ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2938-8374
Current Organisations
Monash University
,
University of British Columbia
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In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Water Resources Engineering | Environmental Science and Management | Environmental Engineering Modelling | Environmental Engineering | Environmental Engineering not elsewhere classified | Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing | Hydrogeology | Civil Engineering | Land Capability And Soil Degradation | Natural Resource Management | Ecosystem Function | Conservation and Biodiversity | Terrestrial Ecology | Environmental Monitoring |
Climate Change Mitigation Strategies | Remnant Vegetation and Protected Conservation Areas in Urban and Industrial Environments | Atmospheric Composition (incl. Greenhouse Gas Inventory) | Land and water management | Integration of Farm and Forestry | Scientific instrumentation | Urban and Industrial Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Water Allocation and Quantification | Land and water management | Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation not elsewhere classified | Expanding Knowledge in the Environmental Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | Forest and Woodlands Water Management | Coastal and Estuarine Water Management
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 03-2014
DOI: 10.1002/2013WR014834
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 11-2017
DOI: 10.1002/2017WR021097
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 14-04-2020
Abstract: Abstract. Understanding recharge in semi-arid areas is important for the sustainable management of groundwater resources. This study focuses on estimating groundwater recharge rates and understanding the impacts of land-use changes on recharge in a semi-arid area. Two adjacent catchments in southeast Australia were cleared ~180 years ago following European settlement in one of these catchments eucalypt plantation forest was subsequently established ~ 20 years ago. Chloride mass balance yields recharge rates of 0.2 to 61.6 mm yr−1 (typically up to 11.2 mm yr−1). The lower of these values probably represent recharge rates prior to land clearing, whereas the higher likely reflects recharge rates following initial land clearing. The low pre-land clearing recharge rates are consistent with the presence of groundwater that has residence times that are up to 24,700 years (calculated using radiocarbon) and the moderate to low hydraulic conductivities (0.31 to 0.002 m day−1) of the clay-rich aquifers. Recharge rates estimated from tritium activities and water table fluctuations reflect those following the initial land clearing. However, recharge rates estimated using water table fluctuations (15 to 500 mm yr−1) are significantly higher than those estimated using tritium renewal rates (0.01 to 89 mm yr−1 typically
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 12-07-2019
DOI: 10.1029/2019GL083373
Abstract: Land‐surface partitioning of net radiation into sensible and latent heat fluxes is critical for hydroclimatic processes but remains highly uncertain due to limited observations. We show that a suitable extension of the Budyko's curve, a well‐known framework in hydrology for water balance estimation, can be utilized effectively to partition the surface energy fluxes by expressing the long‐term evaporative fraction (EF) as a function of the dryness index only. The combination of this energy partitioning method with hydrological observations allows us to estimate the surface energy components at watershed and continental scales. Using this new framework, we show that North American Regional Reanalysis data overestimate surface evaporation, likely influencing the modeling of atmospheric convection. The obtained hydrologic constrains on energy partitioning can be used to provide more accurate estimations of surface energy fluxes for hydroclimatic predictions.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2014
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 20-04-2022
Abstract: Abstract. The Millennium Drought lasted more than a decade, and is notable for causing persistent shifts in the relationship between rainfall and runoff in many south-east Australian catchments. Research to date has successfully characterised where and when shifts occurred and explored relationships with potential drivers, but a convincing physical explanation for observed changes in catchment behaviour is still lacking. Originating from a large multi-disciplinary workshop, this paper presents a range of possible process explanations of flow response, and then evaluates these hypotheses against available evidence. The hypotheses consider climatic forcing, vegetation, soil moisture dynamics, groundwater, and anthropogenic influence. The hypotheses are assessed against evidence both temporally (eg. why was the Millennium Drought different to previous droughts?) and spatially (eg. why did rainfall-runoff relationships shift in some catchments but not in others?). The results point to the unprecedented length of the drought as the primary climatic driver, paired with interrelated groundwater processes, including: declines in groundwater storage, reduced recharge associated with vadose zone expansion, and reduced connection between subsurface and surface water processes. Other causes include increased evaporative demand and interception of runoff by small private dams. Finally, we discuss the need for long-term field monitoring, particularly targeting internal catchment processes and subsurface dynamics. We recommend continued investment in understanding of hydrological shifts, particularly given their relevance to water planning under climate variability and change.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-11-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-019-13390-0
Abstract: An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-12-2021
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 31-03-2022
