Ground-Based Thermography of Fluvial Systems at Low and High Discharge Reveals Potential Complex Thermal Heterogeneity Driven by Flow Variation and Bioroughness

Temperature is a primary physical and biogeochemical variable in aquatic systems. Field-based measurement of temperature at discrete sampling points has revealed temperature variability in fluvial systems, but traditional techniques do not readily allow for synoptic sampling schemes that can address temperature-related questions with broad, yet detailed, coverage. We present results of thermal infrared imaging at different stream discharge (base flow and peak flood) conditions using a handheld IR camera. Remotely sensed temperatures compare well with those measured with a digital thermometer. The thermal images show that periphyton, wood, and sandbars induce significant thermal heterogeneity during low stages. Moreover, the images indicate temperature variability within the periphyton community and within the partially submerged bars. The thermal heterogeneity was diminished during flood inundation, when the areas of more slowly moving water to the side of the stream differed in their temperature. The results have consequences for thermally sensitive hydroecological processes and implications for models of those processes, especially those that assume an effective stream temperature

Dynamic modeling of nitrogen losses in river networks unravels the coupled effects of hydrological and biogeochemical processes

The importance of lotic systems as sinks for nitrogen inputs is well recognized. A fraction of nitrogen in streamflow is removed to the atmosphere via denitrification with the remainder exported in streamflow as nitrogen loads. At the watershed scale, there is a keen interest in understanding the factors that control the fate of nitrogen throughout the stream channel network, with particular attention to the processes that deliver large nitrogen loads to sensitive coastal ecosystems. We use a dynamic stream transport model to assess biogeochemical (nitrate loadings, concentration, temperature) and hydrological (discharge, depth, velocity) effects on reach-scale denitrification and nitrate removal in the river networks of two watersheds having widely differing levels of nitrate enrichment but nearly identical discharges. Stream denitrification is estimated by regression as a nonlinear function of nitrate concentration, streamflow, and temperature, using more than 300 published measurements from a variety of US streams. These relations are used in the stream transport model to characterize nitrate dynamics related to denitrification at a monthly time scale in the stream reaches of the two watersheds. Results indicate that the nitrate removal efficiency of streams, as measured by the percentage of the stream nitrate flux removed via denitrification per unit length of channel, is appreciably reduced during months with high discharge and nitrate flux and increases during months of low-discharge and flux. Biogeochemical factors, including land use, nitrate inputs, and stream concentrations, are a major control on reach-scale denitrification, evidenced by the disproportionately lower nitrate removal efficiency in streams of the highly nitrate-enriched watershed as compared with that in similarly sized streams in the less nitrate-enriched watershed. Sensitivity analyses reveal that these important biogeochemical factors and physical hydrological factors contribute nearly equally to seasonal and stream-size related variations in the percentage of the stream nitrate flux removed in each watershed

Hydrogeomorphology of the Hyporheic Zone: Stream Solute and Fine Particle Interactions With a Dynamic Streambed

Hyporheic flow in streams has typically been studied separately from geomorphic processes. We investigated interactions between bed mobility and dynamic hyporheic storage of solutes and fine particles in a sand-bed stream before, during, and after a flood. A conservatively transported solute tracer (bromide) and a fine particles tracer (5 μm latex particles), a surrogate for fine particulate organic matter, were co-injected during base flow. The tracers were differentially stored, with fine particles penetrating more shallowly in hyporheic flow and retained more efficiently due to the high rate of particle filtration in bed sediment compared to solute. Tracer injections lasted 3.5 h after which we released a small flood from an upstream dam one hour later. Due to shallower storage in the bed, fine particles were rapidly entrained during the rising limb of the flood hydrograph. Rather than being flushed by the flood, we observed that solutes were stored longer due to expansion of hyporheic flow paths beneath the temporarily enlarged bedforms. Three important timescales determined the fate of solutes and fine particles: (1) flood duration, (2) relaxation time of flood-enlarged bedforms back to base flow dimensions, and (3) resulting adjustments and lag times of hyporheic flow. Recurrent transitions between these timescales explain why we observed a peak accumulation of natural particulate organic matter between 2 and 4 cm deep in the bed, i.e., below the scour layer of mobile bedforms but above the maximum depth of particle filtration in hyporheic flow paths. Thus, physical interactions between bed mobility and hyporheic transport influence how organic matter is stored in the bed and how long it is retained, which affects decomposition rate and metabolism of this southeastern Coastal Plain stream. In summary we found that dynamic interactions between hyporheic flow, bed mobility, and flow variation had strong but differential influences on base flow retention and flood mobilization of solutes and fine particulates. These hydrogeomorphic relationships have implications for microbial respiration of organic matter, carbon and nutrient cycling, and fate of contaminants in streams

