Lake Storage Research Articles

Optimal Design of Water Distribution Networks with Incorporation of Uncertainties and Energy Nexus

The reliability of water distribution networks is susceptible to large impacts resulting from uncertainties. Several factors may contribute to such uncertainties. These include nodal demands, reservoir/tank levels, and availability of system components. Additional sources of uncertainties arise when water-energy nexus is considered. For instance, when water desalination systems that are coupled with power plants are incorporated in the water distribution networks, uncertainties in energy demand influence the design of the water network system. In this work, a multi-objective optimization framework is developed for the design of water networks that involve dual-purpose power plants for simultaneous water desalination and power generation. The multi-objective model accounts for sustainability goals through environmental, economic, and societal metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, net profit, and number of jobs created, respectively. Fossil fuels, as well as renewable biofuels and solar power, are considered as candidate sources of energy. Water resources include multiple systems such as dams, lakes, rivers, aquifers, and artificial storage lakes. Demands from agricultural, industrial as well as domestic needs in the region are considered. In order to incorporate uncertainty in the proposed approach, a stochastic optimization model is formulated with a probabilistic objective function and constraints. The network has multiple sources as well as demands with varied distributions. In order to find an overall distribution for probability density estimation, a decomposition scheme is applied where each scenario is solved separately as a sub-problem. The solution from sub-problem is used to find the probability using kernel density estimator. The modified model equations lead to a stochastic MINLP problem. The proposed framework and optimization formulations are applied to a case study in the Mexican state of Sonora. From the demand and natural resource distribution, 12 scenarios have been identified and the model is weighted by their probability of occurrence. The results are compared with the deterministic solution to obtain the cost associated with uncertainty.

The current level of β-radioactivity in the Zaporizhzhya storage lake

The condition control of the Ukrainian rivers is an integral part of the population safety level. The change of such state can occur for several reasons. The first is the increase of pollution level from the working enterprises. The second – the efficiency reduction of protective constructions which store the radioactive wastes of (tailings dam). And the third – movement changes of water masses which are capable to lift the radio nuclides received earlier from the river bed (for example, the accident on the Chernobil atomic station). Therefore, the aim of the work was the modern level evaluation of b-nuclide pollution (90Sr and 137Cs) in water of Zaporizhzhya storage lake on the largest density points of the industrial enterprises on the Dnieper river in the sequence Kamenskoe – Dnipro – Zaporizhzhya at different seasons of the three years. Within 2014–2016 we carried out investigations of Zaporizhzhya storage lake b-radiation level for different seasons. The sampling was made at depth from 1,0 m to 1,5 m on six points. These points corresponded to the coast ones of Zaporizhzhya storage lake which are bound up with the industrial enterprises wastes of Kamenskoe and Dnipro or the small rivers fall points into the Dnieper River. The sampling points were: a coastal area 200 m below the Dneprodzerzhinsky dam, the river port, Starie Kodaki, the mouth of the river Mokra Sura, village Vojskove and Fyodorivka. The water mass of 5 kg was taken from these points and poured into the glass bottles. For radioactive pollution level determination in river's points we used two samples by 60 dm3 volume or caesium (137Cs) and strontium (90Sr) definition. 90Sr activity in water was determined radiochemically by oxalates sedimentation method with the subsequent measurement on the UMF-1500 installation. The isotope 137Cs was besieged by potassium ferrocyanide from a muriatic solution with the subsequent measurement on a small background installation The general β-radioactivity (Bq/l) was determined in the samples on the radiometer-«Beta» with the help of the SBT-13 counter by direct measurement method of samples. We showed that the levels of general β-activity water or at the investigated selection points of Zaporizhzhya storage lake fluctuated on average from 0,14 to 0,24 Bq/l, the content of 90Sr radionuclides in water is from 0,029 to 0,055 Bq/l, for 137Cs – is 0,042 Bq/l. In autumn β-activity level in Zaporozhzhya storage lake water decreased in comparison with spring – summer seasons. It is typical for storage lakes with a superficial filling which is followed by a relative increase of radioactive materials in water from deeply lying breeds bottom. For 90Sr, the effect of fluctuations in its concentration is observed, depending on the presence of industrial centers on the way of water movement along the Zaporizhzhya Reservoir. This effect not marked for 137Cs. An assessment of the level of water pollution has shown that in our time the indicators of the studied isotopes do not exceed the permissible levels of radioactivity stipulated by the norms of radiation safety of Ukraine from 1997.

