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The Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project (ARTMIP): Quantifying Uncertainties in Atmospheric River Climatology
Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are now widely known for their association with high-impact weather events and long-term water supply in many regions. Researchers within the scientific community have developed numerous methods to identify and track of ARs—a necessary step for analyses on gridded data sets, and objective attribution of impacts to ARs. These different methods have been developed to answer specific research questions and hence use different criteria (e.g., geometry, threshold values of key variables, and time dependence). Furthermore, these methods are often employed using different reanalysis data sets, time periods, and regions of interest. The goal of the Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project (ARTMIP) is to understand and quantify uncertainties in AR science that arise due to differences in these methods. This paper presents results for key AR-related metrics based on 20+ different AR identification and tracking methods applied to Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 reanalysis data from January 1980 through June 2017. We show that AR frequency, duration, and seasonality exhibit a wide range of results, while the meridional distribution of these metrics along selected coastal (but not interior) transects are quite similar across methods. Furthermore, methods are grouped into criteria-based clusters, within which the range of results is reduced. AR case studies and an evaluation of individual method deviation from an all-method mean highlight advantages/disadvantages of certain approaches. For example, methods with less (more) restrictive criteria identify more (less) ARs and AR-related impacts. Finally, this paper concludes with a discussion and recommendations for those conducting AR-related research to consider.
Modulating factors of hydrologic exchanges in a large-scale river reach: Insights from three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulations
Hyporheic exchange is a critical mechanism shaping hydrological and biogeochemical processes along a river corridor. Recent studies on quantifying the hyporheic exchange were mostly limited to local scales due to field inaccessibility, computational demand, and complexity of geomorphology and subsurface geology. Surface flow conditions and subsurface physical properties are well known factors on modulating the hyporheic exchange, but quantitative understanding of their impacts on the strength and direction of hyporheic exchanges at reach scales is absent. In this study, a high resolution computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that couples surface and subsurface flow and transport is employed to simulate hyporheic exchanges in a 7-km long reach along the main-stem of the Columbia River. Assuming that the hyporheic exchange does not affect surface water flow conditions due to its negligible magnitude compared to the volume and velocity of river water, we developed a one-way coupled surface and subsurface water flow model using the commercial CFD software STAR-CCM+. The model integrates the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation solver with a realizable k-e two-layer turbulence model, a two-layer all y^+ wall treatment, and the volume of fluid (VOF) method, and is used to simulate hyporheic exchanges by tracking the free water-air interface as well as flow in the river and the subsurface porous media. The model is validated against measurements from acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) in the stream water and hyporheic fluxes derived from a set of temperature profilers installed across the riverbed. The validated model is then employed to systematically investigate how hyporheic exchanges are influenced by surface water fluid dynamics strongly regulated by upstream dam operations, as well as subsurface structures (e.g. thickness of riverbed and subsurface formation layers) and hydrogeological properties (e.g. permeability). The results suggest that the thickness of riverbed alluvium layer is the dominant factor for reach-scale hyporheic exchanges, followed by the alluvium permeability, the depth of the underlying impermeable layer, and the assumption of hydrostatic pressure.
