Hydrologic Discovery - Posters
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The Symposium honoring Brutsaert and Parlange was organized by John Selker, Tammo Steenhuis,Todd Walter, Peggy R. Stevens, Andrew Barry and William Kustas, with special assistance from Marc Parlange.
Additional special assistance with the logistical support for the poster sessions was provided by Amy S. Collick. She also collected the PDFs for the poster presentations. Steve Pacenka and Dan Fuka also provided valuable logistical support.
Peggy Stevens created the Symposium website and prepared the booklets and handouts for the Symposium. She also assembled and produced the booklet of abstracts for the oral presentations and the poster sessions. These Contents listings are a reformatted version of that document.
The videographers for the symposium were Peter Carroll and J. Robert Cooke, who also served as producer and editor for this online material. Mira Basara of the Cornell University Library posted these materials in eCommons in the Collection of Symposia as Hydrologic Discovery Through Physical Analysis Honoring the Scientific Legacies of Wilfried H. Brutsaert and Jean-Yves Parlange at http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/29545
Produced by J. Robert Cooke, July 2012
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Recent Submissions
Item I1. Inferring Species-Richness and Species-turnover by Statistical Multiresolution Texture Analysis of Satellite ImageryConvertino, M.; Lowry, N.C.; Linkov, I.; Mangoubi, R.; Desai, M. (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)The quantification of species-richness and turnover is one of the most important tasks in monitoring ecosystems. This is both for guaranteeing ecosystem function, and to understand the linkages between natural and human stressors with species patterns. Wetland ecosystems, particularly water-controlled subtropical wetlands, are extremely sensitive to external changes, for example in rainfall and water management. The effect of these changes at the metacommunity level in space and time are still not well understood. We analyze interseasonal and interannual average species-richness and turnover of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (\Water Conservation Area 1» in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem) in South Florida as a case-study for the application of a novel multispectral image analysis technique. We use a texture augmented procedure to analyze high resolution satellite images (Landsat) in order to detect texture changes of vegetation, soil, and water components. α- and β-diversity, which are observed to be independent, are estimated for the green-band by the Shannon entropy and by the Kullback-Leibler divergence respectively. Validation with observations about the evolution of vegetation patterns shows that the analysis predicts 73 % and 100 % of species-richness and turnover within the study-area from 1984 to 2011. The KL divergence is a better metric than the difference of Shannon entropy which captures 85 % of the species-turnover. This is because the KL divergence takes in account the pairwise interactions between vegetation communities in time. α- and β-diversity are positively correlated, and diversity is strongly correlated to the average annual rainfall. We found that changes in vegetation, soil and water are positively correlated and that the fluctuations of the Shannon entropy for each component in the wet-season are smaller than in the dry-season. However, the KL divergence better predicts the species-turnover in the wet-season. The Gaussian density function in texture characterization and the use of the KL divergence constitute a promising technique for monitoring spatiotemporal ecohydrological patterns with particular focus on species-richness and turnover. We envision relevant applications of the KL divergence to infer species-dissimilarity, which is the diversity in space. This is particularly important when historical data or continuous monitoring data are not available in order to detect and potentially anticipate the effects of natural and anthropic changes on ecosystem structure.Item A1. Landslide Patterns as Fingerprints of Climate Change and Basin Scale Integrated RiskConvertino, M.; Morales, F.; Troccoli, A.; Linkov, I.; Catani, F. (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)Landslides are extremely important geomorphic events which sculpt river basin ecosystems by eroding hillslopes and providing sediments to coastal areas. However, at the same time landslides are hazardous events for socio-ecological systems causing enormous biodiversity, economic, and life losses in developed and in development countries. We propose a statistical spatially-explicit model based on a maximum entropy principle model (MaxEnt) for the prediction of precipitation-triggered landslides at the year-scale. The model is based on landslide occurrences, precipitation patterns, and environmental covariates at the basin-scale. The model predicts the size-distribution and location of over 27,500 historical landslides for the Arno basin in Italy which is considered as a case study of precipitation-controlled basins. Future landslide patterns are predicted for the A1B and A2 climate precipitation ensembles from 2010 to 2100. The spatial distribution of landslides, their size, and their potential hazard is calculated. The potential landslide-hazard is strongly correlated with the variation of the 12- and 48-hour precipitation with return time of 10 years. We assume a homogenous damage function in order to provide an average estimate of the potential hazard of landslides. The potential landslide-hazard is determined by 4-parameters