Abstract: Abstract. Modelling the water transport along the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum is fundamental to estimating and predicting transpiration fluxes. A Finite-difference Ecosystem-scale Tree Crown Hydrodynamics model (FETCH3) for the water fluxes across the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum is presented here. The model combines the water transport pathways into one vertical dimension, and assumes that the water flow through the soil, roots, and above-ground xylem can be approximated as flow in porous media. This results in a system of three partial differential equations, resembling the Richardson–Richards equation, describing the transport of water through the plant system and with additional terms representing sinks and sources for the transfer of water from the soil to the roots and from the leaves to the atmosphere. The numerical scheme, developed in Python 3, was tested against exact analytical solutions for steady state and transient conditions using simplified but realistic model parameterizations. The model was also used to simulate a previously published case study, where observed transpiration rates were available, to evaluate model performance. With the same model setup as the published case study, FETCH3 results were in agreement with observations. Through a rigorous coupling of soil, root xylem, and stem xylem, FETCH3 can account for variable water capacitance, while conserving mass and the continuity of the water potential between these three layers. FETCH3 provides a ready-to-use open access numerical model for the simulation of water fluxes across the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 12-2005
DOI: 10.1029/2005WR004488
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 16-10-2006
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 05-2007
DOI: 10.1029/2006WR005356
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 06-07-2020
Abstract: Abstract. The bio-physical processes occurring in the unsaturated zone have a direct impact on the water table dynamics. Conceptual models, with a simplified representation of the unsaturated zone dynamics, are often selected for coupling to groundwater models, while physically-based models are widely used, particularly at the field scale, for an accurate representation of the water transport. The recharge rates estimated by these Unsaturated Zone Models (UZMs) can then be used as input for groundwater models. Because recharge estimates are always affected by uncertainty, model-data fusion methods, such as data assimilation, can be used to reduce the uncertainty in the model results. In this study, the required complexity (i.e. conceptual versus physically-based) of the unsaturated zone model to update groundwater models through the assimilation of evapotranspiration (ET) rates is assessed for a water-limited site in South Australia. ET rates are assimilated because they have been shown to be related to the groundwater table dynamics, and thus form the link between remote sensing data and the deeper parts of the soil profile. It has been found that, under the test site conditions, a conceptual UZM can be used to improve groundwater model results through the assimilation of ET rates.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2019
DOI: 10.1002/HYP.13610
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 11-2008
DOI: 10.1029/2007WR006371
Publisher: American Meteorological Society
Date: 06-2004
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 08-2015
DOI: 10.1002/2015JG003047
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-05-2015
DOI: 10.1002/HYP.10475
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-2016
DOI: 10.1002/MET.1594
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 25-06-2013
DOI: 10.1021/JF401212N
Abstract: This study proposes a comprehensive reaction network of the soil microbial breakdown of the main compounds in human urine to the end products NH₃ and NH₄⁺. A reactive model was developed and parameters were determined against experimental data. The model was used to assess the amount and release rate of NH₃ and NH₄⁺ in a soil control volume flushed with (i) pulses of urine at various dilutions and (ii) a continuous flow of urine at various dilutions and flow rates. In scenario i, 90% of incoming organic nitrogen was converted to NH₃ and NH₄⁺ between 5 and 20 days from application at rates strongly dependent on the initial microbial soil content. Urea and hippuric acid were largely correlated to NH₃ and NH₄⁺ release, whereas microbial functional groups in the same scenarios were poorly correlated with NH₃ and NH₄⁺ release. In scenario ii, 90% conversion was generally reached for low flow rates and was highly nonlinear with the dilution. Finally, a stochastic analysis showed that urine decomposition was more sensitive to uncertainty in microbial growth rate parameters than half-saturation concentrations.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2013.01.035
Abstract: Designed, green infrastructures are becoming a customary feature of the urban landscape. Sustainable technologies for stormwater management, and biofilters in particular, are increasingly used to reduce stormwater runoff volumes and peaks as well as improve the water quality of runoff discharged into urban water bodies. Although a lot of research has been devoted to these technologies, their effect in terms of greenhouse gas fluxes in urban areas has not been yet investigated. We present the first study aimed at quantifying greenhouse gas fluxes between the soil of stormwater biofilters and the atmosphere. N2O, CH4, and CO2 were measured periodically over a year in two operational vegetated biofiltration cells at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. One cell had a saturated zone at the bottom, and compost and hardwood mulch added to the sandy loam filter media. The other cell had no saturated zone and was composed of sandy loam. Similar sedges were planted in both cells. The biofilter soil was a small N2O source and a sink for CH4 for most measurement events, with occasional large emissions of both N2O and CH4 under very wet conditions. Average N2O fluxes from the cell with the saturated zone were almost five-fold greater (65.6 μg N2O-N m(-2) h(-1)) than from the other cell (13.7 μg N2O-N m(-2) h(-1)), with peaks up to 1100 μg N2O-N m(-2) h(-1). These N2O fluxes are of similar magnitude to those measured in other urban soils, but with larger peak emissions. The CH4 sink strength of the cell with the saturated zone (-3.8 μg CH4-C m(-2) h(-1)) was lower than the other cell (-18.3 μg CH4-C m(-2) h(-1)). Both cells of the biofilter appeared to take up CH4 at similar rates to other urban lawn systems however, the biofilter cells displayed occasional large CH4 emissions following inflow events, which were not seen in other urban systems. CO2 fluxes increased with soil temperature in both cells, and in the cell without the saturated zone CO2 fluxes decreased as soil moisture increased. Other studies of CO2 fluxes from urban soils have found both similar and larger CO2 emissions than those measured in the biofilter. The results of this study suggest that the greenhouse gas footprint of stormwater treatment warrant consideration in the planning and implementation of engineered green infrastructures.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2013
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 03-10-2012
Abstract: We study the dynamics of systems with deterministic trajectories randomly forced by instantaneous discontinuous jumps occurring according to two different compound Poisson processes. One process, with constant frequency, causes instantaneous positive random increments, whereas the second process has a state-dependent frequency and describes negative jumps that force the system to restart from zero (renewal jumps). We obtain the probability distributions of the state variable and the magnitude and intertimes of the jumps to zero. This modelling framework is used to describe snow-depth dynamics on mountain hillsides, where the positive jumps represent snowfall events, whereas the jumps to zero describe avalanches. The probability distributions of snow depth, together with the statistics of avalanche magnitude and occurrence, are used to explain the correlation between avalanche occurrence and snowfall as a function of hydrologic, terrain slope and aspect parameters. This information is synthesized into a ‘prediction entropy’ function that gives the level of confidence of avalanche occurrence prediction in relation to terrain properties.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 12-2019
DOI: 10.1029/2019WR025952
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1029/2020EF001806
Abstract: Water smart cities are increasing their use of irrigation and misting to cope with extreme heat and drought. This is being enabled by widespread use of rainwater tanks, stormwater capture and storage systems, and recycled sewage wastewater to irrigate street trees as well as private and public green spaces. These alternative water resources provide new options for cities to better withstand and function under extreme summer heatwave conditions with little or no impact on drinking water supplies. Small‐scale approaches to evaporatively cool urban animals, vegetation habitat, and people are showing initial success. However, ongoing testing and modeling are needed to understand the impacts of scaling up these interventions and to evaluate their cost‐effectiveness. We describe current innovations in irrigation of Australian cities to help policy development in other countries and cities experiencing similar climates with episodic summer heatwaves.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-05-2009
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-04-2020
DOI: 10.3390/W12041067
Abstract: Soil salinization is a major environmental issue in arid and semi-arid regions, and has been accelerated in some areas by removal of native vegetation cover. Partial afforestation can be a practical mitigation strategy if efficiently integrated with farms and pastures. Using an integrated surface-subsurface hydrological model, this study evaluates the water and salt dynamics and soil salinization conditions of a rural intermittent catchment in the semi-arid climate of southeast Australia subjected to four different partial afforestation configurations under different climate change scenarios, as predicted by several general circulation models. The results show that the locations of afforested areas can induce a retarding effect in the outflow of groundwater salt, with tree planting at lower elevations showing the steadier salt depletion rates. Moreover, except for the configuration with trees planted near the outlet of the catchment, the streamflow is maintained under all other configurations. It appears that under both Representative Concentration Pathways considered (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5), the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model represents the fastest salt export scheme, whereas the Canadian Earth System Model and the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate represent the slowest salt export scheme. Overall, it is found that the location of partial afforestation generally plays a more significant role than the climate change scenarios.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 03-2008
DOI: 10.1029/2007WR006108
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 05-2020
DOI: 10.1029/2019WR026192
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 05-09-2019
DOI: 10.5194/GMD-2019-225
Abstract: Abstract. Increasing urbanization is likely to intensify the urban heat island effect, decrease outdoor thermal comfort and enhance runoff generation in cities. Urban green spaces are often proposed as a mitigation strategy to counteract these adverse effects and many recent developments of urban climate models focus on the inclusion of green and blue infrastructure to inform urban planning. However, many models still lack the ability to account for different plant types and oversimplify the interactions between the built environment, vegetation, and hydrology. In this study, we present an urban ecohydrological model, Urban Tethys-Chloris (UT& C), that combines principles of ecosystem modelling with an urban canopy scheme accounting for the biophysical and ecophysiological characteristics of roof vegetation, ground vegetation and urban trees. UT& C is a fully coupled energy and water balance model that calculates 2 m air temperature, 2 m humidity, and surface temperatures based on the infinite urban canyon approach. It further calculates all urban hydrological fluxes, including transpiration as a function of plant photosynthesis. Hence, UT& C accounts for the effects of different plant types on the urban climate