Papers by Christopher Shope
Journal of Hydrology, 2016
Mountainous headwaters include a variety of spatial landscape units; however, the flow contributi... more Mountainous headwaters include a variety of spatial landscape units; however, the flow contribution from different hydrologic components is complex and often unclear. In addition to complex landscape controls, temporal meteorological drivers play an important role in the distribution between surface runoff and subsurface storage changes. This spatiotemporal variability in partitioning can influence catchment-wide flow accumulation and nutrient and sediment loading. We use a multi-year, multimethod analysis of stable isotopes, geochemical indicators, and discharge distributed throughout the Haean catchment in South Korea to identify temporal variability in hydrologic flow partitioning from surface runoff, springs, shallow interflow, and groundwater under monsoonal conditions. By combining a weighted, multi-method discharge approach, high frequency, synoptic, catchment-wide isotopic and geochemical sampling, and baseflow analysis, we characterize watershed-scale spatiotemporal hydrologic flow partitioning. Meteorological drivers are spatially variable throughout the catchment and temporally between individual events. Baseflow contributions in the high elevation, forested areas are up to 50%, while the majority of the catchment is approximately 20%. Our study builds on previously reported seasonality of isotopic signatures by quantifying trends in distributed event-based partitioning of isotopic tracers. We demonstrate that high frequency flow partitioning can accurately be determined in mountainous topography with high precipitation and that there is a need for multiple method characterizations. Our results further show the benefit of spatially distributed synoptic sampling for process understanding of hydrologic partitioning throughout the watersheds.
Water, 2015
Rainfall variability and extreme events can amplify the seasonality and storm pulses of stream wa... more Rainfall variability and extreme events can amplify the seasonality and storm pulses of stream water chemistry in mountainous watersheds under monsoon climates. To establish a monitoring program optimized for identifying potential risks to stream water quality arising from rainfall variability and extremes, we examined water chemistry data collected on different timescales. At a small forested watershed, biweekly sampling lasted over two years, in comparison to three other biweekly sampling sites. In addition, high-frequency continuous measurements of pH, electrical conductivity, and turbidity were conducted in tandem with automatic water sampling at 2 h intervals during eight rainfall events. Biweekly monitoring showed that during the summer monsoon period, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), and dissolved ion concentrations generally decreased, but total suspended solids (TSS) slightly increased. A noticeable variation from the usual seasonal pattern was that DO levels substantially decreased during an extended drought. Bi-hourly storm event samplings exhibited large changes in the concentrations of TSS and particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC; DOC) during intense rainfall
Agricultural Water Management, 2016
Intensive agricultural practices implemented to secure increased crop yields have potentially neg... more Intensive agricultural practices implemented to secure increased crop yields have potentially negative environmental effects due to the generation of sediment and nutrients from agricultural fields. The monsoon climate and current agricultural practices on mountainous landscapes of the Haean catchment in South Korea have significantly affected water quality by transporting sediment and nutrients to downstream water bodies. The aim of this study is to suggest strategies for a permanent reduction of sediment and nitrate from this catchment through an efficient application of best management practices (BMPs). We applied three BMPs; split fertilizer application (SF), winter cover crop cultivation (CC), and a combination of the two (SFCC) to major dryland crops (cabbage, potato, radish and soybean) in order to investigate their effectiveness at the catchment scale through the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. We found that the SF scenario reduced nitrate pollution while sediment and crop yield did not change relative to the baseline (BL) scenario. The application of the CC scenario reduces both sediment and nitrate load while crop yields increased. The combination of split fertilization and cover cropping (SFCC) showed the highest positive effect on reducing sediment and nitrate and increasing crop yields compared to a single application. We estimated the variability in the effectiveness of BMPs for major crop types and could demonstrate that specific sites and crop types, such as soybean, were less influential in reducing sediment and nitrate loads. Those sites and crops could be considered for additional BMP measures to mitigate water deterioration by target pollutants. Recommendations for BMP applications should also consider minor crops and other land use types in order to reduce overall water pollution and efficiently improve crop yields in this catchment.
Scientific Investigations Report, 2014
Advances in Meteorology, 2015
Characterization of precipitation is critical in quantifying distributed catchment-wide discharge... more Characterization of precipitation is critical in quantifying distributed catchment-wide discharge. The gauge network is a key driver in hydrologic modeling to characterize discharge. The accuracy of precipitation is dependent on the location of stations, the density of the network, and the interpolation scheme. Our study examines 16 weather stations in a 64 km2catchment. We develop a weighted, distributed approach for gap-filling the observed meteorological dataset. We analyze five interpolation methods (Thiessen, IDW, nearest neighbor, spline, and ordinary Kriging) at five gauge densities. We utilize precipitation in a SWAT model to estimate discharge in lumped parameter simulations and in a distributed approach at the multiple densities (1, 16, 50, 142, and 300 stations). Gauge density has a substantial impact on distributed discharge and the optimal gauge density is between 50 and 142 stations. Our results also indicate that the IDW interpolation scheme was optimum, although the ...
