Spatial and temporal water quality dynamics during baseflow periods - Source area and in-stream effects (J.Flade, M.Ulmen)
Problemstellung
During baseflow periods runoff source areas can change over time depending e.g. on storage depletion rates, actual wetness, groundwater level or local evapotranspiration rates. Due to the resulting space/time variant water fluxes, these effects are also expressed in the physico-chemical composition of surface waters. Understanding the interaction of time variant source areas and biogeochemical in-stream processes and the determination of resulting spatial and temporal signatures of stream water composition will improve the prediction and management of water quality at the catchment scale.
Ziel der Arbeit
The focus of this Master thesis is on quantitative determination of time-variant sub-catchment water and solute fluxes. Based on this analysis „Hot Spots“ of nutrient export and biogeochemical cycling will be identified.
Methode
In a 1.7 km² agricultural headwater catchment a dense artificial drainage network and a predominantly impervious streambed allow for analysing the impact of sub-catchments on stream discharge regarding contributing areas, landuse and nutrient (N,P) export.
Fieldmethods, such as discharge measurements, tracer applications and water sampling are accomplished by lab-methods(e.g. major ion analysis) and data- and GIS-analysis.
Betreuung
Tobias Schütz
Besondere Hinweise
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Kontakt
Tobias Schütz tobias.schuetz@hydrology.uni-freiburg.de Tel. +49 (0)761 / 203-3519
Herausforderung
The challenge of this thesis will be the development of field sampling strategies and finding correlations between observable processes and measurable topographical characteristics.
Sprache
Englisch / Deutsch frei wählbar
Literatur
Covino. T.P., B.L. McGlynn, and R. *McNamara. 2012. Land use / land cover and scale influences on in-stream nitrogen uptake kinetics. Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences. doi:10.1029/2011JG001874
Payn, R.A., M.N. Gooseff, B.L. McGlynn, S.M. Wondzell, and K.E. Bencala. 2012. Exploring changes in the spatial distribution of stream baseflow generation during a seasonal recession. Water Resources Research. doi:10.1029/2011WR011552
Basu, N. B., S. E. Thompson, et al. (2011). „Hydrologic and biogeochemical functioning of intensively managed catchments: A synthesis of top-down analyses.“ Water Resour. Res. 47: W00J15, doi:10.1029/2011WR010800