FTICR-MS Data from Multi-continent River Water and Sediment and from Coastal River Fresh and Saline Sediment Associated with: “Dissolved Organic Matter Functional Trait Relationships are Conserved Across Rivers”
This data package is associated with the publication “Dissolved Organic Matter Functional Trait Relationships are Conserved Across Rivers” submitted to PNAS (Stegen et al., 2023). The study aims to understand large-scale spatial structure of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) thermodynamic traits and inter-trait relationships by investigating (1) river water and sediments collected along 97 rivers spanning 3 continents and (2) coastal sediment collected from fresh and saline locations in Pacific and Gulf/Atlantic rivers. Sediment extracts and water samples were analyzed using ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS). This dataset is comprised of three folders (1) Coastal, (2) WHONDR_S19S, and (3) Data_Dictionaries. Coastal contains (1) a subfolder with processed FTICR-MS data as csv files and sample collection metadata, (2) a subfolder with R scripts used to process the data and create associated figures, (3) a subfolder with the raw, unprocessed FTICR-MS data as .xml files, and (4) a readme file with more information about the dataset and instructions for using Formularity (https://omics.pnl.gov/software/formularity). WHONDRS_S19S contains (1) a csv file with processed FTICR data, (2) a csv with sample collection metadata, (3) a csv with sample geospatial data, (4) a csv with simulated lambda model outputs, (5) a subfolder with R scripts used to process the data and create associated figures, and (6) a readme file with more information regarding WHONDRS raw FTICR data and processing scripts. Data_Dictionaries contains data dictionaries for each csv file in the data package. The 97 global river corridors were part of a WHONDRS (https://whondrs.pnnl.gov) study. The raw, unprocessed FTICR-MS data with additional data can be found at doi:10.15485/1729719 for sediments and doi:10.15485/1603775 for water. This data package contains the processed data used in the associated manuscript. The coastal data has not been previously published, and this data package contains both the raw and processed data. Version 3 of this data package published February 2023 includes updates to the title of the manuscript, additional data and data dictionary and updated scripts linked to new analysis.
Synchrotron X-ray microfluorescence measurement of metal distributions in Phragmites australis root system in the Yangtze River intertidal zone
This study investigates the distributions of Br, Ca, Cl, Cr, Cu, K, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ti, V and Zn in Phragmites australis root system and the function of Fe nanoparticles in scavenging metals in the root epidermis using synchrotron X-ray microfluorescence, synchrotron transmission X-ray microscope measurement and synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge structure techniques. The purpose of this study is to understand the mobility of metals in wetland plant root systems after their uptake from rhizosphere soils. Phragmites australis samples were collected in the Yangtze River intertidal zone in July 2013. The results indicate that Fe nanoparticles are present in the root epidermis and that other metals correlate significantly with Fe, suggesting that Fe nanoparticles play an important role in metal scavenging in the epidermis.
High-Performance Simulation of Dynamic Hydrologic Exchange and Implications for Surrogate Flow and Reactive Transport Modeling in a Large River Corridor
Hydrologic exchange flows (HEFs) have environmental significance in riverine ecosystems. Key river channel factors that influence the spatial and temporal variations of HEFs include river stage, riverbed morphology, and riverbed hydraulic conductivity. However, their impacts on HEFs were often evaluated independently or on small scales. In this study, we numerically evaluated the combined interactions of these factors on HEFs using a high-performance simulator, PFLOTRAN, for subsurface flow and transport. The model covers 51 square kilometers of a selected river corridor with large sinuosity along the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River in Washington, US. Three years of spatially distributed hourly river stages were applied to the riverbed. Compared to the simulation when riverbed heterogeneity is not ignored, the simulation using homogeneous riverbed conductivity underestimated HEFs, especially upwelling from lateral features, and overestimated the mean residence times derived from particle tracking. To derive a surrogate model for the river corridor, we amended the widely used transient storage model (TSM) for riverine solute study at reach scale with reactions. By treating the whole river corridor as a batch reactor, the temporal changes in the exchange rate coefficient for the TSM were derived from the dynamic residence time estimated from the hourly PFLOTRAN results. The TSM results were evaluated against the effective concentrations in the hyporheic zone calculated from the PFLOTRAN simulations. Our results show that there is potential to parameterize surrogate models such as TSM amended with biogeochemical reactions while incorporating small-scale process understandings and the signature of time-varying streamflow to advance the mechanistic understanding of river corridor processes at reach to watershed scales. However, the assumption of a well-mixed storage zone for TSM should be revisited when redox-sensitive reactions in the storage zones play important roles in river corridor functioning.
