Investigating patterns and controls of groundwater up-welling in a lowland river by combining Fibre-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing with observations of vertical hydraulic gradients

Abstract

Abstract. This paper investigates the patterns and controls of aquifer-river exchange in a fast-flowing lowland river by the conjunctive use of streambed temperature anomalies identified with Fibre-optic Distributed Temperature Sensing (FO-DTS) and observations of vertical hydraulic gradients (VHG).FO-DTS temperature traces along this lowland river reach reveal discrete patterns with "cold spots" indicating groundwater up-welling. In contrast to previous studies using FO-DTS for investigation of groundwater-surface water exchange, the fibre-optic cable in this study was buried in the streambed sediments, ensuring clear signals despite fast flow and high discharges. During the observed summer baseflow period, streambed temperatures in groundwater up-welling locations were found to be up to 1.5 • C lower than ambient streambed temperatures. Due to the high river flows, the cold spots were sharp and distinctly localized without measurable impact on down-stream surface water temperature.VHG patterns along the stream reach were highly variable in space, revealing strong differences even at small scales. VHG patterns alone are indicators of both, structural heterogeneity of the stream bed as well as of the spatial heterogeneity of the groundwater-surface water exchange fluxes and are thus not conclusive in their interpretation. However, in combination with the high spatial resolution FO-DTS data we were able to separate these two influences and clearly identify locations of enhanced exchange, while also obtaining information on the complex small-scale streambed transmissivity patterns responsible for the very discrete exchange patterns. The validation of the combined VHG and FO-DTS approach provides an effective strategy for analysing drivers and controls of groundwater-surface water exchange, with implications for the quantification of biogeochemical cycling and contaminant transport at aquifer-river interfaces.

Estimating interaction between surface water and groundwater in a permafrost region using heat tracing methods

“…Thus, they were considered to be the uncertainty of the FO-DTS data interpretations rather than the influence of cold groundwater. As shown by the low STDEV, we found no anomalies analogous to the colder up-welling groundwater in the observation reaches, possibly explaining the bypassing of regional 10 groundwater due to preferential lateral flow or confining streambed structures beneath the zone of investigated (Krause et al, 2012).…”

“…The application of distributed temperature sensors along river reaches can identify large spatial variations, significantly increasing the spatial and temporal scale of temperature observations (Hatch et al, 2010;Krause et al, 2012;Selker et al, 2006), but this method cannot provide estimations of 30…”

Vulnerability of groundwater resources to interaction with river water in a boreal catchment

“…In the rivers Lepsämän-joki and Herajoki, the observed DSi concentrations were generally somewhat higher than in Finnish streams (Lahermo et al, 1996; range from 0.80 to 6.86 ppm, mean 3.62 ppm, n = 1162), suggesting a greater GW component than typically. The mean DSi concentrations of the rivers Vantaa and Palojoki were generally close to the DSi in Finnish streams.…”

“…The measured mean DSi values of springs, GW and well water were slightly higher than in Finnish dug wells in general (Lahermo et al, 2002) (Table 3). In the rivers Lepsämän-joki and Herajoki, the observed DSi concentrations were generally somewhat higher than in Finnish streams (Lahermo et al, 1996; range from 0.80 to 6.86 ppm, mean 3.62 ppm, n = 1162), suggesting a greater GW component than typically.…”

“…Precipitation contains little or no DSi (dissolved silica) (Asano, 2003), whereas the arithmetic mean concentration of DSi in GW for Finnish dug wells is 6.5 ppm (Lahermo et al, 2002). The DSi concentrations are dependent on the GW residence time and the grain size of aquifer media (Sandborg, 1993;Soveri et al, 2001).…”