Study of heterogeneous vertical hyporheic flux via streambed temperature at different depths

Abstract. The hyporheic flux can be characterized using the heat-tracing method. Based on the analytical solution of the one-dimensional steady-state heat transport equation under vertical groundwater discharge conditions, hyporheic flux was obtained via a curve fitting method. The temperature data used was obtained from monitoring three different sections of the DaWen River, Shandong Province. The distribution of the depth of the hyporheic zone was analysed by a curve relating groundwater temperature and the depth of the hyporheic zone. The study results showed that the vertical hyporheic flux was significantly heterogeneous along the three sections. The hyporheic flux ranged from 99.61 to 356.25 L/m² per day. In the summer, the low temperature area on streambed profile was in accordance with the high value areas of hyporheic flux. There were several strong discharge zones within the same section and these flux values were normally distributed. The depth of the hyporheic zone was inversely proportional to the hyporheic flux and the hyporheic zone depth, also, presented great spatial heterogeneity.