LINKING FLOODPLAIN GEOMORPHOLOGY, HYPORHEIC EXCHANGE, AND STREAM TEMPERATURE

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: REVISED
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0223805
• Project No.: MONB00375
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2013
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2018

Project Director
Poole, GE.

Recipient Organization
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
BOZEMAN,MT 59717

Performing Department
Land Resources & Environmental Sciences

Non Technical Summary
In gravel-bedded rivers of the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest, substantial amounts of river water may enter and flow through the sediments that underlie the river, returning to the river channel hours, days, or even months after entering the gravel. This exchange of water between the river channel and the underlying gravel allows heat to be stored in and released from the gravel, which can moderate water temperatures in the stream channel. As water temperatures in rivers warm up due to expected climate change, floodplain sections of river with sufficient sediment/channel water exchange may provide habitat for cold-water aquatic communities, including economically valuable species like salmon and trout. Thus, such floodplains are important conservation areas. However, there are no simple techniques to determine whether or not a given floodplain has high rates of sediment/channel water exchange. We will use a combination computer simulation modeling and field measurements of water temperature to identify daily and/or annual patterns of water temperature in streams that are diagnostic of floodplains with high rates of sediment/channel water exchange. These temperature patterns will provide a simple means of identifying river reaches with high conservation potential, using reliable, low cost, submersible water temperature data loggers.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
111	0210	2050	100%

Knowledge Area
111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources;

Field Of Science
2050 - Hydrology;

Keywords

water temperature

streams

rivers

hyporheic

groundwater

surface water

floodplain

Goals / Objectives
This proposed research has two broad goals, which will be met through collaborative work with colleagues at Montana State and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon. First, we will use sensitivity analysis of a simple stream temperature model to identify temperature patterns ("thermal signatures") in streams that are associated with hyporheic exchange, but insensitive to variation in other components of a river channel heat budget such as heat exchange with the atmosphere. Specifically, I believe that high rates of hyporheic exchange in streams with large alluvial aquifers will yield advection of large amounts of heat between the channel and alluvial aquifer. Thus, streams with high hyporheic exchange and large alluvial aquifers will have more heat capacitance in their hyporheic zones. Such hyporheic heat capacitance should affect diel and seasonal temperature cycles in streams in predictable ways. Thus, as water moves from the upstream end to the downstream end of a river reach, we expect that some characteristics of the stream's temperature cycle will change in predictable ways, proportional to the amount of gross hyporheic exchange in the stream reach. Second, we will establish temperature monitoring stations on an array of floodplains across the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest (IMW/PNW) regions of the USA, to verify that the model-derived thermal signatures are in fact associated with variation in hyporheic exchange. We will monitor the change in diel temperature cycles in bedrock-dominated river reaches (with low hyporheic exchange) and alluvial floodplain river reaches (with high hyporheic exchange). The model-derived temperature signatures will be verified if the temperature signatures are absent from bedrock dominated reaches, but present in alluvial floodplain reaches. Once verified, we expect these thermal signatures to provide an efficient means of assessing the magnitude of gross hyporheic exchange in river reaches, simply by deploying low-cost, submersible temperature data loggers over the course of a year at the upstream and downstream end a stream reach.

Project Methods
We will develop a simple simulation model of stream temperature dynamics that incorporates the two interfaces that control heat exchange and influence water temperature: the interface between the channel and the atmosphere, and the interface between the channel and the stream bed. The true mechanisms of heat exchange across these interfaces are numerous, including conduction, convection, advection, evaporation, condensation, and radiation. A detailed simulation of all these mechanisms typically requires a large number of parameters, many of which are difficult to determine. In the interest of a more parsimonious approach that requires few parameters, and in accordance with our heuristic (rather than predictive) model application, we will simulate the sum of these mechanisms according to an equation that represents the conduction of heat across an interface. To calculate heat exchange, this equation requires only: 1) the thermal gradient across the interface; 2) the surface area of the interface, and 3) the effective conductance of heat across the interface. This simple model of heat exchange will allow us to investigate expected changes in stream temperature as water moves through a stream reach. Specifically, we will perform sensitivity analysis on the model by simulating a standardized stream reach for all permutations for 5 different values for of atmospheric effective conductance, streambed effective conductance, and hyporheic zone volume (5 x 5 x 5 = 125 different model runs). We will determine the difference between diel and seasonal temperature signals at the upstream and downstream end of the simulated stream reach to determine the change in stream channel temperature regime as water flows through the stream reach. In doing so, we will look for predicted changes in temperature patterns that are insensitive to variation atmospheric effective conductance (e.g., not affected by variation in factors that affect the rate of heat exchange with the atmosphere like shading, width to depth ratio, wind speeds, etc.), but which are sensitive to variation in streambed effective conductance and hyporheic volume (e.g., influenced by variation in the rate of hyporheic exchange and the heat capacitance of the alluvial aquifer). Any such patterns represent a potential "temperature signature" for hyporheic flow. To verify our temperature signatures, we will identify 6 alluvial floodplains in the Intermountain West/Pacific Northwest region that: - are fed by a single, constrained, bedrock-dominated (canyon) stream reach upstream of the floodplain; - are bounded by a bedrock outcropping at the downstream end; - have a channel that can be waded during base flow. We will instrument the upstream and downstream ends of each reach (constrain and unconstrained reaches at each site), and use the field data to calculate the thermal signatures for each reach. If our model-derived thermal signatures are indeed indicative of hyporheic exchange, the thermal signatures will be present in the data from the floodplain reach and absent in the data from the canyon reach.

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience has been focused on other research scientists during this period, in the form of professional papers submitted at annual scientific meetings. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Graduate students Amerson and Fogg continue to make good progress on their graduate research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated our results via 5 presentations at local, state, and international conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to finalize and submit the manuscript that is being drafted. We expect Amerson and Fogg to finalize their degrees during 2017. Fogg plans to begin a Ph.D. after completing her M.S. and will challenge the modeling system with field data collected on a restoration project in Oregon where her work will help to quantify the influence of restoration actions on stream temperature.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The simulation model has been finalized and the sensitivity analysis is complete. Results suggest that shade and hyporheic exchange are two mechanisms that have similar influences on stream temperature, but operate differently. While shade reduces the rates of heat exchange with the atmosphere (and therefore acts to insulate the stream), hyporheic exchange removes heat from the stream with water temperatures are warm and releases that heat back to the stream when water temperatures are cool. Thus, the hyporheic zone acts as a thermal capacitor for the stream. We have begun the process of drafting a paper to describe the results. Data from the temperature monitoring stations has been collected and resulting data records are being compiled into a database to facilitate analysis.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fogg, S. K., Poole, G., O'Daniel, S. J., Payn, R., Carlson, S., Hyman, A., 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science, "When and how dyanamic hyporheic temperature mosaics influence channel temperature regimes," Sacramento, CA. (May 23, 2016).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fogg, S. K., Poole, G., O'Daniel, S. J., Payn, R., Carlson, S., Hyman, A. (Author), 2016 Meeting of the Montana Chapter of the American Water Resources Association, "When and how dyanamic hyporheic temperature mosaics influence channel temperature regimes," Fairmont, MT. (October 14, 2016).
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fogg, S. K., Poole, Geoffrey, O'Daniel, Scott J., Payn, Robert A., Reinhold, Ann Marie, 2016 Seminar Series, "A novel approach to simulating hyporheic influences on stream channel temperature", Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Bozeman, MT. (April 24, 2016).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Amerson, Byron, Poole, Geoffrey, O'Daniel, Scott J., Lambert, Michael, 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science, "Selecting annual temperature signals for inverse modeling of aquifer hydraulic properties", Sacramanto, CA. (May 22, 2016).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Amerson, Byron, Poole, Geoffrey, O'Daniel, Scott J., Lambert, Michael, Upper Columbia River Science Conference, "Meacham Creek Hyporheic Restoration and Monitoring", Wenatchee, WA. (January 27, 2016).

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has supported the thesis research of an M.S. Student in the department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have made two presentations of research results at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science. We have begun to draft a manuscript describing our model and the parameter estimation technique for submission to a peer reviewed journal. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next year, we will conduct a detailed sensitivity analysis using the model to identify thermal signatures of hyporhehic exchange and analyze the field data to assess model validity and verify the thermal signatures in the field.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This year, research was focused on developing the next version of our integrated model of stream and aquifer temperature dyanamics along with a new methodology to parameterize the model. The parameter estimation method allows us, for the first time, to estimate the fraction of an alluvial aquifer that is occupied by water of a specified range of residence times. We have also completed our field temperature data collection necessary to parameterized the model.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Fogg, K. (Author & Presenter), Poole, G., O'Daniel, S., Reinhold, A. M., Payn, R., Carlson, S., Hyman, A., Society for Freshwater Science Annual Meeting, "A Novel Approach to Simulating Hyporheic Influences on Stream Channel Temperature," Society for Freshwater Science, Milwaukee, WI. (May 20, 2015).
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Poole, G. (Author & Presenter), Byron, A., Katie, F., Scott, O., Payn, R., Reinhold, A. M., Izurieta, C., Society for Freshwater Science Annual Meeting, "Limits of Transient Storage Assumptions for Heat: Using Residence Time Distribution to Estimate Mean Temperature of Hyporheic Discharge Montane Alluvial Streams," Society for Freshwater Science, Milwaukee, WI. (May 21, 2015).

