Premium
A model of dissolved organic carbon concentrations in soil and stream waters
Author(s) -
Grieve Ian. C.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.3360050310
Subject(s) - dissolved organic carbon , hydrology (agriculture) , drainage basin , environmental science , organic matter , soil water , total organic carbon , drainage , environmental chemistry , soil science , chemistry , geology , ecology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , organic chemistry , geography , biology
The release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) into drainage waters was modelled using the hydrology of the Birkenes model of stream water chemistry and estimated parameters for the formation and decay of soluble organic matter in the soil. The model was first tested against soil water DOC concentrations over a three year period in the Loch Dee catchment in southwest Scotland. It predicted annual cycles in DOC at one site, but underestimated maximum DOC in the first year, overestimated in the following year, and predicted values very similar to the measured values in the third year. With small modifications to the parameters controlling organic matter addition and decay it successfully predicted DOC variations at two other soil water sites with smaller mean DOC. Further tests were made against short‐term DOC variations in a stream draining a subcatchment of Loch Ard in west‐central Scotland, using the same decay and addition parameters. Prediction of temporal variation was good, although predicted concentrations were about 25 per cent less than measured values. Considerable potential for the use of fully optimized models of DOC production in soil and stream waters is identified on the basis of these results.