Multi-domain thermal imaging for characterizing groundwater upwelling in
stream valleys
Abstract
Wetlands are extremely dynamical systems and their behavior depends on
the characteristics of the surroundings (topography, geology and
vegetation, among others) as well as on meteorological and hydrological
processes. Wetlands receive groundwater through diffuse upwelling and
through springs. Studying upwelling is of great importance to e.g.
evaluate the overall ecology or capacity to remove nitrate of the
wetland system. One problem is that diffuse upwelling is difficult
locate and measure. We analyze the temporal dynamics of a
groundwater-fed wetland in central Jutland (Denmark) by the use of a
range of thermal methods across a lowland stream valley. A monitoring
system consisting of Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS), wells with
temperature depth profiles and thermal infrared (TIR) imaging on an
unmanned aerial vehicle, in conjunction with hydrological and
atmospheric data, provide a quasi 3D time-lapse characterization of the
thermal behavior of the system, both on the ground and in the
subsurface, over a period of two years. We infer potential locations of
groundwater upwelling to the land surface by studying the temperature in
both the wetland surface and the groundwater. Each thermal method
provides different, partially overlapping estimates of the upwelling
location and magnitude, highlighting the need to incorporate classic
hydrological metrics to constrain the results obtained using heat as a
tracer. The integration of these data indicates that temperature
measurements can be used to study groundwater upwelling in stream
valleys.