Lei Xu, Saiyu Yuan, Bart Vermeulen, Jiajian Qiu, Henk Jongbloed, Hongwu Tang, A. J. F. Hoitink
{"title":"Unsteady Secondary Flow Structure at a Large River Confluence","authors":"Lei Xu, Saiyu Yuan, Bart Vermeulen, Jiajian Qiu, Henk Jongbloed, Hongwu Tang, A. J. F. Hoitink","doi":"10.1029/2024wr037220","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2024wr037220","url":null,"abstract":"River confluences, which are characterized by complex hydrodynamics, are key nodes for flood control and environmental protection. Two field surveys were carried out at the confluence of the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake to investigate the transient character of flow structures, which are often assumed steady. Repeat-transect acoustic Doppler current profile measurements were processed and analyzed, adopting a new method to separate mean flow from turbulence and measurement error based on physics-informed generalized Tikhonov regularization. The two field surveys were characterized by two distinct mixing interface modes: A so-called Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) mode, and a wake mode. In KH mode, large-scale flow fluctuations were observed. These flow fluctuations exert a substantial influence on the alternation of secondary flows by changing the water surface pressure gradient, affecting the intensity of secondary flows rather than their spatial structure. We infer that temperature-induced stratification is the main cause of this. In the wake mode, multiple vortices in the wake region at the confluence apex also produced flow fluctuations, directly related to the primary velocity gradient. We argue that even for constant incoming flows, secondary flow at river confluences can exhibit channel-scale unsteadiness related to migration of the turbulent mixing interface. Our findings highlight the crucial role of density effects in regulating secondary flow unsteadiness, which is essential for understanding contaminant and sediment dispersal in river systems.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142601235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuqiao Feng, Youcun Qi, Zhanfeng Zhao, Donghuan Li
{"title":"Can Satellite or Reanalysis Precipitation Products Depict the Location and Intensity of Rainfall at Flash Flood Scale Over the Eastern Mountainous Area of the Tibetan Plateau?","authors":"Yuqiao Feng, Youcun Qi, Zhanfeng Zhao, Donghuan Li","doi":"10.1029/2024wr037381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2024wr037381","url":null,"abstract":"This study conducted evaluation and analysis on various precipitation products over the eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP), including four sets of satellite precipitation data (i.e., IMERG_Uncal, IMERG_Cal, GSMaP_MVK, GSMaP_Gauge) and one set of model reanalysis data (i.e., ERA5-land, hereafter ERA5-L). We evaluated the spatial-temporal distribution of their quality at an hourly temporal scale and 0.1° spatial scale, with a special focus on capturing different types of precipitation. The results show that: (a) GSMaP_Gauge exhibits the highest correlation with ground-based gauges, while IMERG_Uncal and IMERG_Cal perform best in the estimation of the amount of precipitation. Satellite products generally perform better during summer while ERA5-L sometimes outperforms satellite products in spring and autumn. (b) The evaluation results for different precipitation types reveal that all the QPE products face significant challenges in accurately describing convective precipitation. They tend to underestimate convective precipitation and fail to properly capture the intensity and location of heavy precipitation. (c) In heavy convective precipitation cases, the evaluated QPE products show various issues in accurately capturing the intensity and spatiotemporal variation of precipitation. Almost all QPE products underestimate maximum precipitation (both hourly precipitation and accumulated precipitation) and small-scale (about 50 km or less) spatial variability of precipitation. IMERG_Uncal, IMERG_Cal, and GSMaP_MVK perform better than other products in heavy convective precipitation cases. This study provides new insights into the quality of QPE products in different types of precipitation. The analysis of the quality of these QPE products serves as a valuable indicator of their potential applications, particularly in flash flood simulations, while also underscoring the critical need for improving precipitation product quality.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"216 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142601238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Efficient Model Calibration Using Submodels","authors":"P. T. M. Vermeulen, G. M. C. M. Janssen, T. Kroon","doi":"10.1029/2023wr036441","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023wr036441","url":null,"abstract":"Groundwater models tend to become increasingly detailed to accommodate increasing data availability and higher accuracy demands from stakeholders. As runtimes increase almost quadratically with the number of model cells, this makes the models ever more computationally demanding. This high computational demand introduces challenges for the history-matching (calibration) process as this is an algorithmic process that needs hundreds or thousands of model-runs to obtain the model sensitivities needed to estimate parameters. Model runs may take hours or days to complete which in fact, is often a reason to discard the history-matching all together. As a solution, we present a practical approach to use sub-modeling in combination with parallelization for automatic history-matching. Therefore a large model is subdivided into smaller models to carry out the sensitivity simulations. With a realistic case the method is elaborated, after which the method is demonstrated in the history-matching of the transient Dutch National Groundwater Flow model. In this manner the model, which consisted of over 12 million model cells, could be optimized using 416 sub-models and altogether 2,188 parameters in 1 week. This would take years to complete in a conventional way.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142599950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
