Cumulative Drainage Area Research Articles

Brackish-water desalination plant modulates ground deformation in the city of Cape Coral, Florida

The groundwater abstraction and injection cycle in coastal aquifer systems can locally change the piezometric head in aquifer system, leading to differential settlement on the ground that may compromise infrastructure safety. Furthermore, long-term, extensive groundwater extraction may cause significant damage to water resources. Ironically, Florida, a state known for its abundant water resources, has been experiencing major water supply issues in some areas that began to intensify with rapid population growth over the last five decades. As the demand for drinking water in Florida continues to rise, local authorities have turned to using brackish and saline water sources. As of 2022, more than 80% of the desalination plants in the United States are concentrated in the coastal areas of central and south Florida. Using satellite radar interferometry, we have investigated the spatiotemporal evolution of surface subsidence driven by groundwater pumping for brackish-water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination facilities in the City of Cape Coral, Florida. We employed Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) to process all available Sentinel 1A and 1B scenes over the region along two ascending orbits. The deformation time-series obtained from independent SAR data sets are compared spatiotemporally with the groundwater level that provides feed water to the BWRO facilities. The deformation pattern shows one main lobe of subsidence with rates of up to 25 mm/year centred around the operating wells in the north BWRO wellfield that we interpret as human-induced compaction. The spatial correlation between the subsiding area and the active production wells argues in favour of surface deformation induced by the BWRO operations. Based on the InSAR-derived displacement field and well data, we propose a model to explain the spatial heterogeneity of the subsidence process. The ground deformation is reproduced by an elastic model mimicking the reservoir compaction using planar negative closing dislocations. Modelling of the subsidence shows ∼ 0.67 Mm3 yr−1 vol loss due to compaction of the aquifer. The subsidence deformation was also used to compute the cumulative drainage area of the producing wells.

Fall and Winter Survival of Brook Trout and Brown Trout in a North‐Central Pennsylvania Watershed

AbstractStream‐dwelling salmonids that spawn in the fall generally experience their lowest survival during the fall and winter due to behavioral changes associated with spawning and energetic deficiencies during this time of year. We used data from Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis and Brown Trout Salmo trutta implanted with radio transmitters in tributaries of the Hunts Run watershed of north‐central Pennsylvania to estimate survival from the fall into the winter seasons (September 2012–February 2013). We examined the effects that individual‐level covariates (trout species, size, and movement rates) and stream‐level covariates (individual stream and cumulative drainage area of a stream) have on survival. Brook Trout experienced significantly lower survival than Brown Trout, especially in the early fall during their peak spawning period. Besides a significant species effect, none of the other covariates examined influenced survival for either species. A difference in life history between these species, with Brook Trout having a shorter life expectancy than Brown Trout, is likely the primary reason for the lower survival of Brook Trout. However, Brook Trout also spawn earlier in the fall than Brown Trout and low flows during Brook Trout spawning may have resulted in a greater risk of predation for Brook Trout compared with Brown Trout, thereby also contributing to the observed differences in survival between these species. Our estimates of survival can aid parameterization of future population models for Brook Trout and Brown Trout through the spawning season and into winter.Received September 9, 2016; accepted March 6, 2017 Published online May 26, 2017

Field study on drainage densities and rescaled width functions in a high‐altitude alpine catchment

