Groundwater–surface water connectivity in a chain-of-ponds semiarid river

Semiarid rivers are often characterized by chains of small pools connected by riffles and wet meadows. The pools can be maintained by wet season surface runoff, groundwater discharge, or some combination thereof. Using synoptic surveys for several environmental tracers (δD and δ¹⁸O of H₂O, specific electrical conductance at 25°C [EC], chloride and ²²²Rn), we evaluated the groundwater—surface water connectivity of the Light River (South Australia) along an 8 km section in the vicinity of a proposed mining development. In all three surveys (representing spring, summer and winter conditions), the pools were maintained by regional groundwater discharge based on an elevated surface water EC (9–12 dS m⁻¹) similar to regional groundwater, elevated radon-222 activities (0.09–3.0 Bq L⁻¹) and low rainfall. Most pools were perennial, either because they directly received groundwater discharge or, indirectly, had an inflow originating from upstream groundwater-fed pools. The elevated salinity of regional groundwater is a key factor for the maintenance of perennial pools in the Light River because the potential for baseflow depletion by groundwater pumping is more limited.     

半干旱地区泥石流沟道地形要素关联度评价——以神府-东胜矿区人为泥石流沟为例

在神府-东胜矿区人为泥石流沟道广泛野外调查的基础上,选取了43条典型泥石流样沟,在1:10000地形图及卫片上进行了形态要素量测,应用流域地貌分析原理,对43条样沟各形态要素进行了剖析及关联度评价,并进行了泥石流沟道发育阶段的信息维分析,所得结论为:半干旱地区的人为泥石流沟道地势比沿程变化奇特,以形成区比降最大,区别于自然泥石流沟道;沟道分区面积比以汇水区面积最大,明显区别于湿润地区;流域形状以扇形为主,沟道给养面积较大,崎岖系数不甚太大是半干旱地区人为泥石流沟道的独特之处,泥石流沟道发育以幼、青年期为主,最后得出了以沟道比降为主因子的各形态要素的主次排序。     

WATER MOVEMENT AND VEGETATION PATTERNS ON SHRUBLAND AND AN ABANDONED FIELD IN TWO DESERTIFICATION-THREATENED AREAS IN SPAIN

Four large-scale rainfall simulation experiments were conducted in Spain to improve the understanding of the relationship between soil water dynamics, soil erosion and land degradation. On different shrublands and an abandoned field, hydrological characteristics were determined in relation to spatial patterns in soil, vegetation and morphology. During the experiments on shrubland, runoff at fine scales occurred shortly after the start of the experiments. Rapid and non-uniform infiltration near vegetation clusters, related to preferential flowpaths of water, was observed. This prevented the development of runoff over distances larger than 1 metre. The surface redistribution of water was not observed on the abandoned land. Here, little vegetation structure was present and infiltration rates were high below crusts as well as stones. We suggest that the development of spatial structures in vegetation and soil forms a positive feedback with non-uniform infiltration and increased soil water retention. The assessment of land degradation could benefit greatly from acknowledging the importance of non-uniformity in hydrological processes. Furthermore, the presented measurements indicate that in discontinuous environments runoff measurements at fine scales cannot be extrapolated directly. In these environments a scaled approach needs to be adopted emphasizing the importance of different hydrological processes at different scales.     

风水复合侵蚀研究述评

1 Introduction Water erosion and wind erosion are two main types of soil erosion. Water erosion is generally linked with humid climate and wind erosion is connected with arid climate. Whereas, water and wind erosion often occurs simultaneously or alterna…     

Evaluating the impacts of climate change and switchgrass production on a semiarid basin

Climate and land use changes greatly modify hydrologic regimes. In this paper, we modelled the impacts of biofuel cultivation in the US Great Plains on a 1061‐km² watershed using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrologic model. The model was calibrated to monthly discharges spanning 2002–2010 and for the winter, spring, and summer seasons. SWAT was then run for a climate‐change‐only scenario using downscaled precipitation and a projected temperature for 16 general circulation model (GCM) runs associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emission Scenarios A2 scenario spanning 2040–2050. SWAT was also run on a climate change plus land use change scenario in which Alamo switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) replaced native range grasses, winter wheat, and rye (89% of the basin). For the climate‐change‐only scenario, the GCMs agreed on a monthly temperature increase of 1–2 °C by the 2042–2050 period, but they disagreed on the direction of change in precipitation. For this scenario, decreases in surface runoff during all three seasons and increases in spring and summer evapotranspiration (eT) were driven predominantly by precipitation. Increased summer temperatures also significantly contributed to changes in eT. With the addition of switchgrass, changes in surface runoff are amplified during the winter and summer, and changes in eT are amplified during all three seasons. Depending on the GCM utilized, either climate change or land use change (switchgrass cultivation) was the dominant driver of change in surface runoff while switchgrass cultivation was the major driver of changes in eT. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sources of monsoon precipitation and dew assessed in a semiarid area via stable isotopes

Precipitation is usually the primary source of water for the hydrological cycle in a semiarid area. However, dew occurs frequently and affects water circulation dramatically in the west of Jilin Province in China. Measurements of the amount of dew formed and precipitation were carried out from July 2012 to October 2013 in the Momoge Natural Reserve. The results indicated that moisture from primary precipitation in the summer originated from the East Asian monsoon and was affected by the atmospheric circulation in the middle and high latitudes of Eurasia in the winter. The dew amount was approximately 19.44 mm (approximately 5% of the total rainfall amount), consisting of the evapotranspiration in the local area and atmospheric moisture. Dew also supplies nutrients to the local vegetation. The maximum contribution of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and potassium in unit corn area could reach 288.60, 27.46, and 291.63 mg/m² in half a month, respectively. The wind speed, relative humidity, and lowest temperature were the primary factors that dramatically affected dew formation and amount. As an additional source of fresh water, dew not only had a positive impact on the ecosystem in arid and semiarid zones but also played an important role in the local water cycle and other ecological processes. This research has important implications for water circulation and land use management.     