Environmental Earth Sciences, 2012
Abstract Military shooting range soils contaminated by heavy metals have been subjected to remedi... more Abstract Military shooting range soils contaminated by heavy metals have been subjected to remediation efforts to alleviate the detrimental effects of exposure on humans and the surrounding environment. Waste materials can be used as cost-effective soil amendments ...
Transactions of the ASABE, 2013
Plastic-covered ridge-furrow cultivation (plastic mulch) can substantially influence runoff and s... more Plastic-covered ridge-furrow cultivation (plastic mulch) can substantially influence runoff and soil erosion on agricultural land. However, the impact of this management practice in combination with complex farmland topography has not been thoroughly investigated. The goal of this study was to identify how topography influences runoff patterns and erosion rates of plastic mulch cultivation. We measured runoff and sediment transport on two mountainous fields in South Korea, one with a concave topography and one with a convex topography, during monsoonal rain events. We used the EROSION 3D model to compare flow and sediment transport between plastic mulch, uncovered ridges, and a smooth soil surface. We found the highest runoff and erosion rates from both of the fields with plastic mulch due to the impermeable surface. For the uncovered ridges, we identified 140% higher erosion compared to the smooth surface on the concave field, but 20% lower erosion on the convex field. The simulated sediment transport patterns showed that the ridge-furrow system concentrated overland flow on the concave field, resulting in high erosion rates. On the convex field, the ridgefurrow system prevented flow accumulation and erosion. Our results demonstrate that the effect of ridge-furrow systems on erosion is controlled primarily by the topography. These results have practical consequences for watershed conservation planning and the application of large-scale erosion models. Nevertheless, further research is needed to fully understand the impact of this management system on runoff and erosion on mountainous farmland.
Water Resources Research, 2014
Effective science-based management of water resources in large basins requires a qualitative unde... more Effective science-based management of water resources in large basins requires a qualitative understanding of hydrologic conditions and quantitative measures of the various components of the water budget, including difficult to measure components such as baseflow discharge to streams. Using widely available discharge and continuously collected specific conductance (SC) data, we adapted and applied a long established chemical hydrograph separation approach to quantify daily and representative annual baseflow discharge at 14 streams and rivers at large spatial (> 1000 km 2 watersheds) and temporal (up to 37 years) scales in the Upper Colorado River Basin. On average, annual baseflow was 21-58% of annual stream discharge, 13-45% of discharge during snowmelt, and 40-86% of discharge during low-flow conditions. Results suggest that reservoirs may act to store baseflow discharged to the stream during snowmelt and release that baseflow during low-flow conditions, and that irrigation return flows may contribute to increases in fall baseflow in heavily irrigated watersheds. The chemical hydrograph separation approach, and associated conceptual model defined here provide a basis for the identification of land use, management, and climate effects on baseflow.
ABSTRACT Sustainability challenges are transforming science and its role in society. Achieving su... more ABSTRACT Sustainability challenges are transforming science and its role in society. Achieving sustainable use of resources that best supports human well-being requires wise planning of land use and management practices at landscape to regional scales. At regional scale, supportive services from natural resource use are of two types: locally derived via ecosystem production processes (cf. agriculture and forest products, etc.) and integratively derived via regional landscape response (cf. water supply). Research in the International Biological Program (IBP) demonstrated that modification in local ecosystem services (accompanying altered land use, due to agricultural intensification, or due to climate change) are associated with changes in land-surface to atmosphere gas exchange (water, carbon and trace gas emissions), in nutrient cycles and turnover, in the seasonal course of soil resource stores, in resource use efficiencies, and in the export of nutrients and carbon into river systems. Researchers at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina summarized integrative changes in services that accompany land use and climate change, stating that "the quantity, timing, and quality of streamflow provide an integrated measure of the success or failure of land management practices." The international consortium project TERRECO (Complex Terrain and Ecological Heterogeneity; www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/terreco) focuses on linking (1) spatial patterns in local ecosystem performance in complex terrain of the Soyang Lake Watershed, the largest reservoir system in South Korea, with (2) integrated ecosystem services derived from Soyang Lake, and with (3) economic evaluations of the services supplied. Field-based meteorology, plant production, soil physics, solute and sediment transport, hydrology, social behavior, and economic assessments are used to parameterize a suite of models that describe landscape and regional level flow networks for carbon, water, and nutrients, but in addition monetary flows associated with gains and losses in ecosystem services. The description is embedded within a framework which examines the trade-offs between agricultural intensification versus yield of high quality water to reservoirs for drinking water supply. The models also quantify hypothetical changes in flow networks that would occur in the context of climate, land use and social change scenarios. The research is viewed as a critical step in shaping the context for interactions between environmental scientists and resource managers. A project partnership is currently being built with agencies that have the mission to carry out land use planning and to advise in policy making. A common interest is found among TERRECO project participants and agency planners in evaluating scenarios to quantify the effects of land use decisions possibly made in compliance with stakeholder demands.
