Dissolved-Oxygen Analysis with Temperature Dependence

Water-quality models to predict oxygen dynamics in streams require estimates of rates of reaeration, respiration, and primary production, which are often evaluated through diel studies. Simple, approximate methods of parameter estimation are desirable at the scoping level, and are often used for waste-load allocation studies. Scoping methods often assume that reaeration and respiration are constant over the diel period. Use of such methods, however, can yield unrealistic parameter estimates for shallow streams with a significant range of diel water temperatures, because both reaeration and respiration rates as well as the saturation concentration of dissolved oxygen are temperature-dependent. Based on our work on the Santa Margarita River in Southern California, this paper presents a modified approach to dissolved-oxygen–rate parameter estimation that takes temperature variation into account. Using a simple finite-difference approximation, temperature-normalized parameter estimates are readily optimized in a spreadsheet application. The approach is applicable to many shallow streams in which diel temperature variability is significant.