Professor Christopher Soulsby

DSc, PhD, Fellow American Geophysical Union

Chair in Hydrology

51cg

Email Address: c.soulsby@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number: +44 (0)1224 272344
School/Department: School of Geosciences

Biography

Fellow of the American Geophysical Union; since 2013
2010-2014: Head of School of Geosciences
2008: Founding member and Director of the , School of Geosciences, 51cg
2005 DSc, 51cg, School of Geosciences “Hydrological pathways, biogeochemical interactions and ecological responses in catchment systems: towards a scientific basis for sustainable management”
1999 Professor of Hydrology, School of Geoscience, 51cg.
1997-99 Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography, 51cg.
1993-97 Lecturer, Department of Geography, 51cg.
1991-93 Hydrologist, Environment Agency, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
1991 Research Fellow in Hydrology, University of Wales, (Bangor).
1990-91 Lecturer, Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Plymouth.
1987-90 PhD, University of Wales, University College, Swansea: PhD in Hydrology, Thesis (1991) "Hydrological pathways, aluminium mobilization and streamwater acidity in an afforested catchment in upland Wales." 380pp.

External Memberships

International

Associate Editor, Hydrological Processes
Editorial Board of Journal of Hydrology
Editorial Board of Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
Theme leader in Process Conceptualization – International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) Initiative in Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB).
Vice President, International Commission on Tracers, International Association of Hydrological Sciences (2003).
Member of Water Operations Technical Support advisory group for the US Army Corps of Engineers (2003).
Member of FRIEND 5 international working group on Hydrological and biogeochemical processes in a changing environment (2001).
Science Review Panel of Aquatic Habitat Matrix, US National Marine Fisheries Service (2000)

National

International Association of Hydrological Sciences Prediction in Ungauged Basins Initiative - UK Working Group.
Hydromorphology Working Group, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (2004-)
Advisory Board, River Restoration Centre, Cranfield (2000-02 )
Committee Member of the British Hydrological Society (1996-99)
Member of Scottish Environment Protection Agency Task Group on Habitat Enhancement Initiative (1998-99)
Member of SNH Advisory Group on the Re-introduction of Beavers (1999)
Member of St Fergus Dunes Management Committee (1994-97)

Membership of Professional Bodies

International Association of Hydrological Sciences
European Geophysical Society
American Geophysical Union
British Hydrological Society
Fisheries Society of the British Isles
Royal Geographical Society
British Geomorphological Research Group

Research

Research Overview

Runoff processes, streamflow generation and catchment biogeochemistry

Use of isotopic and geochemical tracers in identifying hydrological pathways, water sources, residence times and biogeochemical controls on stream chemistry.
Linkages between hillslope hydrology and streamflow generation.
Integrating the results of tracer studies in hydrological models.
Upscaling flow path understanding and landscape controls in mesoscale catchments

Groundwater – surface water interactions

Groundwater-surface water interactions in upland environments.
Linkages between hillslope hydrology and groundwater – surface water exchange.
Hyporheic studies: influence of groundwater on the chemistry and ecology of the hyporheic zone.
Groundwater-surface water interactions in alluvial floodplains.

Hydroecology of rivers and wetlands

Interactions between flow variability, channel morphology, instream hydraulics and freshwater ecosystems; particularly with respect to salmonids and macroinvertebrates.
Impacts of river regulation on aquatic ecosystems and the development of environmental flow regimes.
Hydrology and conservation management of wetlands.

Current Research

Research Projects (Include)

