1. |
- Arheimer, Berit, et al.
(author)
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The IAHS Science for Solutions decade, with Hydrology Engaging Local People IN a Global world (HELPING)
- 2024
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In: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The new scientific decade (2023-2032) of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) aims at searching for sustainable solutions to undesired water conditions - may it be too little, too much or too polluted. Many of the current issues originate from global change, while solutions to problems must embrace local understanding and context. The decade will explore the current water crises by searching for actionable knowledge within three themes: global and local interactions, sustainable solutions and innovative cross-cutting methods. We capitalise on previous IAHS Scientific Decades shaping a trilogy; from Hydrological Predictions (PUB) to Change and Interdisciplinarity (Panta Rhei) to Solutions (HELPING). The vision is to solve fundamental water-related environmental and societal problems by engaging with other disciplines and local stakeholders. The decade endorses mutual learning and co-creation to progress towards UN sustainable development goals. Hence, HELPING is a vehicle for putting science in action, driven by scientists working on local hydrology in coordination with local, regional, and global processes.
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2. |
- Blösch, Günter, et al.
(author)
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Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) - a community perspective
- 2019
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In: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 64:10, s. 1141-1158
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through online media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focused on the process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come.
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3. |
- Earon, Robert, 1983-
(author)
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Groundwater resources in hard rock coastal terrains : Insights into heterogeneity and spatial variability
- 2019
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Challenges regarding water security in hard rock coastal regions with limited soil cover are: a seasonal absence of recharge during times of peak residency, heterogeneity and variability of the fracture network, close proximity to saline water sources and spatially inconsistent storage and extraction. In areas where it is not feasible to connect residents to municipal water systems, a better understanding of the resilience of reservoirs is needed. The purpose of this study is to investigate and describe the spatial nature of hydraulic data in these types of terrains and present several novel GIS-based groundwater tools with the intent of increasing local water security and aiding in sustainable water resources management. Methods used in this study include groundwater balance modelling and conceptual groundwater storage modelling, as well as a combination of parametric and non-parametric statistical methods such as ANOVA, PCA, correlation and semivariogram analyses. Specific capacity estimates from the Geological Survey of Sweden’s well archive grouped by age or rock type showed very little autocorrelation and in assumed homogeneous geological regions showed statistically significant differences when arbitrarily grouped along a lineament. Estimates of kinematic porosity based on surface fracture data were found have statistically significant correlations with the well data. A GIS-based multivariate prediction tool for assessing Groundwater Resources Potential (GRP) was found to have statistically significant correlations with well data. The GRP method was then combined with a conceptual groundwater storage model and was subsequently found to have statistically significant correlations with chloride concentrations in well quality tests. The storage model was found to have a spatially-dependent sensitivity, meaning that different assumptions within the model had varying effects on the model depending on the geological settings. Incorporating the storage model into a spatial groundwater balance model was then compared with groundwater level time series data over a period of two years, where it was found to have a good explanative capacity and RMSE values of the storage ratio (0.06 to 0.34). Additionally, a soil depth model was developed, tested and found to produce promising results in regions with frequent rock outcrops, where up to 86% of estimates were within 2 m of actual soil depths. Conclusions from this study illustrate the need for a spatial approach to groundwater resources in these types of terrains, and demonstrate a strong potential of several new tools for quantity, capacity and vulnerability estimates to increase water security in a changing climate.
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4. |
- Ghilain, Nicolas, et al.