Earth System Science Data, 2014
Detailed data on land use and land cover constitute important information for Earth system models... more Detailed data on land use and land cover constitute important information for Earth system models, environmental monitoring and ecosystem services research. Global land cover products are evolving rapidly; however, there is still a lack of information particularly for heterogeneous agricultural landscapes. We censused land use and land cover field by field in the agricultural mosaic catchment Haean in South Korea. We recorded the land cover types with additional information on agricultural practice. In this paper we introduce the data, their collection and the post-processing protocol. Furthermore, because it is important to quantitatively evaluate available land use and land cover products, we compared our data with the MODIS Land Cover Type product (MCD12Q1). During the studied period, a large portion of dry fields was converted to perennial crops. Compared to our data, the forested area was underrepresented and the agricultural area overrepresented in MCD12Q1. In addition, linear landscape elements such as waterbodies were missing in the MODIS product due to its coarse spatial resolution. The data presented here can be useful for earth science and ecosystem services research. The data are available at the public repository Pangaea (
Journal of Hydrology, 2014
ABSTRACT An important prerequisite to better understand the transport of nutrients and contaminan... more ABSTRACT An important prerequisite to better understand the transport of nutrients and contaminants across the river-aquifer interface and possible implications for biogeochemical transformations is to accurately characterize and asses the exchange fluxes. In this study we investigate how monsoonal precipitation events and the resulting variability in river discharge affect the dynamics of river-aquifer exchange and the corresponding flux rates. We evaluate potential impacts of the investigated exchange fluxes on local water quality. Hydraulic gradients along a piezometer transect were monitored at a river reach in a small catchment in South Korea, where the hydrologic dynamics are driven by the East-Asian Monsoon. We used heat as a tracer to constrain river-aquifer exchange fluxes in a two-dimensional flow and heat transport model implemented in the numerical code HydroGeoSphere, which was calibrated to the measured temperature and total head data. To elucidate potential effects of river-aquifer exchange dynamics on biogeochemical transformations at the river-aquifer interface, river water and groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrate (NO3) and dissolved oxygen saturation (DOsat). Our results illustrate highly variable hydrologic conditions during the monsoon season characterized by temporal and spatial variability in river-aquifer exchange fluxes with frequent flow reversals (changes between gaining and losing conditions). Intense monsoonal precipitation events and the associated rapid changes in river stage are the dominant driver for the observed riverbed flow reversals. The chemical data suggest that the flow reversals, when river water high in DOC is pushed into the nitrate-rich groundwater below the stream and subsequently returns to the stream may facilitate and enhance the natural attenuation of nitrate in the shallow groundwater.
Water Resources Research, 2012
Substantial research on how hydraulic and geomorphologic factors control hyporheic exchange has r... more Substantial research on how hydraulic and geomorphologic factors control hyporheic exchange has resulted in reasonable process understanding; however, the role of fluvial islands on the transient nature of spatial flux patterns remains elusive. We used detailed field observations of the Truckee River, Nevada from 2003 to 2009 to quantify fluid flux between the river and a fluvial island, the streambed, and the adjacent stream bank. We constructed a 3-D numerical flow and heat transport model to further quantify the complex flow paths. Our study expands on previous research typically confined to less comprehensive scales and dimensions, and highlights the transient multidimensionality of the flow field. In fact, 1-D vertical streambed flux estimates indicated that the channel bar tail displayed the highest upward flux throughout the summer; however, 3-D model results indicated that the horizontal contribution was two orders of magnitude higher than the vertical contribution. The channel bar net flux is typically 1.5 orders of magnitude greater than the adjacent stream banks and an order of magnitude less than net streambed fluxes, indicating significant differences in river-aquifer interactions between each of the geomorphic units. Modeling simulations further indicated that the channel bar induces 6 times more fluid flux than an identical location without a fluvial island, consistent with flux estimates from a nearby river restoration location. Moreover, event-based and seasonal transient antecedent moisture and near-stream storage conditions contribute to multidimensional rivergroundwater interactions. These results suggest that fluvial islands are a key driver and significant component of river-groundwater interactions and hyporheic flow.
