FerryBox: Using automated water measurement systems to monitor water quality: Perspectives for the Yangtze river and Three Gorges Dam

Abstract

The building of the Three Gorges Dam (Hubei (湖北) Province, China) has transformed a region with an economy based on sustainable agriculture for millennia into an entirely different environment within an exceptionally short time. This disrupts the natural biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nutrients, and metals and possibly will affect the whole catchment including downstream ecosystems, such as wetlands, estuaries, deltas, and adjacent sea areas. Starting from changes that have already been documented, this article concentrates on the possible use of a “FerryBox”, which is an automated water quality measurement system on board a ship or on shore, to monitor the short and long term development of the quality of the river water in the backwater area and downstream of the dam. While there are already research programmes running to monitor the water quality of the river and the backwater area, these programs are limited to ship campaigns with sampling and laboratory analysis. The spatial and temporal resolution of such measurements is not sufficient for an overall assessment of the water quality and for prognoses in the context of anthropogenic and climate change. Therefore, a concept of applying regular automated observations by a FerryBox is presented. It is shown that such systems are very well suited to give feedback for the assessment of measures to improve the water quality.

Keywords

Three Gorges Dam / Yangtze River / eutrophication / FerryBox

References

[1] Bi Y. H., Zhu K. X., Hu Z. Y., . The Effects of the Three Gorges Dam’s (TGD’s) Experimental Impoundment on the Phytoplankton Community in the Xiangxi River, China. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 2010, 67(2): 207-221.

[2] Chai C., Yu Z. M., Shen Z. L., . Nutrient Characteristics in the Yangtze River Estuary and the Adjacent East China Sea before and after Impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam. Science of the Total Environment, 2009, 407(16): 4687-4695.

[3] Chen J. S., Gao X. M., He D. W., . Nitrogen Contamination in the Yangtze System, China. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2000, 73(2): 107-113.

[4] Chen X. Q., Yan Y. X., Fu R. S., . Sediment Transport from the Yangtze River, China, into the Sea over the Post-Three Gorge Dam Period: A Discussion. Quat. Int., 2008, 186: 55-64.

[5] Chen Z. Y., Saito Y., Kanai Y., . Low Concentration of Heavy Metals in the Yangtze Estuarine Sediments, China: A Diluting Setting. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2004, 60(1): 91-100.

[6] Colijn F., Petersen W.. Collecting Oceanography Data from Ferries. ICES CIEM Newsletter, 2002, 39(6): 3-5.

[7] Deng Y. X., Zheng B. H., Guo F., . Study on the Total Water Pollutant Load Allocation in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary and Adjacent Seawater Area. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2010, 86: 331-336.

[8] Friedl G., Wüest A.. Disrupting Biogeochemical Cycles: Consequences of Damming. Aquatic Sciences, 2002, 64(1): 55-65.

[9] Gong G. C., Chang J., Chiang K. P., . Reduction of Primary Production and Changing of Nutrient Ratio in the East China Sea: Effect of the Three Gorges Dam?. Geophysical Research Letters, 2006, 33 7 L07610

[10] Grayek, S., Staneva, J., Schulz-Stellenfleth, J., et al., 2010. FerryBox Data in the German Bight: Their Contribution to the Improvement of State Estimates and Numerical Model Predictions. Journal of Marine Systems (Accepted)

[11] Hu K. L., Ding P. X., Wang Z. B., . A 2D/3D Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport Model for the Yangtze Estuary, China. Journal of Marine Systems, 2009, 77(1–2): 114-136.

[12] Hui Y. M., Zheng M. H., Liu Z. T., . Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sediments from Yellow River Estuary and Yangtze River Estuary, China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2009, 21(12): 1625-1631.

[13] Lei G., Dao J. L., Ping X. D.. Quasi-Simultaneous Observation of Currents, Salinity and Nutrients in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Plume on the Tidal Timescale. Journal of Marine Systems, 2009, 75(1–2): 265-279.

[14] Müller B., Berg M., Yao Z. P., . How Polluted is the Yangtze River? Water Quality Downstream from the Three Gorges Dam. Science of the Total Environment, 2008, 402(2–3): 232-247.