AbstractThis paper addresses the effect of accurately mapping spatially heterogeneous drainage densities in high‐altitude alpine basins on Rescaled Width Functions (RWFs), used in some applications as a minimalist model of the hydrologic response. The channel network and 373 of its channel heads were mapped in the field in a high mountain catchment in the Swiss Alps. The mapped channel network is characterized by highly uneven drainage density, here described by the distribution of the length to the first channelized site computed along steepest descent from any unchannelled site. Various channel networks were extracted from a 1 m lidar‐derived digital terrain model and compared with the field‐mapped channel network using geomorphologic parameters, hillslope‐to‐channel distance and RWFs. Our results show that the channel network derived by statistical analysis of surface morphology is consistent with the field‐mapped network. Larger discrepancies were observed when the channel network was obtained with classical threshold‐based approaches relying on cumulative drainage area and local slope. The actual arrangement of the drainage densities has a significant impact on the RWFs. The discrepancy was largest between RWFs derived from classical extraction methods and RWFs derived with the field‐mapped network, indicating an inappropriate extraction of the channelled portion of the high‐altitude catchment that is a reflection of the variety of channel initiation processes. Our results suggest that spatial heterogeneity of the drainage density might play an important role in modelling streamflow generation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Survey of Uruguayan Freshwater Water Quality for Crop Irrigation

The increase in global demand for food and biofuels, has led to an high demand for agricultural products. That situation implies an intensification of production systems, and develop strategies to ensure stability against drought, and moreover a better levels of productivity. Objectives that could be achieved with the irrigation of crops; however, it can promote negative impacts due to cumulative effects on soil quality, which depend on the chemical composition of the water used. This paper show the results of a national study of freshwater quality, on 100 river watersheds (up to 100,000 ha), which correspond to a cumulative drainage area of 70% of country surface. In these freshwaters the following parameters was evaluated: electrical conductivity, concentration of major cations (Na, K, Ca, Mg), alkalinity, and pH. The results showed Ca, Mg, K, and Na concentrations in ranges of 0.0-45.1, 0.0-14.1, 0.019-16.8, and 0.78 -139 mg L-1, respectively. The alkalinity was in range of 32 to 420 CaCO3 mg L-1, and this variable was the most important contribution to get the different values of electrical conductivity of water, which had values between 71.6 and 1047 micro Siemens cm-1. These features allow propose at least 3 freshwater ecoregions (coastal and central-south; basalt; Northeast and southeast) at Uruguay, based on the chemical composition of studied freshwaters. Moreover, SAR values (([Na] / [(Ca + Mg) / 2] 1/2) of these waters shown a 99% of them has good quality characteristics for the development of irrigation, because they have a SAR below 10.

Survey of Uruguayan Freshwater Water Quality for Crop Irrigation

The increase in global demand for food and biofuels, has led to an high demand for agricultural products. That situation implies an intensification of production systems, and develop strategies to ensure stability against drought, and moreover a better levels of productivity. Objectives that could be achieved with the irrigation of crops; however, it can promote negative impacts due to cumulative effects on soil quality, which depend on the chemical composition of the water used. This paper show the results of a national study of freshwater quality, on 100 river watersheds (up to 100,000 ha), which correspond to a cumulative drainage area of 70% of country surface. In these freshwaters the following parameters was evaluated: electrical conductivity, concentration of major cations (Na, K, Ca, Mg), alkalinity, and pH. The results showed Ca, Mg, K, and Na concentrations in ranges of 0.0- 45.1, 0.0-14.1, 0.019-16.8, and 0.78 -139 mg L-1, respectively. The alkalinity was in range of 32 to 420 CaCO3 mg L-1, and this variable was the most important contribution to get the different values of electrical conductivity of water, which had values between 71.6 and 1047 micro Siemens cm-1. These features allow propose at least 3 freshwater ecoregions (coastal and central-south; basalt; Northeast and southeast) at Uruguay, based on the chemical composition of studied freshwaters. Moreover, SAR values (([Na] / [(Ca + Mg) / 2] 1/2) of these waters shown a 99% of them has good quality characteristics for the development of irrigation, because they have a SAR below 10.

Geomorphologic Characteristics of Indiana Basins

In this study, ten Indiana basins were selected to investigate their geomorphologic characteristics. The drainage area of these basins covers a wide range. Stream networks of these basins are classified according to both Strahler’s and Shreve’s ordering systems. Based on these ordering systems, more than twenty primary and secondary geomorphologic parameters were determined for each study basin. Horton’s laws of stream numbers, stream length and stream area were checked and found valid for these Indiana basins. Values of cumulative drainage area were used to investigate the exceedance probability distribution of mean annual discharge and energy fluxes in the study watersheds. The results of the study show that discharge and energy fluxes were found to follow power law distributions. Exponent of the resulting power laws does not show the universality suggested by previous investigations.

