Scientific briefing: quantifying streambed heat advection associated with groundwater-surface water interactions

Stream thermal regimes are controlled by the interactions of external and internal energy fluxes with the water in the channel. Solar radiation is typically the dominant driver of stream water temperature, but streambed heat fluxes can be important in forested headwater streams. Past studies have presented seemingly disparate formulae for quantifying streambed heat advection from upwelling groundwater. This note details the sources of the differences in these alternative formulations. The equations illustrate the difficulties of attempting to isolate the thermal influence of groundwater-surface water interactions and highlight future research opportunities. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.