Theory and Application of Time-Variable Transit Times in Hydrologic Systems

Theory
and applicaAon of
Ame-variable transit Ames
in hydrologic systems

CUAHSI Virtual short course

Lecture 1, July 8th 2015
Ciaran Harman
Geography and Environmental
Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
CUAHSI virtual short course

Ciaran Harman, July 8th 2015
Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

transit Ames in hydrologic systems
Why a short course on this?

Lots of recent progress in this area
Steep learning curve for newcomers

Need to connect theory with data
To introduce fundamental concepts
Cut through confusion caused by varying terminology

To put pracAcal tools (i.e. code) in the right hands

Help people with datasets use the new theory
To suggest direcAons for future research

There is much to do!


What this short course is not

An unbiased textbook or review
Narrower scope
Methods reviewed in McGuire and McDonnell (2006) will
not be covered
Focus on pedagogy, rather than covering all literature
SeZled science and methods

AcAve debates are in progress
Terminology and nomenclature vary
Best approach not agreed on

Two types of transport models

Eulerian
ConcentraAon at xed points
Lagrangian
Parcels moving through space
DO above the bed

LTRANS Larval transport model (North et al 2006)
Courtesy
f Jeremy
Testa, UMCES
from www.usglobec.org
CUAHSI
virtual oshort
course
th

Ciaran Harman, July 8 2015
Lumped or integrated
Lagrangian transport
Inow
How do we represent the emergent eect of

- External forcing (e.g. climate)
- Internal processes (e.g. ow pathways)
on the composiAon of the oublow?


Oublow
Why do we want to do this?

Insight into data
Observables are oden
spaAally integrated
Q & C at catchment outlet
Classify behavior
How are sites dierent?
Dominant processes
control emergence

Forward modeling
PredicAons at scale
E.g. subwatersheds in a
larger catchment model
Upscale heterogeneity
Fewer parameters
parameter idenAcaAon
and uncertainty

What is the transport analogue to a

storage-discharge relaAonship?
Emergent empirical relaAonship
at scale of interest
Result of myriad unresolved
processes, but may reect few
dominant processes
Parameters related to
measurable properAes (?)
Kirchner (2009 WRR)

Representa3ve Elementary Watershed (REW) approach

Conserva0on Laws + Closure Rela0ons
+
Upscaled transport conservaAon + closure relaAons?

(Reggiani et al, 1999 AWR)

Can TTD be used for

transport closure relaAons?
At steady-state* ow, yes!
Maloszewski and Zuber (1982, J. Hydr)


Can TTD be used for

transport closure relaAons?
What about 4me-variable ow systems?
TradiAonal methods struggle
External variability
Inows AND oublows
Internal variability
Shiding ow pathways
Eect of spaAal
averaging
McGuire et al 2006

10
A simple example
Mini-LEO
Luke Pangle
Minseok Kim
Peter Troch
Yadi Wang
Charlene Cardoso
Marco Lora
NSF Hydrology grant EAR-1344664
IrrigaAon + tracers
1 m3 loamy sand
Discharge @ seepage face

28 days of periodic irrigaAon

IrrigaAon
Discharge at seepage face
28 days
Total storage (from load cells)


Tracer injecAons show complex

breakthroughs
Deuterium + NaCl
NaCl
NaCl
Deuterium

Observed Ame-varying
transit Ame distribuAons
Wet condiAon
Dry condiAon
External - TTD reects Ame history of irrigaAon

Internal - TTD diers depending on the state of the system

Can internal and external controls be separated?
Can internal part be dis3lled into an underlying closure rela3on?