Clinal variation or validation of a subspecies? A case study of theGraptemys nigrinodacomplex (Testudines: Emydidae)

Widely distributed species often display intraspecific morphological variation due to the abiotic and biotic gradients experienced across their ranges. Historically, in many vertebrate taxa, such as birds and reptiles, these morphological differences within a species were used to delimit subspecies. Graptemys nigrinoda is an aquatic turtle species endemic to the Mobile Bay Basin. Colour pattern and morphological variability were used to describe a subspecies (G. n. delticola) from the lower reaches of the system, although it and the nominate subspecies also reportedly intergrade over a large portion of the range. Other researchers have suggested that these morphological differences merely reflect clinal variation. Our molecular data (mtDNA) did not support the existence of the subspecies, as the haplotypes were differentiated by only a few base pairs and one haplotype was shared between the putative subspecies. While there were significant morphological and pattern differences among putative specimens of G. n. nigrinoda, G. n. delticola and G. n. nigrinoda × delticola, these differences probably represent clinal variation as they were also related to environmental variables [i.e. cumulative drainage area and drainage (categorical)]. Specimens occupying slow-current, high-turbidity river reaches (e.g. the Tensaw River) exhibited greater relative carapace heights and more dark pigmentation, while specimens occupying fast-current, clearer rivers (e.g. the upper Alabama, Cahaba and Tallapoosa rivers) exhibited lower carapace heights and more yellow pigmentation. Given the absence of clear molecular and morphological differences that are related to drainage characteristics, we suggest that there is not sufficient evidence for the recognition of G. n. delticola as a distinct subspecies.

The landscape genetics of syntopic topminnows (Fundulus notatusandF. olivaceus) in a riverine contact zone

The metapopulation dynamics of a species are influenced by the spatial arrangement of preferred habitats across a landscape. Increasing habitat patchiness can result in greater population subdivision, leading to more pronounced population genetic structure. Therefore, even subtle differences in habitat preferences among species could lead to substantial differences in genetic structure. Members of the Fundulus notatus species complex of topminnows include a headwater specialist and a large river specialist with broadly overlapping geographical distributions. Both species are often found in the same drainage systems, but partially isolated by divergent habitat preferences. The purpose of this research was to determine whether distribution along a stream continuum in a contact zone influences population genetic patterns in two species of topminnow (Fundulus olivaceus and Fundulus notatus). Fish were collected in the summers of 2010–2012, and habitat data were collected in summer 2012, within all major tributaries of the Saline River in southern Illinois. In total, 523 fish were genotyped using seven microsatellite loci to assess genetic variation. Species distributions in F. notatus and F. olivaceus were associated with habitat factors that covaried with cumulative drainage area. Populations of F. olivaceus showed a greater level of genetic structure reflected in a significant pattern of isolation by distance, while populations of F. notatus showed no such pattern. Spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed that at an individual level, both species became increasingly divergent with waterway distance. Overall, clear interspecific differences in habitat preferences were translated into measurable but relatively subtle differences in population genetic structure.

Shape variability in topminnows (Fundulus notatus species complex) along the river continuum

We examined intra- and interspecific variability in shape of three topminnow species (Funduluidae: Fundulus notatus, F. olivaceus, and F. euryzonus) across ten drainages. Within each drainage, five or more adult male topminnows were digitized at multiple sites (83 total sites) along the river continuum representing a range of stream sizes (cumulative drainage area) and hydrological conditions. Nine of the ten drainages contained two Fundulus species that were longitudinally separated along the river continuum with narrow areas of coexistence. Upstream–downstream distribution patterns were variable by drainage, allowing us to examine patterns repeated across ecologically similar species. More variability in shape was explained by drainage (19.7%) than by species (7.4%) differences. Populations of F. notatus from headwaters (three drainages) converged on a deep-bodied form similar to F. olivaceus which was typically sampled in headwaters. Fundulus notatus shape was more closely related to stream size than in the other two species. Headwater populations of F. notatus and F. olivaceus had fineness ratios near the hydrodynamic optima of 4.5 whereas downstream populations of F. notatus had shallower bodies. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103, 612–621.