of the double-Pareto landslide-size distribution: scaling exponents and truncation points of scaling regimes. Thus the landslide-size distribution is an indicator of the geomorphic effectiveness of precipitation. We observed an increase in potential landslide-hazard in the dry period 2040-2100 due to the activation of small landslides in remnant sites of past big landslides. On average, as the climate gets wetter the probability of large landslides gets higher. For a +20 and -15 mm variation of the 12-hour precipitation in 2020 and 2100 respectively the potential hazard of landslide is predicted 90 and 20 times higher than in 2011. For the Arno, the A1B and A2 emission scenarios do not produce relevant differences in the predicted landslide patterns, supposedly due to the small scale of the basin with respect to the scale of variability of precipitation. The model is proposed as a valuable risk-assessment tool under climate change scenarios. Further development is needed for calculating heterogeneous damage functions based on real exposure and vulnerability as a function of predictions of socio-ecological systems for the landscape analyzed. Our landslide modeling and assessment of landslide hazard is potentially applicable to any river basin worldwide in which precipitation plays a key role in landscape evolution.Item I4. Irrigation Area Suitability Mapping by Multi-criteria Evaluation Technique for the Case of Lake Tana Basin, Upper Blue Nile, EthiopiaWale, Abeyou; Collick, Amy S; Rossiter, David G; Steenhuis, Tammo S. (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)The study was carried out in the Lake Tana Basin, the upper portion of the Blue Nile Basin in Ethiopia. It has a total catchment area of around 15,000 km2, of which the lake covers approximately 3,060 km2 at an average altitude of 1786 m amsl. Although the lake has developmental potential, until recently, there has been only one water resource development situated at the mouth of the lake to control the outflow for harnessing hydroelectricity down stream on the Blue Nile River. Besides hydroelectric power, expansion of surface irrigation is of great interest to the basin farmers whose livelihoods are heavily dependent on cereal and other rainfed crop production. Therefore, in this study, the suitability of surface irrigation within the lake basin was evaluated by employing a GIS-based Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) analysis of available spatial data. The main objective was to identify suitable medium scale (between 200 and 3000ha) and large scale (greater than 3000ha) irrigation areas in the basin by considering factors, such as meteorological information (temperature, humidity, rainfall etc), river proximity, soil type, land cover, topography/slope and market outlets. Using the daily metrological data from 1992 to 2006, the long-term average rainfall and potential evapotranspiration raster map was computed through interpolation based on Thiessen polygons. The monthly rainfall deficit map (rainfall-evaporation) was aggregated to the annual rainfall deficit map. The major perennial river network segment map and slope raster map was derived from an SRTM DEM of the basin, and then the drainage network map was interpolated using the Euclidian distance tool in ArcGIS. Major potential marketing towns and the main paved road were digitized manually from Google Earth and interpolated. The interpolated maps were reclassified into four groups of suitability by an equal interval ranging technique. The soil and land use map collected from the Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Energy (EMWE) was reclassified to four major classes of FAO land suitability. Weighting of the decision factors was accomplished by comparing three approaches: ranking technique, pairwise comparison and equal weighting. Approximately 10%, 7% and 5% of the basin was suitable for surface irrigation according to the pairwise, equal weighting and ranking technique, respectively.Item I3. Hydrological Modeling Where No Meteorological Stations ExistFuka, Daniel R.; MacAlister, Charlotte; Easton, Zachary M.; Walter, M. Todd; Steenhuis, Tammo S. (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)An important characteristic of hydrological is the need for accurate forcing data, such as precipitation and temperature. Acquiring precipitation and temperature gauge data poses a variety of chal¬lenges, not least the fact that gauges are often located outside of target watersheds and may not accurately represent local conditions. Over the last decade, there has been a drive to archive global atmospheric data from which our daily and hourly weather forecasts originate, primarily for the purpose of weather forecast improvement. We are investigating ways to utilize these products for hydrological modeling purposes and to address some of the inherent problems associated with the use conventional gauge data. In this study, we compare calibrations of a watershed model using derived statistical representations of precipitation forecasts from a “poor-man’s” ensemble of raw gridded atmospheric models interpolated to the center of the model subbasin, versus, calibration to the closest precipitation gauge measurement. In addition, we investigate at what scale and radii the use of direct gridded model outputs may introduce less or equal error to watershed modeling projects using the closest gauge station.Item I2. Early Results of the Soil Moisture Active Passive Marena Oklahoma In Situ Sensor Testbed (SMAP-MOISST)Cosh, Michael H.; Ochsner, Tyson (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)The Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission (SMAP) is an upcoming NASA mission to