Detection of Stream-Aquifer Interactions Using Fiber-Optic Distributed-Temperature Sensors

Up to half of nitrate loading to the Chesapeake Bay comes from groundwater in stream flow, but determining the location and timing of groundwater inputs to streams is difficult using conventional approaches. New fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing cable systems hold promise to detect even small groundwater inputs to streams with a high degree of spatial and temporal resolution.

Drs. Kamini Singha and Fred Day-Lewis with the Dept. of Geosciences at Penn State and the US Geological Survey ,respectively, are using FO-DTS cable to pinpoint groundwater inputs on the E. Mahantango Creek in central Pennsylvania. They will use this technology to study stream-aquifer interactions and to relate those inputs to nitrate variations in stream water.