A Functional Relationship Between Watershed Size and Atlantic Salmon Parr Density

Abstract Atlantic salmon Salmon salar are at critically low levels in Maine rivers and maintaining current populations depends heavily on the stocking of hatchery-produced fry. Fry survival varies greatly not only among rivers but also within rivers. Better understanding of this spatial variability is needed to improve population recovery efforts. Quantile regression was used to examine how parr density varies along stream gradients as a function of the upstream cumulative drainage. Regression quantiles (τ = 0.15–0.90) had significant negative slopes indicating that, in general, as cumulative drainage area increased, parr density decreased. The τ = 0.90 quantile model, which may be viewed as an upper limit to parr density for a given cumulative drainage area, was density = [10⁁(1.0679 − 0.0013 · km2)] − 1. Quantile regression models were then combined with river-specific habitat data in a Geographic Information System to predict total Atlantic salmon parr production in several rivers. This analysis will help managers determine the potential of a stream reach or entire river to support Atlantic salmon parr and to prioritize and increase the effectiveness of management activities such as fry stocking and habitat restoration.

Close range digital photogrammetric analysis of experimental drainage basin evolution

AbstractDespite the difficulties of establishing formal hydraulic and geometric similarity, small‐scale models of drainage basins have often been used to investigate the evolution and dynamics of larger‐scale landforms. Historically, this analysis has been restricted to planform basin characteristics and only in the last decade has the topographic similarity of experimental landscapes been explored through explicitly three‐dimensional parameters such as the distributions of cumulative drainage area, area–slope and catchment elevation. The current emphasis on three‐dimensional morphometry reflects a growing awareness of the descriptive paucity of planform data and the need for more robust analysis of spatial scaling relationships. This paradigm shift has been significantly facilitated by technological developments in topographic survey and digital elevation modelling (DEM) which now present the opportunity to acquire and analyse high‐resolution, distributed elevation data. Few studies have, however, attempted to use topographic modelling to provide information on the changing pattern and rate of sediment transport though an evolving landscape directly by using multitemporal DEM differencing techniques. This paper reports a laboratory study in which digital photogrammetry was employed to derive high‐resolution DEMs of a simulated landscape in declining equilibrium at 15 minute frequency through a 240 minute simulation. Detailed evaluation of the DEMs revealed a vertical precision of 1·2 mm and threshold level of change detection between surfaces of ±3 mm at the 95 per cent confidence level. This quality assurance set the limits for determining the volumetric change between surfaces, which was used to recover the sediment budget through the experiment and to examine local ‐ and basin‐scale rates of sediment transport. A comparison of directly observed and morphometric estimates of sediment yield at the basin outlet was used to quantify the closure of the sediment budget over the simulation, and revealed an encouragingly small 6·2 per cent error. The application of this dynamic morphological approach has the potential to offer new insights into the controls on landform development, as demonstrated here by an analysis of the changing pattern of the basin sediment delivery ratio during network growth. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Energy dissipation theories and optimal channel characteristics of river networks

