Measuring and Modeling Water and Nutrient Flux Between a Mid-Missouri Stream and Forested Riparian Zone in the Central U.S

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Measuring and Modeling Water and Nutrient Flux Between a Mid-Missouri Stream and Forested Riparian Zone in the Central U.S MEASURING AND MODELING WATER AND NUTRIENT FLUX BETWEEN A MID-MISSOURI STREAM AND FORESTED RIPARIAN ZONE IN THE CENTRAL U.S. ______________________________________________________________ A Dissertation presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School University of Missouri-Columbia ______________________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ______________________________________________________________ By Pennan Chinnasamy Dr. Jason A. Hubbart, Dissertation Supervisor DECEMBER 2012 © Copyright by Pennan Chinnasamy 2012 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled MEASURING AND MODELING WATER AND NUTRIENT FLUX BETWEEN A MID-MISSOURI STREAM AND FORESTED RIPARIAN ZONE IN THE CENTRAL U.S. presented by Pennan Chinnasamy a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Dr. Jason A. Hubbart Dr. Stephen H. Anderson Dr. Shibu Jose Dr. Chung-ho Lin Dr. Allen Thompson P.E. DEDICATION , , , , , , Thou blessed me to take human birth, To my loving parents on earth, And positioned me amongst good people, Thank you Lord, please Bless me with the strength to use, Thy gifts of knowledge and wisdom, To benefit all living forms of Thy Kingdom. To the CREATOR, from the created. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank all the Gods, across all religions, language and across all boundaries, for supporting me from my first breath and will support me through the last and beyond. Next to God, I would like to thank my family members for their sacrifices for me and for supporting me in all my journeys and future endeavors till my departure. My deepest gratitude goes to my parents. Particular thanks go to my mother for her hard work in raising me, single handedly after my father passed away when I was seven, and for her unconditional love and support all through my life – without her hard work and sacrifice I am nothing. I would like to thank all my committee members for their constant encouragement, patience, support and willingness to share knowledge and expertise, without which I could not have matriculated. I would like to especially thank my adviser, and Director of the Interdisciplinary Hydrology Lab (IHL), Dr. Jason A. Hubbart, for his willingness to accept me in his lab and for his guidance and patience in allowing me to get accustomed to a new field in my career. I am extremely grateful to him for constantly pushing me to explore my capabilities and inner strengths. I also would like to thank Dr. Hubbart for his confidence in me and for improving my writing style. Sincere thanks to my committee members, Drs. Stephen H. Anderson, Shibu Jose, Chung-ho Lin and Allen Thompson. Special thanks go to Dr. Anderson and Dr. Jose for meeting with me and for often enquiring about my progress and for constant support. ii Special thanks to Dr. Lin for having tremendous confidence in me and for acknowledging my passion. Special thanks to Dr. Thompson for his discussions related to the project. Sincere thanks are due to Dr. John M. Kabrick for many scientific discussions and for helping me when preparing for my comprehensives. I would like to thank all the faculty of the Forestry, Geology, Geography and the Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences departments for their support and encouragement and to all the faculty of the University of Missouri who have instructed me in my coursework. I would like to thank all the IHL members for their support in instrumentation and fieldwork. This has been a field work intensive research project, and I would have not been able to collect all of the data that I have without the help of others, including, but not limited to, Ed Bulliner, Graham Freeman, Gregory Hosmer, Charles Keatings, Greg Brostoski, Jerod Romine, Gabe Waterhouse, Joe Sheals, John Nichols, Amanda Wolfgeher, and Michael Hullinger. My sincere thanks go to Dr. Stephen G. Pallardy and Mr. Kevin P. Hosman for providing climate reference data from their project at Baskett. Special thanks to Kevin for hauling the field truck out a couple of times when I got stuck in the field. I would like to thank all my friends in India, U.S. and other parts of the world for their encouragement, support and well wishes. I would love to name them all, but you know who you are. Most of these friends will be with me forever. I extend gratitude to The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 (Grant Number: CD-97701401-0) for funding the project. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................ xii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xvi CHAPTER I: MEASURING AND MODELING WATER AND NUTRIENT FLUX BETWEEN A MID-MISSOURI STREAM AND FORESTED RIPARIAN ZONE IN THE CENTRAL U.S. ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of need .......................................................................................... 2 1.3. Research Objectives ..................................................................................... 3 1.4. Hypotheses ................................................................................................... 3 1.5 Background ................................................................................................... 4 1.5.1 Stream water – shallow groundwater hydrologic interactions ............... 4 1.5.2. Stream water – shallow groundwater nutrient concentrations .............. 6 1.5.3. Modeling stream water – shallow groundwater interaction .................. 9 1.6. Study Site and Instrumentation .................................................................. 12 iv 1.7. Dissertation structure ................................................................................. 18 1.8. References .................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER II: MEASURING AND MODELING SHALLOW GROUNDWATER AND FLOW CONNECTIVITY TO A FORESTED OZARK BORDER STREAM ................ 25 2.0. Abstract ...................................................................................................... 25 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 27 2.2. Study site .................................................................................................... 30 2.3. Methods...................................................................................................... 33 2.3.1. Instrumentation and data collection .................................................... 33 2.3.2. Quantifying stream flow ..................................................................... 34 2.3.3. Quantifying shallow groundwater flow .............................................. 35 2.3.4. Quantifying groundwater flux............................................................. 36 2.3.5. Numerical simulation with HYDRUS – 1D model ............................ 37 2.3.5.1. HYDRUS – 1D computations .......................................................... 37 2.3.5.2. HYDRUS – 1D data forcing ............................................................ 39 2.3.5.3. HYDRUS – 1D calibration, validation and statistical analysis ....... 40 2.4. Results and Discussion .............................................................................. 42 2.4.1. Hydroclimate during study ................................................................. 42 2.4.2. Groundwater flux ................................................................................ 44 2.4.3. Shallow groundwater interflow........................................................... 47 2.4.4. Modeling with HYDRUS - 1D ........................................................... 50 2.4.4.1. Calibration of HYDRUS – 1D ......................................................... 50 v 2.4.4.2. Validation of HYDRUS – 1D .......................................................... 51 2.4.4.3. HYDRUS – 1D simulated groundwater flux ................................... 53 2.4.5. Study limitations ................................................................................. 57 2.4.6. Future Directions, Closing Comments ................................................ 58 2.5. Summary and Conclusions ........................................................................ 59 2.6. Acknowledgements .................................................................................... 62 2.7. References .................................................................................................. 63 CHAPTER III: NUTRIENT CONCENTRATION RELATIONSHIPS OF STREAM AND SHALLOW GROUNDWATER IN A CENTRAL U.S. OZARK BORDER FOREST ...........................................................................................................................
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