Extending the vadose zone: characterizing the role of snow for liquid water storage and transmission in streamflow generation

扩展渗流区：表征雪在水流生成中储存和传输液态水的作用

• 批准号: 1824152
• 负责人: Ryan Webb
• 金额: $ 28.92万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-06-01 至 2019-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1824152&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Extending; vadose; zone; characterizing; role

For communities worldwide, valuable water resources originate from snow. Despite its importance, understanding of how meltwater moves and is stored within snow before it gets to streams and rivers is limited to knowledge gained from a few small-scale snow studies. There are pressing needs to better understand how these dynamics affect streamflow. Seasonal snow-cover is one of the fastest changing water resources under current climate trends with important yet uncertain implications on runoff production. While the concept of hydrologic connection between soils and streams has received attention, the liquid water storage and connectivity of flowpaths within a mountain snowpack at slope scales relevant to runoff generation are less understood. This is a major gap in knowledge of mountain streamflow production. Emerging capabilities in remote sensing technology, ground-based observations, and physically-based hydrologic modeling provide new opportunity to better understand snow water resources in headwater catchments. Specifically, improved understanding of the distribution of liquid water in a snowpack will transform the scientific community?s ability to monitor and predict the physical hydrological processes that occur during snowmelt. This project leverages state-of-the-science observation and numerical modeling techniques to understand the storage and transport of liquid water within a seasonal snowpack. Using newly developed in-snow liquid water mapping techniques, together with airborne-based snow depth mapping, we will track the storage and movement of meltwater across sloping terrain of a heavily monitored alpine watershed. A flexible hydrologic model will be used to assess our ability to simulate the observed processes. Results will improve scientific capabilities to: a) conceptualize and model snowmelt processes, b) understand the importance of the hydraulic properties of snow at the catchment scale, and c) constrain the potential hydrologic impacts of climate and land-cover change. In broader impacts, thos project will help students to understand fundamental concepts of hydrology and understand the various methods of study of hydrology such as modeling, field observations and remote sensing. The project will support one graduate and two undergraduate students who will be involved in numerical modeling and field work. The project will be carried out at the University of Colorado and Mountain research Stations. The project will in many diverse group of students who are first generation college students, students of color, veterans and rural students. The goal of this project is to characterize and constrain the physical mechanisms that control snowmelt delivery to streams in headwater basins. This project leverages new observation and modeling techniques to quantify and simulate the snow distribution, snowpack water holding capacity, snowmelt production, and dynamic in-snow flowpaths. This is achieved through state-of-the-science techniques including ground penetrating radar (GPR), instrumented unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), global positioning system (GPS) instrumentation, and a network of automated sensor nodes to intensively monitor soil moisture and snow depth, and a weir to monitor streamflow. Finally, hydrologic modeling will be conducted with the Structure for Unified Multiple Modeling Alternatives (SUMMA) model to assess the impact of modeling decisions and the ability to simulate snowmelt dynamics. The overarching research question of this project is: How do snowpack liquid water storage and through-snow hydrologic flowpaths affect hillslope-stream connectivity, and how do these processes evolve through the snowmelt season? This work will observe and simulate the spatially and temporally variable snowmelt season to complete the following project objectives: 1) Map the seasonal dynamics of catchment snow water equivalent (SWE) using UAV flights, GPR surveys, a network of sensor nodes, and manual observations. 2) Monitor the spatial and temporal progression of snowpack liquid water content and transport using combined UAV and GPR surveys, automated GPS signal attenuation, soil moisture sensors, and catchment streamflow response. 3) Evaluate the skill of hydrologic models to simulate the observed dynamics of the snowpack, soil, and streamflow response by systematically analyzing multiple model representations of hydrologic processes and scaling behavior. This research question will be investigated in a snow-dominated headwater catchment in the Rocky Mountains near Boulder, Colorado. Our work builds upon decades of local research in hydrology, biogeochemistry, and ecological processes. The Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado Boulder benefits from partnerships with the strong local scientific communities including LTER and CZO research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