Streamflow generation in catchment systems
Examination of mechanisms of streamflow generation in different types of catchments at contrasting scales is an ongoing research theme. Our particular interests are the flow paths that water takes through catchments, the length of time taken to reach river channels and the biogeochemical processes that it is subjected to. We integrate insights from field experiments and modelling studies in our work. A key theme is the use of environmental tracers, including stable isotopes, in understanding patterns of water movement. A main thrust of recent research has been based on the Catchment Hydrology And Sustainable Management (CHASM) initiative funded by NERC/JIF and based in the 225km2 river Feshie catchment in the Cairngorms. This prompted comparative studies in the 31km2 Girnock catchment and the 230km2 in the Feugh catchment, in collaboration with Dr Susan Waldron of the University of Glasgow. This work had the objective of identifying landscape controls on catchment behaviour at the regional scale and involved Dr Doerthe Tetzlaff in extensive use of GIS analysis.
Integrating tracers and modelling in catchment hydrology
Building from work in the Allt a' Mharcaidh catchment in the western Cairngorms, we have strong interests in integrating the findings of tracer studies in catchment modelling. This ranges from simple rainfall runoff models to semi-distrbuted catchments. Tracers can provide independent means of testing such models. A current theme, involving Dr Doerthe Tetzlaff and Dr Sarah Dunn at the Macaulay Institute, is applying such approaches at larger spatial scales in the Feshie, Feugh and Girnock catchments in the Cairngorms.
Groundwater - surface water interactions in upland catchments
We have a long standing interest in the role of groundwater in influencing the hydrology, chemistry and ecology of upland streams and rivers. This mostly involves the examination of shallow groundwater systems in drifts and fractured bedrock and has used both tracers and hydrometric approaches to increase insights into the complex processes involved. Recent initiatives have involved collaboration with Dr Iain Malcolm at the Freshwater Laboratory in Pitlochry to identify the locations of groundwater discharge in the Girnock catchment in the Cairngoms. Further a field we are working with Atul Haria (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) and Paul Shand (British Geological Survey) on their dense borehole arrays on their hillslope at the CEH Plynlimon catchments in Mid-Wales.
Hydroecology of the hyporheic zone
The physical, chemical and ecological significance of the hyporheic zone is being investigated in a number of streams to ascertain; (a) spatial variation in groundwater inputs into stream channels, (b) the effects on streamwater chemistry and (c) the consequences for aquatic organisms. The dynamic nature of the hyporheic zone is also being examined, particularly with respect to the impact on salmonid embryo mortalities and macroinvertebrate communities. This work is collaborative with Dr Iain Malcolm and Alan Youngson of the FRS-Freshwater Laboratory in Pitlochry.
Habitat hydraulics and thermal regimes in salmon spawning rivers
The influence of in-stream hydraulics on salmon habitats is being investigated in relation to spawning activities and the provision of food to juvenile fish. This work also heavily involves Dr’s Chris Gibbins and Doerthe Tetzlaff . In addition to hydraulic characterization of different habitats by field monitoring, advanced numerical modelling techniques are being explored in conjunction with Dr’s Iain McEwan and Dubravka Pokrajac in the Department of Engineering at the 51cg. The importance of stream temperature as a physical aspect of ecological habitats in salmon rivers is also a research topic, currently undertaken collaboratively with Dr David Hannah of the University of Birmingham. We are also interested how such hydraulic conditions and thermal regimes are affected by river regulation and have recently carried out projects on the heavily regulated River Lyon in Perthshire and the River Ehen in Cumbria. The influence that management has on other groups of species in salmon rivers – such as macroinvertebrates and freshwater pearl mussels – has also been a focus of research.
Management of wetlands
Conservation objectives in wetlands ranging from lowland raised bogs in Scotland to seasonal flood plain wetlands in Africa, often involve hydrological assessment for rehabilitation. This reflects the impact of activities such as drainage and deforestation which have affected former hydrological regimes. We have carried out extensive research in Scotland on lowland raised bogs such as Moine Mhor in Argyll. Our major current initiative focuses on the wetlands of Kasanka National Park in Zambia. With funding from the Darwin Initiative, and in collaboration with Professor Paul Racey (School of Biological Sciences, 51cg), Dr Glenn Iason (Macaulay Institute) and Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Dr Mike Kennedy we are examining the hydrological functioning of a range of wetlands – which support high levels of biodiversity – with a view to developing plans for their sustainable management.