The effects of energy dissipation on channel properties of a river network are explored. On the basis of a local and global hypothesis of optimality in energy expenditure, we investigate the relationships between channel hydraulic geometry, flow velocity, channel bed slope, and streamflow conditions in optimal river networks. Expressions for the rate of energy dissipation per unit channel area Pa are derived as functions of cumulative drainage area and river network parameters. Optimal channel characteristics are developed that satisfy the hypothesis of local optimality, and provide constant Pa throughout the river network. We show that these optimal channel characteristics are remarkably similar to those of many natural river systems in their downstream hydraulic geometry exponents, channel bed slope scaling, spatial distribution of average flow velocity, boundary shear, resistance to flow, etc. Optimal combinations of channel downstream hydraulic geometry and basin topography were analyzed on data from Goodwin Creek. We found ranges of optimality for the combination of the downstream hydraulic geometry exponent for width of Leopold and Maddock [1953] (0.32 < b < 0.74), and the channel bed slope scaling exponent (−0.65 < z < −0.29), and argue that river networks develop average channel properties within these ranges in order to attain constant Pa throughout the network. We propose that the hypothesis of local optimality is a central principle that explains the average behavior and adjustment of channel characteristics in natural river systems.

An analysis of energy expenditure in Goodwin Creek

The local optimality hypothesis that natural river systems adjust their average channel properties toward an optimal state in which the rate of energy dissipation per unit channel area, Pa, is constant throughout the river network is explored on an analysis of Goodwin Creek, Mississippi. River network parameters describing the variation of channel forming and maintaining discharge, channel downstream hydraulic geometry, bed slope, and sediment concentration as a function of cumulative drainage area are estimated from Goodwin Creek data. Optimal channel characteristics that produce constant Pa are determined and superposed onto the digital elevation model‐;extracted river network with reach averaged bed slopes, and the spatial distribution of the energy dissipation rate Pa throughout the network is analyzed. Channel reaches with average energy dissipation rates different from the constant value of the optimal network are identified. We argue that these reaches are potentially unstable relative to the remainder of the network, and that their average channel properties will adjust in the direction of constant Pa. Qualitative statements are made about the direction of this adjustment through differences between the observed and optimal channel widths, and comparisons are made with recent observations of channel change in Goodwin Creek. This energy expenditure analysis suggests that the hypothesis of local optimality can be a useful tool for studying the relative stability and potential channel adjustment of river networks.

FLOOD MODELLING WITH GIS-DERIVED DISTRIBUTED UNIT HYDROGRAPHS

The concept of a spatially distributed unit hydrograph is based on the fact that the unit hydrograph can be derived from the time-area curve of a watershed by the S-curve method. The time-area diagram is a graph of cumulative drainage area contributing to discharge at the watershed outlet within a specified time of travel. Accurate determination of the time-area diagram is made possible by using a GIS. The GIS is used to describe the connectivity of the links in the watershed flow network and to calculate distances and travel times to the watershed outlet for various points within the watershed. Overland flow travel times are calculated by the kinematic wave equation for time to equilibrium; channel flow times are based on the Manning and continuity equations. To account for channel storage, travel times for channel reaches are increased by a percentage depending on the channel reach length and geometry. With GIS capability for rainfall mapping, the assumption of a uniform spatial rainfall distribution is no longer necessary; hence the term, spatially distributed unit hydrograph. An example of the application for the Waiparous Creek in the Alberta Foothills is given. IDRISI is used to develop a simple digital elevation model of the 229 km 2 watershed, using 1 km x 1 km grid cells. A grid of flow directions is developed and used to create an equivalent channel network. Excess rainfall for each 1 km x 1 km cell is individually computed by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) runoff curve method and routed through the equivalent channel network to obtain the time-area curve. The derived unit hydrograph gave excellent results in simulating an observed flood hydrograph. The distributed unit hydrograph is no longer a lumped model, since it accounts for internal distribution of rainfall and runoff. It is derived for a watershed without the need for observed rainfall and discharge data, because it is essentially a geomorphoclimatic approach. As such, it allows the derivation of watershed responses (hydrographs) to inputs of various magnitudes, thus eliminating the assumption of proportionality of input and output if needed. The superposition of outputs is retained in simulating flood hydrographs by convolution, since it has been shown that some non-linear systems satisfy the principle of superposition. The distributed unit hydrograph appears to be a very promising rainfall runoff model based on GIS technology.