[15] Petersen W., Colijn F., Hydes D., . FerryBox: From On-Line Oceanographic Observations to Environmental Information, 2007, 601 76 Norrköping, Sweden: EuroGOOS Office, SMHI

[16] Petersen, W., Petschatnikov, M., Schroeder, F., et al., 2003. Ferry-Box Systems for Monitoring Coastal Waters. In: Dahlin, H., Flemming, N. C., Nittis, K., et al., eds., Building the European Capacity in Operational Oceanography. Proc. Third International Conference on EuroGOOS. Elsevier Oceanography Series Publication Series 19, Amsterdam. 325–333

[17] Petersen W., Wehde H., Krasernann H., . FerryBox and MERIS-Assessment of Coastal and Shelf Sea Ecosystems by Combining in situ and Remotely Sensed Data. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2008, 77(2): 296-307.

[18] Wang J. X., Bi Y. H., Pfister G., . Determination of PAH, PCB, and OCP in Water from the Three Gorges Reservoir Accumulated by Semipermeable Membrane Devices (SPMD). Chemosphere, 2009, 75(8): 1119-1127.

[19] Wang L., Shen Z., Wang H., . Distribution Characteristics of Phenanthrene in the Water, Suspended Particles and Sediments from Yangtze River under Hydrodynamic Conditions. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2009, 165(1–3): 441-446.

[20] Wong, C. M., Williams, C. E., Pittock, J., et al., 2007. World’s Top 10 Rivers at Risk. WWF International, Gland, Switzerland. http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/freshwater/publication/index.cfm?uNewsID=97680

[21] Wu B., Zhao D. Y., Zhang Y., . Multivariate Statistical Study of Organic Pollutants in Nanjing Reach of Yangtze River. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2009, 169(1–3): 1093-1098.

[22] Xu K. H., Milliman J. D.. Seasonal Variations of Sediment Discharge from the Yangtze River before and after Impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam. Geomorphology, 2009, 104(3–4): 276-283.

[23] Xu K. H., Milliman J. D., Yang Z. S., . Gupta A., . Climatic and Anthropogenic Impacts on the Water and Sediment Discharge from the Yangtze River (Changjiang), 1950–2005. Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management, 2007, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons 609 626

[24] Yang S. L., Belkin I. M., Belkina A. I., . Delta Response to Decline in Sediment Supply from the Yangtze River: Evidence of the Recent Four Decades and Expectations for the Next Half-Century. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2003, 57(4): 689-699.

[25] Yang S. L., Li M., Dai S. B., . Drastic Decrease in Sediment Supply from the Yangtze River and Its Challenge to Coastal Wetland Management. Geophysical Research Letters, 2006, 33 6 L06408

[26] Yang S. L., Zhao Q. Y., Belkin I. M.. Temporal Variation in the Sediment Load of the Yangtze River and the Influences of Human Activities. Journal of Hydrology, 2002, 263(1–4): 56-71.

[27] Yang Z. F., Wang Y., Shen Z. Y., . Distribution and Speciation of Heavy Metals in Sediments from the Mainstream, Tributaries, and Lakes of the Yangtze River Catchment of Wuhan, China. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2009, 166(2–3): 1186-1194.

[28] Yuan J., Hayden L., Dagg M.. Comment on “Reduction of Primary Production and Changing of Nutrient Ratio in the East China Sea: Effect of the Three Gorges Dam?” by Gwo-Ching Gong et al.. Geophysical Research Letters, 2007, 34 14 L14609

[29] Zeng H., Song L. R., Yu Z. G., . Distribution of Phytoplankton in the Three-Gorge Reservoir during Rainy and Dry Seasons. Science of the Total Environment, 2006, 367(2–3): 999-1009.

[30] Zhang J.. Geochemistry of Trace Metals from Chinese River/Estuary Systems: An Overview. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 1995, 41(6): 631-658.

[31] Zhang Q., Xu C. Y., Singh V. P., . Multiscale Variability of Sediment Load and Streamflow of the Lower Yangtze River Basin: Possible Causes and Implications. Journal of Hydrology, 2009, 368(1–4): 96-104.

[32] Zhou M. J., She Z. L., Yu R. C.. Coastal Ecosystem Responses to Changjiang Nutrient Inputs from Large Temperate and Subtropical Rivers. Continental Shelf Research, 2007, 28: 1483-1489.