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High-frequency measurements of gas ebullition in a Brazilian subtropical reservoir—identification of relevant triggers and seasonal patterns

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Abstract

Water bodies, either natural or constructed impoundments, are sources of methane to the atmosphere, in which ebullition is frequently mentioned to be the dominant pathway. Ebullition is a complex process that is spatially dependent on factors acting over large distances (atmospheric pressure changes, wind) and factors acting locally (sediment characteristics, gas production) and is temporally variable due to the parameters’ oscillation with time. Its quantification through measurements is still limited, as is the identification of production processes and triggers for ebullition. This research focused on obtaining high temporal resolution measurements of gas ebullition from a water supply reservoir located in Brazil, to compare its temporal variability with changes in reservoir conditions, and obtain insights on its spatial patterns. Three automated bubble traps were deployed in the reservoir and measured gas flux from February 2017 to March 2018. The time series data showed a large temporal variability in ebullition. Less intense fluxes occurred with higher frequency, and short-duration events made a larger contribution to the total amount of gas emitted. A strong seasonal variation was observed, in which the mean flux recorded during periods when the reservoir was stratified was 2–16 fold the bubbling rates recorded during colder months and mixed water column. In addition, high flux events were correlated with decreasing atmospheric pressure and increased wind intensities. Lastly, we show that the mean gas emission flux tends to be underestimated during short sampling periods (probability > 41% for sampling periods shorter than 10 days).

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Acknowledgments

The authors kindly thank the SENECT company who developed the automated bubble traps providing the continuous support of the equipment; the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) for providing the equipment and supporting the research; the Sanepar sanitation company which manages the Passaúna reservoir and allowed the study to be conducted in the reservoir; the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the financial support through a master scholarship; the DAAD for the funding NoPa-SeWaMa project (ID 57203877) for financial support to material and field campaigns; and the institutions Smart Energy-TecPar and Instituto das Águas do Paraná for making available the relevant data.

Funding

The research was funded by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Education Personnel-Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Project number: 99999.004966/2015-05), the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), and the GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation). Project title: SeWaMa: Innovative approaches for future sediment and water management in Brazil (ID 57203877), within the NoPA call pGCI 002/2015.

The main author (Lediane Marcon) received a CAPES scholarship for her master’s thesis Works. Her main supervisor, Tobias Bleninger, undertook the work also within the productivity stipend from CNPq (number: 8786885193878624, call: CNPq N° 12/2017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program on Water Resources and Environmental Engineering (PPGERHA), Federal University of Parana (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil

    Lediane Marcon

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil

    Tobias Bleninger & Michael Männich

  3. Department of Aquatic Environmental Engineering, Institute for Water and River Basin Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Stephan Hilgert

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  1. Lediane Marcon
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  4. Stephan Hilgert
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Marcon, L., Bleninger, T., Männich, M. et al. High-frequency measurements of gas ebullition in a Brazilian subtropical reservoir—identification of relevant triggers and seasonal patterns. Environ Monit Assess 191, 357 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7498-9

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