14
A way forward
Recent work has developed/revived:
1. Rigorous theoreAcal foundaAon
2. ConservaAon laws for water age
3. A framework for developing closure relaAons


15
What well cover today

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Basic terms, steady ow

Unsteady ow
The conservaAon law
Closure relaAons
Example
Q&A


16
Rest of the short course

Session 1 Basic SAS theory
Session 2 Use of the rSAS code
Session 3 Advanced theory and applicaAons
Session 4 ParAcipant presentaAons and
feedback

17

Virtual short course:
1. BASIC TERMS, STEADY FLOW
18
Some basic terminology

Control volume,
the system
Storage :
Solute mass :
Inow rate :
Oublow rate :
Mass ux in :
Mass ux out :
Inow
ConcentraAon is dened by:
Oublow


20
Assump3on 1: OuBlow at 3me t is composed of parcels

w
that arrived as inow at a distribu3on of earlier 3mes
Assump3on 2: Solute is
conserva3ve, so ouBlow
conc. is the average of the
inow conc., weighted by
this distribu3on


21
This is the backward

transit 3me pdf
Assump3ons 3 & 4:
Flow is steady, and this
distribu3on is xed
FracAon of oublow
with exit age between
w
and
is the age (more later)
is the Amestep
Distribu3on is normalized

22
This is the backward

transit 3me distribu3on
FracAon of discharge
younger than T
Discrete:
ConAnuous:
Distribu3on is normalized

23
Now, consider the distribu3on

of ages T that parcels entering at 3me ti
will aUain at the 3me they leave


24
Consider all the parcels of water that:

Arrive as inow at Ame ti
at age T
leave at Ame t
What is the mass of water in these parAcular parcels?
in terms of the backward TTD
in terms of the forward TTD
At steady state ow

Thus at steady state:
forward and backward

TTD are iden3cal!


26
1. Mass of solute in oublow is:

4. Cancelling Q(t):
Discrete convolu3on
5. In the limit of small :
2. Using concentraAon instead of mass:
Con3nuous convolu3on
6. Sewng
3. But since
Equivalent form


Unobserved fracAon
Unknown conc.

Assump3ons 5:
We can assign a
concentra3on Cold to old
water that entered before t0
w
Including unobserved fracAon:

28

2. UNSTEADY FLOW

29
A simple case to introduce some concepts
well-mixed
or, uniform selecAon

30
1. ConservaAon of mass for a control volume and conservaAve solute:
2. The well-mixed or uniform selecAon

assumpAon allows us to write:
3. The soluAon comes out as

a convoluAon with a Ame-varying
backwards transit Ame distribuAon!


see e.g. BoZer et al (2011 GRL)
Linear reservoir
Fixed storage
Flow weighted age

reference
discharge
Turnover rate at Q=Q0

Steady-state


The backward TTD

is now 3me-varying!
Assump3ons 3 & 4
Flow is NOT steady

This distribu3on is NOT xed
w
DistribuAon depends on
(condiAonal on)
the exit Ame


33
What about the forward transit Ame distribuAon?

Recall the equivalence of water parcels that:
arrive as inow at Ame ti
at age T
leave at Ame t
Niemis theorem
(Niemi 1977)


A claricaAon of terms
Transit Ame
Age
Residence Ame
Entry Ame
Birth
Life expectancy
Time
Exit Ame
Death
e.g. Benewn et al (2015)


35
A claricaAon of terms
Backward transit 0me distribu0on
DistribuAon of age at death
for parAcles with
Forward transit 0me distribu0on
DistribuAon of life expectancy at birth
for parAcles with
Residence 0me distribu0on
DistribuAon of ages of parcels
inside the system at
Life expectancy distribu0on
DistribuAon of life expectancy of parcels


36
The shorthand used here

Backward transit 0me distribu0on
DistribuAon of age at death
for parAcles with
Forward transit 0me distribu0on
DistribuAon of life expectancy at birth
for parAcles with
Residence 0me distribu0on
DistribuAon of ages of parcels
Life expectancy distribu0on
DistribuAon of life expectancy of parcels


37
Niemis theorem
Oublow
at Ame t
Inow
at Ame ti
FracAon of oublow at Ame t

with age at death

FracAon of inow at Ame ti

with life-expectancy at birth

Assump3ons 3 & 4
Flow is NOT steady

This distribu3on is NOT xed
The forward TTD

is also 3me-varying!
w
DistribuAon depends on
(condiAonal on)
the input Ame


39
NoAce how at T=0

the scaled distribuAons match


40


41


42
In short, under unsteady ow:

Forward and backward transit Ame distribuAons
dont look like nice funcAons
Reect the Ame-variability of the external uxes
and the variable internal processes
(in this case simple diluAon)


43
But what if my hydrologic system

has mulAple oublows (e.g. discharge, ET)?
is not well-mixed?
w
has Ame variable internal processes?
i.e. it is a real system!


