Watershed structural influences on the distributions of stream network water and solute travel times under baseflow conditions

Watershed structure influences the timing, magnitude, and spatial location of water and solute entry to stream networks. In turn, stream reach transport velocities and stream network geometry (travel distances) further influence the timing of export from watersheds. Here, we examine how watershed and stream network organization can affect travel times of water from delivery to the stream network to arrival at the watershed outlet. We analysed watershed structure and network geometry and quantified the relationship between stream discharge and solute velocity across six study watersheds (11.4 to 62.8 km²) located in the Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho, USA. Based on these analyses, we developed stream network travel time functions for each watershed. We found that watershed structure, stream network geometry, and the variable magnitude of inputs across the network can have a pronounced affect on water travel distances and velocities within a stream network. Accordingly, a sample taken at the watershed outlet is composed of water and solutes sourced from across the watershed that experienced a range of travel times in the stream network. We suggest that understanding and quantifying stream network travel time distributions are valuable for deconvolving signals observed at watershed outlets into their spatial and temporal sources, and separating terrestrial and in‐channel hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological influences on in‐stream observations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Potential for localized groundwater contamination in a porous pavement parking lot setting in Rhode Island

The control of polluted surface runoff and the assessment of possible impacts on groundwater is a concern at the local and regional scale. On this background, a study investigates possible impacts of organic and inorganic pollutants (including bacteria) originating from a permeable asphalt parking lot on the water quality immediately beneath it. The functioning of the permeable pavement, including clogging and restricted vertical percolation, was also evaluated. Four nested sample ports (shallow and deep) were installed below low- and high-traffic areas, including one port outside the parking lot. At least initially there was a good hydraulic connection between the parking surface and the shallow sample ports. The presence of a geotextile layer at the base of the parking lot structure, however, was identified in lab tests as one factor restricting vertical percolation to the deeper ports. Clogging of the permeable surface was most pronounced in heavy traffic areas and below snow pile storage areas. Corroborated by high electric conductivity and chloride measurements, sand brought in by cars during winter was the principal cause for clogging. No bacteria or BOD were found in percolating water. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were present at concentrations near minimum detection limit. Nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) were being leached into the ground via the permeable parking lot surface at annual flux rates of 0.45–0.84 g/m²/year. A multi-species tracer test demonstrated a retention capacity of the permeable parking lot structure of >90% for metals and 27% for nutrients, respectively.     

Groundwater Development Stress: Global‐Scale Indices Compared to Regional Modeling

The increased availability of global datasets and technologies such as global hydrologic models and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites have resulted in a growing number of global‐scale assessments of water availability using simple indices of water stress. Developed initially for surface water, such indices are increasingly used to evaluate global groundwater resources. We compare indices of groundwater development stress for three major agricultural areas of the United States to information available from regional water budgets developed from detailed groundwater modeling. These comparisons illustrate the potential value of regional‐scale analyses to supplement global hydrological models and GRACE analyses of groundwater depletion. Regional‐scale analyses allow assessments of water stress that better account for scale effects, the dynamics of groundwater flow systems, the complexities of irrigated agricultural systems, and the laws, regulations, engineering, and socioeconomic factors that govern groundwater use. Strategic use of regional‐scale models with global‐scale analyses would greatly enhance knowledge of the global groundwater depletion problem.     

The mesoscale convection life cycle: Building block or prototype for large-scale tropical waves?

A cumulonimbus cloud may ascend and spawn its anvil cloud, precipitation, and downdrafts within an hour or so. This paper inquires why a similar progression of events (life cycle) is observed for tropical weather fluctuations with time scales of hours, days, and even weeks. Regressions using point data illustrate the characteristic unit of rain production: the mesoscale convective system (MCS), covering tens of kilometers and lasting several hours, with embedded convective rain cells. Meanwhile, averages over larger spatial areas indicate a self-similar progression from shallow to deep convection to stratiform anvils on many time scales.Synthetic data exercises indicate that simple superpositions of fixed-structure MCS life cycles (the Building Block hypothesis) cannot explain why longer period life cycles are similar. Rather, it appears that an MCS may be a small analogue or prototype of larger scale waves. Multiscale structure is hypothesized to occur via a Stretched Building Block conceptual model, in which the widths (durations) of zones of shallow, deep, and stratiform anvil clouds in MCSs are modulated by larger scale waves.Temperature (T) and humidity (q) data are examined and fed into an entraining plume model, in an attempt to elucidate their relative roles in these large-scale convection zone variations. T profile variations, with wavelengths shorter than troposphere depth, appear important for high-frequency ( 2–5-day period) convectively coupled waves, as density directly links convection (via buoyancy) and large-scale wave dynamics (via restoring force). Still, the associated q anomalies are several times greater than adiabatic, suggesting a strong amplification by shallow convective feedbacks. For lower frequency (intraseasonal) variability, q anomalies are considerably larger compared to T, and may be dominant.     