River stage influences on uranium transport in a hydrologically dynamic groundwater-surface water transition zone
In this study, a well-field within a uranium (U) plume in the groundwater-surface water transition zone was monitored for a 3 year period for water table elevation and dissolved solutes. The plume discharges to the Columbia River, which displays a dramatic spring stage surge resulting from snowmelt. Groundwater exhibits a low hydrologic gradient and chemical differences with river water. River water intrudes the site in spring. Specific aims were to assess the impacts of river intrusion on dissolved uranium (U aq ), specific conductance (SpC), and other solutes, and to discriminate between transport, geochemical, and source term heterogeneity effects. Time series trends for U aq and SpC were complex and displayed large temporal and well-to-well variability as a result of water table elevation fluctuations, river water intrusion, and changes in groundwater flow directions. The wells were clustered into subsets exhibiting common behaviors resulting from the intrusion dynamics of river water and the location of source terms. Hot-spots in U aq varied in location with increasing water table elevation through the combined effects of advection and source term location. Heuristic reactive transport modeling with PFLOTRAN demonstrated that mobilized U aq was transported between wells and source terms in complex trajectories, and was diluted as river water entered and exited the groundwater system. While U aq time-series concentration trends varied significantly from year-to-year as a result of climate-caused differences in the spring hydrograph, common and partly predictable response patterns were observed that were driven by water table elevation, and the extent and duration of river water intrusion.
Seasonal changes in the drivers of water physico-chemistry variability of a small freshwater tidal river
Where rivers meet the sea, tides can exert a physical and chemical influence on the lower reaches of a river. How tidal dynamics in these tidal river reaches interact with upstream hydrological drivers such as storm rainfall, which ultimately determines the quantity and composition of material transferred from watersheds to estuaries, is currently unknown. We monitored a small freshwater tidal river in the Pacific Northwest, USA in high resolution over one year to evaluate the relative importance of tides versus upstream hydrological flows (i.e., base flow and precipitation events) on basic physico-chemical parameters (pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, specific conductivity, and temperature), and how these interactions relate to the downstream estuary. Tidal variability and diurnal cycles (i.e. solar radiation) dominated water physico-chemical variability in the summer, but the influence of these drivers was overshadowed by storm-driven sharp pulses in river physico-chemistry during the remainder of the year. Within such events, we found incidences of counterclockwise hysteresis of pH, counterclockwise hysteresis of dissolved oxygen, and clockwise hysteresis of turbidity, although systematic trends were not observed across events. The dominance of storm rainfall in the river’s physico-chemistry dynamics, and similar pulses of decreased pH observed in adjacent estuarine waters, suggest that the linkage between tidal streams and the broader system is variable throughout the year. High-frequency monitoring of tidal river biogeochemistry is therefore crucial to enable the assessment of how the relative strength of these drivers may change with future sea level rise and altered precipitation patterns to modulate biogeochemical dynamics across the land-ocean-atmosphere continuum.
Migratory Behavior and Physiological Development as Potential Determinants of Life History Diversity in Fall Chinook Salmon in the Clearwater River
We studied the influence of behavior, water velocity, and physiological development on the downstream movement of subyearling fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in free-flowing and impounded reaches of the Clearwater and Snake rivers as potential mechanisms that might explain life history diversity in this stock. Movement rates and the percentage of radio-tagged fish that moved faster than the average current velocity were highest in the free-flowing Clearwater River compared to impounded reaches. This provided support for our hypothesis that water velocity is a primary determinant of downstream movement regardless of a fish’s physiological development. In contrast, movement rates slowed and detections became fewer in impounded reaches where velocities were much lower. The percentage of fish that moved faster than the average current velocity continued to decline and reached zero in the lower-most reach of Lower Granite Reservoir suggesting that behavioral disposition to move downstream was low. These findings contrast those of a similar, previous study of Snake River subyearlings in spite of hydrodynamic conditions being similar. Physiological differences between Snake and Clearwater river migrants shed light on this disparity. Subyearlings from the Clearwater River were parr-like in their development and never showed an increase in gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity as did smolts from the Snake River. The later emergence timing and cooler rearing temperatures in the Clearwater River may suppress normal physiological development that causes many fish to delay downstream movement and adopt a yearling life history strategy.
