Quantifying dissolved organic carbon concentrations in upland catchments using phenolic proxy measurements

Peacock, Mike; Burden, Annette ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7694-1638; Cooper, Mark; Dunn, Christian; Evans, Chris D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7052-354X; Fenner, Nathalie; Freeman, Chris; Gough, Rachel; Hughes, David; Hughes, Steve; Jones, Tim; Lebron, Inma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8610-9717; West, Mike; Zieliński, Piotr. 2013 Quantifying dissolved organic carbon concentrations in upland catchments using phenolic proxy measurements. Journal of Hydrology, 477. 251-260. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.11.042

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.11.042

Abstract/Summary

Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil and stream waters in upland catchments are widely monitored, in part due to the potential of DOC to form harmful by-products when chlorinated during treatment of water for public supply. DOC can be measured directly, though this is expensive and time-consuming. Light absorbance in the UV–vis spectrum is often used as a surrogate measurement from which a colour-carbon relationship between absorbance and DOC can be derived, but this relationship can be confounded by numerous variables. Through the analysis of data from eight sites in England and Wales we investigate the possibility of using the concentration of phenolic compounds in water samples as a proxy for DOC concentration. A general model using data from all the sites allowed DOC to be calculated from phenolics at an accuracy of 81–86%. A detailed analysis at one site revealed that a site-specific calibration was more accurate than the general model, and that this compared favourably with a colour-carbon calibration. We therefore recommend this method for use where estimates of DOC concentration are needed, but where time and money are limiting factors, or as an additional method to calculate DOC alongside colour-carbon calibrations. Tests demonstrated only small amounts of phenolic degradation over time; a loss of 0.92 mg L−1 after 8 months in storage, and so this method can be used on older samples with limited loss of accuracy.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.11.042
Programmes:	CEH Topics & Objectives 2009 - 2012 > Biogeochemistry > BGC Topic 1 - Monitoring and Interpretation of Biogeochemical and Climate Changes > BGC - 1.4 - Develop innovative, effective methods for monitoring fluxes, exposure and effects
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Emmett
ISSN:	0022-1694
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	The attached document is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Hydrology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published Journal of Hydrology, 477. 251-260. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.11.042 www.elsevier.com/
Additional Keywords:	dissolved organic carbon, phenolics, absorbance, peatland, water colour
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	07 Jan 2013 10:58 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/20899

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.11.042

Programmes:

CEH Topics & Objectives 2009 - 2012 > Biogeochemistry > BGC Topic 1 - Monitoring and Interpretation of Biogeochemical and Climate Changes > BGC - 1.4 - Develop innovative, effective methods for monitoring fluxes, exposure and effects

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Emmett

ISSN:

0022-1694

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

The attached document is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Hydrology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published Journal of Hydrology, 477. 251-260. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.11.042 www.elsevier.com/

Additional Keywords:

dissolved organic carbon, phenolics, absorbance, peatland, water colour

NORA Subject Terms:

Ecology and Environment

Date made live:

07 Jan 2013 10:58 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/20899