Size Distribution, Surface Coverage, Water, Carbon, and Metal Storage of Thermokarst Lakes in the Permafrost Zone of the Western Siberia Lowland

Despite the importance of thermokarst (thaw) lakes of the subarctic zone in regulating greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere and the flux of metal pollutants and micro-nutrients to the ocean, the inventory of lake distribution and stock of solutes for the permafrost-affected zone are not available. We quantified the abundance of thermokarst lakes in the continuous, discontinuous, and sporadic permafrost zones of the western Siberian Lowland (WSL) using Landsat-8 scenes collected over the summers of 2013 and 2014. In a territory of 105 million ha, the total number of lakes >0.5 ha is 727,700, with a total surface area of 5.97 million ha, yielding an average lake coverage of 5.69% of the territory. Small lakes (0.5–1.0 ha) constitute about one third of the total number of lakes in the permafrost-bearing zone of WSL, yet their surface area does not exceed 2.9% of the total area of lakes in WSL. The latitudinal pattern of lake number and surface coverage follows the local topography and dominant landscape zones. The role of thermokarst lakes in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and most trace element storage in the territory of WSL is non-negligible compared to that of rivers. The annual lake storage across the WSL of DOC, Cd, Pb, Cr, and Al constitutes 16%, 34%, 37%, 57%, and 73%, respectively, of their annual delivery by WSL rivers to the Arctic Ocean from the same territory. However, given that the concentrations of DOC and metals in the smallest lakes (<0.5 ha) are much higher than those in the medium and large lakes, the contribution of small lakes to the overall carbon and metal budget may be comparable to, or greater than, their contribution to the water storage. As such, observations at high spatial resolution (<0.5 ha) are needed to constrain the reservoirs and the mobility of carbon and metals in aquatic systems. To upscale the DOC and metal storage in lakes of the whole subarctic, the remote sensing should be coupled with hydrochemical measurements in aquatic systems of boreal plains.

Assessment of Wetland Hydrological Dynamics in a Modified Catchment Basin: Case of Lake Buninjon, Victoria, Australia.

The common method to estimate lake levels is the water balance equation, where water input and output result in lake storage and water level changes. However, all water balance components cannot always be quickly assessed, such as due to significant modification of the catchment area. A method that assesses general changes in lake level can be a useful tool in examining why lakes have different lake level variation patterns. Assessment of wetlands using the dynamics of the historical hydrological and hydrogeological data set can provide important insights into variations in wetland levels in different parts of the world. A case study from a saline landscape, Lake Buninjon, Australia, is presented. The aim of the present study was to determine how climate, river regime, and lake hydrological properties independently influence lake water levels and salinity, leaving the discrepancy, for the effect of the non-climatic/catchment modification in the past and the model shows that surface inflow is most sensitive variable. The method, together with the analysis and interpretation, might be of interest to wider community to assess its response to natural/anthropogenic stress and decision choices for its ecological, social, scientific value, and mitigation measures to safe guard the wetland biodiversity in a catchment basin.

Sedimentary carbon forms in relation to climate and phytoplankton biomass in a large, shallow, hard-water boreal lake

Carbon storage in lakes can have huge implications for the global carbon cycle, as lakes annually accumulate up to one half the amount of organic carbon buried in marine sediments. Yet little is known of the effect of recent climate change on carbon storage in lakes. We analyzed century-scale time series of climate variables (precipitation, temperature, NAO winter index) and profiles of sediment characteristics in a dated sediment core from shallow, eutrophic Lake Vortsjarv, south Estonia. We used path analysis to evaluate the effect of climate conditions on phytoplankton biomass in the lake and accumulation of organic and inorganic carbon in the sediment. Changes in winter and spring climate influenced the lake’s phytoplankton growth significantly. Carbon pathways in hard-water Lake Vortsjarv were influenced by both hydrological (most significant in colder periods) and biogeochemical processes. Increased nutrient and water input to Lake Vortsjarv, anticipated with projected climate warming, favours greater in-lake productivity, larger accumulation of inorganic carbon in sediments, and an increase in organic carbon mineralisation, which fuels atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions from the lake.

