Catchment scale controls the temporal connection of transpiration and diel fluctuations in streamflow

Graham, C. B.; Barnard, H. R.; Kavanagh, Kathleen L.; McNamara, J. P.

doi:10.1002/hyp.9334

Cited by 43 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…2), we recognized the oscillatory pattern described by (Graham et al, 2013), (Wondzell et al, 2007), and others. We used information from the nearby weather station to plot outlet flow with temperature and discovered that the two are phase-locked.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…In order to test the competing hypotheses by Wondzell et al (2007) and those presented in Graham et al (2013), we will demonstrate the amplification and damping of the oscillatory streamflow signal that are caused by superposition. We consider a sample network and compute the streamflow solution at different locations in the river network when the velocity and its corresponding time delay are varied.…”

Section: Testing Design: Examining the Effects Of Velocity On Streamfmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several authors have observed daily fluctuations in streamflow during periods of little or no rain (e.g., Bond et al, 2002;Graham et al, 2013;Gribovszki et al, 2008;Wondzell et al, 2007;Burt, 1979;Wondzell et al, 2010). These fluctuations have been attributed to various causes, especially to those driven by temperature, which undergo a daily cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, establishing a clear theoretical link between daily oscillations in streamflow and daily temperature cycles is a fundamental research endeavor. (Graham et al, 2013) have compiled a collection of suggested explanations for the behavior of oscillatory streamflow under dry conditions, including several hypotheses that suggest that water moves differently through the subsurface as the hillslope drains. On the other hand, the authors of (Wondzell et al, 2007) suggest that streamflow properties are the result of attenuation as flow propagates along the river link with decreasing velocity, which causes the flow to be increasingly "out of phase".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are not in phase, which would imply synchronization of the two signals, but are instead offset from each other by an almost constant value during the month. The phase offset depicts the delays that occur through various means as described in (Graham et al, 2013). Additionally we have examined the streamflows at several other locations in the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed (see Sect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

On the propagation of diel signals in river networks using analytic solutions of flow equations

Fonley

Mantilla

Small

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Several authors have reported diel oscillations in streamflow records and have hypothesized that these oscillations are linked to evapotranspiration cycles in the watershed. The timing of oscillations in rivers, however, lags behind those of temperature and evapotranspiration in hillslopes. Two hypotheses have been put forth to explain the magnitude and timing of diel streamflow oscillations during low-flow conditions. The first suggests that delays between the peaks and troughs of streamflow and daily evapotranspiration are due to processes occurring in the soil as water moves toward the channels in the river network. The second posits that they are due to the propagation of the signal through the channels as water makes its way to the outlet of the basin. In this paper, we design and implement a theoretical model to test these hypotheses. We impose a baseflow signal entering the river network and use a linear transport equation to represent flow along the network. We develop analytic streamflow solutions for the case of uniform velocities in space over all river links. We then use our analytic solution to simulate streamflows along a self-similar river network for different flow velocities. Our results show that the amplitude and time delay of the streamflow solution are heavily influenced by transport in the river network. Moreover, our equations show that the geomorphology and topology of the river network play important roles in determining how amplitude and signal delay are reflected in streamflow signals. Finally, we have tested our theoretical formulation in the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed, where oscillations are clearly observed in streamflow records. We find that our solution produces streamflow values and fluctuations that are similar to those observed in the summer of 2011.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Testing Design: Examining the Effects Of Velocity On Streamfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

On the propagation of diel signals in river networks using analytic solutions of flow equations

Fonley

Mantilla

Small

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Controls on the diurnal streamflow cycles in two subbasins of an alpine headwater catchment

Mutzner

Weijs

Tarolli

et al. 2015

Water Resources Research

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In high-altitude alpine catchments, diurnal streamflow cycles are typically dominated by snowmelt or ice melt. Evapotranspiration-induced diurnal streamflow cycles are less observed in these catchments but might happen simultaneously. During a field campaign in the summer 2012 in an alpine catchment in the Swiss Alps (Val Ferret catchment, 20.4 km 2 , glaciarized area: 2%), we observed a transition in the early season from a snowmelt to an evapotranspiration-induced diurnal streamflow cycle in one of two monitored subbasins. The two different cycles were of comparable amplitudes and the transition happened within a time span of several days. In the second monitored subbasin, we observed an ice meltdominated diurnal cycle during the entire season due to the presence of a small glacier. Comparisons between ice melt and evapotranspiration cycles showed that the two processes were happening at the same times of day but with a different sign and a different shape. The amplitude of the ice melt cycle decreased exponentially during the season and was larger than the amplitude of the evapotranspiration cycle which was relatively constant during the season. Our study suggests that an evapotranspirationdominated diurnal streamflow cycle could damp the ice melt-dominated diurnal streamflow cycle. The two types of diurnal streamflow cycles were separated using a method based on the identification of the active riparian area and measurement of evapotranspiration.

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Diel discharge cycles explained through viscosity fluctuations in riparian inflow

Schwab

Klaus

Pfister

et al. 2016

Water Resources Research

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Diel (also called diurnal) discharge patterns with minima in the afternoon are generally explained by the daily cycle of evapotranspiration, while maxima in the afternoon are often linked to freeze‐thaw cycles. In a schistose and forested headwater catchment in Luxembourg, we observed daily discharge maxima in the afternoon, although temperatures remained persistently above zero and vegetation was still in a dormant state. We show that diel water temperature fluctuations––and therefore viscosity fluctuations––in the upper layer of the riparian zone can be an explanation for the observed daily discharge maxima in the afternoon during the dormant season. In the transition period between the dormant and the growing season, the counteracting viscosity and evapotranspiration processes cancel each other out. Subsequently, during the growing season, evapotranspiration is the dominant process guiding the diel discharge pattern; nevertheless, the viscosity effect might still be present, but invisible. We believe this finding also to be of relevance when analyzing daily fluctuations of biogeochemicals in stream water.

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Catchment scale controls the temporal connection of transpiration and diel fluctuations in streamflow

Cited by 43 publications

References 42 publications

On the propagation of diel signals in river networks using analytic solutions of flow equations

On the propagation of diel signals in river networks using analytic solutions of flow equations

Controls on the diurnal streamflow cycles in two subbasins of an alpine headwater catchment

Diel discharge cycles explained through viscosity fluctuations in riparian inflow

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