Simple water balance modelling of surface reservoir systems in a large data-scarce semiarid region / Modélisation simple du bilan hydrologique de systèmes de réservoirs de surface dans une grande région semi-aride pauvre en données

Abstract

Abstract Water resources in dryland areas are often provided by numerous surface reservoirs. As a basis for securing future water supply, the dynamics of reservoir systems need to be simulated for large river basins, accounting for environmental change and an increasing water demand. For the State of Ceará in semiarid Northeast Brazil, with several thousands of reservoirs, a simple deterministic water balance model is presented. Within a cascade-type approach, the reservoirs are grouped into six classes according to storage capacity, rules for flow routing between reservoirs of different size are defined, and water withdrawal and return flow due to human water use is accounted for. While large uncertainties in model applications exist, particularly in terms of reservoir operation rules, model validation against observed reservoir storage volumes shows that the approach is a reasonable simplification to assess surface water availability in large river basins. The results demonstrate the large impact of reservoir storage on downstream flow and stress the need for a coupled simulation of runoff generation, network redistribution and water use.     

Spatial prediction of temporal soil moisture dynamics using HYDRUS‐1D

This article investigates the soil moisture dynamics within two catchments (Stanley and Krui) in the Goulburn River in NSW during a 3‐year period (2005–2007) using the HYDRUS‐1D soil water model. Sensitivity analyses indicated that soil type, and leaf area index were the key parameters affecting model performance. The model was satisfactorily calibrated on the Stanley microcatchment sites with a single point rainfall record from this microcatchment for both surface 30 cm and full‐profile soil moisture measurements. Good correlations were obtained between observed and simulated soil water storage when calibrations for one site were applied to the other sites. We extended the predictions of soil moisture to a larger spatial scale using the calibrated soil and vegetation parameters to the sites in the Krui catchment where soil moisture measurement sites were up to 30 km distant from Stanley. Similarly good results show that it is possible to use a calibrated soil moisture model with measurements at a single site to extrapolate the soil moisture to other sites for a catchment with an area of up to 1000 km² given similar soils and vegetation and local rainfall data. Site predictions were effectively improved by our simple data assimilation method using only a few sample data collected from the site. This article demonstrates the potential usefulness of continuous time, point‐scale soil moisture data (typical of that measured by permanently installed TDR probes) and simulations for predicting the soil wetness status over a catchment of significant size (up to 1000 km²). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the spatial and temporal variation of the rainwater harvesting potential (1971–2010) on the Chinese Loess Plateau using the VIC model

Rainwater harvesting could increase the resilience of ecosystems on the Loess Plateau and thus ensure the sustainability of livelihoods that depend on them. As such, it is a key component of strategies for adapting to global climate change. In this study, we used a new method to quantify the rainwater harvesting potential (RWHP) across the whole Loess Plateau and to characterize its spatial and temporal variation over the last four decades on the basis of the variable infiltration capacity model. It was found that that the mean RWHP of the study region was 731.10 × 10⁸ m³, and the average water layer thickness was 114.34 mm. There is considerable scope for rainwater harvesting across the Loess Plateau as a whole, to the extent that it could potentially provide enough water to implement the ‘Grain for Green’ Project. The annual average RWHP decreased slightly from 1971 to 2010, and Hurst exponent analysis indicated that this trend will exhibit long‐term persistence. The annual RWHP was highest in the southeast of the Loess Plateau and lowest in the northwest. Areas with high RWHP values tended to be clustered around the middle reach of the Yellow River. For most areas, there was no significant change between 1971 and 2010. Those areas for which there was a significant decrease in RWHP were primarily located around the upper–middle reaches of the Weihe River, the upper reach of Jinghe River, the eastern Guanzhong Plain, the Qinhe River watershed and the area around Dongsheng. Quantitative assessments of RWHP are likely to be useful for guiding the development and use of innovative rainwater harvesting technologies around the world and could help to relieve the problems caused by water shortages on the Loess Plateau while simultaneously eliminate the major cause of soil erosion. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

内蒙古中北部土壤碳库构成及其影响因素

采用网格采样法荻取内蒙古中北部半干旱区土壤样品共527件,分析其碳库构成特征及其影响因素,并初步评估了未来气候变化背景下的碳库变化趋势。结果表明,研究区土壤碳库仍以有机碳为主,不同土壤类型中有机碳占总碳61％～97％,其中沼泽土有机碳密度最高,风沙土最低,盐土无机碳密度最高,暗棕壤最低;在空间分布上,土壤碳受气温和降水...