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project have employed a technician, Katie Fogg, for nearly a year. Ms. Fogg has decided to pursue a M.S. as part of her continuing involvement in the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? We have made a presentation at the Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Portland, Oregon, showing inital results from our work. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will continue to refine and apply the stream model to understand how multi-scale thermal regimes are influenced by hyporheic exchange. We will turn to analysis of our extensive and growing field data set and, by comparing the data set to model results, formuale a broad description of the role of hyporheic exchange on stream temperature over a range of stream types, with varying gross rates of hyporheic exchange and in hyporheic zones of varying sizes.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Temperature monitoring stations have been established in constrained and unconstrained channels. The stream temperature simulation model has been completed and the atmospheric heat exchange component of the model has been verified in artifical insulated ponds. We are working to begin the sensitivity analysis for understanding the role of hyporheic exchange in determining stream temperature regimes at the annual and diel temporal scales.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: O'Daniel, S. J., Poole, G. C., Fogg, S. K., Carlson, S. P., Hyman, A. 2014. Characterizing hyporheic effects on diel and annual stream temperature cycles across variable channel morphology and aquifer characteristics. Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Portland, OR.

Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The specific objectives of this MAES research conducted from 2009-2012, which had the following specific objectives: 1) Development of a field-based assessment of geomorphic controls on solute transport in streams. 2) Development of a general purpose modeling framework (Network Exchange Objects - NEO) for simulating the flux of multiple, interactive resources in networked systems, and subsequent re-implementation of the WRENhydro model based on the NEO framework. Our field based assessment was completed in 2011 and work in 2012 included the revision, and resubmission of a scientific journal paper describing the work. Development of the NEO modeling framework continued during 2012. We held weekly development meetings between the ecologists (software users) and computer scientists (software developers) to design and review code development. Two graduate students were added to the project to work on visualization of model results and development of an inverse modeling (parameter estimation) extension for the model system. The software for visualization of model output is being designed in conjunction with Evans and Sutherland -- a Utah-based business that manufactures and markets projection systems for planetaria. Thus, we will be able to use the local planetarium for display and visualization of model output. We have developed example models and documentation for the modeling framework in anticipation of releasing the software for public use. PARTICIPANTS: Geoff Poole, Brian McGlynn, and Clem Izurieta were principle investigators on this research. Seth Kurt-Mason received his M.S. degree as a result of this project. Isaac Griffith received his M.S. degree working on the NEO modeling system Renee Cross, Rachael Luhr, Derek Reimanis, and Ryan Nix worked on the NEO modeling system as the basis for graduate research projects. We partnered with Evans and Sutherland, a Utah-based manufacturer of project systems for planetaria. E&S provided us with a license for the visualization software used to display data in three dimensions in planetaria, and we used this platform to develop visualization methods for model output. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Prior years' work yielded primarily changes in knowledge, which were summarized the 2012 publications listed below. Work during 2012 was primarily in the form of change in actions. Maturation of the NEO modeling framework allowed us to begin to use the framework extensively for new model development. Adoption of the framework has increased research productivity and the NEO framework is starting to be used in other research labs.

Publications

• Mason, S. J. K., B. L. McGlynn, and G. C. Poole. 2012. Hydrologic response to channel reconfiguration on Silver Bow Creek, Montana. Journal of Hydrology 438-439:125-136.
• Izurieta, C., G. C. Poole, R. A. Payn, I. Griffith, R. Nix, A. Helton, E. Bernhardt, and A. J. Burgin. 2012. Development and Application of a Simulation Environment (NEO) for Integrating Computational Investigations of System-Level Complexity. International Conference on Information Science and Applications, Suwon, South Korea.

Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The goal of this project is to investigate how river geomorphology and hydrology interact to influence physical fluxes (e.g., water, heat, and solutes) in both the channel and hyporheic portions of river ecosystems. The specific outputs are: 1) A field-based assessment of geomorphic controls on solute transport in streams. 2) Development of a general purpose modeling framework (Network Exchange Objects - NEO) for simulating the flux of multiple, interactive resources in networked systems, and subsequent re-implementation of the WRENhydro model based on the NEO framework. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
First, my empirical research will use conservative tracer experiments in the field to investigate how changes in channel morphology (specifically, channel "realignment" in conjunction with stream restoration) alters the retention and downstream movement of solutes in rivers. Second, I will continue development of a novel hydrologic modeling system to represent channel and hyporheic flow networks as a single, integrated hydrosystem. The resulting model will simulate: 1) patterns of surface water flow across complex floodplain surfaces under variable river discharge simulation water; 2) subsequent spatiotemporal pattern of water exchange between the floodplain surface and hyporheic zone; 3) resulting flow of subsurface water within the hyporheic zone; and 4) associated heat and solute transport within the integrated channel/hyporheic hydrosystem. Such a two-pronged approach lays the groundwork for novel integration of empirical and simulation modeling experiments to investigate geomorphic controls on river hydrology, solute transport, and ecosystem dynamics. Using this approach, basic field data serves inform model development, which, in turn, helps guide interpretation of field observations of emergent system properties.

Publications

• No publications reported this period