Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics
WyCEHG: Linking surface hydrology and groundwater through near-surface geophysics
Scott Miller
WIG Meeting Oct. 30, 2017 Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics
From 2012: What is WyCEHG? Vision: WyEPSCoR envisions that within five years the Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics will be a lasting and nationally important center of excellence in environmental hydrology and geophysics that serves water science and watershed management by providing cutting-edge tools to managers, scientists and educators in the public and private sectors.
• Funded by a 5-year, $20 M grant from NSF-EPSCoR (plus $4 M match from UW). • EPSCoR Track-1 Research Infrastructure Improvement grant • Collaboration among: 8 UWyo departments in 4 colleges, 3 Wyoming community colleges, 26 faculty (so far) • Two major facilities: • The Facility for Imaging the Near- and Sub-surface Environment (FINSE): Geophysical Equipment • The Surface and Subsurface Hydrology Lab (SSHL): Hydrological Equipment • Private sector involvement: internships and long-term geophysical facility support • Field science in Focus Sites around Wyoming --> Integrated modeling efforts • Transition to a self-supporting, national facility for hydrogeophysics • Enhanced grantsmanship and generation of new knowledge, technology, models
• Find us at: www.uwyo.edu/WyCEHG Human Infrastructure: Faculty and Staff
Andy Parsekian Nori Ohara Geology & Geophysics Civil Engineering Human Infrastructure: Faculty and Staff
Fabian Nippgen Kevin Befus Ecosystem Science & Management Civil Engineering Human Infrastructure: Faculty and Staff
Elizabeth Traver Brad Carr SSHL Manager APR, FINSE Manager Human Infrastructure: Faculty and Staff
Dylan Perkins Jared Baker UW IT UW IT Human Infrastructure: We Took Some Losses
Anne Sylvester Steve Holbrook Bob Hall NSF Virginia Tech Montana Human Infrastructure: Graduate Education (MS) • 69 MS students have participated and received some support from WyCEHG – Electrical Engineering – Geophysics – Ecosystem Science & Management – Soil Science – Botany – Zoology & Physiology – Vet Sciences – Geography – MFA in Creative Writing – Civil Engineering – Geology – SMTC – Statistics – Education – ENR – Atmospheric Sciences Human Infrastructure: Graduate Education (PhD) • 61 PhD students have participated and received some support from WyCEHG – Conservation Biology – Art & Art History – Program in Hydrologic Sciences (WRESE) – Program in Ecology (PiE) – Geophysics – Ecosystem Science & Management – Mechanical Engineering – Neuroscience – Molecular Biology – Soil Science – Botany – Zoology & Physiology – Civil Engineering – Geology – Atmospheric Sciences – Chemistry – Physics & Astronomy – Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Human Infrastructure: Post-Doctorate Researchers • 16 Post-Docs have worked on WyCEHG related projects – Atmospheric Sciences – Ecosystem Science & Management – Geology & Geophysics – Civil Engineering – Botany – Chemistry – HPAIRI CI: Cyberinfrastructure
• Critical area to support data management, storage, delivery and modeling – Personnel hiring in IT: hire two permanent staff into IT – Data Management and Storage: • $40k commitment to high speed storage • NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputer can provide Pb scale storage – Modeling: high performance computing (ARCC; NWSC, CI- WATER) • Component modeling (surface hydrology, soils, ET, etc) • Integrated modeling: full surface / subsurface modeling • New models of integrated hydrogeophysics Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics
From 2012 Three Overarching Scientific Objectives
1. Gain insight into mountain front hydrology snowmelt; critical zone; mountain lakes; climate effects
2. Quantify how disturbances affect water balance and geochemical fluxes beetle kill; energy development
3. Innovate integrated modeling and observation of water and biogeochemical fluxes geophysical techniques; integrated surface & subsurface modeling; tracers and isotopes
Change in Year 3 RFP: Establishment of Four Science Themes
1. Water balance in mountain watersheds 2. Surface water/groundwater interactions 3. Snow hydrology 4. Weathering and Critical Zone processes WyCEHG RFP
• The basic stats • Pertinent Details – 28 proposals were • 33 PI’s submitted • 9 departments – $3.4M requested for 2014 • Geology, ESM, – $2.6M requested for 2016 Geography, Zoology – $4.3 M funded (20 projects) & Physiology, Botany, Civil Engineering, WyGISC, Mathematics, Atmospheric Sciences • 4 research facilities
RFP: Supported Projects
RFP: Supported Projects RFP: Supported Projects Scholarly Contributions
• Approximately 130 publications from the project – 69 peer review journal articles – Several book chapters – Many abstracts, posters, and more – Distinguished and invited speakers Research Impacts
• Created a new cross-disciplinary community of scholars at UW and beyond. • National impact: acquired geophysical data at ~12 sites (6 CZO’s, 3 EPSCoR states) from South Carolina to California. • Active partnership & airborne geophysics at the Reynold’s Creek CZO 2012: Focus Sites in Wyoming 2017: Large Research Footprint Earth’s “critical zone”: From treetop to bedrock
The CZ is also the zone through which surface water/groundwater interactions take place.
Riebe, Hahm & Brantley Regolith Patterns Across Landscapes
Regolith follows topography:
Boulder Creek CZO (Colorado)
Regolith is a mirror image of topography:
Calhoun CZO (S. Carolina)
Pond Branch (Maryland)
What causes these patterns? St Clair et al., Science Regolith Thickness: The Role of Lithology
• WyCEHG Impact: Lithology and geological structure are often ignored in models that predict soil/regolith thickness, but they can be the dominant factor.