monitor surface soil moisture. Key to the success of this mission is the calibration and validation of the resulting product. As part of the calibration and validation program for SMAP, an ambitious intercomparison study was initiated to determine how soil moisture sensors vary with respect to measuring a long term in situ time series. The Marena Oklahoma In Situ Sensor Testbed (MOISST) was installed in May of 2010, with other instrumentation added more recently. There are more than 200 sensors installed over an approximately 64 hectare pasture in Central Oklahoma. There are 4 main stations with multiple sensors installed in a profile. Sensors located at the site include a COSMOS system, GPS reflectometers, and a passive DTS system. Additional sensor systems are also installed which represent the Oklahoma Mesonet and the NOAA Climate Reference Network stations. This diverse set of sensors will provide guidance on the aggregation of soil moisture networks worldwide into a single soil moisture data record. In support of the time series, regular sampling of gravimetric soil moisture and vegetation water content were conducted to determine an absolute ground truth. A full year of data is available for study which has yielded several conclusions regarding how different sensors perform in space and time. Early conclusions will be presented, including accuracy, calibration, reliability, and scalability.Item H1. A Surface PIV Approach for the Remote Monitoring of Mean and Turbulent Flow: Properties in an Open ChannelJohnson, Erika D; Cowen, Edwin A. (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)In an effort to develop a reliable, continuous and efficient method of remotely monitoring mean velocities, water column turbulence levels and bathymetry, a surface PIV (particle image velocimetry) experiment is conducted in a wide open channel (B/h >12) for a range of flow conditions. Mean and turbulent velocities, longitudinal power spectra and the longitudinal integral length scale have been calculated at the free-surface from the PIV data. The results reveal the presence of secondary flow within the channel, which leads to heterogeneous turbulence metrics on the surface; for example, the streamwise turbulent velocities and the Reynolds stress vary strongly as a result of the secondary motion. The results also indicate two methods by which the flow depth can be determined: 1.) the longitudinal integral length scale which varies predictably with the flow depth (L22,1 ≈ 0.3h) and 2.) the normalized longitudinal spatial spectra which exhibit a slight bump at the wave number corresponding to the flow depth. These results suggest that it is possible to determine volumetric flow rate solely from measurements of the free- surface water flow. These findings have important implications for developing new technologies for stream gauging, near-shore and estuarine monitoring.Item G1. Can Stream Baseflow be Augmented Through Stormwater Infiltration? The Case of Minnehaha Creek WatershedMoore, Trisha L.; Nieber, John L.; Gulliver, John S. (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)Coursing nearly 21 miles from its origin at Lake Minnetonka to its confluence with the Mississippi River, Minnehaha Creek is among the most valued surface water features of the Twin Cities area and attracts roughly half a million visitors annually. Flow in Minnehaha Creek is heavily dependent on discharge from Lake Minnetonka, the outlet of which is controlled to manage water elevations in the lake. The recent streamflow record indicates that groundwater-fed baseflow is not consistently sufficient to sustain flow in Minnehaha Creek during periods when Lake Minnetonka’s outlet is closed, as the creek has experience dry periods in 8 of the last 12 years. Expedient stormwater drainage networks throughout the creek’s urbanized watershed exacerbate extremes in flow conditions and contribute to the creek’s impaired status for biotic integrity. Local interest in enhancing ecosystem service provision by Minnehaha Creek is driving stormwater management decisions in the watershed. We have posed the hypothesis that baseflow in Minnehaha Creek can be augmented through strategic infiltration and storage of stormwater runoff in the shallow aquifer system. As an initial step in understanding surface/ shallow groundwater interactions and current low-flow conditions in Minnehaha Creek, several methods have been investigated to estimate groundwater recharge within the watershed, water balance calculations have been conducted, and the method of Brutsaert and Nieber (1977) has been applied to streamflow data to infer physical characteristics of the shallow aquifer. Combined with surficial geologic datasets, initial results indicate that sustained baseflow during drought periods in Minnehaha Creek is likely limited by rapid vertical transit of groundwater through the shallow aquifer to underlying bedrock units, the median travel time of which is on the order of 0.5 years. As such, it is likely that only a small portion of the shallow aquifer (< 1%) contributes baseflow to the creek. Field measurements of stream and porewater temperatures, groundwater seepage, and O-18 and deuterium isotopes will be used to provide further insight to the Minnehaha Creek aquifer system and the potential to augment flow during drought periods through stormwater management.Item F4. Country-Wide Rainfall Maps from a Commercial Cellular Telephone NetworkOvereem, Aart; Leijnse, Hidde; Uijlenhoet, Remko (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)Accurate rainfall observations with high spatial and temporal resolutions are needed for many applications, for instance, as input for hydrological models. Weather radars