GEOS 697 Special Topics: Watershed Hydrology
Instructor: Jim McNamara
Boise State University
GEOS 617: Watershed Processes
Instructor: Jim McNamara
Boise State University
8/23 Objectives
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Motivation for course
Relation to HS Curriculum
Course Logistics
Assignment 1: Process review introduction
Intro Hydrology Course
(GEOS 416/516 Hydrology)
• Equations for each arrow
Watershed Hydrology
• Fluxes (arrows) and stores are not independent
• Hydrologic behavior emerges in response to the
integration of arrows that can not be predicted
by simply connecting the arrows
Watershed Processes
• Watershed receives intermittent input from
atmosphere, exports relatively continuous fluxes
of water, solutes, sediment, and gasses.
• Studying the independent arrows lead to failure
when predicting associated fluxes
For Example…
“…streamflow responds promptly to
rainfall inputs, but fluctuations in
passive tracers are often strongly
damped. This indicates that storm
flow in these catchments is mostly
‘old’ water”
Kirchner 2003 HP
For Example…
Nitrate
a.
20
15
b.
30
20
10
10
0
0
0
0
10
0
20
10
20
d.
0
5
10
60
e.
30
20
10
10
0
0
0
5
10
50
40
40
30
20
10
10
0
0
0
5
10
15
Streamflow (m3/s)
15
i.
50
10
0
10
40
20
20
5
60
h.
30
30
f.
0
15
50
g.
20
30
20
15
10
40
40
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
30
mS/c
m
5
Dry Antecedent
Conditions
mg/L
c.
40
30
20
10
Wet Antecedent
Conditions
mg/L
50
mS/c
m
25
Electrical Cond.
mS/c
m
mg/L
Snowmelt
Ammonium
0
5
10
15
Streamflow (m3/s)
0
5
10
15
Streamflow (m3/s)
McNamara et al., 2008
Hydrologic Pathways Dictate
Solute Delivery
Charlie Driscoll, SU
Watershed Hydrology
• We will gain deep understanding of the
inner mechanics of watersheds
– Why?
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Improved hydrologic modeling
Biogeochemistry
Water Policy
Reservoir operation rules (US West)
Cascading effects of land use land cover (LULC)
change
Watershed Processes
• Watersheds are fundamental landscape units that arise
from the interaction of climate, water, rock, and
vegetation
• Water flux pathways are dictated by landscape
properties in the short-term, which are dictated by water
pathways in the long-term
Watershed Processes
•
Governing Principle for Course:
– Watersheds are fundamental landscape units that transport mass and
energy through terrestrial systems, and provide sustenance for
ecosystems and human societies. Holistic understanding, and effective
management, of watershed processes is predicated on recognizing the
interdependencies and feedbacks governing landscape evolution,
hydrology, and ecology
Course Logistics
• See web page:
http://earth.boisestate.edu/jmcnamara/wat
ershed-hydrology/
Course Description
GEOS 616 Watershed Hydrology. (3-0-3) (F). An integrated study of hydrologic processes operating in watersheds;
relationships between hydrologic, biogeochemical, and geomorphologic processes. PREREQ: PERM/INST.
In this course we will move beyond the study of individual hydrologic fluxes and stores to investigate the integrating
nature of watersheds. We will review basic physics of hydrologic processes and then investigate how these properties
interact and manifest as runoff generation, plant-soil water relations, and the coevolution of geomorphology and
hydrologic response.
Activities to promote learning include lectures, guided readings and discussions, student presentations, and projects.
Students will complete approximately 6 projects related to the topics below. Most projects will involve acquisition,
analysis and interpretation of data available online from several experimental watersheds throughout the country with
an emphasis on Dry Creek and Reynolds Creek in southwest Idaho.
Course Structure
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This course requires active participation by all students. The instructor will
use lectures to introduce each new topic. Subsequent class periods will be
composed of student-led discussions and project work. To get the full
experience students must attend all class periods, complete all reading
assignments, and stay caught up on class projects.
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Course management will occur via the schedule:
http://earth.boisestate.edu/jmcnamara/watershed-hydrology-schedule
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We will use publicly available data from several research watersheds
throughout the US for most projects.
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Dry Creek: http://earth.boisestate.edu/drycreek/
HJ Andrews: http://andrewsforest.oregonstate.edu/
Reynolds Creek: http://www.nwrc.ars.usda.gov/
Hydrologic Science Curriculum
Motivation: Our program is structured around the Definition of Hydrology: The
geoscience that describes and predicts the spatial and temporal variations of water in the
terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric compartments of the global water system, the
movement of water on and under Earths surface, the physical and chemical processes
accompanying that movement, and the biological processes that conduct or affect that
movement.
