scholarly journals Inferring Subsurface Preferential Flow Features From a Wavelet Analysis of Hydrological Signals in the Shale Hills Catchment

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hu Liu ◽  
Yang Yu ◽  
Wenzhi Zhao ◽  
Li Guo ◽  
Jintao Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wavelet Analysis ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Shale Hills

Subsurface Preferential Flow Enhances Hydrological Connectivity in the Shale Hills Catchment: Perspective from Wavelet-based Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hu Liu ◽  
Wenzhi Zhao ◽  
Yang Yu ◽  
Li Guo ◽  
Jintao Liu
Keyword(s):  
Wavelet Analysis ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Subsurface Flow ◽  
Canopy Interception ◽  
Soil System ◽  
Unique System ◽  
Smoothing Effects ◽  
Subsurface Lateral Flow ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Shale Hills

<p>Preferential flow (PF)-dominated soil structure is often considered a unique system consisting of micropores and macropores and thus supposed to provide dual-pore filtering effects on hydrological signals, through which smoothing effects are likely to be stronger for matrix flow and weaker for PF via macropores. By using time series of hydrological signals (precipitation, canopy interception, throughfall, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, water storage in soil and groundwater, and catchment discharge) propagating through the Shale Hills Catchments and representative soil series, the filtering effects of the catchment and soil profiles were tested through the wavelet analysis. The hypothesized dual-pore-style filtering effects of the soil profile were also confirmed through the coherence spectra and phase differences, rendering them applicable for possible use as “fingerprints” of PF to infer subsurface flow features. We found that PF dominates the catchment’s discharge response at the scales from three to twelve days, which contributes to the catchment discharge mainly as subsurface lateral flow at upper or middle soil horizons. Through subsurface PF pathways, even the hilltop is likely hydrologically connected to the valley floor, building connections with or making contributions to the catchment discharge. This work highlights the potential of wavelet analysis for retrieving and characterizing subsurface flow processes based on the revealed dual-pore filtering effects of the soil system.</p>

scholarly journals The Hydropedograph Toolbox and its application

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 14231-14271
Author(s):  
C. B. Graham ◽  
H. S. Lin
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Hydraulic Redistribution ◽  
Water Release ◽  
Consistent Manner ◽  
Comparative Hydrology ◽  
Release Curve ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shale Hills

Abstract. The Hydropedograph Toolbox has been developed to provide a set of standardized tools for analyzing soil moisture time series in an efficient and consistent manner. This toolbox contains various modules that permit the exploration and visualization of key soil hydrological parameters and processes using multi-depth real-time soil moisture monitoring datasets. This includes statistical summary, soil water release curve, preferential flow occurrence, hydraulic redistribution, and the relationship between soil moisture and soil temperature. After describing this toolbox, this paper demonstrates the utility of this toolbox in a case study from the Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory in USA. The case study illustrates the topographic impacts on soil moisture dynamics along a hillslope transect, and quantifies the frequency of the occurrence of preferential flow, diel fluxes of water, and seasonal storage dynamics. It is expected that such a toolbox, with continued enhancements in the future and wide applications across diverse landscapes, can facilitate the advancement of comparative hydrology and hydropedology.

scholarly journals Applied tracers for the observation of subsurface stormflow at the hillslope scale

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 2961-3006 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wienhöfer ◽  
K. Germer ◽  
F. Lindenmaier ◽  
A. Färber ◽  
E. Zehe
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Unsaturated Flow ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Breakthrough Curves ◽  
Flow Paths ◽  
Transient Flows ◽  
Natural Rainfall ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Hillslope Scale

