Rapid Response Monitoring of Wildfire Impact on Partitioning of Infiltration and Runoff: The 2003 Aspen Fire in Sabino Canyon, Arizona

Nijssen0342831在西南部，严重的火灾可以摧毁多达90%的植被和垃圾覆盖。裸露的、燃烧过的土壤极易受到强烈季风降雨的影响，导致地表径流、洪峰流量和侵蚀率增加。这些剧烈的物理和化学水文变化对水生生境产生不利影响，危及人类生命和财产。图森北部科罗纳多国家森林的白杨大火烧毁了4万多英亩土地，摧毁了300多座建筑。这场悲惨的火灾提供了一个独特的机会，监测火灾后的土壤和水的条件，在研究良好的萨比诺河流域。火在这一点规模的影响已被广泛研究，一般来说，当地规模的调查表明，火灾的水文影响的大小取决于植被，地形，温度和火灾强度。缺乏的是一个协调的研究，链接点规模一水文变化与流域综合径流和溪流流量的反应。结合联合收割机土壤物理测量的渗透能力与综合流域地球化学的独特机会，将提高我们的能力，解开径流和渗透之间的分区后，野生f1 re。根据这项SGER提案寻求的资金将用于烧伤后立即进行的密集数据收集，以及明年的持续监测。选择SGER作为资助工具，是因为在季风开始之前或尽可能接近季风开始时开始研究的紧迫性。激发科学的问题是：野火如何影响降水的渗透和地表径流？我们提出了一个密集的数据收集活动，以衡量流域响应季风和冬季风暴事件后的白杨火灾。将在今年剩余时间内继续进行监测，以衡量恢复情况。将使用改良的空气渗透率进行土壤物理测量，以确定火灾引起的土壤水力特性变化导致渗透和径流产生变化的程度。径流测量和土壤及水化学分析将用于调查集水区的响应。

Nijssen0342831In the Southwest, severe fires can destroy as much as 90% of the vegetation and litter cover. Exposed, burned soils are highly vulnerable to intense monsoon rains, leading to increases in surface runoff, peak flows, and erosion rate. These drastic physical and chemical hydrologic changes negatively impact aquatic habitats and endanger human lives and property. The Aspen Fire in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson has burned in excess of 40,000 acres and destroyed more than 300 structures. This tragic fire offers a unique opportunity to monitor post- fire soil and water conditions in the well-studied Sabino Creek basin. The effects of fire at this point scale have been studied extensively and generally, local scale investigations have shown that the magnitudes of the hydrologic impacts of fire depend on vegetation, topography, temperature, and fire-intensity. What is lacking is a coordinated study that links point scale I hydrologic changes with basin-integrated runoff and stream flow response. The unique opportunity to combine soil physical measurements of infiltration capacity with integrated watershed geochemistry will improve our ability to unravel the partitioning between runoff and infiltration after a wildf1re. Funding sought under this SGER proposal will be used for intensive Data collection in the period immediately following the burn and for continued monitoring over the next year. SGER is selected as the funding vehicle, because of the urgency to start the research before or as close as possible to the start of the monsoon. The motivating science question is: How is the partitioning of precipitation into infiltration and surface runoff affected by wildfire? We propose an intensive data collection campaign to measure the watershed response to monsoon and winter storm events in the wake of the Aspen Fire. Continued monitoring, to gauge recovery, will take place over the remainder of the year. Soil physical measurements, using a modified air permeameter will be made to determine the extent to which fire-induced changes in soil hydraulic properties lead to changes in infiltration and Runoff generation. Stream flow measurements and analysis of soil and water chemistry will b~ used to investigate the catchments response.