often provide data with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution, but usually need adjustment. In general, only few rain gauge measurements are available to adjust the radar data in real-time, for example, each hour. Physically based methods, such as a Vertical Profile of Reflectivity (VPR) correction, can be valuable and hold a promise. However, they are not always performed in real-time yet and can be difficult to implement. The estimation of rainfall using microwave links from commercial cellular telephone networks is a new and potentially valuable source of information. Such networks cover large parts of the land surface of the earth and have a high density. The data produced by the microwave links in such networks is essentially a by-product of the communication between mobile telephones. Rainfall attenuates the electromagnetic signals transmitted from one telephone tower to another. By measuring the received power at one end of a microwave link as a function of time, the path-integrated attenuation due to rainfall can be calculated. Previous studies have shown that average rainfall intensities over the length of a link can be derived from the pathintegrated attenuation. A recent study of us shows that urban rainfall can be estimated from commercial microwave link data for the Rotterdam region, a densely-populated delta city in the Netherlands. A data set from a commercial microwave link network over the Netherlands is analyzed, containing approximately 1500 links covering the land surface of the Netherlands (35500 km2). This data set consists of several days with extreme rainfall in June, July and August 2011. A methodology is presented to derive rainfall intensities and daily rainfall depths from the microwave link data, which have a temporal resolution of 15 min. The magnitude and dynamics of these rainfall intensities is compared with those obtained from weather radar. Rainfall maps are derived from the microwave link data and are verified against rainfall maps based on gaugeadjusted weather radar data. Although much more work needs to be done, the first results look promising. Since cellular telephone networks are used worldwide, data from such networks could also become a valuable source of rainfall information in countries which do not have continuously operating weather radars, and no or few rain gauges. Apart from rainfall maps which are solely based on microwave link data, a preliminary analysis will be presented to assess whether commercial microwave link data can be used to adjust radar rainfall accumulations.Item F3. Hydrology in a Dutch Polder Catchment: Natural Processes in a Man-Made LandscapeBrauer, Claudia; Stricker, Han; Uijlenhoet, Remko (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)Experimental catchments are traditionally located in areas with limited human influence, but the societal and financial losses due to hydrological extremes are often larger in more densely populated areas. In The Netherlands and other delta areas around the world, intensive drainage and water level regulation have made patches of originally swampy land between cities suitable for agriculture. The question is how the rainfall-runoff processes in these artificial catchments compare to those occurring in more natural catchments and whether conceptual hydrological models, which have been developed for natural landscapes, contain the appropriate hydrological processes for application to artificial catchments. Our experimental “catchment” of 0.5 km2 is part of a polder area located near the town of Cabauw in The Netherlands. This polder is completely flat and at an “elevation” of one meter below mean sea level. The catchment is drained by many small, man-made channels of which the water levels are regulated. Water is supplied upstream into the catchment by the local water authority. The catchment is part of the Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR), which is well-known in the international meteorological community. In addition to the large amount of meteorlogical measurements, including precipitation and actual evapotranspiration, we measure discharge (both into and out of the catchment), ground water levels and soil moisture contents. We will present a detailed development of the water balance terms over several years, an overview of the main hydrological processes during wet and dry conditions and differences between natural and polder catchments.Item F1. Using Temperature-Based Estimations of Radiation to approximate Potential EvapotranspirationArchibald, Josephine A; Walter, M. Todd (Internet-First University Press, 2012-05)It is well established that potential evapotranspiration (PET) can be reliably estimated using the energy budget at the canopy or land surface. However, in most cases the necessary measurements are not available. Because of this, many mostly-empirical temperature-based models have been developed and are widely used. Here we test whether a radiation based model (Priestley-Taylor) can reliably predict PET using air temperature to estimate the radiation fluxes. We used data from the AmeriFlux network to approximate net radiation from daily minimum and maximum temperature measurements, day of the year, and geographic location of the sites; i.e., readily available data in most places. We found good agreement between Priestley-Taylor PET calculated from measured radiation fluxes and Priestley-Taylor PET determined primarily via air temperature. The most difficult parameter to estimate was the atmospheric transmissivity to in-coming solar radiation. Overall the results suggest that radiation-based PET esti-mates can be made even when direct measurements of the radiation fluxes are unavailable.