Oxygen, Hydrogen, Sulfur, and Carbon Isotopes in the Pea Ridge Magnetite-Apatite Deposit, Southeast Missouri, and Sulfur Isotope Comparisons to Other Iron Deposits in the Region

Oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and carbon isotopes have been analyzed in the Pea Ridge magnetite-apatite deposit, the largest historic producer among the known iron deposits in the southeast Missouri portion of the 1.5 to 1.3 Ga eastern granite-rhyolite province. The data were collected to investigate the sources of ore fluids, conditions of ore formation, and provenance of sulfur, and to improve the general understanding of the copper, gold, and rare earth element potential of iron deposits regionally. The δ 18 O values of Pea Ridge magnetite are 1.9 to 4.0‰, consistent with a model in which some magnetite crystallized from a melt and other magnetite—perhaps the majority—precipitated from an aqueous fluid of magmatic origin. The δ 18 O values of quartz, apatite, actinolite, K-feldspar, sulfates, and calcite are significantly higher, enough so as to indicate growth or equilibration under cooler conditions than magnetite and/or in the presence of a fluid that was not entirely magmatic. A variety of observations, including stable isotope observations, implicate a second fluid that may ultimately have been meteoric in origin and may have been modified by isotopic exchange with rocks or by evaporation during storage in lakes. Sulfur isotope analyses of sulfides from Pea Ridge and seven other mineral deposits in the region reveal two distinct populations that average 3 and 13‰. Two sulfur sources are implied. One was probably igneous melts or rocks belonging to the mafic- to intermediate-composition volcanic suite that is present at or near most of the iron deposits; the other was either melts or volcanic rocks that had degassed very extensively, or else volcanic lakes that had trapped rising magmatic gases. The higher δ 34 S values correspond to deposits or prospects where copper is noteworthy—the Central Dome portion of the Boss deposit, the Bourbon deposit, and the Vilander prospective area. The correspondence suggests that (1) sulfur either limited the deposition of copper or was cotransported with copper, and (2) sulfur isotope analysis may be useful in evaluating southeast Missouri iron deposits for copper and possibly for gold.

Remote Sensing of the Water Storage Dynamics of Large Lakes and Reservoirs in the Yangtze River Basin from 2000 to 2014.

Basin-scale water volumes of lakes and reservoirs are difficult to obtain due to a number of challenges. In this study, area-based water storage estimation models are proposed for large lakes and reservoirs in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB). The models are subsequently applied to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations of 128 large lakes and 108 reservoirs between 2000 and 2014, and the first comprehensive map of the temporal and spatial dynamics of water storage in large water bodies in the YRB is provided. The results show that 53.91% of the lakes experienced significant decreasing trends in water storage during this period, and the total water storage in lakes showed a decreasing trend of 14 million m3 month−1. By contrast, a monthly mean increase of 177 million m3 was observed for water storage in reservoirs. Our analysis revealed that the pronounced increase in reservoirs was primarily due to the rapid water level increase in the Three Gorges Reservoir in recent years, while understanding the water loss in lakes requires additional studies. The long-term data presented in this study provide critical baseline information for future water resource monitoring and regulation in the YRB and China.

Quantifying the contribution of glacier meltwater in the expansion of the largest lake in Tibet

AbstractLake Siling Co is currently the largest endorheic lake in Tibet, and the lake surface area has expanded by about 40% since the 1970s, with a remarkable acceleration after 1999. In this study, a hydrologic modeling framework was established by linking the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) land surface hydrologic model with the degree‐day glacier‐melt model over the Lake Siling Co basin, with an aim to quantify the contribution of each runoff component to changes in the lake storage. We found that glacier melt contributed to less than 10% of the total water input to the lake during 1979–2013, while precipitation‐induced runoff in nonglacierized area was responsible for about 67–75%. The mean annual water input to the lake increased by 2.15 × 109 m3 yr−1 in 2000–2013 relative to that in 1979–1999. The amount of precipitation over the lake surface, precipitation‐induced runoff, and glacier‐melt runoff accounted for 13%, 82%, and 5% of this total increase, respectively, suggesting that the substantial expansion of Siling Co in the 2000s was mostly due to the increase in precipitation‐induced runoff. When modeling lake level changes during 1979–2013, we found that the water level rose by 14.1 m when glacier melt was included and by only 10.5 m, a reduction of about one fourth, when glacier melt was removed. It is concluded that glacier melt played an important role in controlling the water level of Siling Co, although it only contributed less than 10% of water input to the lake during 1979–2013.

THE IMPACT OF MANGALIA HARBOUR’S BREAKWATERS ON THE SHORE AND CLIFF IN “2 MAI-VAMA VECHE” COASTAL AREA

<p>The paperwork is part of a substantiation study about the current state of the NW Black Sea coastal area and it consists in the establishment of a reference database regarding hydrotechnical structures, the existing coastal protections, their impact and the identification of risk areas. A high-risk area is “2 Mai - Vama Veche” region, located in The Southern Romanian Coastline, due to the sharp beach erosion and the cliffs instability that endanger nearby buildings. The coastal protections, the offshore breakwaters, the industry development in the coastal region and the construction of storage lakes and dams in the river basins have influenced the conditions in which The Romanian Coast is found nowadays.</p>

Developing a Conjunctive Use Optimization Model for Allocating Surface and Subsurface Water in an Off-Stream Artificial Lake System

This work develops a rule curve-based conjunctive use management model for optimizing the operating rules for a lake–groundwater system with off-stream storage lakes. The proposed procedure is a simulation-optimization approach that embeds an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) instead of a groundwater numerical model into a genetic algorithm (GA). The direct physical exchange between lake water with groundwater is simulated using the ANN model, which is a reduced version of a full numerical model, MODFLOW with an LAK3 module. By applying the ANN model, the proposed procedure can reduce the computational burden that is induced by the nonlinear exchange. An operating rule-based optimal conjunctive use management model for the Gaopin Artificial lakes system in Taiwan was thus developed using the proposed framework. A set of optimal solutions involves rule curves and a discount ratio. Simulation results demonstrate that the embedded ANN model can accurately simulate the nonlinear exchange of a lake with groundwater. The embedded ANN model is less computationally complex than the numerical model. This work demonstrates a methodology for reducing the computational burden of the optimal conjunctive use management model that is associated with an internal nonlinear system by using the ANN reduced model. Specifically, the concept of, and results obtained using the developed operating rule-based model incorporating five artificial lakes and considering the nonlinear exchange of those lakes with the groundwater system provides a valuable practical reference for solving related conjunctive use problems.

Simulation of Climate Change Effects on Hydropower Operations in Mountain Headwater Lakes, New Zealand

AbstractFuture climate change is expected to have wide ranging impacts on the hydrology of mountain rivers because of changes in the magnitudes and timing of rain and snow, as well as the significant spatial variability of topography and other catchment characteristics. In New Zealand, hydropower generation in mountain basins is the primary source of electricity and renewable energy resource in the country. The goal of this study was to simulate and evaluate the potential effects of climate change on hydropower operations in three mountain headwater lakes (lakes Pukaki, Tekapo, and Ohau) in the Upper Waitaki Basin of the central South Island. The TopNet hydrological model was used to estimate catchment runoff and lake inflows based on the 1990s (baseline), 2040s, and 2090s periods. Average temperature and precipitation results from an ensemble of 12 Global Circulation Models based on the IPCC 4th Assessment Report A1B emissions scenario were used as input to TopNet. Linked hydropower lake water balance models were developed and used to simulate hydropower operations including discharge, hydroelectric power generation, and spill based on TopNet future inflow predictions, projected electricity demand, and lake storage and outflow characteristics. Our results indicate that annual lake inflows increase under future climate scenarios, but that there are seasonal effects with increasing flows in winter and early spring, and summer flows decreasing somewhat as a result of increasing temperatures and greater winter rain with less snow. Although overall hydropower generation can increase with the increasing flows and projected electricity demand, the seasonal changes result in demand being met in winter and spring with potential shortfalls in summer and autumn. Maximum annual generation can be achieved for some generating stations, but generation will decrease at other stations and more spill will likely be required through the 2090s because of the seasonal changes. Therefore flood and drought risk could also increase for downstream areas. Results also indicate that by the 2090s electricity demand could exceed generation capacity for these headwater lakes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Water balance and irrigation water pumping of Lake Merdada for potato farming in Dieng Highland, Indonesia.