Review of Lagrangian stochastic models for trajectories in the turbulent atmosphere

We review the theoretical basis for, and the advantages of, random flight models for the trajectories of tracer particles in turbulence. We then survey their application to calculate dispersion in the principal types of atmospheric turbulence (stratified, vertically-inhomogeneous, Gaussian or non-Gaussian turbulence in the surface layer and above), and show that they are especially suitable for some problems (e.g., quantifying ground emissions).     

Diatom assemblages from Costa Rican lakes: an initial ecological assessment

We compared the distributions of 59 diatom species in surface sediments of 25 Costa Rican lakes with 21 environmental variables using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The distribution of taxa was related to the chemical and physical characteristics of the lakes. The most influential chemical variables were cation concentrations (especially magnesium) and related variables such as water hardness, pH, and temperature. Lake area and lake depth were among the most important physical variables.A number of taxa were identified as potential environmental indicators. The diatoms Brachysira serians var. brachysira and Frustulia rhomboides seem to be associated with low values of alkalinity, hardness, Ca, Mg, and SiO2. Cymbella minuta var. silesiaca is associated with low to moderate values of alkalinity, hardness, Ca, and Mg. Nitzschia cf. amphibia may be an indicator of moderate-to-high concentrations of Mg. Pinnularia braunii var. amphicephala seems to prefer low values of hardness, Ca, Mg, and SiO2.In many closed lakes, these environmental variables (Mg/Ca/hardness/alkalinity) increase with effective evaporation. Consequently, these diatoms may be indirectly tracking P:E ratios. Results from this initial, small data set indicate the potential of diatoms for inferring lake paleochemistry, and perhaps P:E ratios, in Costa Rica.     

A study of intergranular and fissure permeability in Chalk and Permian aquifers,using double-packer injection testing

Double-packer injection tests have been carried out in a borehole in the Chalk of Hampshire and a borehole in the Permian Penrith Sandstone of Cumbria, England. The tests have been supplemented by borehole logging and television inspections and by laboratory measurements on cores. A new mathematical treatment has enabled results to be calculated for injection test intervals containing fissures. In both formations, transmissivity immediately around the borehole is dominated by a few major fissures. In the Penrith Sandstone there is good agreement between intergranular hydraulic conductivity measurements and packer-test results in the portions of the borehole which do not contain major fissures. In the Chalk, the packer-test values are always higher than the intergranular measurements, suggesting that some degree of fissuring is present throughout.     

First‐order exchange coefficient coupling for simulating surface water–groundwater interactions: parameter sensitivity and consistency with a physics‐based approach

Distributed hydrologic models capable of simulating fully‐coupled surface water and groundwater flow are increasingly used to examine problems in the hydrologic sciences. Several techniques are currently available to couple the surface and subsurface; the two most frequently employed approaches are first‐order exchange coefficients (a.k.a., the surface conductance method) and enforced continuity of pressure and flux at the surface‐subsurface boundary condition. The effort reported here examines the parameter sensitivity of simulated hydrologic response for the first‐order exchange coefficients at a well‐characterized field site using the fully coupled Integrated Hydrology Model (InHM). This investigation demonstrates that the first‐order exchange coefficients can be selected such that the simulated hydrologic response is insensitive to the parameter choice, while simulation time is considerably reduced. Alternatively, the ability to choose a first‐order exchange coefficient that intentionally decouples the surface and subsurface facilitates concept‐development simulations to examine real‐world situations where the surface‐subsurface exchange is impaired. While the parameters comprising the first‐order exchange coefficient cannot be directly estimated or measured, the insensitivity of the simulated flow system to these parameters (when chosen appropriately) combined with the ability to mimic actual physical processes suggests that the first‐order exchange coefficient approach can be consistent with a physics‐based framework. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evolution of cold shock-bounded slabs

The stability and evolution of cold, shock-bounded slabs is studied using numerical hydrodynamic simulations. We confirm the analysis of Vishniac (1994) [ApJ, 428, 186], who showed that such slabs are unstable if they are perturbed by a displacement larger than their width. The growth rate of this nonlinear thin shell instability (NTSI) is found to increase with decreasing wavelength, in qualitative agreement with Vishniac's analysis. The NTSI saturates when the bending angle becomes large and the growth in the width of the slab pinches off the perturbation. After saturation, the slab remains greatly extended with an average density much less than the original slab density, supported primarily by supersonic turbulence within the slab. Linear perturbations are also found to be unstable in that they can lead to turbulent flow within the slab, although this response to linear perturbations is distinct from, and much less violent than the NTSI.Richard McCray