44
To construct a framework that can deal with these

complexiAes we have to start thinking about storage:

1. How does the populaAon of parcels
stored in the system change as parcels ConservaAon Law
arrive and depart?

2. How are parcels in the oublow
Closure RelaAons
selected from the parcels in storage?


45

3. THE CONSERVATION LAW


46
Residence Ame PMF/PDF
Residence Ame CDF
FracAon of storage at Ame

w Ame,
with an age, or residence
between and

with an age, or residence Ame,
less than
w


47
To normalize, or not to normalize

There are advantages to leaving all the
distribu3ons un-normalized, and dening:
Age-ranked storage
Age-ranked storage density
Age-ranked ux
Age-ranked ux density


48
DerivaAon of a conservaAon law

What happens to the water that enters
between Ame ti and t?
Amount in the control volume
Amount of water younger
than T = t - ti at Ame t
Rate of increase
The inows are always of age less than T
Rate of decrease
Rate of oublow of water younger
than T = t - ti at Ame t


49
DerivaAon of a conservaAon law

Therefore by conservaAon of mass:
SubsAtuAng ti = t - T and using the chain rule gives:


50
ConservaAon law #1
Harman (2015, WRR)
Rate water in storage
is gewng older than a given T
Rate of change of storage

younger than a given age T
Rate of inow
Rate of oublow
younger than a given age T
Boundary condiAon:


51
ConservaAon law #2
van der Velde et. al. (2012, WRR)
Taking the derivaAve of the previous equaAon
with respect to T gives:


52
ConservaAon law #2
van der Velde et. al. (2012, WRR)
As pointed out by Porporato and Calabrese (2015, WRR)
this is actually the McKendrick-von Foerster equaAon
for age-structured populaAon dynamics:
Deaths [#/Ame]
Births [#/Ame]
There is a rich history of research on this equaAon.


53
ConservaAon law #3
BoZer et. al. (2011, GRL)
SubsAtuAng the normalized PDFs back in and
expanding the derivaAves gives the master equaAon:


54
Extension to mulAple oublows

Easy to account for more than one path out:
PrecipitaAon
Discharge
EvapotranspiraAon Groundwater
Note: Niemis Theorem and the forward TTD become more complicated
see BoZer et al (2010 WRR), Harman (2015 WRR)

55
So we have the conservaAon law

CumulaAve form:
Density form:
But to solve any of these we need more equaAons!

In parAcular: how do we determine the ux out?


56
Lets take a
5 MIN BREAK
57
So we have the conservaAon law

CumulaAve form:
Density form:
But to solve any of these we need more equaAons!

In parAcular: how do we determine the ux out?
58

4. CLOSURE RELATIONS

59
Several ways to express the problem

Discharge of age T
Porporato and Calabrese (2015 WRR)
McKendrick (1925), von Foerster (1959)
Loss funcAon,
or death rate
Storage of age T
% Discharge of age T
BoZer et al (2011 GRL)
van der Velde et al (2011 WRR)
Age funcAon
absolute StorAge SelecAon funcAon (aSAS)
STOP funcAon
frac3onal StorAge SelecAon funcAon (fSAS)
% Storage of age T
% Discharge of age percenAle PS

% Storage of age percenAle PS
% Discharge of age-rank ST
Harman (2015 WRR)

rank StorAge SelecAon funcAon (rSAS)

