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Combined use of spot samples and continuous integrated sampling in a study of storm runoff from a lowland catchment in the south of England
Author(s) -
GkritzalisPapadopoulos A.,
Palmer M. R.,
Mowlem M. C.
Publication year - 2011
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.8237
Subject(s) - surface runoff , hydrology (agriculture) , storm , hydrography , environmental science , sampling (signal processing) , drainage basin , vegetation (pathology) , subsurface flow , catchment hydrology , streamflow , surface water , flushing , groundwater , geology , oceanography , ecology , environmental engineering , geography , medicine , geotechnical engineering , cartography , filter (signal processing) , pathology , endocrinology , computer science , computer vision , biology
We have used two different sampling techniques to study the geochemical response of a small lowland rural catchment to episodic storm runoff. The first method involves traditional daily spot sampling and has been used to develop a standard end‐member mixing analysis (EMMA) of the relative contributions of ground water flow and surface runoff to the total stream flow. The second method utilizes a continuous sampling device, powered by an osmotic pump, to produce an integrated 24‐h sample of the stream flow. When combined with the EMMA results from the spot samples, analyses of the integrated samples reveal the presence of a third component that makes a significant contribution to the dissolved NO 3 , Ca and K export from the catchment during the rising limb of the hydrographic profile of a storm event following a prolonged dry period. The storm occurred in the middle of the night, so that the response of the stream chemistry was not captured by the daily samples. We hypothesize that this third component is derived from the flushing of stored soil water that contains the geochemical signature of decaying vegetation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.