Interception effects on stable isotope driven streamwater transit time estimates

Abstract

Previous studies of streamwater transit time distributions (TTDs) used isotope tracer information from open precipitation (OP) as inputs to lumped watershed models that simulate the stream isotopic composition to estimate TTD. However, in forested catchments passage of rainfall through the canopy will alter the tracer signature of throughfall (TF) via interception. Here we test the effect of using TF instead of OP on TTD estimates. We sampled a 0.39km2 catchment (Wüstebach, Germany) for a 19month period using weekly precipitation and stream isotope data to evaluate changes in stream isotope simulation and TTDs. We found that TF had different effects on TTDs for δ18O and δ2H, with TF leading to up to 4months shorter transit times. TTDs converged for both isotopes only when using TF. TF improved the stream isotope simulations. These results demonstrate the importance of canopy-induced isotope tracer changes in estimating streamwater TTDs in forested catchments. Key Points TTDs are affected by throughfall isotope data A simple correction factor can partly account for throughfall effects Using throughfall isotope data is necessary for accurate TTD estimates.