Lakes provide water resources for domestic use, livestock, irrigational use, etc. Water availability of lakes can be estimated using lake water balance. Lake water balance is calculated from the water input and output of a lake. Dieng Highland has several volcanic lakes in its surroundings. Lake Merdada in Dieng Highland has been experiencing extensive water pumping for several years more than other lakes in the surrounding area. It provides irrigation water for potato farming in Dieng Highland. The hydrological model of this lake has not been studied. The modeled water balance in this research uses primary data, i.e., bathymetric data, soil texture, and outflow discharge, as well as secondary data, i.e., rainfall, temperature, Landsat 7 ETM+ band 8 image, and land use. Water balance input components consist of precipitation on the surface area, surface (direct) runoff from the catchment area, and groundwater inflow and outflow (G net), while the output components consist of evaporation, river outflow, and irrigation. It shows that groundwater is the dominant input and output of the lake. On the other hand, the actual irrigation water pumping plays the leading role as human-induced alteration of outflow discharge. The maximum irrigation pumping modeling shows that it will decrease lake storage up to 37.14% per month and may affect the ecosystem inside the lake.

Changes in the water quality and bacterial community composition of an alkaline and saline oxbow lake used for temporary reservoir of geothermal waters.

Geothermal waters exploited in the southeastern region of Hungary are alkali-hydrogen-carbonate type, and beside the high amount of dissolved salt, they contain a variety of aromatic, heteroaromatic, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The majority of these geothermal waters used for heating are directed into surface waters following a temporary storage in reservoir lakes. The aim of this study was to gain information about the temporal and spatial changes of the water quality as well as the bacterial community composition of an alkaline and saline oxbow lake operated as reservoir of used geothermal water. On the basis of the water physical and chemical measurements as well as the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) patterns of the bacterial communities, temporal changes were more pronounced than spatial differences. During the storage periods, the inflow, reservoir water, and sediment samples were characterized with different bacterial community structures in both studied years. The 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences of the bacterial strains and molecular clones confirmed the differences among the studied habitats. Thermophilic bacteria were most abundant in the geothermal inflow, whereas the water of the reservoir was dominated by cyanobacteria and various anoxygenic phototrophic prokaryotes. In addition, members of several facultative anaerobic denitrifying, obligate anaerobic sulfate-reducing and syntrophic bacterial species capable of decomposition of different organic compounds including phenols were revealed from the water and sediment of the reservoir. Most of these alkaliphilic and/or halophilic species may participate in the local nitrogen and sulfur cycles and contribute to the bloom of phototrophs manifesting in a characteristic pink-reddish discoloration of the water of the reservoir.

Impact of lake\u2013river connectivity and interflow on the Canadian RCM simulated regional climate and hydrology for Northeast Canada

Lakes affect regional climate by modulating surface albedo, surface energy, and moisture budgets. This is especially important for regions such as Northeast Canada with approximately 10 % of the landmass covered by lakes, wetlands and rivers. From the regional hydrology perspective, interactions between lakes and rivers are important as streamflow patterns can be significantly modified by lake storage, and similarly lake levels can be modified by streamflows. In this study, using a suite of experiments performed with the fifth generation Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM5) driven by the European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting ERA40 reanalysis data at the lateral boundaries for the 1979–2010 period, lake–river–atmosphere interactions and their impact on the regional climate/hydrology of north-east Canada are assessed. In these CRCM5 simulations, a one-dimensional lake model represents lakes, while the rivers are modeled using a distributed routing scheme, and one of the simulations includes interflow, i.e. lateral flow of water in the soil layers. Comparison of CRCM5 simulations with and without lakes suggests significant differences in winter/summer precipitation and winter temperature for the study region. CRCM5 simulations performed with and without lake–river interactions suggest improved representation of streamflows when lake storage and routing are taken into account. Adding the interflow process leads to increased streamflows during summer and fall seasons for the majority of the rivers, causing modest changes to land–atmosphere interactions via modified soil moisture. The impact of interflow on streamflow, obtained in this study, is comparable to the impact of lake–atmosphere interactions on streamflows. This study clearly demonstrates the need for realistic representation of lake–river interactions in regional climate models for realistic simulation of regional hydrology, particularly streamflows.

