Investigating temporal dynamics of wetland groundwater using in-situ monitoring data

Ecosystem services provided by wetlands have been recognized as key natural assets to sustain overall health of terrestrial as well as aquatic ecosystems. To maintain and improve those services, it is crucial to monitor and understand wetland hydrology because those ecosystem services are mainly controlled by hydrologic cycling. Relative to surface water, groundwater largely remained unknown mainly owing to difficulty of measuring water cycling under the land surface. The Wetland component of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP-Wetlands) Mid-Atlantic Regional (MIAR) study installed multiple sensors on the Coastal Plain of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to monitor temporal dynamics of surface and groundwater within a wetland. Based on in-situ monitoring data, this study will present two findings with respect to wetland groundwater. At first, we will examine how subsurface soil characteristics will influence surface-groundwater interactions. Monitoring data collected at the two sites with and without low-permeability soil layers will be compared. Then, we will examine the hydrologic connectivity of upland depressional wetlands with downstream water. In-situ monitoring data will be analyzed with streamflow gauged by the U.S. geological survey (USGS) to demonstrate hydrologic connectivity via groundwater. The outcomes of this study will show actual behaviors of wetland groundwater, eventually contributing to the enhanced understanding of wetland hydrology.