and hydrology, as well as the effects of the urban environment on plant well-being and performance. UT& C performs well when compared against energy flux measurements of eddy covariance towers located in three cities in different climates (Singapore, Melbourne, Phoenix). A sensitivity analysis, performed as a proof of concept for the city of Singapore, shows a mean decrease in 2 m air temperature of 1.1 °C for fully grass covered ground, 0.2 °C for high values of leaf area index (LAI), and 0.3 °C for high values of Vc,max (an expression of photosynthetic activity). These reductions in temperature were combined with a simultaneous increase in relative humidity by 6.5 %, 2.1 %, and 1.6 %, for fully grass covered ground, high values of LAI, and high values of Vc,max, respectively. Furthermore, the increase of pervious vegetated ground is able to significantly reduce surface runoff. These results show that urban greening can lead to a decrease in urban air temperature and surface runoff, but this effect is limited in cities characterized by a hot, humid climate.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2011
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 09-06-2016
Abstract: Abstract. It is generally accepted that the ground heat flux accounts for a significant fraction of the surface energy balance. In land surface models, the ground heat flux is estimated through a numerical solution of the heat conduction equation. Recent research has shown that this approach introduces errors in the estimation of the energy balance. In this paper, we calibrate a land surface model using a numerical solution of the heat conduction equation with four different vertical spatial resolutions. It is found that the thermal conductivity is the most sensitive parameter to the spatial resolution. More importantly, the thermal conductivity values are directly related to the spatial resolution, thus rendering any physical interpretation of this value irrelevant. The numerical solution is then replaced by an analytical solution. The results of the numerical and analytical solutions are identical when fine spatial and temporal resolutions are used. However, when using resolutions that are typical for land surface models, significant differences are found. When using the analytical solution, the ground heat flux is directly calculated without calculating the soil temperature profile. The calculation of the temperature at each node in the soil profile is thus no longer required, unless the model contains parameters that depend on the soil temperature, which in this study is not the case. The calibration is repeated, and thermal conductivity values independent of the vertical spatial resolution are obtained. The main conclusion of this study is that care must be taken when interpreting land surface model results that have been obtained using numerical ground heat flux estimates. The use of exact analytical solutions is recommended.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-06-2015
DOI: 10.1002/HYP.10525
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-2015
Abstract: Stream runoff is perhaps the most poorly represented process in ecohydrological stochastic soil moisture models. Here we present a rainfall-runoff model with a new stochastic description of runoff linked to soil moisture dynamics. We describe the rainfall-runoff system as the joint probability density function (PDF) of rainfall, soil moisture and runoff forced by random, instantaneous jumps of rainfall. We develop a master equation for the soil moisture PDF that accounts explicitly for a general state-dependent rainfall-runoff transformation. This framework is then used to derive the joint rainfall-runoff and soil moisture-runoff PDFs. Runoff is initiated by a soil moisture threshold and a linear progressive partitioning of rainfall based on the soil moisture status. We explore the dependence of the PDFs on the rainfall occurrence PDF (homogeneous or state-dependent Poisson process) and the rainfall magnitude PDF (exponential or mixed-exponential distribution). We calibrate the model to 63 years of rainfall and runoff data from the Upper Little Tennessee watershed (USA) and show how the new model can reproduce the measured runoff PDF.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 05-09-2019
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 25-11-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 31-10-2011
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 05-01-2021
Abstract: Abstract. Understanding the applicability and uncertainties of methods for documenting recharge rates in semi-arid areas is important for assessing the successive effects of land-use changes and understanding groundwater systems. This study focuses on estimating groundwater recharge rates and understanding the impacts of land-use changes on recharge rates in a semi-arid area in southeast Australia. Two adjacent catchments were cleared ∼180 years ago following European settlement, and a eucalypt plantation forest was subsequently established ∼15 years ago in one of the catchments. Chloride mass balance analysis yields recharge rates of 0.2 to 61.6 mm yr−1 (typically up to 11.2 mm yr−1). The lower of these values probably represents recharge rates prior to land clearing, whereas the higher likely reflects recharge rates following the initial land clearing. The low pre-land-clearing recharge rates are consistent with the presence of old groundwater (residence times up to 24 700 years) and the moderate-to-low hydraulic conductivities (0.31 to 0.002 m d−1) of the aquifers. Recharge rates estimated from tritium activities and water table fluctuations reflect those following the initial land clearing. Recharge rates estimated using water table fluctuations (15 to 500 mm yr−1) are significantly higher than those estimated using tritium renewal rates (0.01 to 89 mm yr−1 typically .0 mm yr−1) and approach the long-term average annual rainfall (∼640 mm yr−1). These recharge rates are unrealistic given the estimated evapotranspiration rates of 500 to 600 mm yr−1 and the preservation of old groundwater in the catchments. It is likely that uncertainties in the specific yield results in the water table fluctuation method significantly overestimating recharge rates, and despite the land-use changes, the present-day recharge rates are relatively modest. These results are ultimately important for assessing the impacts of land-use changes and management of groundwater resources in semi-arid regions in Australia and elsewhere.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-01-2012
DOI: 10.1002/HYP.8397
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 06-12-2022
DOI: 10.5194/HESS-26-6073-2022
Abstract: Abstract. The Millennium Drought lasted more than a decade and is notable for causing persistent shifts in the relationship between rainfall and runoff in many southeastern Australian catchments. Research to date has successfully characterised where and when shifts occurred and explored relationships with potential drivers, but a convincing physical explanation for observed changes in catchment behaviour is still lacking. Originating from a large multi-disciplinary workshop, this paper presents and evaluates a range of hypothesised process explanations of flow response to the Millennium Drought. The hypotheses consider climatic forcing, vegetation, soil moisture dynamics, groundwater, and anthropogenic influence. The hypotheses are assessed against evidence both temporally (e.g. why was the Millennium Drought different to previous droughts?) and spatially (e.g. why did rainfall–runoff relationships shift in some catchments but not in others?). Thus, the strength of this work is a large-scale assessment of hydrologic changes and potential drivers. Of 24 hypotheses, 3 are considered plausible, 10 are considered inconsistent with evidence, and 11 are in a category in between, whereby they are plausible yet with reservations (e.g. applicable in some catchments but not others). The results point to the unprecedented length of the drought as the primary climatic driver, paired with interrelated groundwater processes, including declines in groundwater storage, altered recharge associated with vadose zone expansion, and reduced connection between subsurface and surface water processes. Other causes include increased evaporative demand and harvesting of runoff by small private dams. Finally, we discuss the need for long-term field monitoring, particularly targeting internal catchment processes and subsurface dynamics. We recommend continued investment in the understanding of hydrological shifts, particularly given their relevance to water planning under climate variability and change.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 27-04-2021
DOI: 10.5194/HESS-25-2261-2021
Abstract: Abstract. The biophysical processes occurring in the unsaturated zone have a direct impact on the water table dynamics. Representing these processes through the application of unsaturated zone models of different complexity has an impact on the estimates of the volumes of water flowing between the unsaturated zone and the aquifer. These fluxes, known as net recharge, are often used as the shared variable that couples unsaturated to groundwater models. However, as recharge estimates are always affected by a degree of uncertainty, model–data fusion methods, such as data assimilation, can be used to inform these coupled models and reduce uncertainty. This study assesses the effect of unsaturated zone models complexity (conceptual versus physically based) to update groundwater model outputs, through the assimilation of actual evapotranspiration rates, for a water-limited site in South Australia. Actual evapotranspiration rates are assimilated because they have been shown to be related to the water table dynamics and thus form the link between remote sensing data and the deeper parts of the soil profile. Results have been quantified using standard metrics, such as the root mean square error and Pearson correlation coefficient, and reinforced by calculating the continuous ranked probability score, which is specifically designed to determine a more representative error in stochastic models. It has been found that, once properly calibrated to reproduce the actual evapotranspiration–water table dynamics, a simple conceptual model may be sufficient for this purpose thus using one configuration over the other should be motivated by the specific purpose of the simulation and the information available.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 06-2016
DOI: 10.1002/2016WR018663
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 22-01-2007
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 31-01-2020
Abstract: Abstract. Increasing urbanization is likely to intensify the urban heat island effect, decrease outdoor thermal comfort, and enhance runoff generation in cities. Urban green spaces are often proposed as a mitigation strategy to counteract these adverse effects, and many recent developments of urban climate models focus on the inclusion of green and blue infrastructure to inform urban planning. However, many models still lack the ability to account for different plant types and oversimplify the interactions between the built environment, vegetation, and hydrology. In this study, we present an urban ecohydrological model, Urban Tethys-Chloris (UT& C), that combines principles of ecosystem modelling with an urban canopy scheme accounting for the biophysical and ecophysiological characteristics of roof vegetation, ground vegetation, and urban trees. UT& C is a fully coupled energy and water balance model that calculates 2 m air temperature, 2 m humidity, and surface temperatures based on the infinite urban canyon approach. It further calculates the urban hydrological fluxes in the absence of snow, including transpiration as a function of plant photosynthesis. Hence, UT& C accounts for the effects of different plant types on the urban climate and hydrology, as well as the effects of the urban environment on plant well-being and performance. UT& C performs well when compared against energy flux measurements of eddy-covariance towers located in three cities in different climates (Singapore, Melbourne, and Phoenix). A sensitivity analysis, performed as a proof of concept for the city of Singapore, shows a mean decrease in 2 m air temperature of 1.1 ∘C for fully grass-covered ground, 0.2 ∘C for high values of leaf area index (LAI), and 0.3 ∘C for high values of Vc,max (an expression of photosynthetic capacity). These reductions in temperature were combined with a simultaneous increase in relative humidity by 6.5 %, 2.1 %, and 1.6 %, for fully grass-covered ground, high values of LAI, and high values of Vc,max, respectively. Furthermore, the increase of pervious vegetated ground is able to significantly reduce surface runoff.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 06-2006
