Author(s): Jaime Gaona; Jorg Lewandowski; Alberto Bellin

Linked Author(s):

Keywords: Fiber optics distributed temperature sensing; Hyporheic exchange flow; Groundwater-surface water interactions; Thermal tracer; Sediment-water interface

Abstract: Temperature has potential for continuous monitoring of hyporheic exchange flow (HEF) under changing environmental conditions. Fiber optics distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) can identify spatio-temporal patterns at the sediment-water interface. In a world increasingly human-impacted where natural conditions become scarce, the multiple eco-hydrologic processes that take place at the SWI are especially vulnerable. Commonly, the study of physical, chemical and biological processes alteration in the surface water interface (SWI) requires the assessment of the changes on groundwater-surface water interactions. The challenging task of identifying and quantifying these processes is mainly caused by the difficulties of direct measuring of fluxes. Traditional tracers do not allow long term monitoring of hyporheic processes. Temperature as a natural tracer makes possible long term measurements of HEFs. Thus, temperature differences between groundwater and surface water enable not only the identification of the spatial and temporal variability of the streambed’s gaining and losing conditions, but supports also the analysis of the associated chemical and biological processes. Among the available thermal techniques, fiber optics distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) enables across-scale spatial and temporal recognition of the thermal footprints at the SWI. The present study aims to assess these cross-scale capabilities of FO-DTS by applying it to a 50 m long reach of River Schlaube, East Brandenburg, Germany.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/978-981-11-2731-1_129-cd

Year: 2018