Vpliv hidrometeoroloških in vegetacijskih razmer na dinamiko spiranja nitratnega dušika : doktorska disertacija
Influence of hydrometeorological and vegetation conditions on the dynamics of nitrate flushing : doctoral dissertation

slovenian

2021

Built Environment   civil engineering   doctoral thesis   forested catchment   Kuzlovec river catchment   nitrate nitrogen   NO3-N flushin   runoff formation

Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za gradbeništvo in geodezijo

Processes of nitrogen cycling are directly dependent on the amount of precipitation and its temporal and spatial distribution, as water is the main transport medium and the driving force of many ecosystem processes. Between April 2018 and April 2020 we performed simultaneous measurements of precipitation, discharges, soil moisture, and the physico-chemical parameters of the Kuzlovec stream in a forested catchment in Polhov Gradec municipality. The area of the catchment is less than 1 km2 . The measurements were performed with a short time step of 20 minutes. In the doctoral dissertation, we focused on the analysis of the hydrometeorological and seasonal effects on changes in concentrations and amounts of exported nitrate nitrogen. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to assess the effects. Moreover, the methodology of centroid time lags was used to identify the processes of runoff formation,. The amounts of nitrate nitrogen exported during the rainfall events proved to be an important element in the calculations of mass balances. If the intensity of precipitation increases, we can expect higher absolute changes of concentrations during events, whereas rainfall duration, besides rainfall amount, proved to be important for the amounts of exported nitrogen. The rainfall duration proved to be one of the most important indicators of the time of occurrence of the centroid of nitrate nitrogen export diagram and of the hydrograph. With shorter and more intense events, we could expect an even faster response of the river catchment, which would mean larger volumes of water and amounts of flushed nitrate nitrogen in a shorter time. Research in a natural river catchment, covering a wide range hydrometeorological factors is therefore crucial for assessing the impacts of climate change and human activities on the water and nitrogen cycle in the future. Technologies that enable measurements with a short time step and appropriate accuracy will be of key importance. As shown in this dissertation, based on high-frequency measurements of water chemistry we can better infer the predominant processes of rainfall-runoff and transport of nutrients and improve their conceptual understanding.

08.12.2021