DOI: 10.1029/2005WR004606
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 11-11-2004
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-12-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.7017
Abstract: Understanding regional‐scale food web structure in the Southern Ocean is critical to informing fisheries management and assessments of climate change impacts on Southern Ocean ecosystems and ecosystem services. Historically, a large component of Southern Ocean ecosystem research has focused on Antarctic krill, which provide a short, highly efficient food chain, linking primary producers to higher trophic levels. Over the last 15 years, the presence of alternative energy pathways has been identified and hypotheses on their relative importance in different regions raised. Using the largest circumpolar dietary database ever compiled, we tested these hypotheses using an empirical circumpolar comparison of food webs across the four major regions/sectors of the Southern Ocean (defined as south of 40°S) within the austral summer period. We used network analyses and generalizations of taxonomic food web structure to confirm that while Antarctic krill are dominant as the mid‐trophic level for the Atlantic and East Pacific food webs (including the Scotia Arc and Western Antarctic Peninsula), mesopelagic fish and other krill species are dominant contributors to predator diets in the Indian and West Pacific regions (East Antarctica and the Ross Sea). We also highlight how tracking data and habitat modeling for mobile top predators in the Southern Ocean show that these species integrate food webs over large regional scales. Our study provides a quantitative assessment, based on field observations, of the degree of regional differentiation in Southern Ocean food webs and the relative importance of alternative energy pathways between regions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-01-2019
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2019
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 24-10-2017
Abstract: Abstract. Urbanisation has been associated with a reduction in the long-term correlation within a streamflow series, quantified by the Hurst exponent (H). This presents an opportunity to use the H exponent as an index for the classification of catchments on a scale from natural to urbanised conditions. However, before using the H exponent as a general index, the relationship between this exponent and level of urbanisation needs to be further examined and verified on catchments with different levels of imperviousness and from different climatic regions. In this study, the H exponent is estimated for 38 (deseasonalized) mean daily runoff time series, 22 from the USA and 16 from Australia, using the traditional rescaled-range statistic (R/S) and the more advanced multi-fractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA). Relationships between H and catchment imperviousness, catchment size, annual rainfall and specific mean discharge were investigated. No clear relationship with catchment area was found, and a weak negative relationship with annual rainfall and specific mean streamflow was found only when the R/S method was used. Conversely, both methods showed decreasing values of H as catchment imperviousness increased. The H exponent decreased from around 1.0 for catchments in natural conditions to around 0.6 for highly urbanised catchments. Three significantly different ranges of H exponents were identified, allowing catchments to be parsed into groups with imperviousness lower than 5 % (natural), catchments with imperviousness between 5 and 15 % (peri-urban), and catchments with imperviousness larger than 15 % (urban). The H exponent thus represents a useful metric to quantitatively assess the impact of catchment imperviousness on streamflow regime.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 06-2007
DOI: 10.1029/2006WR005397
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 02-09-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 28-02-2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2013.10.010
Abstract: In urban environments, the breakdown of chemicals and pollutants, especially ions and metal compounds, can be favoured by green water infrastructures (GWIs). The overall aim of this review is to set the basis to model GWIs using deterministic approaches in contrast to empirical ones. If a better picture of chemicals and pollutant input and an improved understanding of hydrological and biogeochemical processes affecting these pollutants were known, GWIs could be designed to efficiently retain these pollutants for site-specific meteorological patterns and pollutant load. To this end, we surveyed the existing literature to retrieve a comprehensive dataset of anions and cations, and alkaline and transition metal pollutants incoming to urban environments. Based on this survey, we assessed the pollution load and ecological risk indexes for metals. The existing literature was then surveyed to review the metal retention efficiency of GWIs, and possible biogeochemical processes related to inorganic metal compounds were proposed that could be integrated in biogeochemical models of GWIs.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 24-11-2016
DOI: 10.5194/HESS-20-4689-2016