Research Students (PhD)

Ongoing:

B. Scheliga (Start 2015) Surface water and groundwater interactions in northern landscapes. (with Profs D. Tetzlaff and G. Nuetzmann)
B. Buddendorf (start 2014) Multiscale modelling to assess to impacts on flows and ecology in regulated rivers (with Dr Iain Malcolm, Dr J Geris and Dr M Wilkinson).
L. Fabris (start 2014) Modelling the effects of flows and temperatures on Atlantic salmon; opportunities for Atlantic salmon (with Dr Iain Malcolm, D Tetzlaff)
C. Tunaley, PhD (start 2013): High frequency processes in upland catchments (with D Tetzlaff)
M. Blumstock (start 2013) Connectivity and storage in riparian zones (with Profs D. Tetzlaff and G. Nuetzmann)
A. Peralta Tapia Peralta (start 2011) Hydrological transit times in Boreal catchments. (with Profs H. Laudon, J. Seibert and D Tetzlaff)

Publications

Update

51cg

Biography

External Memberships

Research Overview

Current Research

Depletion of groundwater resources under rapid urbanisation in Africa: recent and future trends in the Nairobi Aquifer System, Kenya

Contrasting storage-flux-age interactions revealed by catchment inter-comparison using a tracer-aided runoff model

Lessons from the 2018 drought for management of local water supplies in upland areas: a tracer-based assessment

An agent-based model that simulates the spatio-temporal dynamics of sources and transfer mechanisms contributing faecal indicator organisms to streams. Part 1: Background and model description

An agent-based model that simulates the spatio-temporal dynamics of sources and transfer mechanisms contributing faecal indicator organisms to streams. Part 2: Application to a small agricultural catchment

Quantifying the relative importance of stock level, river temperature and discharge on the abundance of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Headwaters drive streamflow and lowland tracer export in a large-scale humid tropical catchment

Urban water systems under climate stress: An isotopic perspective from Berlin, Germany

Critical Zone Storage Controls on the Water Ages of Ecohydrological Outputs

Coupled hydrological and biogeochemical modelling of nitrogen transport in the karst critical zone

Improving the Jarvis-type model with modified temperature and radiation functions for sap flow simulations

Isotope-aided modelling of ecohydrologic fluxes and water ages under mixed land use in Central Europe: The 2018 drought and its recovery

Using hysteretic behaviour and hydrograph classification to identify hydrological function across the “hillslope–depression–stream” continuum in a karst catchment

Using water stable isotopes to understand evaporation, moisture stress, and re-wetting in catchment forest and grassland soils of the summer drought of 2018

Characterizing the variability of transit time distributions and young water fractions in karst catchments using flux tracking

Opportunities and challenges in using catchment-scale storage estimates from cosmic ray neutron sensors for rainfall-runoff modelling

Using storage selection functions to assess mixing patterns and water ages of soil water, evaporation and transpiration

Using isotopes to incorporate tree water storage and mixing dynamics into a distributed ecohydrologic modelling framework

Using isotopes to understand the evolution of water ages in disturbed mixed land‐use catchments

Riparian wetland rehabilitation and beaver re-colonisation impacts on hydrological processes and water quality in a lowland agricultural catchment

Assessing the seasonal effect of flow regimes on availability of Atlantic salmon fry habitat in an upland Scottish stream

Hysteresis in sap flow and its controlling mechanisms for a deciduous broad-leaved tree species in a humid karst region

These are not the trends you are looking for: poorly calibrated single-pass electrofishing data can bias estimates of trends in fish abundance

Deciphering key processes controlling rainfall isotopic variability during extreme tropical cyclones

Hysteretic response of sap flow in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) to meteorological forcing in a humid low-energy headwater catchment

Assessing the influence of soil freeze–thaw cycles on catchment water storage–flux–age interactions using a tracer-aided ecohydrological model

Assessment of evapotranspiration from urban vegetation across space and time: A case study in Berlin

Ecohydrological modelling with EcH2O-iso to quantify forest and grassland effects on water partitioning and flux ages

Spatially distributed tracer-aided runoff modelling and dynamics of storage and water ages in a permafrost-influenced catchment

How Hydrologic Connectivity Regulates Water Quality in River Corridors

Integration of juvenile habitat quality and river connectivity models to understand and prioritise the management of barriers for Atlantic salmon populations across spatial scales

Climate-phenology-hydrology interactions in northern high latitudes: Assessing the value of remote sensing data in catchment ecohydrological studies

To what extent does hydrological connectivity control dynamics of faecal indicator organisms in streams? Initial hypothesis testing using a tracer-aided model

Assessing runoff generation in riparian wetlands: monitoring groundwater-surface water dynamics at the micro-catchment scale

Storage dynamics, hydrological connectivity and flux ages in a karst catchment: Conceptual modelling using stable isotopes

Hydrology at Aberdeen – thinking about water locally and globally

Characterization of surface water isotope spatial patterns of Scotland

High riverine CO2 emissions at the permafrost boundary of Western Siberia

Incorporating estimates of capture probability and river network covariance in novel habitat – abundance models: Assessing the effects of conservation stocking on catchment-scale production of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from a long-term electrofishing dataset

Conceptualizing catchment storage dynamics and nonlinearities

Spatially distributed tracer-aided modelling to explore water and isotope transport, storage and mixing in a pristine, humid tropical catchment

Testing a spatially distributed tracer-aided runoff model in a snow-influenced catchment: effects of multi-criteria calibration on streamwater ages

Characterizing the heterogeneity of karst critical zone and its hydrological function: An integrated approach

Groundwater dynamics at the hillslope – riparian interface in a year with extreme winter rainfall

Spatio-temporal diel DOC cycles in a wet, low energy, northern catchment: Highlighting and questioning the sub-daily rhythms of catchment functioning

EcH2O-iso 1.0: water isotopes and age tracking in a process-based, distributed ecohydrological model

Water ages in the critical zone of long-term experimental sites in northern latitudes

On the Use of StorAge Selection Functions to Assess Time‐Variant Travel Times in Lakes

Role of riparian wetlands and hydrological connectivity in the dynamics of stream thermal regimes

Storage, mixing and fluxes of water in the critical zone across northern environments inferred by stable isotopes of soil water

Using stable isotopes to estimate travel times in a data-sparse arctic catchment: challenges and possible solutions

Using stable water isotopes to identify spatial-temporal controls on groundwater recharge in two contrasting East African aquifer systems

Do trends in the size of wild female Atlantic salmon have a substantial effect on egg deposition?

Measuring and Modeling Stable Isotopes of Mobile and Bulk Soil Water

Using repeat electrical resistivity surveys to assess heterogeneity in soil moisture dynamics under contrasting vegetation types

Integrating process-based flow and temperature models to assess riparian forests and temperature amelioration in salmon streams

Modelling the effects of land cover and climate change on soil water partitioning in a boreal headwater catchment

Permafrost and lakes control river isotope composition across a boreal Arctic transect in the Western Siberian lowlands

What can we learn from multi-data calibration of a process-based ecohydrological model?

How can streamflow and climate-landscape data be used to estimate baseflow mean response time?

Using spatial-stream-network models and long-term data to understand and predict dynamics of faecal contamination in a mixed land-use catchment

Using stable isotopes to assess surface water source dynamics and hydrological connectivity in a high-latitude wetland and permafrost influenced landscape

Information footprint of different ecohydrological data sources using multi-objective calibration of a physically-based model as hypothesis testing

Testing the maximum entropy production approach for estimating evapotranspiration from closed canopy shrubland in a low-energy humid environment

Assessing ecohydrological controls on catchment water storage, flux and age dynamics using tracers in a physically-based, spatially distributed model

Hydraulic modelling of the spatial and temporal variability in Atlantic salmon parr habitat availability in an upland stream

Spatio-temporal effects of river regulation on habitat quality for Atlantic salmon fry

Influence of forest and shrub canopies on precipitation partitioning and isotopic signatures

Using high resolution isotope data and alternative calibration strategies for a tracer-aided runoff model in a nested catchment

Using isotopes to constrain water flux and age estimates in snow-influenced catchments using the STARR (Spatially distributed Tracer-Aided Rainfall-Runoff) model

Spatial and temporal patterns of soil water storage and vegetation water use in humid northern catchments

Stable isotopes evidence of recycled subduction fluids in the hydrothermal/volcanic activity across Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Groundwater isoscapes in a montane headwater catchment show dominance of well-mixed storage

Catchment-scale conceptual modelling of water and solute transport in the dual flow system of the karst critical zone

Using synoptic tracer surveys to assess runoff sources in an Andean headwater catchment in central Chile

Ecohydrological modelling with EcH₂O-iso to quantify forest and grassland effects on water partitioning and flux ages

High riverine CO₂ emissions at the permafrost boundary of Western Siberia