Abstract
Soil moisture is an important variable for understanding hydrological processes, and the year-round monitoring of soil moisture and temperature reflect the variations induced by snow cover and its melt. Herein, we monitored the soil moisture and temperature in high (two sites) and low (two sites) elevation regions with groundwater sampling near the Mt. Balwang area in Gangwon-do, South Korea from Sep 2020 to May 2021. This study aims to investigate the temporal and spatial variations in soil moisture and temperature due to snow (natural and artificial snow) and its melt. A ski resort has been operating in this area and has been producing artificial snow during winter periods; thus, the spring snowmelt comprises both natural and artificial snow. The effect of soil freezing and thawing, wind conditions, vegetation covers, the timing and intensity of snow cover and snowmelt were differed in the monitoring sites. The high elevation sites 1 and 2 exhibit the relatively longer and consistent snow cover than the low elevation sites. Particularly, site 2 show late (May 8) snow melting even this site is in south slope of the Mt. Balwang. The relatively steady and moist soil layers at sites 1, 2, and 3 during the warm period can be considered as influential points to groundwater recharge. Moreover, the differences between the mean δ18O (−9.89‰) of the artificial snow layers and other samples were low: in the order of surface water (0.04‰) >groundwater (−0.66 and −1.01‰) >natural snow (1.34 and −3.80‰). This indicates that the imprint of artificial snow derived from surface water and with decreasing amount of natural snow around the Mt. Balwang region, the results support the assumption that the potential influence of artificial snowmelt on groundwater quality. This study helps to understand the snow dynamic and its influence on the hydrological processes in this region by combining the hydro-chemical and isotopic analysis.
Highlights
Water entry into soil and its movement plays an essential role in surface runoff, groundwater recharge, evapotranspiration, soil erosion, and chemicals transport in surface and subsurface waters (Rawls et al, 1993)
This study focuses on the field observation of soil moisture and temperature in heterogeneous mountain area where the effect of snow cover and snowmelt, especially from artificial snow to the catchment hydrology has not been studied
The timing and availability of the snow cover differed at the four sites depending on the site characteristics, and they were determined from the soil moisture and temperature measurements in the surface layer
Summary
Water entry into soil and its movement plays an essential role in surface runoff, groundwater recharge, evapotranspiration, soil erosion, and chemicals transport in surface and subsurface waters (Rawls et al, 1993). The direct infiltration of precipitation and surface water through thin soil layers into the underground affects the water availability for agricultural demands and water resources in many alpine regions (Hartmann et al, 2014; Wei et al, 2021). The changes in snowmelt period and duration of snow-covered period are essential for the operation of ski resorts (Heo and Lee, 2010). From 1987 to 2016, the snowmelt season has been observed to occur earlier in the High Mountain Asia region mainly due to the recent increase in the air temperature (Lee et al, 2012). Identifying snow and snowmelt seasons in heterogeneous environments like High Mountain Asia regions, is generally difficult (Smith et al, 2017). The artificial snow produced for ski sports affects the timing of the snowmelt and ground temperatures in the alpine environments. The potential influence on the vegetation cover (Jones et al, 2001; Rixen et al, 2003) and the physical disruption by frozen soil affects the soil biogeochemistry (e.g., increase in soil nitrate and changes in soil carbon) (Groffman et al, 2001)
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