Storage of age-rank ST
60
Some contrived examples


61
Loss funcAon, or death rate


62
absolute StorAge SelecAon funcAon


63
fSAS uses a change of variables

Residence Ame CDF
less than
w
So let us dene a new CDF where:
when
Taking the derivaAve w.r.t. T gives:
For every T, there is a PS

E.g. when T = 10 we have PS = 0.4
The fSAS func0on

is a PDF on the interval [0,1]

64
frac3onal StorAge SelecAon funcAon


65
rSAS uses a dierent

change of variables
Age-ranked storage
Amount of storage at Ame
less than
So let us dene a new CDF where:
when
Taking the derivaAve w.r.t. T gives:
For every T, there is an ST

E.g. when T = 10 we have ST
= 3.8 m3
The fSAS func0on

is a PDF on the interval [0,S(t)]
66
rank StorAge SelecAon funcAon


67
The transport
column analogy


68
What do these look like

for a well-mixed system?
Discharge of age T
Loss funcAon,
or death rate
Storage of age T
% Discharge of age T
Age funcAon
STOP funcAon
% Storage of age T
% Discharge of age percenAle PS

% Storage of age percenAle PS
% Discharge of age-rank ST
Storage of age-rank ST
69


70


71


72


73
The transport
column analogy


74
Which one to use?

aSAS has normalizaAon problem
This implies cannot be chosen unless is known!
mu predicts Q amount and composiAon

Increases the stakes in choosing mu to match data

Which one to use?

Recall: we are looking for a way to express the
emergent principle underlying transport
Both aSAS and mu assume age controls the
death rate
Reasonable in populaAon models, but what about
hydrologic/hydraulic systems?


76
Consider a simple plug ow system

What do the dierent storage selecAon funcAons look like?
Hint: All discharge is drawn from

the oldest water in the system
- funcAon

77
Closure relaAons for plug ow

Loss funcAon,
or death rate
Tmax will vary due to

variaAons in the inow
Age funcAon
STOP funcAon
Both these expressions

are invariant in Ame

* The version of this slide used in

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable the presentaAon contained an
78
error that has been corrected


79


80


81


82
The transport
column analogy


83
Which one to use?

Debate conAnues
but seem to be good reasons to choose
fSAS or rSAS over aSAS or mu
In hydrologic/hydraulic systems, exit probability:
more related to locaAon in storage (PS, ST)
than to actual age (T)


84
Which one to use?

So what about rSAS vs fSAS?
I prefer rSAS
Result is a probability distribuAon over storage
More physically intuiAve
More likely to elegantly capture
storage-dependent transport dynamics
DistribuAon insensiAve to (possibly arbitrary) decisions
about the total size of the system
E.g. where is the lower boundary of a watershed?


85

4. EXAMPLE

86
Back to the simple example

Mini-LEO
Luke Pangle
Minseok Kim
Peter Troch
Yadi Wang
Charlene Cardoso
Marco Lora
NSF Hydrology grant EAR-1344664
IrrigaAon + tracers
1 m3 loamy sand
Discharge @ seepage face



88
Empirically observed Ame-varying

storage selecAon funcAons!


89
More informaAon on how this was

done will be given in Week 3
Or you can read our paper: Harman and Kim (2014 GRL)

90
Smin iniAal delay zone
Sf fast zone
Sd dynamic zone
Ss slow zone


91
FuncAonal storage zones change as

the system hydraulics change
Smin iniAal delay zone
Sd dynamic zone
Sf fast zone
Ss slow zone


92
The volume of these zones is directly

related to the saturated pore volume


93
Empirical observaAons, and model-free validaAon of observed rSAS
HYDRUS-2D model


FuncAonal zones inferred

from Zed distribuAon
So how can I use this in my system?