Journal of Hydrology, 2013
ABSTRACT The linkage between hydrologic dynamics and the delivery of nitrate and DOC (dissolved o... more ABSTRACT The linkage between hydrologic dynamics and the delivery of nitrate and DOC (dissolved organic carbon) to streams was studied in the Haean catchment, a mixed land-use mountainous catchment in South Korea. Three monsoonal precipitation events were analyzed, which varied in total rainfall amount (39–70 mm) and intensities (mean: 1.6–5.6 mm h−1), by high-resolution (2–4 h interval) stream water-quality sampling along the topographic elevation gradient of the catchment, from an upland deciduous forest stream, over areas intensively used for agriculture (dryland farming and rice paddies) down to the catchment outlet. The dynamics of river-aquifer exchange were investigated at two piezometer transects at mid and lower elevations. DOC and nitrate sources and their transport pathways to the receiving surface waters differed between the forested and the agricultural stream site. In the forest stream, elevated DOC concentrations (max: 3.5 mgC l−1) during precipitation events were due to hydrologic flushing of soluble organic matter in upper soil horizons, with a strong dependency on pre-storm wetness conditions. Nitrate contributions to the forested stream occurred along shallow subsurface transport pathways. At the agricultural sites stream DOC concentrations were considerably higher (max: 23.5 mgC l−1) supplied from adjacent rice paddies. The highest in-stream nitrate concentrations (max: 4.1 mgN l−1) occurred at river reaches located in the lower agricultural part of the catchment, affected by groundwater inputs. Groundwater nitrate concentrations were high (max: 7.4 mgN l−1) owing to chemical fertilizer leaching from dryland fields forced by monsoonal rainfalls. Overall, this study demonstrates that the hydrologic dynamics resulting from the monsoonal climate drive the in-stream DOC dynamics in the forested 1st-order catchment whereas sources and mobilization of DOC in downstream agricultural areas are mainly controlled by the prevailing land-use type and irrigation management. Nitrate dynamics in higher order agricultural streams and their connected aquifers reflect combined effects of land-use type and monsoonal hydrology.
Journal of Hydrology, 2012
ABSTRACT Although soil erosion and leaching can transfer a substantial portion of the annual terr... more ABSTRACT Although soil erosion and leaching can transfer a substantial portion of the annual terrestrial carbon (C) increment to aquatic systems, little is known about rapid changes in the amount and characteristics of soil organic C exported from mountainous watersheds during storm events. To trace short-term changes in sources and characteristics of soil organic C exported during storm events, we investigated storm-induced changes in concentrations of particulate and dissolved organic C (POC and DOC) and the stable isotope composition of suspended sediment (SS) in a mountainous, mixed land-use watershed in north-ern South Korea. Biweekly stream sampling in a headwater forest stream and a watershed outlet receiv-ing agricultural runoff showed that concentrations of SS and POC were higher in the watershed outlet. In both the forest stream and outlet, POC concentrations were lower than DOC concentrations during base-flow, but increased rapidly with rising discharge during intense storms, resulting in higher peak POC con-centrations than peak DOC concentrations. When d 13 C and d 15 N were compared between SS and potential source soils during three storm events, SS d 13 C and d 15 N in the forest stream were similar to forest floor d 13 C and d 15 N. SS d 13 C and d 15 N in the watershed outlet reflected the contribution from forest and crop-land mineral soils during peak flow, with sand-size SS displaying increasing d 13 C and d 15 N with rising rainfall intensity. The results suggest that storm pulses of POC can be a transient, but dominant pathway of hydrologic C export overwhelming DOC export and that POC sources and characteristics can rapidly change corresponding to varying rainfall intensity. Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2014
Watershed-scale modeling can be a valuable tool to aid in quantification of water quality and yie... more Watershed-scale modeling can be a valuable tool to aid in quantification of water quality and yield; however, several challenges remain. In many watersheds, it is difficult to adequately quantify hydrologic partitioning. Data scarcity is prevalent, accuracy of spatially distributed meteorology is difficult to quantify, forest encroachment and land use issues are common, and surface water and groundwater abstractions substantially modify watershed-based processes. Our objective is to assess the capability of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to capture eventbased and long-term monsoonal rainfall-runoff processes in complex mountainous terrain. To accomplish this, we developed a unique quality-control, gap-filling algorithm for interpolation of high-frequency meteorological data. We used a novel multi-location, multi-optimization calibration technique to improve estimations of catchment-wide hydrologic partitioning. The interdisciplinary model was calibrated to a unique combination of statistical, hydrologic, and plant growth metrics. Our results indicate scale-dependent sensitivity of hydrologic partitioning and substantial influence of engineered features. The addition of hydrologic and plant growth objective functions identified the importance of culverts in catchment-wide flow distribution. While this study shows the challenges of applying the SWAT model to complex terrain and extreme environments; by incorporating anthropogenic features into modeling scenarios, we can enhance our understanding of the hydroecological impact.
Uploads
Papers by Christopher Shope