The metabolic regimes of 356 rivers in the United States

A national-scale quantification of metabolic energy flow in streams and rivers can improve understanding of the temporal dynamics of in-stream activity, links between energy cycling and ecosystem services, and the effects of human activities on aquatic metabolism. The two dominant terms in aquatic metabolism, gross primary production (GPP) and aerobic respiration (ER), have recently become practical to estimate for many sites due to improved modeling approaches and the availability of requisite model inputs in public datasets. We assembled inputs from the U.S. Geological Survey and National Aeronautics and Space Administration for October 2007 to January 2017. We then ran models to estimate daily GPP, ER, and the gas exchange rate coefficient for 356 streams and rivers across the continental United States. We also gathered potential explanatory variables and spatial information for cross-referencing this dataset with other datasets of watershed characteristics. This dataset offers a first national assessment of many-day time series of metabolic rates for up to 9 years per site, with a total of 490,907 site-days of estimates.We thank Jill Baron and the USGS Powell Center for financial support for this collaborative effort (Powell Center Working Group title: "Continental-scale overview of stream primary productivity, its links to water quality, and consequences for aquatic carbon biogeochemistry"). Additional financial support came from the USGS NAWQA program and Office of Water Information. NSF grants DEB-1146283 and EF1442501 partially supported ROH. A post-doctoral grant from the Basque Government partially supported MA. NAG was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Leah Colasuonno provided expert logistical support of our working group meetings. The developers of USGS ScienceBase were very helpful both in hosting this dataset and in responding to our requests. Randy Hunt and Mike Fienen of the USGS Wisconsin Modeling Center graciously provided access to their HTCondor cluster. Mike Vlah provided detailed and insightful reviews of the data and metadata

Light and flow regimes regulate the metabolism of rivers

Mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation drive much of the variation in productivity across Earth's terrestrial ecosystems but do not explain variation in gross primary productivity (GPP) or ecosystem respiration (ER) in flowing waters. We document substantial variation in the magnitude and seasonality of GPP and ER across 222 US rivers. In contrast to their terrestrial counterparts, most river ecosystems respire far more carbon than they fix and have less pronounced and consistent seasonality in their metabolic rates. We find that variation in annual solar energy inputs and stability of flows are the primary drivers of GPP and ER across rivers. A classification schema based on these drivers advances river science and informs management.We thank Ted Stets, Jordan Read, Tom Battin, Sophia Bonjour, Marina Palta, and members of the Duke River Center for their help in developing these ideas. This work was supported by grants from the NSF 1442439 (to E.S.B. and J.W.H.), 1834679 (to R.O.H.), 1442451 (to R.O.H.), 2019528 (to R.O.H. and J.R.B.), 1442140 (to M.C.), 1442451 (to A.M.H.), 1442467 (to E.H.S.), 1442522 (to N.B.G.), 1624807 (to N.B.G.), and US Geological Survey funding for the working group was supported by the John Wesley Power Center for Analysis and Synthesis. Phil Savoy contributed as a postdoc- toral associate at Duke University and as a postdoctoral associate (contractor) at the US Geological Survey

A field comparison of multiple techniques to quantify groundwater–surface-water interactions

Groundwater–surface-water (GW-SW) interactions in streams are difficult to quantify because of heterogeneity in hydraulic and reactive processes across a range of spatial and temporal scales. The challenge of quantifying these interactions has led to the development of several techniques, from centimeter-scale probes to whole-system tracers, including chemical, thermal, and electrical methods. We co-applied conservative and smart reactive solute-tracer tests, measurement of hydraulic heads, distributed temperature sensing, vertical profiles of solute tracer and temperature in the stream bed, and electrical resistivity imaging in a 450-m reach of a 3rd-order stream. GW-SW interactions were not spatially expansive, but were high in flux through a shallow hyporheic zone surrounding the reach. NaCl and resazurin tracers suggested different surface–subsurface exchange patterns in the upper ⅔ and lower ⅓ of the reach. Subsurface sampling of tracers and vertical thermal profiles quantified relatively high fluxes through a 10- to 20-cm deep hyporheic zone with chemical reactivity of the resazurin tracer indicated at 3-, 6-, and 9-cm sampling depths. Monitoring of hydraulic gradients along transects with MINIPOINT streambed samplers starting ∼40 m from the stream indicated that groundwater discharge prevented development of a larger hyporheic zone, which progressively decreased from the stream thalweg toward the banks. Distributed temperature sensing did not detect extensive inflow of ground water to the stream, and electrical resistivity imaging showed limited large-scale hyporheic exchange. We recommend choosing technique(s) based on: 1) clear definition of the questions to be addressed (physical, biological, or chemical processes), 2) explicit identification of the spatial and temporal scales to be covered and those required to provide an appropriate context for interpretation, and 3) maximizing generation of mechanistic understanding and reducing costs of implementing multiple techniques through collaborative research.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by the Society for Freshwater Science and published by the University of Chicago Press. It can be found at: http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=fresscie

The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (LEGEND)

The observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay (0${\nu}{\beta}{\beta}$) would show that lepton number is violated, reveal that neutrinos are Majorana particles, and provide information on neutrino mass. A discovery-capable experiment covering the inverted ordering region, with effective Majorana neutrino masses of 15 - 50 meV, will require a tonne-scale experiment with excellent energy resolution and extremely low backgrounds, at the level of $\sim$0.1 count /(FWHM$\cdot$t$\cdot$yr) in the region of the signal. The current generation $^{76}$Ge experiments GERDA and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR utilizing high purity Germanium detectors with an intrinsic energy resolution of 0.12%, have achieved the lowest backgrounds by over an order of magnitude in the 0${\nu}{\beta}{\beta}$ signal region of all 0${\nu}{\beta}{\beta}$ experiments. Building on this success, the LEGEND collaboration has been formed to pursue a tonne-scale $^{76}$Ge experiment. The collaboration aims to develop a phased 0${\nu}{\beta}{\beta}$ experimental program with discovery potential at a half-life approaching or at $10^{28}$ years, using existing resources as appropriate to expedite physics results.Comment: Proceedings of the MEDEX'17 meeting (Prague, May 29 - June 2, 2017