Abstract: Abstract. It is generally accepted that the ground heat flux accounts for a significant fraction of the surface energy balance. In land surface models, the ground heat flux is typically estimated through a numerical solution of the heat conduction equation. Recent research has shown that this approach introduces errors in the estimation of the energy balance. In this paper, we calibrate a land surface model using a numerical solution of the heat conduction equation with four different vertical spatial resolutions. It is found that the thermal conductivity is the most sensitive parameter to the spatial resolution. More importantly, the thermal conductivity values are directly related to the spatial resolution, thus rendering any physical interpretation of this value irrelevant. The numerical solution is then replaced by an analytical solution. The results of the numerical and analytical solutions are identical when fine spatial and temporal resolutions are used. However, when using resolutions that are typical of land surface models, significant differences are found. When using the analytical solution, the ground heat flux is directly calculated without calculating the soil temperature profile. The calculation of the temperature at each node in the soil profile is thus no longer required, unless the model contains parameters that depend on the soil temperature, which in this study is not the case. The calibration is repeated, and thermal conductivity values independent of the vertical spatial resolution are obtained. The main conclusion of this study is that care must be taken when interpreting land surface model results that have been obtained using numerical ground heat flux estimates. The use of exact analytical solutions, when available, is recommended.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 03-04-2009
DOI: 10.1029/2008GL036933
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 08-2017
DOI: 10.1002/2017JG003831
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Date: 05-2201
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 07-02-2006
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Date: 02-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2008
Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
Date: 28-06-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-08-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2021
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 02-09-2021
DOI: 10.5194/GMD-2021-270
Abstract: Abstract. Modelling the water transport along the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum is fundamental to estimating and predicting transpiration fluxes. A tree-hydrodynamic model (SPAC-3Hpy) for the water fluxes across the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum is presented here. The model combines the water transport pathways to one vertical dimension, and assumes that the water flow through the soil, roots, and above-ground xylem can be approximated as a flow in porous media. This results in a system of three partial differential equations resembling the Richardson-Richards equation describing the transport of water through the plant system and with additional terms representing sinks and sources for the transfer of water from to the soil to the roots and from the leaves to the atmosphere. The numerical scheme, developed in Python 3, was tested against exact analytical solutions for steady state and transient conditions using simplified but realistic model parametrizations. The model was also used to simulate a previously published case study where observed transpiration rates were available in order to evaluate model performance. With the same model setup as the published case study, SPAC-3Hpy results were in agreement with observations. Through a rigorous coupling of soil, roots, and hydroactive xylem, SPAC-3Hpy can account for variable capacitance while conserving mass and the continuity of the water potential between these three layers. SPAC-3Hpy provides a ready-to-use open access numerical model for the simulation of water fluxes across the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 14-04-2020
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 07-2015
DOI: 10.1002/2015WR017139
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-04-2014
DOI: 10.1007/S00285-014-0782-Y
Abstract: Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) can be repressed and degraded by small non-coding RNA molecules. In this paper, we formulate a coarsegrained Markov-chain description of the post-transcriptional regulation of mRNAs by either small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) or microRNAs (miRNAs). We calculate the probability of an mRNA escaping from its domain before it is repressed by siRNAs/miRNAs via calculation of the mean time to threshold: when the number of bound siRNAs/miRNAs exceeds a certain threshold value, the mRNA is irreversibly repressed. In some cases, the analysis can be reduced to counting certain paths in a reduced Markov model. We obtain explicit expressions when the small RNA bind irreversibly to the mRNA and we also discuss the reversible binding case. We apply our models to the study of RNA interference in the nucleus, examining the probability of mRNAs escaping via small nuclear pores before being degraded by siRNAs. Using the same modelling framework, we further investigate the effect of small, decoy RNAs (decoys) on the process of post-transcriptional regulation, by studying regulation of the tumor suppressor gene, PTEN: decoys are able to block binding sites on PTEN mRNAs, thereby reducing the number of sites available to siRNAs/miRNAs and helping to protect it from repression. We calculate the probability of a cytoplasmic PTEN mRNA translocating to the endoplasmic reticulum before being repressed by miRNAs. We support our results with stochastic simulations.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 02-2020
DOI: 10.1029/2019WR025983
Abstract: Water table dynamics are linked to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration and recharge. The assimilation of observed evapotranspiration values should thus improve groundwater model results. This paper presents a method for assimilating evapotranspiration data into a coupled unsaturated zone and groundwater model using the ensemble Kalman filter. The method is tested for a synthetically generated losing stream system in climatic conditions common in South Australia. The study focused on areas with a deep (recharge area) and a shallow (extraction area) water table and an intermediate area showing seasonal variations between these two (transition area). The data assimilation algorithm consistently improved the model states in the three areas when the ensemble spread was adequate. Improvements were also obtained in the calculation of net recharge and modeled actual evapotranspiration. The results indicate the potential to improve groundwater models using remote sensing observations of actual evapotranspiration values.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 24-07-2012