(author)
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A new retrieval algorithm for soil moisture index from thermal infrared sensor on-board geostationary satellites over Europe and Africa and its validation
- 2019
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In: Remote Sensing. - : MDPI AG. - 2072-4292. ; 11:17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Monitoring soil moisture at the Earth'surface is of great importance for drought early warnings. Spaceborne remote sensing is a keystone in monitoring at continental scale, as satellites can make observations of locations which are scarcely monitored by ground-based techniques. In recent years, several soil moisture products for continental scale monitoring became available from the main space agencies around the world. Making use of sensors aboard polar satellites sampling in the microwave spectrum, soil moisture can be measured and mapped globally every few days at a spatial resolution as fine as 25 km. However, complementarity of satellite observations is a crucial issue to improve the quality of the estimations provided. In this context, measurements within the visible and infrared from geostationary satellites provide information on the surface from a totally different perspective. In this study, we design a new retrieval algorithm for daily soil moisture monitoring based only on the land surface temperature observations derived from the METEOSAT second generation geostationary satellites. Soil moisture has been retrieved from the retrieval algorithm for an eight years period over Europe and Africa at the SEVIRI sensor spatial resolution (3 km at the sub-satellite point). The results, only available for clear sky and partly cloudy conditions, are for the first time extensively evaluated against in-situ observations provided by the International Soil Moisture Network and FLUXNET at sites across Europe and Africa. The soil moisture retrievals have approximately the same accuracy as the soil moisture products derived from microwave sensors, with the most accurate estimations for semi-arid regions of Europe and Africa, and a progressive degradation of the accuracy towards northern latitudes of Europe. Although some possible improvements can be expected by a better use of other products derived from SEVIRI, the new approach developped and assessed here is a valuable alternative to microwave sensors to monitor daily soil moisture at the resolution of few kilometers over entire continents and could reveal a good complementarity to an improved monitoring system, as the algorithm can produce surface soil moisture with less than 1 day delay over clear sky and non-steady cloudy conditions (over 10% of the time).
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5. |
- Lewandowski, Jörg, et al.
(author)
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Is the Hyporheic Zone Relevant beyond the Scientific Community?
- 2019
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In: Water. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-4441. ; 11:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rivers are important ecosystems under continuous anthropogenic stresses. The hyporheic zone is a ubiquitous, reactive interface between the main channel and its surrounding sediments along the river network. We elaborate on the main physical, biological, and biogeochemical drivers and processes within the hyporheic zone that have been studied by multiple scientific disciplines for almost half a century. These previous efforts have shown that the hyporheic zone is a modulator for most metabolic stream processes and serves as a refuge and habitat for a diverse range of aquatic organisms. It also exerts a major control on river water quality by increasing the contact time with reactive environments, which in turn results in retention and transformation of nutrients, trace organic compounds, fine suspended particles, and microplastics, among others. The paper showcases the critical importance of hyporheic zones, both from a scientific and an applied perspective, and their role in ecosystem services to answer the question of the manuscript title. It identifies major research gaps in our understanding of hyporheic processes. In conclusion, we highlight the potential of hyporheic restoration to efficiently manage and reactivate ecosystem functions and services in river corridors.
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6. |
- McCallum, James L., et al.
(author)
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A Numerical Stream Transport Modeling Approach Including Multiple Conceptualizations of Hyporheic Exchange and Spatial Variability to Assess Contaminant Removal
- 2020
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In: Water resources research. - 0043-1397 .- 1944-7973. ; 56:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the mechanisms and controls on contaminant removal in streams is essential in managing human and ecosystem health. The hyporheic zone (HZ) plays a key role in the removal of contaminants from streams. Often, tracer tests are implemented in conjunction with measurements of compounds to assess the removal rates of contaminants in streams. The predicted removal rates largely rely on the estimated hyporheic residence time, and hence, the chosen conceptual model of hyporheic exchange flows (HEFs) will influence the predicted removal rate. Despite this, different HEF models are generally not considered when assessing contaminant removal rates. In this paper, we present a numerical modeling approach for interpreting tracer tests to determine contaminant removal rates that allows for multiple conceptual models of HEF to be considered. We demonstrate this method by interpreting data from a conservative tracer test in conjunction with grab samples of trace organic compounds using two commonly used models of HEF: one that assumes first-order exchange between the stream and the HZ and one that considers a power law weighting of first-order exchange coefficients. For the three degrading compounds measured, guanylurea, valsartan, and diclofenac, we observed that the power law model consistently predicted higher removal rates in the stream compared to the first-order model. Variations were also observed between the removal rates estimated in the HZ. Our results highlight the importance of considering multiple conceptualizations of the HEF when assessing contaminant removal rates.
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7. |
- Ronchi, Benedicta, et al.
(author)
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Factors controlling Si export from soils: A soil column approach
- 2015
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In: Catena. - : Elsevier BV. - 0341-8162. ; 133, s. 85-96
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The release of dissolved silicon (DSi) from A and B horizons was investigated with leaching tests on unsaturated columns. As forest A horizons have larger biogenic Si (BSi) pools than arable lands, we compared the Si release from a forest and a cropland from the same geographical region developed on a Luvisol in Belgium and a Cambisol in Sweden. The A horizons released a quickly dissolving Si fraction in contrast to the B horizons, which did contain no or only little amounts of BSi and released lower Si concentrations. Our experiments show that Si export from forest soils is high because of the presence of a large reservoir of soluble BSi as well as due to the acidity of the soil (pH<4). Leaching at two different water fluxes revealed that export in forest soils was transport controlled while cropland soils were in equilibrium. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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8. |
- Schaper, Jonas L., et al.
(author)
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Hyporheic Exchange Controls Fate of Trace Organic Compounds in an Urban Stream
- 2018
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In: Environmental Science and Technology. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 52:21, s. 12285-12294
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- First-order half-lives for 26 trace organic (TrOCs) were determined in the hyporheic zone (HZ) and along a 3 km reach of a first-order stream in m South Australia during both dry and wet seasons. Two salt in-stream tracer experiments were conducted and evaluated using a transient storage model to characterize seasonal differences in stream residence time and transient storage. Lagrangian and time-integrated surface water sampling were conducted to calculated half-lives in the surface water. Half-lives in the were calculated using porewater samples obtained from a modified mini-point sampler and hyporheic residence times measured via active heat-pulse sensing. Half of the investigated TrOCs (e.g., oxazepam, olmesartan, candesartan) were not significantly removed along both the investigated river stretch and the sampled hyporheic flow paths. The remaining TrOCs (e.g., metformin, guanylurea, valsartan) were found to be significantly removed in the HZ and along the river stretch with relative removals in the HZ correlating to reach-scale relative removals. Using the modeled transport parameters, it was estimated that wet season reach-scale removal of TrOCs was predominately caused by removal in the HZ when the intensity of hyporheic exchange was also higher. Factors that increase HZ exchange are thus likely to promote in-stream reactivity of TrOCs.
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9. |
- Struyf, Eric, et al.
(author)
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Historical land use change has lowered terrestrial silica mobilization
- 2010
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Continental export of Si to the coastal zone is closely linked to the ocean carbon sink and to the dynamics of phytoplankton blooms in coastal ecosystems. Presently, however, the impact of human cultivation of the landscape on terrestrial Si fluxes remains unquantified and is not incorporated in models for terrestrial Si mobilization. In this paper, we show that land use is the most important controlling factor of Si mobilization in temperate European watersheds, with sustained cultivation (> 250 years) of formerly forested areas leading to a twofold to threefold decrease in baseflow delivery of Si. This is a breakthrough in our understanding of the biogeochemical Si cycle: it shows that human cultivation of the landscape should be recognized as an important controlling factor of terrestrial Si fluxes.
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10. |
- Tabarmayeh, Mehri, et al.
(author)
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Identifying the main factors driving groundwater stress in a semi-arid region, southern Iran
- 2023
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In: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 68:6, s. 840-855
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Groundwater resources are the most reliable freshwater supply in arid regions where many aquifers face dramatic depletion due to natural and anthropogenic causes. The annual average rate of decline of groundwater level is about 1.65 m. This research focuses on an aquifer that suffers from severe groundwater stress, and it aims to identify the main causes of the stress and to understand the effects of climate change and human activity. Monthly data on groundwater level, precipitation, temperature, river discharge, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and vegetation cover were collected from 2000 to 2020. The results indicate that declining groundwater levels mainly resulted from the expansion of vegetation cover rather than changes in hydro-climatic variables. Finally, this work highlights how significant financial investment in improving irrigation efficiency in the absence of socio-economic plans, education, awareness, and monitoring programmes unproductively resulted in the expansion of agricultural activities rather than preserving groundwater storage.
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