Use of heat to estimate streambed fluxes during extreme hydrologic events

Abstract

[1] Using heat as a tracer, quantitative estimates of streambed fluxes and the critical stage for flow reversal were calculated for high-flow events that occurred on the Bogue Phalia (a tributary of the Mississippi River) following the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In June 2005, piezometers were installed in the Bogue Phalia upstream from the stream gage near Leland, Mississippi, to monitor temperature. Even with the hurricanes, precipitation in the Bogue Phalia Basin for the months of June to October 2005 was below normal, and consequently, streamflow was below the long-term average. Temperature profiles from the piezometers indicate that the Bogue Phalia was a gaining stream during most of this time, but relatively static streambed temperatures suggested long-term data was warranted for heat-based estimates of flux. However, the hurricanes caused a pair of sharp rises in stream stage over short periods of time, increasing the potential for rapid heat-based modeling and for identification of the critical stage for flow reversal into the streambed. Heat-based modeling fits of simulated-to-measured sediment temperatures show that once a critical stage was surpassed, flow direction reversed into the streambed. Results of this study demonstrate the ability to constrain estimates of streambed water flux and the critical stage of flow reversal, with little available groundwater head data, by using heat as a tracer during extreme stage events.

Single discharge events increase reactive efficiency of the hyporheic zone

“…Storm events induced by snow melt or intense precipitation may create floods, which can temporarily change the hydrological system with significant impacts on water and solute fluxes and in turn solute concentrations [ Malcolm et al ., ; Loheide and Lundquist , ; Soulsby et al ., ; Barlow and Coupe , ; Boano et al ., ; Zimmer and Lautz , ; Sawyer et al ., ]. Beside natural flood events, human dam operations leading to downstream stream stage oscillations have an impact on stream‐groundwater systems [ Arntzen et al ., ; Sawyer et al ., ; Casas‐Mulet et al ., ].…”

Propagation of Seasonal Temperature Signals into an Aquifer upon Bank Infiltration

“…Simulations are performed for an idealized vertical cross section in the general groundwater flow direction. While applications of numerical models for temperature transport in aquifers influenced by surface‐water bodies have been presented in several studies (Lapham 1989; Bundschuh 1993; Ronan et al 1998; Bravo et al 2002; Constantz et al 2002; Niswonger and Prudic 2003; Bense and Kooi 2004; Su et al 2004; Blasch et al 2006; Barlow and Coupe 2009; Duque et al 2010), the purpose of the current work is to analyze how conceptual simplifications of the surface and subsurface, such as recharge, multi‐dimensionality of the flow field due to a partially penetrating channel, and conduction into the aquitard and the top layer, impact the accuracy of the simulations of temperature fluctuations.…”

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union Volume 93, Number 48, 27 November 2012

“…Just a month after temperature monitoring began at the Bogue Phalia stream gauge, Hurricane Katrina caused an onshore surge in streamflows that resulted in dramatic hydraulic and thermal responses (Figure 1) due to rapid water exchanges between surface water in streams and groundwater [Barlow and Coupe, 2009]. Thermal tracer analysis of the results yielded invaluable hydraulic parameters for characterizing stream exchanges along the Bogue Phalia, with the potential for spatial upscaling data to extrapolate a model of regional groundwater spatial distribution.…”