Abstract. Rainfall-runoff response in temperate humid headwater catchments is mainly controlled by hydrological processes at the hillslope scale. Applied tracer experiments with fluorescent dye and salt tracers are well known tools in groundwater studies at the large scale and vadose zone studies at the plot scale, where they provide a means to characterise subsurface flow. We extend this approach to the hillslope scale to investigate saturated and unsaturated flow paths concertedly at a forested hillslope in the Austrian Alps. Dye staining experiments at the plot scale revealed that cracks and soil pipes function as preferential flow paths in the fine-textured soils of the study area, and these preferential flow structures were active in fast subsurface transport of tracers at the hillslope scale. Breakthrough curves obtained under steady flow conditions could be fitted well to a one-dimensional convection-dispersion model. Under natural rainfall a positive correlation of tracer concentrations to the transient flows was observed. The results of this study demonstrate qualitative and quantitative effects of preferential flow features on subsurface stormflow in a temperate humid headwater catchment. It turns out that, at the hillslope scale, the interactions of structures and processes are intrinsically complex, which implies that attempts to model such a hillslope satisfactorily require detailed investigations of effective structures and parameters at the scale of interest.

scholarly journals Applied tracers for the observation of subsurface stormflow at the hillslope scale

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1145-1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Wienhöfer ◽  
K. Germer ◽  
F. Lindenmaier ◽  
A. Färber ◽  
E. Zehe
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Unsaturated Flow ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Breakthrough Curves ◽  
Flow Paths ◽  
Transient Flows ◽  
Natural Rainfall ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Hillslope Scale

Abstract. Rainfall-runoff response in temperate humid headwater catchments is mainly controlled by hydrological processes at the hillslope scale. Applied tracer experiments with fluorescent dye and salt tracers are well known tools in groundwater studies at the large scale and vadose zone studies at the plot scale, where they provide a means to characterise subsurface flow. We extend this approach to the hillslope scale to investigate saturated and unsaturated flow paths concertedly at a forested hillslope in the Austrian Alps. Dye staining experiments at the plot scale revealed that cracks and soil pipes function as preferential flow paths in the fine-textured soils of the study area, and these preferential flow structures were active in fast subsurface transport of tracers at the hillslope scale. Breakthrough curves obtained under steady flow conditions could be fitted well to a one-dimensional convection-dispersion model. Under natural rainfall a positive correlation of tracer concentrations to the transient flows was observed. The results of this study demonstrate qualitative and quantitative effects of preferential flow features on subsurface stormflow in a temperate humid headwater catchment. It turns out that, at the hillslope scale, the interactions of structures and processes are intrinsically complex, which implies that attempts to model such a hillslope satisfactorily require detailed investigations of effective structures and parameters at the scale of interest.

scholarly journals Dye staining and excavation of a lateral preferential flow network

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1043-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Anderson ◽  
M. Weiler ◽  
Y. Alila ◽  
R. O. Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Slope Stability ◽  
Solute Transport ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Runoff Generation ◽  
Soil Matrix ◽  
Flow Network ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Dye Staining ◽  
Hillslope Scale ◽  
Surrounding Soil

Abstract. Preferential flow features have been found to be important for runoff generation, solute transport, and slope stability in many areas around the world. Although many studies have identified the particular characteristics of individual features and measured the runoff generation and solute transport within hillslopes, no studies have determined how individual features are hydraulically connected at a hillslope scale. In this study, we used dye staining and excavation to determine the morphology and spatial pattern of a preferential flow network over a large scale (30 m). We explore the feasibility of extending small-scale dye staining techniques to the hillslope scale. We determine the lateral preferential flow features that are active during the steady state flow conditions and their interaction with the surrounding soil matrix. We also calculate the velocities of the flow through each cross-section of the hillslope and compare them to hillslope scale applied tracer measurements. Finally, we investigate the relationship between the contributing area and the characteristics of the preferential features. The experiment revealed that larger contributing areas coincided with highly developed and hydraulically connected preferential features that had flow with little interaction with the surrounding soil matrix. We found evidence of subsurface erosion and deposition of soil and organic material laterally and vertically within the soil. These results are important because they add to the understanding of the runoff generation, solute transport, and slope stability of these types of hillslopes.

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