Estimating interaction between surface water and groundwater in a permafrost region using heat tracing methods

Abstract. Understanding the interactions between groundwater and surface water in permafrost regions is essential to the understanding of flood frequencies and river water quality of high latitude/altitude basins. The application of heat tracing methods, based on oscillating streambed temperature signals, is a promising geophysical method for identifying and quantifying the groundwater and surface water interactions. Analytical analysis based on one-dimensional convective-conductive heat transport equation combined with the fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing measurements were applied on a streambed of a mountainous permafrost region in the Yeniugou basin of northern Tibetan Plateau. The results indicated that low connectivity between the stream and groundwater in permafrost and active layer. The interaction between surface water and groundwater increased with thawing of the active layer. This study demonstrates that heat tracing method can be applied to study surface water-groundwater interactions over temporal and spatial scales in permafrost regions.