Next week:
choosing an rSAS funcAonal form
wng its parameters using tracer data
In the meanAme
Look out for a problem sheet coming later today
Keep gewng up to speed with Python (2.7+)
Review this lecture and post quesAons on the
rsas_users google group

95

6. QUESTIONS?

96
References
BoZer, G., E. Bertuzzo, and A. Rinaldo (2010), Transport in the hydrologic response: Travel Ame
distribuAons, soil moisture dynamics, and the old water paradox, Water Resour. Res., 46(3), doi:
10.1029/2009WR008371.
MKendrick, A. (1925), ApplicaAons of mathemaAcs to medical problems, Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc., 44,
98130.
von Foerster, H. (1959), Some remarks on changing populaAons, in The KineAcs of Cellular ProliferaAon,
edited by J. F. Stohlman, pp. 382407, Grune and StraZon, N. Y.
Harman, C. J., and M. Kim (2014), An ecient tracer test for Ame-variable transit Ame distribuAons in
periodic hydrodynamic systems, Geophysical Research LeUers, 41(5), 15671575, doi:
10.1002/2013GL058980.



97
References
Niemi, A. J. (1977), Residence Ame distribuAons of variable ow processes, The Interna3onal Journal of
Applied Radia3on and Isotopes, 28(10-11), 855860, doi:10.1016/0020-708X(77)90026-6.
Benewn, P., A. Rinaldo, and G. BoZer (2015), Tracking residence Ames in hydrological systems: forward
and backward formulaAons, Hydrological Processes, doi:10.1002/hyp.10513.
van der Velde, Y., P. J. J. F. Torfs, S. E. A. T. M. van der Zee, and R. Uijlenhoet (2012), QuanAfying
catchment-scale mixing and its eect on Ame-varying travel Ame distribuAons, Water Resour. Res., 48,
doi:10.1029/2011WR011310.
Porporato, A., and S. Calabrese (2015), On the probabilisAc structure of water age, Water Resour. Res., 51,
35883600, doi:10.1002/2015WR017027.
Kirchner, J. W. (2009), Catchments as simple dynamical systems: Catchment characterizaAon, rainfall-
runo modeling, and doing hydrology backward, Water Resour. Res., 45(2), doi:10.1029/2008WR006912.
Reggiani, P., M. Sivapalan, S. M. Hassanizadeh, and W. G. Gray (1999), A unifying framework of watershed
thermodynamics: consAtuAve relaAonships, Advances in Water Resources, 23, 1539.
Maoszewski, P., and A. Zuber (1982), Determining the turnover Ame of groundwater systems with the aid
of environmental tracers, Journal of Hydrology, 57(3-4), 207231, doi:10.1016/0022-1694(82)90147-0.
McGuire, K., and J. J. McDonnell (2006), A review and evaluaAon of catchment transit Ame modeling,
Journal of Hydrology, 330(3-4), 543563.


98

Theory and Application of Time-Variable Transit Times in Hydrologic Systems

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Theory and Application of Time-Variable Transit Times in Hydrologic Systems

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Theory

CUAHSI Virtual short course

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Why a short course on this?

Steep learning curve for newcomers

To introduce fundamental concepts

Cut through confusion caused by varying terminology

To put pracAcal tools (i.e. code) in the right hands

To suggest direcAons for future research

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

What this short course is not

Focus on pedagogy, rather than covering all literature

SeZled science and methods

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Two types of transport models

DO above the bed

How do we represent the emergent eect of

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Why do we want to do this?

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

What is the transport analogue to a

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Representa3ve Elementary Watershed (REW) approach

Upscaled transport conservaAon + closure relaAons?

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Can TTD be used for

Maloszewski and Zuber (1982, J. Hydr)

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Can TTD be used for

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Discharge @ seepage face

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

28 days of periodic irrigaAon

Discharge at seepage face

Total storage (from load cells)

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Tracer injecAons show complex

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

External - TTD reects Ame history of irrigaAon

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

What well cover today

Basic terms, steady ow

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Rest of the short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

1. BASIC TERMS, STEADY FLOW

Some basic terminology

ConcentraAon is dened by:

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

Assump3on 1: OuBlow at 3me t is composed of parcels

CUAHSI virtual short course

Theory and applicaAon of Ame-variable

This is the backward