CAREER: Integrating river hydrology across scales: advancing understanding of the global river-atmosphere interface

河流是温室气体排放的天然热点，并被纳入全球碳预算评估。然而，河流排放的温室气体数量非常不确定，这主要是因为目前对小溪和大河之间水力比例的理解存在根本差距。该项目将对地貌和水文过程如何结合起来在空间和时间尺度上驱动河流-大气界面动态产生预测性的理解。它将测试估计地球河流和溪流全球表面积所涉及的基本假设，并将用于更准确地估计全球内陆水域温室气体排放的速度。综合研究和教学计划将通过公共宣传和教育促进水文和环境素养和意识，并将帮助招收和留住代表不足的少数族裔学生，目标是增加STEM的参与度和多样性。这项研究将结合卫星、航空和野外观测，量化大陆尺度流域内河流表面积的全部大小分布。利用这些观测，这项工作将评估不同时间和空间尺度上河流表面和径流之间的相互作用，并开发一个基于水文驱动因素的用于预测河流-大气界面动力学的新的开源模型。该项目产生的知识将有助于填补我们在理解河流-大气界面方面的概念空白，并开发用于碳预算的下一代全球河流表面积产品。这项研究还将解开河流形态变化的水文和地貌驱动因素，促进我们对人类如何影响河流系统和水生生态系统的理解。该奖项由水文科学和地貌与土地利用动力学项目共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Rivers are natural hotspots for greenhouse gas emissions and are included in global carbon budget evaluations. However, the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by rivers is highly uncertain largely due to a fundamental gap in the current understanding of hydraulic scaling between small streams and large rivers. This project will develop a predictive understanding of how geomorphic and hydrologic processes combine to drive river-atmosphere interface dynamics across spatial and temporal scales. It will test underlying assumptions involved in estimating the global surface area of Earth’s rivers and streams and it will be used to more accurately estimate the global rates of greenhouse gas emissions from inland waters. The integrated research and teaching program will promote hydrologic and environmental literacy and awareness through public outreach and education, and it will help recruit and retain underrepresented minority students with the goal of increasing participation and diversity in STEM. This research will quantify the full size-distribution of river surface area within a continental-scale river basin by combining satellite, airborne, and fieldwork observations. Using these observations, this work will assess the interactions between river surfaces and streamflow at different time and spatial scales and develop a novel open-source model for predicting the river-atmosphere interface dynamics based on hydrologic drivers. The knowledge generated from this project will help fill in the conceptual gaps in our understanding of the river-atmosphere interface and develop the next generation of global river surface area products used in carbon budgets. This research will also untangle the hydrologic and geomorphic drivers of changing river morphology, advancing our understanding of how humans are impacting river systems and aquatic ecosystems. This award is co-funded by the Hydrologic Sciences and Geomorphology & Land-use Dynamics programs.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.