Arctic terrestrial hydrology: A synthesis of processes, regional effects, and research challenges

AbstractTerrestrial hydrology is central to the Arctic system and its freshwater circulation. Water transport and water constituents vary, however, across a very diverse geography. In this paper, which is a component of the Arctic Freshwater Synthesis, we review the central freshwater processes in the terrestrial Arctic drainage and how they function and change across seven hydrophysiographical regions (Arctic tundra, boreal plains, shield, mountains, grasslands, glaciers/ice caps, and wetlands). We also highlight links between terrestrial hydrology and other components of the Arctic freshwater system. In terms of key processes, snow cover extent and duration is generally decreasing on a pan‐Arctic scale, but snow depth is likely to increase in the Arctic tundra. Evapotranspiration will likely increase overall, but as it is coupled to shifts in landscape characteristics, regional changes are uncertain and may vary over time. Streamflow will generally increase with increasing precipitation, but high and low flows may decrease in some regions. Continued permafrost thaw will trigger hydrological change in multiple ways, particularly through increasing connectivity between groundwater and surface water and changing water storage in lakes and soils, which will influence exchange of moisture with the atmosphere. Other effects of hydrological change include increased risks to infrastructure and water resource planning, ecosystem shifts, and growing flows of water, nutrients, sediment, and carbon to the ocean. Coordinated efforts in monitoring, modeling, and processing studies at various scales are required to improve the understanding of change, in particular at the interfaces between hydrology, atmosphere, ecology, resources, and oceans.

Advances in modelling subglacial lakes and their interaction with the Antarctic ice sheet.

Subglacial lakes have long been considered hydraulically isolated water bodies underneath ice sheets. This view changed radically with the advent of repeat-pass satellite altimetry and the discovery of multiple lake discharges and water infill, associated with water transfer over distances of more than 200 km. The presence of subglacial lakes also influences ice dynamics, leading to glacier acceleration. Furthermore, subglacial melting under the Antarctic ice sheet is more widespread than previously thought, and subglacial melt rates may explain the availability for water storage in subglacial lakes and water transport. Modelling of subglacial water discharge in subglacial lakes essentially follows hydraulics of subglacial channels on a hard bed, where ice sheet surface slope is a major control on triggering subglacial lake discharge. Recent evidence also points to the development of channels in deformable sediment in West Antarctica, with significant water exchanges between till and ice. Most active lakes drain over short time scales and respond rapidly to upstream variations. Several Antarctic subglacial lakes exhibit complex interactions with the ice sheet due to water circulation. Subglacial lakes can therefore-from a modelling point of view-be seen as confined small oceans underneath an imbedded ice shelf.

Hydrological Impact Assessment of Climate Change on Lake Tana’s Water Balance, Ethiopia

The aim of this study is to evaluate the hydrological impacts of climate change on the water balance of Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Impact assessments are by downscaled General Circulation Model (GCM) output and hydrological modeling. For A2 and B2 emission scenarios, precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature estimates from the HadCM3 GCM were used. GCM output was downscaled using the Statistical DownScaling Model (SDSM 4.2). Impact analyses were applied for three future time periods: early, mid and late 21st century. Over-lake evaporation is estimated by Hardgrave’s method, and over-lake precipitation is estimated by inverse distance weighing interpolation, whereas inflows from gauged and ungauged catchments are simulated by the HBV hydrological model. Findings indicate increases in maximum and minimum temperature on annual base for both emission scenarios. The projection of mean annual over lake precipitation for both A2 and B2 emission scenarios shows increasing pattern for 21st century in comparison to the baseline period. The increase of mean annual precipitation for A2 emission scenario is 9% (112 mm/year), 10% (125 mm/year) and 11% (137 mm/year) for the three future periods respectively. B2 emission scenario mean annual precipitation shows increase by 9% (111 mm/year), 10% (122 mm/year) and 10% (130 mm/year) respectively for the three future periods. Findings indicate consistent increases of lake storage for all three future periods for both A2 and B2 emission scenarios.