对于世界各地的社区来说，宝贵的水资源来自雪。尽管它的重要性，了解如何融化的水移动，并在雪中存储之前，它到达溪流和河流是有限的知识，从一些小规模的雪研究。迫切需要更好地了解这些动态如何影响径流。季节性积雪是当前气候趋势下变化最快的水资源之一，对径流产生具有重要但不确定的影响。虽然土壤和溪流之间的水文连接的概念已受到关注，液态水储存和连接的流径在一个山区积雪在坡度尺度相关的径流产生的了解较少。这是一个重大的差距，在认识山区径流生产。遥感技术、地面观测和基于物理的水文建模方面的新兴能力为更好地了解河源集水区的雪水资源提供了新的机会。具体来说，对液态水在积雪中分布的更好理解将改变科学界？监测和预测融雪过程中发生的物理水文过程。该项目利用科学观测和数值模拟技术来了解季节性积雪中液态水的储存和运输。使用新开发的雪中液态水测绘技术，再加上基于航空航天的雪深测绘，我们将跟踪积雪融水的存储和移动在一个高度监控的高山流域的斜坡地形。一个灵活的水文模型将被用来评估我们模拟观测过程的能力。研究结果将提高科学能力，以：a）概念化和模型化融雪过程，B）理解在集水区尺度上雪的水力特性的重要性，以及c）限制气候和土地覆盖变化的潜在水文影响。在更广泛的影响，该项目将帮助学生了解水文学的基本概念，并了解水文学的各种研究方法，如建模，实地观察和遥感。该项目将支持一名研究生和两名本科生，他们将参与数值建模和实地工作。该项目将在科罗拉多大学和山区研究站进行。该项目将在许多不同的学生群体谁是第一代大学生，学生的颜色，退伍军人和农村学生。该项目的目标是表征和限制的物理机制，控制融雪输送到河流的源头流域。该项目利用新的观测和建模技术来量化和模拟积雪分布、积雪持水量、融雪生产和动态雪中流动路径。这是通过最先进的科学技术实现的，包括探地雷达（GPR）、装有仪器的无人驾驶飞行器（UAV）、全球定位系统（GPS）仪器和自动传感器节点网络，以集中监测土壤湿度和积雪深度，以及监测流量的堰。最后，水文建模将进行统一的多模型替代（SUMMA）模型的结构，以评估建模决策的影响和模拟融雪动力学的能力。该项目的首要研究问题是：积雪液态水储存和穿雪水文流动路径如何影响山坡溪流连通性，以及这些过程在融雪季节如何演变？这项工作将观察和模拟空间和时间变化的融雪季节，以完成以下项目目标：1）使用无人机飞行，GPR调查，传感器节点网络和人工观测绘制流域雪水当量（SWE）的季节动态图。2)使用无人机和探地雷达相结合的调查，自动GPS信号衰减，土壤湿度传感器和集水区径流响应监测积雪液态水含量和运输的空间和时间进展。3)通过系统分析水文过程和缩放行为的多个模型表示，评估水文模型模拟积雪，土壤和径流响应的观测动态的技能。这个研究问题将在科罗拉多博尔德附近的落基山脉的一个以雪为主的水源集水区进行调查。我们的工作建立在当地数十年的水文学，地球化学和生态过程研究的基础上。科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的北极和高山研究所（INSTAAR）与当地强大的科学团体（包括LTER和CZO研究）建立了合作伙伴关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

In Situ Determination of Dry and Wet Snow Permittivity: Improving Equations for Low Frequency Radar Applications

干雪和湿雪介电常数的原位测定：改进低频雷达应用的方程

• DOI: 10.3390/rs13224617
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Remote Sensing
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Webb, Ryan W.;Marziliano, Adrian;McGrath, Daniel;Bonnell, Randall;Meehan, Tate G.;Vuyovich, Carrie;Marshall, Hans-Peter
• 通讯作者: Marshall, Hans-Peter

Characterizing the role of snow for liquid water storage and transmission - Niwot Ridge TLS U-072 PS01 SV02

表征雪在液态水储存和传输中的作用 - Niwot Ridge TLS U-072 PS01 SV02

• DOI: 10.7283/kg9m-fc59
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Inc.
• 作者: Webb, Ryan;Williams, Keith
• 通讯作者: Williams, Keith

Monitoring a snowpack’s ability to store liquid water at the small catchment scale

监测小流域范围内积雪储存液态水的能力

• DOI: 10.1190/gpr2020-027.1
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: 18th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar
• 作者: Webb, Ryan;Musselman, Keith;Hale, Katherine;Molotch, Noah
• 通讯作者: Molotch, Noah

Characterizing the role of snow for liquid water storage and transmission - Niwot Ridge TLS U-072 PS01 SV04

表征雪在液态水储存和传输中的作用 - Niwot Ridge TLS U-072 PS01 SV04

• DOI: 10.7283/g5qp-na04
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Inc.
• 作者: Webb, Ryan;Williams, Keith
• 通讯作者: Williams, Keith

Characterizing the role of snow for liquid water storage and transmission - Niwot Ridge TLS U-072 PS01 SV01

表征雪在液态水储存和传输中的作用 - Niwot Ridge TLS U-072 PS01 SV01

• DOI: 10.7283/cbjg-g696
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Inc.
• 作者: Webb, Ryan