HR: 1400h
AN: H33C-05    [Abstracts]
TI: How frequently do rivers have to be sampled to accurately estimate carbon fluxes?: LOADEST (Load Estimator) estimates on the Mississippi River alkalinity flux for 1990- 1998.
AU: * Oh, N
EM: neung-hwan.oh@yale.edu
AF: Yale University, 205 Prospect St. School of the Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT 06511, United States
AU: Raymond, P A
EM: peter.raymond@yale.edu
AF: Yale University, 205 Prospect St. School of the Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT 06511, United States
AB: Riverine flux is one of the most important terms balancing many global elemental cycles. Since flux is estimated by multiplying concentrations and discharge, it would be ideal to collect the both data frequently. However, compared to estimating daily discharge, analyzing concentrations of riverine constituents on daily basis is expensive. Using a new data base from near the mouth of the Mississippi River, where alkalinity has been monitored on daily basis, we explored the importance of sample size to accurate flux estimates. Combining daily discharge values from the nearby USGS gauging stations at Vicksburg (station id: 07289000), daily alkalinity flux was calculated for the Mississippi over 1990 - 1998. The daily alkalinity fluxes were also estimated using USGS Loadest software with a variety number of observations from 2 to 52 observations per year, which corresponds to bi-seasonal and weekly observations, respectively. Results demonstrate that even with a small number of observations, the Loadest software successfully estimates yearly fluxes.
DE: 1860 Streamflow
DE: 1876 Water budgets
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly