Modeling sediment resuspension-induced DO variation in fine-grained streams

Abstract

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) levels in streams with nutrient enriched fine-grained sediment are highly affected by sediment resuspension. This paper presents a new model, called VART–DOS model, for simulation of instream DO transport, DO exchanges across water–sediment and water–air interfaces, and DO variation in response to sediment resuspension. The sediment resuspension effect is described by introducing a lumped term as a product of DO concentration and a rate of sediment resuspension-induced DO consumption (Λ). The rate parameter Λ is defined as a nonlinear function of average summer temperature of water and several sediment erosion-related parameters. This is a novel and unique feature of the VART–DOS model. Based on sensitivity analysis, effects of BOD and Sediment Oxygen Demand (SOD) on DO consumption are not so important as compared to sediment resuspension which can cause up to 83% reduction in DO level during high flow. The VART–DOS model was applied to the Lower Amite River in Louisiana, USA to perform continuous simulations of DO fluctuations in the winter month January and the summer month July involving several flood-induced sediment resuspension events. Simulation results indicate that the VART–DOS model is capable of capturing overall variation trends in DO concentration. The Normalized Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between VART–DOS simulated and observed DO levels was 0. 42 for January and 0.23 for July, demonstrating the efficacy of the VART–DOS model.