Water Flux and Storage
Admission Prerequisites
**Basic hydrology or water resources
*required,**recommended
No credit towards degree.
Basis science knowledge,
computational and analytical
skills, geological principles
supporting surface and
groundwater systems
Introductory Core
GEOS 511 Hydrology 1: LandBasic physical properties
Atmosphere Interaction
and process governing
GEOS 512: Hydrology 2: Flow in
water flux in the terrestrial
Geologic Systems
hydrologic cycle, origin of
solutes in water, basic
computational skills,
hydrologic simulation and
prediction
Focus Areas
Advanced courses in
specific Hydrologic Science
sub-disciplines
Supplemental
Relevant courses from
supporting disciplines
GEOS 623: Advanced Hydrogeology
Mission: To deliver an integrated suite of courses and research opportunities that
• facilitate understanding of physical processes and earth properties governing
terrestrial water flux and storage
• promote understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between the
hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere
• develop data acquisition and interpretation skills
• Computational and analytical skills to model and predict hydrologic processes
interactions
Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Biosphere Interactions
Data Acquisition, Analysis and Modeling Skills
*Degree in physical science or engineering with courses in
-Introductory geology*
-Geomorphology**
-Stratigraphy/Sedimentation**
*Differential and Integral Calculus
*Physics I and Physics II
*Chemistry I and Chemistry II
*Statistics
*GIS/ programming
*GEOS 5xx: Matlab Primer
GEOS 5xx: Aqueous Geochemistry
GEOS 5xx: Hydrologic Modeling
GEOPH 6xx: Geostatistics
GEOS 5xx: Biogeochemical Methods
GEOS 618: Hydrologic Analysis
GEOS 5xx: Advanced Geomorphology
CE 5xx: Engineering Hydrology
CE 6xx: Contaminant Transport
UI-CE 5xx: Fluvial Geomorphology
CE 5xx: Hydrometeorology
GEOS 617: Watershed Processes
ISU-GEOS 5xx: Remote Sensing
CE 5xx: GIS in Water Resources
GEOS 624: Applied Hydrogeology
BIOL 5xx: Stream Ecology
GEOPH 5xx: Open Channel Flow
GEOPH 6xx: Snow and Ice Physics
GEOPH 6xx: Hydrogeophysics
Schedule of Topics
1. Course introduction
-Summary of goals, objectives, and expectations
2. Hydrologic process review
-A brief review of the physics governing individual hydrologic processes operating in watersheds including precipitation, snowmelt, infiltration,
lateral surface and subsurface flow, groundwater flow, and streamflow.
3. Water Balance
-An advanced treatment of mass balance concept operating a hillslope, watershed, basin, and continentental scales
4. Watershed Geomorphology
-Quantitative analysis of the shape of watersheds, hillslopes, and channel networks; geomorphologic evolution of watersheds
5. Advanced concepts in watershed hydrology
-Integrated hydrologic processes and emergent hydrologic properties in watersheds.
-water residence time
-Runoff generation
-Storage, thresholds, and connectivity
6. Ecohydrology
-Relationships between hydrology, vegetation, and geomorphology in catchments
7. Watershed biogeochemistry
-An introduction to the role that hydrologic processes play in governing the export of mass from watersheds
8. Hydrologic modeling concepts
-A capstone topic reconciling our knowledge of watershed hydrology with current hydrologic modeling approaches
9. Watershed Management/ Idaho watershed issues
Prerequisites
• Basic process hydrology
• Computational competence
– MATLAB, GIS, programming recommended
Learning Outcomes
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Upon completing this course, students will be able to:
– Conduct comparative hydrologic analyses of watersheds
– Conduct geomorphologic analyses of watersheds
– Understand the principles governing the coevolution of watershed
geomorphology and hydrologic response
– Understand basic ecohydrologic principles
Course Resources
No required text, but you should all own
one or two hydrology books an have
access to hydrology journals
Experimental Watersheds
• Projects and lectures will draw heavily
from a national “network” of hydrologic
observatories
Assignment 1:
Process Review
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Each student will prepare a 7 minute presentation consisting of 3-5 slides
summarizing one “arrow”. Presentations must cover
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Basic governing physics
Essential equations used to describe/model the process
Measurement methods
Other relevant information
• Process Assignments
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Precipitation formation
Snowmelt
Infiltration and redistribution
Overland flow
Saturated groundwater flow
Streamflow
Evapotranspiration