Tag Archives: hydrology

Monitoring river flows from space

Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite - NASA/JPL
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite – NASA/JPL

The North Fork of the Flathead River gets a passing mention in this mildly technical article from Earth and Space Science News discussing a technique to track river flows from space . . .

For hydrologists, everything begins with water. This essential resource drastically alters the land surface and powers the basic cellular respiration underlying all living things.

When water falls on land and begins its slow passage to the ocean, its path almost invariably includes rivers, the most visible veins through which our planet’s lifeblood courses. To best study freshwater systems, we need a fairly precise idea of how much water flows in Earth’s rivers. You might think that we have this precise idea, right? Wrong.

Given the importance of water—especially river water—in ecosystems, industry, and agriculture, this lack of knowledge must be addressed. This issue is far more than academic: Well-documented issues of water data secrecy, toxic water politics, and even water conflict highlight the urgent need to better understand and monitor freshwater fluvial fluxes.

Read more . . .

Scientists to present Flathead deep aquifer research

There’s an interesting presentation on the Flathead Valley’s hydrology coming up on April 6 at Flathead Valley Community College, in the Arts and Technology building theater at 6:30 pm . . .

When Flathead Valley residents turn on their tap water, they often take it for granted. But with the exception of those living in Whitefish, most everyone living in the valley relies on groundwater from a series of deep aquifers known as the Flathead Valley deep aquifer.

It’s the most widely used aquifer in the valley, supplying high-capacity municipal and irrigation wells in addition to thousands of domestic wells. The deep aquifer is a thick deposit of gravel and sand, the top of which is 75 to over 400 feet deep and separated from shallow units and the land surface by a thick confining unit.

On April 6, research hydrogeologists John Wheaton and James Rose from the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology will present their research on the Flathead Valley’s deep aquifer and discuss the long-term sustainability of the area’s groundwater resources.

Read more . . .