Lag times as indicators of hydrological mechanisms responsible for NO$_3$-N flushing in a forested headwater catchment

Lebar, Klaudija (avtor), Vidmar, Andrej (avtor), Bezak, Nejc (avtor), Rusjan, Simon (avtor)

Understanding the temporal variability of the nutrient transport from catchments is essential for planning nutrient loss reduction measures related to land use and climate change. Moreover, observations and analysis of nutrient dynamics in streams draining undisturbed catchments are known to represent a reference point by which human-influenced catchments can be compared. In this paper, temporal dynamics of nitrate-nitrogen (NO$_3$-N) flux are investigated on an event basis by analysing observed lag times between data series. More specifically, we studied lag times between the centres of mass of six hydrological and biogeochemical variables, namely discharge, soil moisture at three depths, NO$_3$-N flux, and the precipitation hyetograph centre of mass. Data obtained by high-frequency measurements (20 min time step) from 29 events were analysed. Linear regression and multiple linear regression (MLR) were used to identify relationships between lag times of the above-mentioned processes. We found that discharge lag time (LAG$_Q$) and NO$_3$-N flux lag time (LAG$_N$) are highly correlated indicating similar temporal response to rainfall. Moreover, relatively high correlation between LAG$_N$ and soil moisture lag times was also detected. The MLR model showed that the most descriptive variable for both LAG$_N$ and LAG$_Q$ is amount of precipitation. For LAG$_N$, the change of the soil moisture in the upper two layers was also significant, suggesting that the lag times indicate the primarily role of the forest soils as the main source of the NO$_3$-N flux, whereas the precipitation amount and the runoff formation through the forest soils are the main controlling mechanisms.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: hydrological processes, soil moisture, precipitation, runoff, nitrate flux, forested catchment, time lag
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FGG - Fakulteta za gradbeništvo in geodezijo
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2020
• Št. strani: 13 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 12, iss. 4, art. 1092
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-128465
• UDK: 556
• ISSN pri članku: 2073-4441
• DOI: 10.3390/w12041092
• COBISS.SI-ID: 9113441
• Datum objave v RUL: 14.07.2021

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Water
• Skrajšan naslov: Water
• Založnik: Molecular Diversity Preservation International - MDPI
• ISSN: 2073-4441
• COBISS.SI-ID: 36731653

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.
• Začetek licenciranja: 12.04.2020

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: hidrološki procesi, vlažnost tal, padavine, odtok, gozdnato porečje, čas zakasnitve

Projekti

• Financer: ARRS - Agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije
• Program financ.: PhD grant

• Financer: ARRS - Agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije
• Številka projekta: P2-0180
• Naslov: Vodarstvo in geotehnika: orodja in metode za analize in simulacije procesov ter razvoj tehnologij