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Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson
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Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Dec 16, 2015

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Page 1: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System

Using WRTDS

Alex MaestreAmy Ward

Derek Williamson

Page 2: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Agenda

● Nutrient contributions by the MARS watershed into the Gulf of Mexico

● MARS watershed● Discharge and Water Quality Data● Flux Estimates Calculations in Kg/Km²/y● WRTDS: Weighted Regression on Time,

Discharge, and Season

Page 3: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Nutrient Fluxes into Coastal Areas

● During the period 1976 – 2000, global ocean oxygen concentrations were declining faster in the coastal ocean than in the open ocean for depths between 0 – 300 meters (Gilbert et al, 2010).

● Nutrient is the main driver behind the expansion of coastal hypoxic conditions (Rabalais et al, 2010).

Page 4: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Source: Dynamics and distribution of natural and human-caused hypoxia, Rabalais et al 2010

Page 5: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Nutrient Fluxes and MARS● The Mobile – Alabama River System (MARS)

is the second largest basin that discharges into the Gulf of Mexico (TMDL, Nutrient Criteria).

● Previous studies conducted at the University of Alabama indicated that MARS is Nitrogen retentive.

● What are the nutrient fluxes by each of the major basins of the MARS?

● We are exploring the use and improvement of WRTDS for the estimation of nutrient fluxes

Page 6: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Source: http://al.water.usgs.gov/nawqa/mobl

Mobile – Alabama River Basin

Page 7: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Coosa – Tallapoosa - Cahaba

Coosa River(Jordan Dam)02411000

Tallapoosa River(Near Montgomery)02419890

Cahaba River(Marion Junction)02425000

Page 8: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Alabama River

Alabama River(at Claiborne)02428400

Page 9: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Black Warrior River

Black Warrior(Near Eutaw)02428400

Locust ForkMulberry Fork

Page 10: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Tombigbee and Sipsey River

Sipsey River (Near El Rod)02446500

Upper Tombigbee (Near Pickensville)02444160

Lower Tombigbee (at Coffeeville )02469762

Page 11: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Sources of InformationFlow data:

• Downloaded from the National Water Information System (NWIS)

• Current rating curves were not found on-line• Stations located in dams with locks• Some stations out of service

Water quality data:

• Downloaded using storage and retrieval data warehouse (STORET) and NWIS.

• Gaps in water quality time series. • Changes in analytical methods, detection limits, etc.

Page 12: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 13: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Water Quality Samples Used in the Analysis

River Period USGS ADEM nAlabama 1973 -2010 02428400 162-CLAM-1 89 - 292

Lower Tombigbee 1971 -2011 02469762 43-COFC-1 62 -255

Tallapoosa 2005 -2012 02419890 164-TARE-1 24 - 82

Coosa 2005 -2012 2411000 79-COSE-1 77

Upper Tombigbee 1991 -2011 02444160 174-ALIP-1 49 - 118

Black Warrior 1978 -2011 02466031 108-WARG-1 67 - 157

Cahaba 2000 -2010 02425000 67-DANW-6 14 - 18

Sipsey 1980 -2011 02446500 852-SPYG-3 33 - 54

Ammonia TKN Nitrite + Nitrate Phosphate Orthophosphate

Page 14: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Estimation of Concentrations and FluxesUsing WRTDS

●Estimation by weighted regression on time, discharge, and season

●R

●Uses a weight function

Page 15: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

WRTDS - Requirements

●At least 200 samples

●Samples collected for 20 years

●Complete record of daily discharge

●Decide how to use censored observations

●Samples should be representative of the cross section

●Not appropriate for small streams

Page 16: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

WRTDS - Example

Concentration(Discrete Samples)

Discharge(Continuous Series)

Page 17: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

WRTDS

Page 18: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 19: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 20: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 21: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 22: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Unusual Extreme Event

Upper Tombigbee

Limitations

Page 23: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Flux Estimates

Page 24: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 25: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 26: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 27: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 28: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.
Page 29: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Conclusions● The weighted regression method appears to generate

a more credible concentration estimates than the traditional linear regression methods because it is adjusting the parameters of the model with time

● The existing datasets of the Alabama, Tombigbee, Black Warrior, and Sipsey rivers appear to be appropriate for the use of WRTDS

● More samples are needed in the Cahaba, Coosa, and Tallapoosa rivers to take full advantage of the capabilities of the model. However, preliminary analysis show promising results even with small datasets

Page 30: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Conclusions● Sampling efforts in major rivers of the MARS need to

be distributed throughout the whole year and involving the collection of samples during extreme events

● The measurement and/or estimation of daily discharges are critical for WRTDS. There is a need to generate and make available rating curves to complete gaps and missing records of active streamflow-gaging stations

Page 31: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Acknowledgements

All the agencies that collect, analyze, and distribute information about the quantity and quality of the water in rivers and streams of the U.S.

Acknowledgement of support from NSF EPSCoR EPS-1010607, in collaboration with the Northern Gulf Coastal Hazards Collaboratory.

http://ngchc.org

Page 32: Nutrient Fluxes in Rivers of the Mobile – Alabama River System Using WRTDS Alex Maestre Amy Ward Derek Williamson.

Questions?