HR: 16:35h
AN: H12I-03 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Surface water, groundwater, and social science measurements in a prototype hydrologic observatory
AU: * Genereux, D
EM: genereux@ncsu.edu
AF: North Carolina State University, MEAS, Raleigh, NC 27695 United States
AU: Duffy, C
EM: cxd11@psu.edu
AF: Penn State University, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: Famiglietti, J
EM: jfamigli@uci.edu
AF: University of California, Earth System Science, Irvine, CA 92697 United States
AU: Helly, J
EM: hellyj@ucsd.edu
AF: University of California, San Diego Supercomputer Center, La Jolla, CA 92093 United States
AU: Hooper, R
EM: rhooper@cuahsi.org
AF: CUAHSI, 2000 Florida Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009 United States
AU: Krajewski, W
EM: vitold-krajewski@uiowa.edu
AF: University of Iowa, Civil and Environ. Eng., Iowa City, IA 52242 United States
AU: McKnight, D
EM: diane.mcknight@colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, INSTAAR, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Ogden, F
EM: ogden@engr.uconn.edu
AF: University of Connecticut, Civil and Environ. Eng., Storrs, CT 06269 United States
AU: Reckhow, K
EM: reckhow@duke.edu
AF: Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Durham, NC 27708 United States
AU: Scanlon, B
EM: bridget.scanlon@beg.utexas.edu
AF: University of Texas, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, TX 78713 United States
AU: Shabmasn, L
EM: shabman@rff.org
AF: Resources for the Future, 1616 P Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036 United States
AB: We convened in late April 2003 to begin work on the design for a "paper" prototype hydrologic observatory (HO) in the watershed of the Neuse estuary in North Carolina. This design example was to specify what would be measured in the HO, why, where, how, how often, and how much it would cost. This presentation focuses on aspects of the design related to stream and river measurements (discharge, water quality, fluvial geomorphology and sediment), groundwater measurements, and groundwater interaction with streams, rivers, and the estuary. Also considered is the collection of social sciences data to support multidisciplinary studies of land and water use and the consequences for flooding, water supply, and water quality. A second presentation in this session (Scanlon et al.) covers atmospheric and land surface aspects of the HO design, including recharge and ET. The design calls for measurements to quantify surface and subsurface hydrologic fluxes (water, solutes, sediment) into the Neuse estuary, and internally within the watershed at a wide range of spatial scales (about 5 orders of magnitude, roughly 0.1-10,000 square km). One hydrologic goal is to construct reliable water budgets for watersheds spanning this full range of scales, from the smallest to the full Neuse estuary watershed. A linked water quality goal is a strong quantitative characterization of the hydrologic storage and transport of nitrogen, a major water quality issue in this and many other large watersheds with major agricultural operations. Geomorphological observations will target the effects of physiographic and anthropogenic factors on rates of erosion, residence times of sediment in the fluvial system, and the role of wetlands and channel sources on the discharge of sediment and sorbed nutrients to the Neuse estuary during extreme events. Measurements will span the entire Neuse watershed but be more concentrated in a subset of 6 intermediate-size watersheds (averaging about 500 square km) that represent zones of different geology, land use, and topography within the larger watershed. We do not claim that the design is "optimal" in a rigorous statistical sense, but believe the reasoning used in the design is sound and applicable to other sites. The design and its staged implementation plan are flexible and allow the reasonably full coverage of the hydrologic cycle (and reasonable core) necessary to yield new insights and to make the HO an attractive site for individual studies.
DE: 1806 Chemistry of fresh water
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1836 Hydrologic budget (1655)
DE: 1848 Networks
DE: 1860 Runoff and streamflow
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting