Introducing our field site

Stage = 41.5cm, Ta = 21.1C, Tw = 16.2C

Today two of my students and I introduced our field site to two 3rd year students who are considering their options for their final year research project. If they decide to join my lab, they can enjoy field work at Takiya River over the next year and a half or so. I explained the basics of why we are monitoring the hydrological cycle at Takiya River, and they tried their hands at making a discharge measurement for the first time.

We also visited nearby Miomote Dam, and the Amedas meteorological station at Miomote. The hydrograph below shows a small peak in flow caused by rains from Typhoon no. 18 which passed over Niigata on September 16th. There was no damage from flooding in Niigata Prefecture, but other parts of Japan suffered major floods and landslides.

Late summer rains

Stage = 45.5cm, Ta = 20.8C, Tw = 16.6C

Today was another wet day for fieldwork, but we took the usual discharge measurement and inspected everything to check for any damage during the past 6 weeks. As you can see in the hydrograph below, the first two weeks of August were very dry, but since then there have been several rain storms and wet days. However, these events were not as large as the rain storms we had during July. A low flow of less than 40cm stage was recorded in mid-August, but this is not as low as the flows we had during June before the rainy season arrived. The record-setting rains during July have raised the groundwater levels so that we are unlikely to have very low flows this month.