Modeling the effects of river flow on population dynamics of piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) and least terns (Sternula antillarum) nesting on the Missouri River
Humans make extensive use of rivers and floodplains for economic benefits including agriculture, hydropower, commerce and recreation. Economic development of floodplains subsequently requires control of river levels to avoid flood damage. This process began in the Missouri River basin in the 1890s with the construction of a series of hydropower dams in Montana and escalated to new levels with the approval of the Pick-Sloan plan in the 1944 Flood Control Act. Maximizing these human uses of the river led to changes in and losses of hydrological and ecological processes, ultimately resulting in the federal listing of three fish and wildlife species under the Endangered Species Act: the pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhyncus albus; 1983), the piping plover (Charadrius melodus; 1984), and the interior population of least tern (Sternula antillarum; 1985). The listing of terns and plovers did not affect river management until the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposed to modify the governing document of the Missouri River Mainstem System, the Master Manual, a process which was completed in 2003. Although there was little disagreement over the habitat conditions that terns and plovers used for nesting, there was substantial disagreement over the amount of habitat necessary for terns and plovers to meet population recovery goals. Answering this question requires forecasting species-specific population responses to dynamic habitat affected by both human actions (reservoir management and habitat restoration) and natural variability in precipitation. Piping plovers and least terns nest along the Missouri River from Fort Peck, Montana to just north of Sioux City, Iowa (Figure 1). Both species prefer to nest on sand and fine gravel substrates with no or sparse vegetation cover (Prindiville Gaines and Ryan, 1988; Sherfy et al., 2012), such as riverine sandbars (emergent sandbar habitat; ESH). Piping plovers also nest on reservoir shorelines that lack vegetation cover (Anteau et al., 2012). The amount of ESH available for nesting in a given year is strongly affected by the amount of water entering the Missouri River system through precipitation and the management of water flow from six reservoirs operated by the USACE on the mainstem Missouri River. Prior to the construction of dams, the Missouri River experienced bimodal peak flows in spring and early summer in concordance with the melting of plains and mountain snowpack (Galat and Lipkin, 2000). Flows decreased during summer months, with river stage then dependent upon rainfall. The combination of consistent high flows and occasional extreme high flows, together with the meandering characteristic of the river, regularly reshaped and scoured vegetation from ESH.
Global River Topology (GRIT): A Bifurcating River Hydrography
Existing global river networks underpin a wide range of hydrological applications but do not represent channels with divergent river flows (bifurcations, multi‐threaded channels, canals), as these features defy the convergent flow assumption that elevation‐derived networks (e.g., HydroSHEDS, MERIT Hydro) are based on. Yet, bifurcations are important features of the global river drainage system, especially on large floodplains and river deltas, and are also often found in densely populated regions. Here we developed the first raster and vector‐based Global RIver Topology that not only represents the tributaries of the global drainage network but also the distributaries, including multi‐threaded rivers, canals and deltas. We achieve this by merging a 30 m Landsat‐based river mask with elevation‐generated streams to ensure a homogeneous drainage density outside of the river mask for rivers narrower than approximately 30 m. Crucially, we employ the new 30 m digital terrain model, FABDEM, based on TanDEM‐X, which shows greater accuracy over the traditionally used SRTM derivatives. After vectorization and pruning, directionality is assigned by a series of elevation, flow angle and continuity approaches. The new global network and its attributes are validated using gauging stations, comparison with existing networks, and randomized manual checks. The new network represents 19.6 million km of streams and rivers with drainage areas greater than 50 km 2 and includes 67,495 bifurcations. With the advent of hyper‐resolution modeling and artificial intelligence, GRIT is expected to greatly improve the accuracy of many river‐based applications such as flood forecasting, water availability and quality simulations, or riverine habitat mapping.
Multi-tracer investigation of river and groundwater interactions: a case study in Nalenggele River basin, northwest China
Environmental tracers (such as major ions, stable and radiogenic isotopes, and heat) monitored in natural waters provide valuable information for understanding the processes of river–groundwater interactions in arid areas. An integrated framework is presented for interpreting multi-tracer data (major ions, stable isotopes ({sup 2}H, {sup 18}O), the radioactive isotope {sup 222}Rn, and heat) for delineating the river–groundwater interactions in Nalenggele River basin, northwest China. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were undertaken to estimate the bidirectional water exchange associated with small-scale interactions between groundwater and surface water. Along the river stretch, groundwater and river water exchange readily. From the high mountain zone to the alluvial fan, groundwater discharge to the river is detected by tracer methods and end-member mixing models, but the river has also been identified as a losing river using discharge measurements, i.e. discharge is bidirectional. On the delta-front of the alluvial fan and in the alluvial plain, in the downstream area, the characteristics of total dissolved solids values, {sup 222}Rn concentrations and δ{sup 18}O values in the surface water, and patterns derived from a heat-tracing method, indicate that groundwater discharges into the river. With the environmental tracers, the processes of river–groundwater interaction have been identified in detail for better understanding of overall hydrogeological processes and of the impacts on water allocation policies.
Coincidence Risk Analysis of Floods Using Multivariate Copulas: Case Study of Jinsha River and Min River, China
The coincidence of floods on the mainstream and its tributary may cause significant flood damages at downstream of the confluence. In this study, the coincidence risks of flood magnitudes and occurrence dates on Jinsha River and Min River, China were analyzed using multivariate copulas. The Pearson Type III (P-III) distribution and the Mixed von Mises distribution were selected to establish the marginal distributions of flood magnitude and occurrence date, respectively. The Clayton copula and Gumbel-Hougaard (GH) copula functions were then used to establish the joint probability distributions of flood magnitudes and occurrence dates of Jinsha River and Min River, respectively. The coincidence probabilities of flood magnitudes and occurrence dates on Jinsha River and Min River were investigated, and the interval of Annual Maximum (AM) flood occurrence dates of the two rivers was also analyzed. The results show that the higher coincidence probabilities of flood occurrence dates of the two rivers occur in the period from mid-June to early September, with three peaks of coincidence probability occurring on 28 th July, 14 th August, and 31 st August, respectively. The coincidence probability of flood magnitudes for 0.1%, 0.2%, 1%, 5%, and 10% design floods are 1.651×10-8, 6.601×10-8, 1.647×10-6, 4.071×10-5, and 1.606×10-4, respectively. The probability of AM flood occurrence date of Jinsha River and Min River with a time interval of ±3 days is 10.16%. These results can provide guidance for the reservoir operation of Xiluodu-Xiangjiaba cascade reservoirs and offer reference for flood control and disaster reduction at downstream of the confluence.
Four-dimensional electrical conductivity monitoring of stage-driven river water intrusion: Accounting for water table effects using a transient mesh boundary and conditional inversion constraints
Our paper describes and demonstrates two methods of providing a priori information to the surface-based time-lapse three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) problem for monitoring stage-driven or tide-driven surface water intrusion into aquifers. First, a mesh boundary is implemented that conforms to the known location of the water table through time, thereby enabling the inversion to place a sharp bulk conductivity contrast at that boundary without penalty. Moreover, a nonlinear inequality constraint is used to allow only positive or negative transient changes in EC to occur within the saturated zone, dependent on the relative contrast in fluid electrical conductivity between surface water and groundwater. A 3-D field experiment demonstrates that time-lapse imaging results using traditional smoothness constraints are unable to delineate river water intrusion. The water table and inequality constraints provide the inversion with the additional information necessary to resolve the spatial extent of river water intrusion through time.
Lifelong population connectivity between large rivers and their tributaries: A case study of shovelnose sturgeon from the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers
Fishes that depend on large–river habitats have declined in many regions due to human alteration of both mainstems and tributaries. Conserving these species is often complicated by their dependence on long–distance movements to complete their life cycle, but the location of key habitats is difficult to assess across multiple life history stages. Movement of large–river fishes between mainstems and major tributaries is commonly observed, but the role of these exchanges at the population level is uncertain. We used shovelnose sturgeon ( Scaphirhynchus platorynchus ) as a case study for assessing the lifelong spatial ecology of large–river fishes. Fin ray microchemistry data indicate that shovelnose sturgeon from the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers represent a unified population that relies on connections among multiple large–river habitats throughout life history. The tributary serves as an important spawning area, but fin ray chemistry data suggest larvae subsequently drift downstream to nursery habitats in the mainstem; an assertion that is supported by extensive field survey data. Our analyses underscore the lifelong importance of connections within river networks for maintaining viable populations of this, and likely other large–river species that have been documented to use tributary habitats. Furthermore, these findings support a metapopulation perspective on species that depend on large–river habitats, many of which are now highly altered and fragmented. For shovelnose sturgeon and species with similar life history, protecting or restoring linkages between mainstem rivers and their tributaries should be a conservation priority.
Riverbank temperatures on the Selawik River, Alaska 2010-2012, and Koyukuk River, Alaska June to July 2018.
The data package includes temperature measurements from riverbanks along the Selawik and Koyukuk Rivers in northwest Alaska. The Selawik River data also includes meteorological data collected locally and the Koyukuk River includes bulk density and ice content data from the riverbanks. The Selawik River data was collected between 2010 and 2013 with meteorological data collected for the entire time period and riverbank temperatures collected in shorter time intervals between 2010 to 2012. All of the Selawik River data were collected a single river bend. The Koyukuk River temperature data was collected from late June to early July 2018 at a total of five locations on three riverbanks. Ice content measurements on the Koyukuk were made at five riverbank locations. The data collection on both rivers was done in support of studies on the influence of permafrost on riverbank erosion. The temperature data was collected to monitor the thermal conditions of the river banks both seasonally and during periods of erosion. The ice content of the banks was measured to better understand how bank erosion rates are influenced by ice in the frozen riverbanks.
Turbine Control of a Tidal and River Power Generator
As renewable generation has become less expensive during recent decades, and it becomes more accepted by the global population, the focus on renewable generation has expanded to include new types with promising future applications, such as river and tidal generation. The input variations to these types of resources are slower but also steadier than wind or solar generation. The level of water turbulent flow may vary from one place to another, however, the control algorithm can be adjusted to local environment. This paper describes the hydrokinetic aspects of river and tidal generation based on a river and tidal generator. Although the information given in this paper is not that of an exact generator deployed on site, the data used is representative of a typical river or tidal generator. In this paper, the hydrokinetic and associated electrical controller of the system were not included; however, the focus of this paper is on the hydrodynamic control.
Coupled primary production and respiration in a large river contrasts with smaller rivers and streams
Abstract Although time series in ecosystem metabolism are well characterized in small and medium rivers, patterns in the world's largest rivers are almost unknown. Large rivers present technical difficulties, including depth measurements, gas exchange (, ) estimates, and the presence of large dams, which can supersaturate gases. We estimated reach‐scale metabolism for the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River (Washington state, USA), a free‐flowing stretch with an average discharge of 3173 . We calculated from semi‐empirical models and directly estimated it from tracer measurements. We fixed at the median value from these calculations (0.5 ), and used maximum likelihood to estimate reach‐scale, open‐channel metabolism. Both gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) were high (GPP range: 0.3–30.8 g , ER range: 0.8–30.6 g ), with peak GPP and ER occurring in the late summer or early fall. GPP increased exponentially with temperature, consistent with metabolic theory, while light was seasonally saturating. Annual average GPP, estimated at 1500 g carbon , was in the top 2% of estimates for other rivers. GPP and ER were tightly coupled and 90% of GPP was immediately respired, resulting in net ecosystem production near 0. Patterns in the Hanford Reach contrast with those in small‐medium rivers, suggesting that metabolism magnitudes and patterns in large rivers may not be simply scaled from knowledge of smaller rivers.