HR: 08:30h
AN: H51K-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Using Integrated Hydrologic Models to Trace the Source and Dynamics of Fresh Water Discharge in a Coastal Watershed
AU: * Duffy, C
EM: cxd11@psu.edu
AF: Penn State University, 212 Sackett Bldg, University Park, PA 16802,
AU: Bhatt, G
EM: gxb913@psu.edu
AB: Quantification of freshwater discharge to streams and estuaries is vital to coastal aquatic life, and is closely related to the salinity and chemical characteristic of the estuary. In this research, the Penn State Integrated Hydrologic Model (PIHM) is used to investigate the spatial and temporal behavior of freshwater discharge in Rhode River Basin, an experiment watershed operated by Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). PIHM is a multi-process, multi-scale hydrologic model where the major hydrological processes are fully coupled using the semi-discrete finite volume method. The model is used to partition surface and groundwater discharges to the estuary and streams. It is shown that the direct groundwater discharge is substantial (overall approximately 25% of total discharge) as compared to baseflow to streams. Noticeably, during dry periods baseflow to streams and coastline discharge are similar (direct discharge to the estuary is approximately 43% of the total discharge). It is also demonstrated that, forcing by precipitation and topography is largely controlled by tide stage. Ongoing research is developing a new tool for modeling the "age" of water through seasonal and longer term climate cycles.
DE: 1805 Computational hydrology
DE: 1806 Chemistry of fresh water
DE: 1807 Climate impacts
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting