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New Challenges: Modelling the Water Quality of Surface Waters with Ice Cover

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Quality and Contamination".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 17300

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt

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Guest Editor

Global Institute for Water Security, School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 3H5, Canada
Interests: surface water quality modelling; ice-jam flood hazard mapping; ice-jam flood risk assessment; remote sensing of river ice covers; river ice hydraulic modelling
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modelling the quality of surface waters under ice-covered conditions is an understudied topic of research, but is gaining momentum due to the realisation within the scientific community of its importance in the understanding of the year-round ecological functioning of aquatic ecosystems. As recent studies have shown, assuming the “dormancy” of these under-ice ecosystems compared to open-water conditions, is a limitation to the holistic view of how these ecosystems function. For instance, the water-quality conditions during winter can have a marked effect on the successive spring and summer succession of phytoplankton species and algal–nutrient dynamics. Also, within the scope of the future climate, changing ice phenologies will impact surface water quality and even exacerbate changes in all-year dynamics. Modelling helps us to better understand these inter-seasonal influences and predict the impacts of future changes in our environment. It is against this backdrop that I invite you to submit your paper to this Special Issue, to promote scientific awareness of this important topic.

Prof. Dr. Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

climate change
environmental change
ice covers
ice phenology, lakes
modelling
ponds
rivers
surface water quality
wetlands

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 3954 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Exploring the Potential of Zoning Regulation for Reducing Ice-Jam Flood Risk Using a Stochastic Modelling Framework

by Apurba Das and Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt

Water 2021, 13(16), 2202; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13162202 - 12 Aug 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2566

Abstract

Ice-jam floods pose a serious threat to many riverside communities in cold regions. Ice-jam-related flooding can cause loss of human life, millions of dollars in property damage, and adverse impacts on ecology. An effective flood management strategy is necessary to reduce the overall risk in flood-prone areas. Most of these strategies require a detailed risk-based management study to assess their effectiveness in reducing flood risk. Zoning regulation is a sustainable measure to reduce overall flood risk for a flood-prone area. Zoning regulation is a specified area in a floodplain where certain restrictions apply to different land uses (e.g., development or business). A stochastic framework was introduced to evaluate the effectiveness of a potential zoning regulation. A stochastic framework encompasses the impacts of all the possible expected floods instead of a more traditional approach where a single design flood is incorporated. The downtown area of Fort McMurray along the Athabasca River was selected to explore the impact of zoning regulation on reducing expected annual damages (EAD) from ice-jam flooding. The results show that a hypothetical zoning regulation for a certain area in the town of Fort McMurray (TFM) can be effective in substantially reducing the level of EAD. A global sensitivity analysis was also applied to understand the impacts of model inputs on ice-jam flood risk using a regional sensitivity method. The results show that model boundary conditions such as river discharge, the inflowing volume of ice and ice-jam toe locations are highly sensitive to ice-jam flood risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges: Modelling the Water Quality of Surface Waters with Ice Cover)

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13 pages, 2996 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Winter Decomposition of Emergent Macrophytes Affects Water Quality under Ice in a Temperate Shallow Lake

by Yuanyun Wei, Manyin Zhang, Lijuan Cui, Xu Pan, Weiwei Liu, Wei Li and Yinru Lei

Water 2020, 12(9), 2640; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092640 - 21 Sep 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2360

Abstract

Decomposition of emergent macrophytes is now recognized as an internal nutrient source for shallow lakes. Temperate lakes always experience seasonal ice cover in winter, but the influences of emergent macrophytes decomposition on water quality have rarely been examined under ice. Here, we conducted an incubation experiment to investigate winter decomposition of two common emergent macrophytes species (Typha orientalis and Phragmites australis) and its influences on water quality in the Hengshui Lake, North China. Mesocosms simulating a lake ice regime were incubated in the field for 120 days in winter and were treated with and without plant material addition. Water quality was monitored through dissolved oxygen (DO), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), ammonium nitrogen (NH₄-N), and nitrate nitrogen (NO₃-N). We found that both species were significantly decomposed in winter and that the majority of mass loss occurred in the first 10 days of decomposition when the water surface of mesocosms were already frozen. The concentrations of DO rapidly dropped to values close to zero after plant material submergence. At the end of incubation, the concentrations of DOC, TN, and NO₃-N in the mesocosms with plant material addition were significantly higher than initial concentrations. In contrast, the concentrations of DOC, TN, TP, NO₃-N, and NH₄-N in the mesocosms without plant material addition were equal to or less than initial concentrations. Our research suggests that winter decomposition of emergent macrophytes produces negative influences on water quality under ice that lasts for the whole winter. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges: Modelling the Water Quality of Surface Waters with Ice Cover)

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12 pages, 2231 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Migration Law of Iron during the Process of Water Icing

by Yuanqing Tang, Yan Zhang, Wanli Zhao, Tongshuai Liu and Yucan Liu

Water 2020, 12(2), 441; https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020441 - 06 Feb 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2538

Abstract

In this study, we utilized simulated icing experiments to investigate the effect of icing thickness, freezing temperature and initial concentration on the migration of iron in the ice–water system during water icing. The distribution coefficient “K” (the ratio of the average concentration of iron in the ice to that in the under-ice water) was used to describe the effect. The results indicated that iron partitioned stronger to under-ice water than to ice during the process of water icing, resulting in the concentration of iron in ice–water system before and after freezing being expressed as: ice < pre-freezing water < under-ice water. K decreased with the increase in icing thickness, freezing temperature and initial concentration. The temperature change in the solution will change the solubility of the solvent, so we explained the migration of iron during the process of water icing from the perspective of solid–liquid equilibrium theory. Too high or too low iron concentration may inhibit the growth of algae, thus affecting the underwater ecological environment. We expect that our study will arouse researcher’s attention to the change in iron concentration in shallow lakes and ponds at high latitudes during the icebound period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges: Modelling the Water Quality of Surface Waters with Ice Cover)

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11 pages, 1282 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Migration of the Total Manganese during the Process of Water Icing

by Yan Zhang, Yuanqing Tang, Aixin Yu, Wanli Zhao and Yucan Liu

Water 2019, 11(8), 1626; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11081626 - 07 Aug 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2312

Abstract

Our research focused on the migration law of the total manganese (TMn) during the process of water icing. We utilized two experimental methods: (1) natural icing and (2) simulated icing. While using laboratory simulation, we explored the effects of ice thickness, freezing temperature, and initial concentrations on the migration of TMn in the ice-water system. The distribution coefficient “K” (the ratio of the average concentration of TMn in the ice body to the average concentration of TMn in the under-ice water body) was used to characterize it. The results indicated that TMn continuously migrated from ice to under-ice water during the process of water icing. The concentration of TMn in the ice was the upper layer < middle layer < lower layer, and K decreases as the ice thickness, freezing temperature, and initial concentration increased. We explained the migration of TMn during the process of water icing from the perspective of crystallography. Our research can arouse other researcher’s attention towards the change of TMn concentration in lakes in high latitudes during the icebound period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges: Modelling the Water Quality of Surface Waters with Ice Cover)

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Other

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20 pages, 8296 KiB

Open AccessCommentary

Development of an Ice Jam Flood Forecasting System for the Lower Oder River—Requirements for Real-Time Predictions of Water, Ice and Sediment Transport

by Karl-Erich Lindenschmidt, Dirk Carstensen, Wolfgang Fröhlich, Bernd Hentschel, Stefan Iwicki, Michael Kögel, Michał Kubicki, Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, Cornelia Lauschke, Adam Łazarów, Helena Łoś, Włodzimierz Marszelewski, Tomasz Niedzielski, Marcin Nowak, Bogusław Pawłowski, Michael Roers, Stefan Schlaffer and Beata Weintrit

Water 2019, 11(1), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010095 - 08 Jan 2019

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6811

Abstract

Despite ubiquitous warming, the lower Oder River typically freezes over almost every year. Ice jams may occur during freeze-up and ice cover breakup phases, particularly in the middle and lower reaches of the river, with weirs and piers. The slush ice and ice blocks may accumulate to form ice jams, leading to backwater effects and substantial water level rise. The small bottom slope of the lower Oder and the tidal backflow from the Baltic Sea enhance the formation of ice jams during cold weather conditions, jeopardizing the dikes. Therefore, development of an ice jam flood forecasting system for the Oder River is much needed. This commentary presents selected results from an international workshop that took place in Wrocław (Poland) on 26–27 November 2018 that brought together an international team of experts to explore the requirements and research opportunities in the field of ice jam flood forecasting and risk assessment for the Oder River section along the German–Polish border. The workshop launched a platform for collaboration amongst Canadian, German and Polish scientists, government officials and water managers to pave a way forward for joint research focused on achieving the long-term goal of forecasting, assessing and mitigating ice jam impacts along the lower Oder. German and Polish government agencies are in need of new tools to forecast ice jams and assess their subsequent consequences and risks to communities and ship navigation along a river. Addressing these issues will also help research and ice flood management in a Canadian context. A research program would aim to develop a modelling system by addressing fundamental issues that impede the prediction of ice jam events and their consequences in cold regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Challenges: Modelling the Water Quality of Surface Waters with Ice Cover)

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