Purdue University Winter Hydrology and Erosion Research

Keith A Cherkauer, Dazhi Mao, Tushar SinhaAgricultural and Biological Engineering

Jeff EvansElectrical and Computer Engineering Technology

Outline

Field measurements Historical analysis Watershed scale simulations Basin scale simulations Land use change Climate change

Field Observations

Spring 2000, Vermillion River, Minn.

Spatial Variability

Time Series of Observations:Winter 1998-1999

5 cm Soil Thaw Dates:Winter 1998-1999

Last Day of Frozen Soil, 1999

Current Field Measurements

Self contained units 10 locations – 2 per

field type 10 and 20 cm

depths Temp and Moisture

Field surveys Wireless sensor

network

Sensor Network Deployment Diagram

Location: ACRE

Historic Analysis

Soil temperature observations from mid-1960’s

Early records must be digitized

Study Area

Pinney-Purdue Agricultural Center (PPAC) near Wanatah

Soil – Tracy sandy loam

Agronomy Center for Research and Education (ACRE) near West Lafayette

Soil – Russell silt loam

Southern Indiana Purdue Agricultural Center (SIPAC) near Dubois

Soil – Zanesville silt loam

Soil temperature data collecting station (since 1966)

*SIPAC average statistics estimated from 1985 - 2004

Meteorological Variables PPAC ACRE SIPAC

Snow (cm)* 107.8 53.9 23.2

SCI (cm-day)* 710.5 331.5 80.8

Days minimum Tair ≤ 0°C 137.4 131.3 108.0

Precipitation (cm) 94.9 95.1 119.3

Annual Average Statistics

Bare soil PPAC ACRE SIPAC

Soil freeze-thaw cycles

5 cm 29.3 19.5 9.1

10 cm 4.9 9.3 9.5

20 cm - 5.3 0.7

Soil frost days 5 cm 79.3 61.1 22.8

10 cm 24.5 48.8 22.4

20 cm - 33.2 3.1

Freeze-thaw cycles per soil frost days

5 cm 0.37 0.32 0.40

10 cm 0.20 0.19 0.42

20 cm - 0.16 0.23

Average statistics for selected soil frost variables.

PPAC – Annual snowfall (107.8 cm), Soil – Tracy sandy loamACRE – Annual snowfall (53.9 cm), Soil - Russell silt loamSIPAC – Annual snowfall (23.2 cm), Soil – Zanesville silt loam

PPAC ACRE SIPAC

Selected Surface Variables

PPAC ACRE SIPAC

Bare soil at 5 cm soil depth

Watershed Scale Simulations

Distributed Hydrology-Soil-Vegetation Model (DHSVM)

Physically based hydrologic model that represents the effects of Topography Soil Vegetation

Solves the energy and water balance at each grid cell at each timestep

1-D Vertical Water Balance

Surface/Subsurface FlowRedistribution to/from Neighboring Pixels

DHSVM Model Representation

Erosion and Sediment Transport Module

HILLSLOPE EROSION

Soil Moisture Content

CHANNEL ROUTINGPrecipitationLeaf Drip

Infiltration and Saturation Excess Runoff

DHSVM

Q

Qsed

Sediment

MASS WASTING

Erosion

Deposition

ROADEROSION

Sediment

Channel Flow

Yellowwood Lake Watershed

Current land holdings: 80% Yellowwood State

Forest

20% - 55 private owners

Legacy of intensive

agriculture “experiment” in

early 1900’s Highly eroded hill-sides

Large alluvium storage?

Legend

Water

Low Intensity Residential

High Intensity Residential

Commercial/Industrial/Transportation

Bare Rock/Sand/Clay

Quarries/Strip Mines/Gravel Pits

Transitional

Decidous Forest

Evergreen Forest

Mixed Forest

Shrubland

Grasslands/Herbaceous

Pasture/Hay

Row Crops

Small Grains

Urban/Recreational Grasses

Woody Wetlands

Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands

±Source: National Land Cover Data (NLCD) 2001

Cumulative Erosion

Ero

sio

n/D

epo

siti

on

(m

)

Basin Scale Simulations

Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) Hydrology Model

Mosaic Type Land-use Variable Infiltration

Curve Arno Baseflow Curve Full surface energy

balance Full water balance

VIC Model Snow Algorithm

2 Layer Ground Snowpack

Full Energy Balance with Thin Surface Layer

Heat Exchange with Ground Surface

Canopy Interception Wind Profiles

From DHSVM

VIC Model Frozen Soil Algorithm

Heat and moisture fluxes solved independently

Bottom boundary Constant

Temperature Constant Flux

Permafrost capable

Cherkauer and Lettenmaier, 1999

Distributed Frozen SoilTemperature Distribution Ice Content Distribution

VIC-WEPP Coupled Model

- iterated process

30 arc-sec DEM

Soil loss

- original input data

- data processingIterated for sampled slopes

- data for WEPP-HE - intermediate data

Dailyclimate forcing

Hourlyprecipitation

30m DEM

Slope profile

Soil &vegetation

Adjusted erodibility, friction factors, & random roughness

WEPP-HE Code

WEPP model

ArcGIS

Precipitation& runoff output

VIC

Point Simulation: Rosemount, MNWinter 1993-1994

Upper Mississippi River:Average Annual Mean Frost Depth

Winter Spring

Upper Mississippi River:Annual Average Spring 10 cm Soil Moisture

Upper Mississippi RiverAnnual Average Spring Runoff Totals

St. Croix River: Flood of Record Spring 1960

West Lafayette – Bare Soil (10 cm)

Damping Depth = 10 m

No. of Nodes = 8

West Lafayette – Grass Site (10 cm)

Stelle – Grass Site (10 cm)

Land Use Change

Annual Average Differences

Climate Change Simulations

Three models Gfdl Hadcm3 Pcm

Two senarios A1fi – rich and poor equalize, intensive fossil fuel

use B1 – Disparity between rich and poor increases

Precipitation Change

Evapotranspiration Change

Runoff Change

Change in Number of Days with Snow Cover

Change in Number of Days with Soil Frost

Change in First Day with Soil Frost

Change in Last Day with Soil Frost

Soil Frost Simulation Profiles: Spring

Soil Frost Simulation Profiles: Winter

Upper Mississippi River:Winter Sensible Heat Flux

PPAC ACRE SIPAC

Bare soil at 10 cm soil depth