Computationally characterizing the diffusive boundary layer in lakes and reservoirs

Xiamei Man; Chengwang Lei; Kevin A. Bierlein; Lee D. Bryant; Abigail S. Lewis; Cayelan C. Carey; John C. Little

doi:10.1007/s11368-024-03767-0

Computationally characterizing the diffusive boundary layer in lakes and reservoirs

Xiamei Man, Chengwang Lei, Kevin A. Bierlein, Lee D. Bryant, Abigail S. Lewis, Cayelan C. Carey, John C. Little

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Purpose: Hypolimnetic hypoxia has become increasingly prevalent in stratified water bodies in recent decades due to climate change. One primary sink of dissolved oxygen (DO) is sediment oxygen uptake (JO₂). On the water side of the sediment–water interface (SWI), JO₂ is controlled by a diffusive boundary layer (DBL), a millimeter-scale layer where molecular diffusion is the primary transport mechanism. In previous studies, the DBL was determined by visual inspection, which is subjective and time-consuming.

Material and methods: In this study, a computational procedure is proposed to determine the SWI and DBL objectively and automatically. The procedure was evaluated for more than 300 DO profiles in the sediment of three eutrophic water bodies spanning gradients of depth and surface area. Synthetic DO profiles were modeled based on sediment characteristics estimated by laboratory experiments. The procedure was further verified adopting the synthetic profiles.

Results and discussion: The procedure, which was evaluated for both measured and synthetic DO profiles, determined the SWI and DBL well for both steady and non-steady state DO profiles. A negative relationship between DBL thickness and aeration rates was observed, which agrees with existing literatures.

Conclusions: The procedure is recommended for future studies involving characterizing DBL to improve efficiency and consistency.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2132-2143
Number of pages	12
Journal	Journal of Soils and Sediments
Volume	24
Issue number	5
Early online date	16 Mar 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-024-03767-0
Publication status	Published - 31 May 2024

Data Availability Statement

Code and data used for this study is available through https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5667027.

Funding

This research is partially supported by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) grant DEB-1753639 and the NSF graduate research fellowship to ASL (DGE-1651272). We thank Chunyi Wang for conducting the FCR sediment sample analysis, Heather Wander and Adrienne Breef-Pilz for help in collecting FCR sediment cores, and Michi Schurter, Arno Stöckli, and Christina Urbanczyk for help in CCR/LH field work. Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions National Science Foundation,DEB-1753639,Cayelan C. Carey

Funders	Funder number
National Science Foundation
CAUL
National Stroke Foundation	DGE-1651272, DEB-1753639
National Stroke Foundation

Keywords

Dissolved oxygen
Hypolimnetic oxygenation
Hypoxia
Microprofiles
Sediment kinetics
Sediment–water interface

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Earth-Surface Processes
Stratigraphy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/s11368-024-03767-0Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Computationally characterizing the diffusive boundary layer in lakes and reservoirs",

abstract = "Purpose: Hypolimnetic hypoxia has become increasingly prevalent in stratified water bodies in recent decades due to climate change. One primary sink of dissolved oxygen (DO) is sediment oxygen uptake (JO2). On the water side of the sediment–water interface (SWI), JO2 is controlled by a diffusive boundary layer (DBL), a millimeter-scale layer where molecular diffusion is the primary transport mechanism. In previous studies, the DBL was determined by visual inspection, which is subjective and time-consuming. Material and methods: In this study, a computational procedure is proposed to determine the SWI and DBL objectively and automatically. The procedure was evaluated for more than 300 DO profiles in the sediment of three eutrophic water bodies spanning gradients of depth and surface area. Synthetic DO profiles were modeled based on sediment characteristics estimated by laboratory experiments. The procedure was further verified adopting the synthetic profiles. Results and discussion: The procedure, which was evaluated for both measured and synthetic DO profiles, determined the SWI and DBL well for both steady and non-steady state DO profiles. A negative relationship between DBL thickness and aeration rates was observed, which agrees with existing literatures. Conclusions: The procedure is recommended for future studies involving characterizing DBL to improve efficiency and consistency.",

keywords = "Dissolved oxygen, Hypolimnetic oxygenation, Hypoxia, Microprofiles, Sediment kinetics, Sediment–water interface",

author = "Xiamei Man and Chengwang Lei and Bierlein, {Kevin A.} and Bryant, {Lee D.} and Lewis, {Abigail S.} and Carey, {Cayelan C.} and Little, {John C.}",

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AU - Man, Xiamei

AU - Lei, Chengwang

AU - Bierlein, Kevin A.

AU - Bryant, Lee D.

AU - Lewis, Abigail S.

AU - Carey, Cayelan C.

AU - Little, John C.

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N2 - Purpose: Hypolimnetic hypoxia has become increasingly prevalent in stratified water bodies in recent decades due to climate change. One primary sink of dissolved oxygen (DO) is sediment oxygen uptake (JO2). On the water side of the sediment–water interface (SWI), JO2 is controlled by a diffusive boundary layer (DBL), a millimeter-scale layer where molecular diffusion is the primary transport mechanism. In previous studies, the DBL was determined by visual inspection, which is subjective and time-consuming. Material and methods: In this study, a computational procedure is proposed to determine the SWI and DBL objectively and automatically. The procedure was evaluated for more than 300 DO profiles in the sediment of three eutrophic water bodies spanning gradients of depth and surface area. Synthetic DO profiles were modeled based on sediment characteristics estimated by laboratory experiments. The procedure was further verified adopting the synthetic profiles. Results and discussion: The procedure, which was evaluated for both measured and synthetic DO profiles, determined the SWI and DBL well for both steady and non-steady state DO profiles. A negative relationship between DBL thickness and aeration rates was observed, which agrees with existing literatures. Conclusions: The procedure is recommended for future studies involving characterizing DBL to improve efficiency and consistency.

AB - Purpose: Hypolimnetic hypoxia has become increasingly prevalent in stratified water bodies in recent decades due to climate change. One primary sink of dissolved oxygen (DO) is sediment oxygen uptake (JO2). On the water side of the sediment–water interface (SWI), JO2 is controlled by a diffusive boundary layer (DBL), a millimeter-scale layer where molecular diffusion is the primary transport mechanism. In previous studies, the DBL was determined by visual inspection, which is subjective and time-consuming. Material and methods: In this study, a computational procedure is proposed to determine the SWI and DBL objectively and automatically. The procedure was evaluated for more than 300 DO profiles in the sediment of three eutrophic water bodies spanning gradients of depth and surface area. Synthetic DO profiles were modeled based on sediment characteristics estimated by laboratory experiments. The procedure was further verified adopting the synthetic profiles. Results and discussion: The procedure, which was evaluated for both measured and synthetic DO profiles, determined the SWI and DBL well for both steady and non-steady state DO profiles. A negative relationship between DBL thickness and aeration rates was observed, which agrees with existing literatures. Conclusions: The procedure is recommended for future studies involving characterizing DBL to improve efficiency and consistency.

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Computationally characterizing the diffusive boundary layer in lakes and reservoirs

Abstract

Data Availability Statement

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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