Reynolds Creek CZO Upper Sheep Creek: Basalt
Upper Johnston Draw: Granite Lithological Control on Weathering Catalina CZO: Effects of Lithology & Aspect Asymmetry Integrated Modeling: A Team Effort
• Hydrologists and hydrogeologists: Jianying Jiao (postdoc), Ye Zhang, Scott Miller, Minh Nguyen (Ph.D. candidate), Thijs Kelleners;
• Geophysicists: Steve Holbrook, Andy Parsekian, Ryan Armstrong (M.S.), Brady Flinchum (Ph.D. candidate);
• Geologists: Ron Frost (metamorphic rocks and fractures; regional tectonics);
• Atmosphere science: Chenglai Wu, Xiaohong Liu
• External collaborators: Reed Maxwell (Colorado School of Mines); Laura Condon (Colorado School of Mines); Andrew Gettelman (NCAR); David Lawrence (NCAR)
• HPC group at IT: Jared Barker, Jeff Lang Scaling Up Modeling Efforts
• Parflow
– Compiled & running on Mt Moran – Compiled & running on Yellowstone • 10m resolution, generic soil & vegetation data – Building nested models at range of scales • 1m resolution terrain • Geophysical subsurface
Surface Data: • Lidar data (regional scale; 5m x 5m) Snowy Range Integrated Modeling • Lidar data at NoName (local scale; 0.5 m x 0.5m) • USGS DEM (regional scale; 10 m x 10 m)
Subsurface Data: • Airborne resistivity data (regional scale); • Refraction seismic data at NoName (local scale); Naname • Geological maps and transects;
Hydrological Data: • Long-term water level at 6 wells; • NMR interfered water table elevations at 4 locations; • Streamflow rate at 10 gaging stations; • Monitored water contents at 3 sites;
Climate Data (repeater station, Met station, GLEES) Climate Data: Pending • Precipitation data; • ET; • Wind speed, temperature, pressure, wave radiation; • Snow melt; • Humidity, runoff, water content; • ET & Snow melt currently simulated • Land cover map (USGS land cover dataset); Two layers: unconsolidated layer Airborne Fault and Faul fracture layer t Lx=12206 m Ly=6103 m Lz=68 m Lidar DEM 2014 August 25 – 2014 September 30 discharge at the LIBB300 site (about one year) Integrating Geophysics Into Models The No Name Watershed
Seismic Refraction Electrical Resistivity Comparison with stream discharge at NONM100 site
Mannin K values Land g Coeff. Cover
Structural Porosity Simulated discharge (magnitude and timing of Model: peak flow) is sensitive to: Cases 1 & 9 • structural model & K of the unconsolidated deposit and bedrock (geology!): 1st • DEM: 2nd • Land cover 3th • Manning coefficient: 4rd
Cases 1 & 9 parameter combinations appear to best fit the observed discharge. Large Scale Groundwater Modeling Inverse Modeling Database & Data Management
• WyCEHG Has a commitment to data access, generation of new knowledge & dissemination to campus & broader community • Development of novel data discovery tool
Stakeholder Collaboration
ERT measurement just before onset of wetting Leveraged Project: 45 m • Working with Wyoming 4.5 m Water Development and WY Game & Fish ERT measurement after 18 hours of wetting • Using hydrogeophysics to qualify return flow in the Upper Wind River Basin
Stakeholder Collaboration State Level: • WyCEHG participates in the Wyoming Water Forum “WyCEHG has a seat at the table” • Water Interest Group Meetings Bring state & regional collaborators together
State Engineer Patrick Tyrrell presenting at first Water Interest Group meeting Oct. 2013 Increase awareness
Facilitate collaboration
EcoHydroGeophysics Course
• Novel field course to expose students to all facets of WyCEHG science: ecology, hydrology, and geophysics • Learning through a research project at WyCEHG Blair- Wallis study area: complete integration of local water balance
Workforce Development EcoHydroGeophysics Course Diversity Collaborations • Partnership with JSU expanded to other HBCUs • 6 HBCU students, 6 UW students • 4yrs: Wyoming, Mississippi, Wyoming
2012: Sustainability of Water Science and EOD Programs WyCEHG Vision--groundwater to atmosphere hydrology that will provide equipment, analytical, database and modeling expertise to the state, region and nation
WyCEHG EOD programs and assessment approaches will form basis for Broader Impacts in current and future proposals
Conclusions
• WyCEHG has impacted the state of Wyoming through both research and education, outreach and diversity
• Sustainability efforts have already produced fruit
• Sustainability efforts continue
• We are excited about the outcome of this meeting and look forward to long-term research and outreach success
Wyoming Center for Environmental Hydrology and Geophysics
2012: Outlook
Through WyCEHG we seek to establish:
• Nationally significant facilities in near surface geophysics and hydrology
• Interdisciplinary, cross-institutional teams focused on transforming water research in Wyoming
• A comprehensive external engagement program that includes stakeholders and new tools for decision-makers in water management
• A workforce development program focused on education and training at all levels and connecting students them to industry internships
• An open-access, national facility for hydrogeophysics that will include state-of- the-art instrumentation and will be sustained by an industry endowment
• Cutting-edge computational research that makes use of the new NCAR- Wyoming Supercomputing Center