Shifts in discharge-concentration relationships as a small catchment recover from severe drought

Burt, T.P.; Worrall, F.; Howden, N.J.K.; Anderson, M.G.

Abstract

This paper provides evidence of the recovery of a small, moorland catchment to a severe drought, the most extreme on record in the UK. We present a detailed water quality time series for the post-drought recovery period, from the first significant storm event at the end of the drought through three very wet months during which time the catchment fully wetted up. High-frequency observations were obtained using pump water samplers, at 15-min intervals for storm events and 2 hourly at other times. There are significant shifts in discharge-concentration response as the catchment wets up; initial behaviour is very different to later storms. Extreme drought may become more common in a warmer world, so it is increasingly important to understand water quality response during and after such episodes, if their impact on water resources and in-stream ecology is to be better anticipated.

Citation

Burt, T., Worrall, F., Howden, N., & Anderson, M. (2015). Shifts in discharge-concentration relationships as a small catchment recover from severe drought. Hydrological Processes, 29(4), 498-507. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10169

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 4, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Feb 8, 2014
• Publication Date: Feb 15, 2015
• Deposit Date: Mar 16, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 24, 2015
• Journal: Hydrological Processes
• Print ISSN: 0885-6087
• Electronic ISSN: 1099-1085
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 498-507
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10169
• Keywords: Drought, Water quality, Chemographs, Hysteresis.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1413452