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O- and F-rich quartz-hosted rhyolitic melt inclusions in the Arbon Valley Tuff of the Snake River Plain

During the onset of caldera cluster volcanism at a new location in the Snake River Plain (SRP), there is an increase in basalt fluxing into the crust and diverse silicic volcanic products are generated. The SRP contains abundant and compositionally diverse hot, dry, and often low-δ¹⁸O silicic volcanic rocks produced through time during the formation of individual caldera clusters, but more H₂O-rich eruptive products are rare. We report analyses of quartz-hosted melt inclusions from pumice clasts from the upper and lower Arbon Valley Tuff (AVT) to gain insight into the initiation of caldera cluster volcanism. The AVT, a voluminous, caldera-forming rhyolite, represents the commencement of volcanism (10.44 Ma) at the Picabo volcanic field of the Yellowstone hotspot track. This is a normal δ¹⁸O rhyolite consisting of early and late erupted members (lower and upper AVT, respectively) with extremely radiogenic Sr isotopes and unradiogenic Nd isotopes, requiring that ~50 % of the mass of these elements is derived from melts of Archean upper crust. Our data reveal distinctive features of the early erupted lower AVT melt including: variable F concentrations up to 1.4 wt%, homogenous and low Cl concentrations (~0.08 wt%), H₂O contents ranging from 2.3 to 6.4 wt%, CO₂ contents ranging from 79 to 410 ppm, and enrichment of incompatible elements compared to the late erupted AVT, subsequent Picabo rhyolites, SRP rhyolites, and melt inclusions from other metaluminous rhyolites (e.g., Bishop Tuff, Mesa Falls Tuff). We couple melt inclusion data with Ti measurements and cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging of the host quartz phenocrysts to elucidate the petrogenetic evolution of the AVT rhyolitic magma. We observe complex and multistage CL zoning patterns, the most critical being multiple truncations indicative of several dissolution–reprecipitation episodes with bright CL cores (higher Ti) and occasional bright CL rims (higher Ti). We interpret the high H₂O, F, F/Cl, and incompatible trace element concentrations in the context of a model involving melting of Archean crust and mixing of the crustal melt with basaltic differentiates, followed by multiple stages of fractional crystallization, remelting, and melt extraction. This multistage process, which we refer to as distillation, is further supported by the complex CL zoning patterns in quartz. We interpret new Δ¹⁸O(Qz-Mt) isotope measurements, demonstrating a 0.4 ‰ or ~180 °C temperature difference, and strong Sr isotopic and chemical differences between the upper and lower AVT to represent two separate eruptions. Similarities between the AVT and the first caldera-forming eruptions of other caldera clusters in the SRP (Yellowstone, Heise and Bruneau Jarbidge) suggest that the more evolved, lower-temperature, more H₂O-rich rhyolites of the SRP are important in the initiation of a caldera cluster during the onset of plume impingement.     

Long-term soil moisture dynamics derived from GNSS interferometric reflectometry: a case study for Sutherland,South Africa

Soil moisture is a geophysical key observable for predicting floods and droughts, modeling weather and climate and optimizing agricultural management. Currently available in situ observations are limited to small sampling volumes and restricted number of sites, whereas measurements from satellites lack spatial resolution. Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers can be used to estimate soil moisture time series at an intermediate scale of about 1000 m². In this study, GNSS signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) data at the station Sutherland, South Africa, are used to estimate soil moisture variations during 2008–2014. The results capture the wetting and drying cycles in response to rainfall. The GNSS Volumetric Water Content (VWC) is highly correlated (r ² = 0.8) with in situ observations by time-domain reflectometry sensors and is accurate to 0.05 m³/m³. The soil moisture estimates derived from the SNR of the L1 and L2P signals compared to the L2C show small differences with a RMSE of 0.03 m³/m³. A reduction in the SNR sampling rate from 1 to 30 s has very little impact on the accuracy of the soil moisture estimates (RMSE of the VWC difference 1–30 s is 0.01 m³/m³). The results show that the existing data of the global tracking network with continuous observations of the L1 and L2P signals with a 30-s sampling rate over the last two decades can provide valuable complementary soil moisture observations worldwide.