H. Gao, D. Zhou, A. Tatomir, K. Li, L. Ganzer, P. Jaeger, G. Brenner, M. Sauter
{"title":"Estimation of Recovery Efficiency in High-Temperature Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage Considering Buoyancy Flow","authors":"H. Gao, D. Zhou, A. Tatomir, K. Li, L. Ganzer, P. Jaeger, G. Brenner, M. Sauter","doi":"10.1029/2024wr037491","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2024wr037491","url":null,"abstract":"With their high storage capacity and energy efficiency as well as the compatibilities with renewable energy sources, high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) systems are frequently the target today in the design of temporally and spatially balanced and continuous energy supply systems. The inherent density-driven buoyancy flow is of greater importance with HT-ATES, which may lead to a lower thermal recovery efficiency than conventional low-temperature ATES. In this study, the governing equations for HT-ATES considering buoyancy flow are nondimensionalized, and four key dimensionless parameters regarding thermal recovery efficiency are determined. Then, using numerical simulations, recovery efficiency for a sweep of the key dimensionless parameters for multiple cycles and storage volumes is examined. Ranges of the key dimensionless parameters for the three displacement regimes, that is, a buoyancy-dominated regime, a conduction-dominated regime, and a transition regime, are identified. In the buoyancy-dominated regime, recovery efficiency is mainly correlated to the ratio between the Rayleigh number and the Peclet number. In the conduction-dominated regime, recovery efficiency is mainly correlated to the product of a material-related parameter and the Peclet number. Multivariable regression functions are provided to estimate recovery efficiency using the dimensionless parameters. The recovery efficiency estimated by the regression function shows good agreement with the simulation results. Additionally, well screen designs for optimizing recovery efficiency at various degrees of intensity of buoyancy flow are investigated. The findings of this study can be used for a quick assessment and characterization of the potential HT-ATES systems based on the geological and operational parameters.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142599951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shalini Mahanthege, William Kleiber, Karl Rittger, Balaji Rajagopalan, Mary J. Brodzik, Edward Bair
{"title":"A Spatially-Distributed Machine Learning Approach for Fractional Snow Covered Area Estimation","authors":"Shalini Mahanthege, William Kleiber, Karl Rittger, Balaji Rajagopalan, Mary J. Brodzik, Edward Bair","doi":"10.1029/2023wr036162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023wr036162","url":null,"abstract":"Snowpack in mountainous areas often provides water storage for summer and fall, especially in the Western United States. In situ observations of snow properties in mountainous terrain are limited by cost and effort, impacting both temporal and spatial sampling, while remote sensing estimates provide more complete spacetime coverage. Spatial estimates of fractional snow covered area (fSCA) at 30m are available every 16 days from the series of multispectral scanning instruments on Landsat platforms. Daily estimates at 463m spatial resolution are also available from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on the Terra satellite. Fusing Landsat and MODIS fSCA images creates high resolution daily spatial estimates of fSCA that are needed for various uses: to support scientists and managers interested in energy and water budgets for water resources and to understand the movement of animals in a changing climate. Here, we propose a new machine learning approach conditioned on MODIS fSCA, as well as a set of physiographic features, and fit to Landsat fSCA over a portion of the Sierra Nevada USA. The predictions are daily 30m fSCA. The approach relies on two stages of spatially-varying models. The first classifies fSCA into three categories and the second yields estimates within (0, 100) percent fSCA. Separate models are applied and fitted within sub-regions of the study domain. Compared with a recently-published machine learning model (Rittger, Krock, et al., 2021), this approach uses spatially local (rather than global) random forests, and improves the classification error of fSCA by 16%, and fractionally-covered pixel estimates by 18%.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142597618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Erosion Pattern and Hidden Momentum in Debris-Flow Surges Revealed by Simple Hydraulic Jump Equations","authors":"Qian Chen, Dongri Song, Xiaoqing Chen, Lei Feng, Xiaoyu Li, Wei Zhao, Yaonan Zhang","doi":"10.1029/2023wr036090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023wr036090","url":null,"abstract":"The erosion-deposition propagation of granular avalanches is prevalent and may increase their destructiveness. However, this process has rarely been reported for debris flows on gentle slopes, and the contribution of momentum hidden under the surge front to debris-flow destructiveness is ambiguous. Therefore, the momentum carried by the apparent surge front is often used to indicate debris-flow destructiveness. In this study, the erosion-deposition propagation is confirmed by surge-depth hydrographs measured at the Jiangjia Ravine (Yunnan Province, China). Based on simple hydraulic jump equations, the eroded deposition depth of surge flow is quantified, and the erosion pattern can be divided into two patterns (shallow and deep erosion). For surge flows with erosion-deposition propagation, significant downward erosion potential is confirmed, and debris-flow surge erosion is considered the deep erosion. The total momentum carried by surge flow is further quantified by two Froude numbers (surge-front and rearward Froude numbers) and verified through the field observation of surge flows. The total momentum of surge flow not only originates from the apparent surge front, but also includes the momentum within the eroded deposition layer. This study provides a theoretical approach for quantifying the upper limit of erosion depth and revealing the destructiveness of debris-flow surges. A perspective on the importance of substrate deposition for debris-flow erosion on gentle slopes is emphasized, as this approach can improve the reliability of debris-flow risk assessment.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"95 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142597617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Separating Storm Intensity and Arrival Frequency in Nonstationary Rainfall Frequency Analysis","authors":"Declan O’Shea, Rory Nathan, Conrad Wasko, Ashish Sharma","doi":"10.1029/2023wr036165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023wr036165","url":null,"abstract":"Nonstationary Rainfall frequency analysis (RFA) is used to assess how climate change is impacting the likelihood of extreme storms. A key limitation of covariate-based approaches to nonstationary RFA is that without a physical basis, models selected based on the quality of fit to historical data cannot be reliably projected to estimate future quantiles. Here we propose to improve the physical representation of rainfall processes by using a peaks-over-threshold approach to separate the processes of storm intensity (impacted by thermodynamic drivers related to changes in atmospheric moisture) and storm arrival frequency (impacted by dynamic drivers that lead to changes in regional weather systems). Through stochastic experiments we demonstrate that quantiles can only be accurately projected beyond the observed climate when nonstationary models reflect the underlying nonstationary process. Through a case study we demonstrate how climate model projections of rainfall can be utilized to deduce nonstationary model structures, showing that changes in both the storm intensity and storm arrival frequency are needed to accurately estimate future quantiles. While here we propose a single simple physically informed approach for storm intensity, structuring the arrival frequency component requires a detailed understanding of atmospheric dynamics in the region of interest.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142597619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Analytical Formulation for Correcting the Relative Permeability of Gas-Water Flow in Propped Fractures Considering the Effect of Brinkman Flow","authors":"Qingquan Li, Bailu Teng, Wanjing Luo, Qian Wang, Yongpeng Yang, Xuanming Zhang","doi":"10.1029/2023wr036625","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023wr036625","url":null,"abstract":"Gas-water flow in propped fractures can be commonly observed in various practical applications, including hydrocarbon development, geothermal exploitation, contaminant transport, and geological carbon storage. The fluid flow in a propped fracture can be regarded as Darcy type if only the resistance from the propping materials (e.g., cement in natural fractures and proppant-pack in hydraulic fractures) accounts. However, if the fracture width is sufficiently small, the extra resistance from the viscous shear of fracture walls cannot be neglected, resulting in the appearance of Brinkman flow. In practice, during the development of a naturally fractured aquifer or a hydraulicly fractured hydrocarbon reservoir, the fracture width will be significantly reduced as the production proceeds. Therefore, the Brinkman flow can impose a strong effect on the fluid transportation within the fractures. However, the existing study about the two-phase Brinkman flow in propped fractures is still far from adequate. In this work, on the basis of a modified two-phase Brinkman equation, the authors derive a novel analytical formulation to correct the relative permeability of gas-water two-phase flow in propped fractures to account for the Brinkman effect. With the aid of the proposed formulation, the authors carry out a comprehensive investigation of the influence of Brinkman flow on the effective gas-water relative permeability and well performance. The calculated results show that the effect of Brinkman flow on the water phase (or gas phase) transportation is more significant with a larger water (or gas) saturation. A narrower propped fracture is more likely to induce Brinkman flow, thus leading to a lower relative permeability for both water and gas phases. As the propping-material permeability is increased, the fluid transportation bears more severe viscous drag from fracture walls, and the relative permeability will be consequently reduced. Only if the fracture width is significantly reduced during the production, the Brinkman flow demonstrates its influence on the well performance. Otherwise, Darcy's law can provide sufficiently accurate results in characterizing the two-phase flow in propped fractures.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"245 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142597616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Morphological and Hydrogeological Controls of Groundwater Flows and Water Age Distribution in Mountain Aquifers and Streams","authors":"A. Betterle, A. Bellin","doi":"10.1029/2024wr037407","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2024wr037407","url":null,"abstract":"Mountains are an essential source of the terrestrial component of the hydrological cycle, supplying high-quality water to river networks and floodplain aquifers, especially during droughts. Traditionally, mountain hydrology has focused on shallow processes, overlooking the significance of deep-seated rock formations due to characterization challenges. Recent field studies have revealed that fractured rock formations can host rich aquifers despite their low permeability. Nonetheless, it is unclear how deep flows interact with the overall hydrological functioning of mountain areas, how they contribute to the long-term water budget, and how climate, morphology, and geology jointly control them. Through numerical simulations, we have gained new insights into mountain aquifers, addressing (a) the proportion of groundwater base flow and its age distribution, (b) water storage and its sensitivity to groundwater recharge, (c) the impact of long term mean recharge on the extent of the groundwater-fed surface drainage network under various morphological and geological settings. We showed that subsurface travel times follow a Gamma distribution, whose parameters are modulated by recharge, hydraulic conductivity, and topography. High recharge and strong decay with depth of the hydraulic conductivity in a hilly topography lead to a shallow water table mimicking the surface topography and spatially distributed low-intensity outflows that feed a dense drainage network. In rugged catchments, the groundwater contribution intensifies and concentrates in the downstream portion of the river network as recharge declines. These findings can help assess how a changing climate might impact hydrological regimes under various geomorphological conditions and identify sustainable water uses in mountain environments.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"196 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142597668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Edgar Santos-Fernandez, Jay M. Ver Hoef, Erin E. Peterson, James McGree, Cesar A. Villa, Catherine Leigh, Ryan Turner, Cameron Roberts, Kerrie Mengersen
{"title":"Unsupervised Anomaly Detection in Spatio-Temporal Stream Network Sensor Data","authors":"Edgar Santos-Fernandez, Jay M. Ver Hoef, Erin E. Peterson, James McGree, Cesar A. Villa, Catherine Leigh, Ryan Turner, Cameron Roberts, Kerrie Mengersen","doi":"10.1029/2023wr035707","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1029/2023wr035707","url":null,"abstract":"The use of in-situ digital sensors for water quality monitoring is becoming increasingly common worldwide. While these sensors provide near real-time data for science, the data are prone to technical anomalies that can undermine the trustworthiness of the data and the accuracy of statistical inferences, particularly in spatial and temporal analyses. Here we propose a framework for detecting anomalies in sensor data recorded in stream networks, which takes advantage of spatial and temporal autocorrelation to improve detection rates. The proposed framework involves the implementation of effective data imputation to handle missing data, alignment of time-series to address temporal disparities, and the identification of water quality events. We explore the effectiveness of a suite of state-of-the-art statistical methods including posterior predictive distributions, finite mixtures, and Hidden Markov Models (HMM). We showcase the practical implementation of automated anomaly detection in near-real time by employing a Bayesian recursive approach. This demonstration is conducted through a comprehensive simulation study and a practical application to a substantive case study situated in the Herbert River, located in Queensland, Australia, which flows into the Great Barrier Reef. We found that methods such as posterior predictive distributions and HMM produce the best performance in detecting multiple types of anomalies. Utilizing data from multiple sensors deployed relatively near one another enhances the ability to distinguish between water quality events and technical anomalies, thereby significantly improving the accuracy of anomaly detection. Thus, uncertainty and biases in water quality reporting, interpretation, and modeling are reduced, and the effectiveness of subsequent management actions improved.","PeriodicalId":23799,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources Research","volume":"245 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142597664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}