Carbon accumulation and sequestration of lakes in China during the Holocene.

Understanding the responses of lake systems to past climate change and human activity is critical for assessing and predicting the fate of lake carbon (C) in the future. In this study, we synthesized records of the sediment accumulation from 82 lakes and of C sequestration from 58 lakes with direct organic C measurements throughout China. We also identified the controlling factors of the long-term sediment and C accumulation dynamics in these lakes during the past 12 ka (1 ka = 1000cal yr BP). Our results indicated an overall increasing trend of sediment and C accumulation since 12 ka, with an accumulation peak in the last couple of millennia for lakes in China, corresponding to terrestrial organic matter input due to land-use change. The Holocene lake sediment accumulation rate (SAR) and C accumulation rate (CAR) averaged (mean ± SE) 0.47±0.05mm yr(-1) and 7.7±1.4g C m(-2) yr(-1) in China, respectively, comparable to the previous estimates for boreal and temperate regions. The SAR for lakes in the East Plain of subtropical China (1.05±0.28mm yr(-1) ) was higher than those in other regions (P<0.05). However, CAR did not vary significantly among regions. Overall, the variability and history of climate and anthropogenic interference regulated the temporal and spatial dynamics of sediment and C sequestration for lakes in China. We estimated the total amount of C burial in lakes of China as 8.0±1.0PgC. This first estimation of total C storage and dynamics in lakes of China confirms the importance of lakes in land C budget in monsoon-influenced regions.

The SWOT Mission and Its Capabilities for Land Hydrology

Surface water storage and fluxes in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and wetlands are currently poorly observed at the global scale, even though they represent major components of the water cycle and deeply impact human societies. In situ networks are heterogeneously distributed in space, and many river basins and most lakes—especially in the developing world and in sparsely populated regions—remain unmonitored. Satellite remote sensing has provided useful complementary observations, but no past or current satellite mission has yet been specifically designed to observe, at the global scale, surface water storage change and fluxes. This is the purpose of the planned Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission. SWOT is a collaboration between the (US) National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (the French Spatial Agency), the Canadian Space Agency and the United Kingdom Space Agency, with launch planned in late 2020. SWOT is both a continental hydrology and oceanography mission. However, only the hydrology capabilities of SWOT are discussed here. After a description of the SWOT mission requirements and measurement capabilities, we review the SWOT-related studies concerning land hydrology published to date. Beginning in 2007, studies demonstrated the benefits of SWOT data for river hydrology, both through discharge estimation directly from SWOT measurements and through assimilation of SWOT data into hydrodynamic and hydrology models. A smaller number of studies have also addressed methods for computation of lake and reservoir storage change or have quantified improvements expected from SWOT compared with current knowledge of lake water storage variability. We also briefly review other land hydrology capabilities of SWOT, including those related to transboundary river basins, human water withdrawals and wetland environments. Finally, we discuss additional studies needed before and after the launch of the mission, along with perspectives on a potential successor to SWOT.

Inroads of remote sensing into hydrologic science during the WRR era

The first issue of WRR appeared eight years after the launch of Sputnik, but by WRR's 25th anniversary, only seven papers that used remote sensing had appeared. Over the journal's second 25 years, that changed remarkably, and remote sensing is now widely used in hydrology and other geophysical sciences. We attribute this evolution to production of data sets that scientists not well versed in remote sensing can use, and to educational initiatives like NASA's Earth System Science Fellowship program that has supported over a thousand scientists, many in hydrology. We review progress in remote sensing in hydrology from a water balance perspective. We argue that progress is primarily attributable to a creative use of existing and past satellite sensors to estimate such variables as evapotranspiration rates or water storage in lakes and reservoirs and to new and planned missions. Recent transforming technologies include the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), the European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) and U.S. Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) missions, and the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. Future missions include Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) to measure river discharge and lake, reservoir, and wetland storage. Measurement of some important hydrologic variables remains problematic: retrieval of snow water equivalent (SWE) from space remains elusive especially in mountain areas, even though snow cover extent is well observed, and was the topic of 4 of the first 5 remote sensing papers published in WRR. We argue that this area deserves more strategic thinking from the hydrology community.