DOI: 10.1029/2011RG000383
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-11-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECO.2370
Abstract: Anabranching rivers are characterized by multiple active channels. Vegetation, flow regime and sediment retention are critical components for the formation, evolution and stability of these rivers however, the connections relating river dynamics with riparian vegetation development and distribution are still not well known. This review discusses the relationship between anabranching rivers and riparian vegetation, showing ex les of how vegetation affects anabranching rivers and how it is also affected by river dynamics. Consequences of poor management and human activities that can disrupt river–vegetation systems are also explored, presenting some ex les of modifications to the stability and longevity of anabranching rivers. Challenges to design and implement appropriate policy and management practices in anabranching rivers are most frequently driven by poor experimental evidence due to difficulties in collecting data in these often remote and large river systems. Remote sensing technologies that account for key interactions between riparian vegetation, river flow and morphology changes can provide means to overcome these challenges.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 29-06-2018
DOI: 10.5194/HESS-22-3551-2018
Abstract: Abstract. Urbanisation has been associated with a reduction in the long-term correlation within a streamflow series, quantified by the Hurst exponent (H). This presents an opportunity to use the H exponent as an index for the classification of catchments on a scale from natural to urbanised conditions. However, before using the H exponent as a general index, the relationship between this exponent and level of urbanisation needs to be further examined and verified on catchments with different levels of imperviousness and from different climatic regions. In this study, the H exponent is estimated for 38 (deseasonalised) mean daily runoff time series, 22 from the USA and 16 from Australia, using the traditional rescaled-range statistic (R∕S) and the more advanced multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA). Relationships between H and catchment imperviousness, catchment size, annual rainfall and specific mean discharge were investigated. No clear relationship with catchment area was found, and a weak negative relationship with annual rainfall and specific mean streamflow was found only when the R∕S method was used. Conversely, both methods showed decreasing values of H as catchment imperviousness increased. The H exponent decreased from around 1.0 for catchments in natural conditions to around 0.6 for highly urbanised catchments. Three significantly different ranges of H exponents were identified, allowing catchments to be parsed into groups with imperviousness lower than 5 % (natural), catchments with imperviousness between 5 and 15 % (peri-urban) and catchments with imperviousness larger than 15 % (urban). The H exponent thus represents a useful metric to quantitatively assess the impact of catchment imperviousness on streamflow regime.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 11-2004
DOI: 10.1086/424970
Abstract: Some essential features of the terrestrial hydrologic cycle and ecosystem response are singled out by confronting empirical observations of the soil water balance of different ecosystems with the results of a stochastic model of soil moisture dynamics. The simplified framework analytically describes how hydroclimatic variability (especially the frequency and amount of rainfall events) concurs with soil and plant characteristics in producing the soil moisture dynamics that in turn impact vegetation conditions. The results of the model extend and help interpret the classical curve of Budyko, which relates evapotranspiration losses to a dryness index, describing the partitioning of precipitation into evapotranspiration, runoff, and deep infiltration. They also provide a general classification of soil water balance of the world ecosystems based on two governing dimensionless groups summarizing the climate, soil, and vegetation conditions. The subsequent analysis of the links among soil moisture dynamics, plant water stress, and carbon assimilation offers an interpretation of recent manipulative field experiments on ecosystem response to shifts in the rainfall regime, showing that plant carbon assimilation crucially depends not only on the total rainfall during the growing season but also on the intermittency and magnitude of the rainfall events.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 04-2010
DOI: 10.1029/2010GL042495
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-10-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-019-12668-7
Abstract: Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) are swarming, oceanic crustaceans, up to two inches long, and best known as prey for whales and penguins – but they have another important role. With their large size, high biomass and daily vertical migrations they transport and transform essential nutrients, stimulate primary productivity and influence the carbon sink. Antarctic krill are also fished by the Southern Ocean’s largest fishery. Yet how krill fishing impacts nutrient fertilisation and the carbon sink in the Southern Ocean is poorly understood. Our synthesis shows fishery management should consider the influential biogeochemical role of both adult and larval Antarctic krill.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
Publisher: American Meteorological Society
Date: 06-2004
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
Start Date: 03-2018
End Date: 12-2022
Amount: $309,599.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2009
End Date: 12-2011
Amount: $450,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 11-2014
End Date: 12-2018
Amount: $186,351.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 10-2015
End Date: 12-2020
Amount: $187,745.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 07-2009
End Date: 12-2015
Amount: $14,999,996.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 04-2023
End Date: 03-2026
Amount: $335,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity