Dissolved Organic Carbon accounts for many different functions in the boreal forest ecosystem. It is the main vehicle for organic carbon transport from the litterfall to the forest soil profile and together with water drainage it can be transported to streams. In boreal forests, the DOC transport have gain attention because of recently documented rise in concentration. Several models have been proposed, first to gain understanding in the main cauces of this increase in concentration, and then to simulate the transport of DOC in the landscape. An exploratory work was made to identify the extent of physical control and hydrological pathways for DOC discharge and the long-term biological control over DOC production, transport in the soil profile and discharge in 2 different situations. A 22-year dataset from the Krycklan Catchment site was used. Meteorological data was used as driving variables to calibrate DOC concentration and runoff in a small catchment (Site C7). The CoupModel was set up to represent the described vegetation and documented soil characterization and then calibrated to fit the measured variables. A stepwise calibration process was preferred to promote the understanding of the different components of the landscape in the organic carbon cycle. Results point to soil heat and water transfer processes as the most relevant group to explain both water runnof and DOC discharge, with increasing relevance in the deeper layers, explaining up to 97% of short-term variability in DOC discharge for the 27-35 cm layer. Soil organic carbon pools showed to have relevance in organic carbon stock balance along the soil profile. Conclusions state that, In concordance with other authors, there is a hydrological primary control over DOC discharge, but that soil organics and especially vegetation perform a relevant role in long-term balance of the organic carbon cycle. Further studies with this model could include time-series of atmospheric deposition of Sulphur and nitrogen and running the model in cascade.

Boreal landscapes cover a large part of both Sweden and the northern hemisphere. The hydrology of the boreal landscape is complex, with several factors that can affect it in a physical and/or chemical manner. In the Krycklan catchment area, 68km2, located in northern Sweden close to Umeå, data has been collected at several sites giving both stream flow and water chemistry information. In 2017 samples from 34 sites were collected and analysed from ephemeral streams within the Krycklan catchment area for the first time ever.  In this project, data that has been collected from the ephemeral streams will be correlated with data from the perennial streams in the catchment area. There are several hypotheses at the start of this project that suggests that within the ephemeral streams the DOC will be lower, and the CO2 will be the same. The aim of the project is to find out if there are any patterns that differentiates the ephemeral streams from the perennial streams or if there are no patterns at all. Since there is not so much data available for the ephemeral streams, the conclusions that might be reached in this project won’t be completely reliable. However, if interesting patterns are found the project could expand in the future and more samples can be taken to use for more precise analyses. / Boreala landskap täcker en stor del av både Sverige och norra halvklotet. Det boreala landskapets hydrologi är komplext, med flera faktorer som kan påverka det på ett fysiskt och/eller kemiskt vis. I Krycklans avrinningsområde, 68 km2, beläget i norra Sverige nära Umeå, har data samlats in på flera platser som erbjuder data för både flöde och vattenkemi. År 2017 samlades prover från 34 efemära strömmar och analyserades för första gången inom Krycklans avrinningsområde. I det här projektet kommer data som samlats från de efemära strömmarna att korreleras med data från de konstanta vattendragen i avrinningsområdet. Det finns ett par hypoteser i början av detta projekt som tyder på att inom de efemära strömmarna kan DOC halter vara lägre och CO2 halter kommer att vara densamma. Syftet med projektet är att ta reda på om det finns några anmärkningsvärda skillnader mellan de efemära strömmarna och de konstanta vattendragen. Eftersom det inte finns så mycket data tillgänglig för de efemära strömmarna kommer de slutsatser som kan uppnås i detta projekt inte att vara helt tillförlitliga. Om intressanta mönster finns däremot kan projektet expandera i framtiden och fler prover kan tas för att användas för mer exakta analyser.

HYPE-modellen utvecklades som ett hjälpmedel för att uppfylla målet om att alla svenska vattendrag ska ha uppnått åtminstone god ekologisk status år 2015, enligt EU:s ramdirektiv för vatten. I HYPE-modellen delas avrinningsområdet in i markklasser, som definieras utifrån kombinationen av jordart och markanvändning/marktäckeklass. I modellen finns det många parametrar. Vissa av dem är generella för ett större område eller kan hämtas ifrån tidigare forskning, medan andra måste kalibreras för varje avrinningsområde. De parametrar som kalibreras beror i de flesta fall antingen av jordart eller av markanvändning eller marktäckeklass. Syftet i den här undersökningen var att kalibrera HYPE-modellen för ett mindre avrinningsområde samt undersöka avrinningsvägar och utvärdera den utförda kalibreringen. Det undersökta avrinningsområdet kallas Krycklan och ligger i Vindeln kommun i Västerbottens län. Det är ett avrinningsområde som huvudsakligen består av skog, men även innehåller inslag av jordbruksmark och myrmark. Kalibreringen gjordes i två steg, först för ett mindre delavrinningsområde och sedan för hela avrinningsområdet. Två avrinningskalibreringar gjordes för det mindre delavrinningsområdet. Kalibrering A utfördes med ansatsen att få en så hög anpassning som möjligt, med utgångspunkt i det statistiska måttet NSE, vilket är kvadratsumman av residualerna dividerat i den totala kvadratsumman. Kalibrering B gjordes i samråd med SMHI om rimlig storlek på parametervärdena, men gav ett sämre värde på NSE. För hela avrinningsområdet utfördes endast en kalibrering. Ett försök till modellering av kväve- och fosforhalter i avrinnande vatten gjordes även. Resultatet visade att det gick att få en kalibrering av modellen att följa uppmätt flöde väl, även på mikroskala. Skillnaden mellan kalibrering A och kalibrering B var att den första bättre fångade uppmätta flödestoppar, men gav ett för högt basflöde. För både blöta och torra år gick det att få en hög anpassning, men kalibreringen fungerade generellt sätt bättre för blöta år. Det var betydligt svårare för modellen att fånga variationen i kväve- och fosforkoncentrationer, men samband mellan modell och mätvärdena kunde ändå ses. / The HYPE-model was developed as an aid of achieving the goal of all Swedish watercourses should have reached at least well ecological status by the year of 2015, according to the EU Water Framework Directive. In the HYPE model, the catchment is divided into soil classes which are a combination of soil and land use. In the model, there are many parameters. Some of them are general for a larger area or can be obtained from previous research, while others must be calibrated for each catchment. The parameters to be calibrated depend in the most cases either on soil or land uses. The aim of this study was to calibrate and evaluate the HYPE model for a small catchment. The investigated catchment is called Krycklan and is located in the municipality of Vindeln in the province Västerbotten. The catchment consists mostly of forest, but there are also some agriculture and mire. The calibration was made in two steps, first on a small sub-basin and then to the entire basin. Two runoff calibrations were made for the smaller sub-basin. Calibration A was performed with the approach to obtain as high fit as possible, on the basis of the statistical measure NSE, which is the quadrate of the residuals divided in the quadrate of the total quadrate sum. Calibration B was made after consultation with SMHI (The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute) of the adequate size of the parameter values. For the entire basin only one calibration was performed. An attempt at modelling of nitrogen and phosphorus concentration in runoff was also made. The results showed that it was possible to get the model to follow the measured flow well, even at the micro scale. The difference between calibration A and calibration B was that the first one was better to catch the measured flow peaks, but resulted in too high base flow. For both wet and dry years it was possible to obtain a high fit, but the model generally got better for the wet years. There was much more difficult for the model to capture variation in nitrogen and phosphorus, but the connection between the model and the measurements could still be seen.

Currently there are urgent water related problems, such as use of groundwater and surface water resources, which need a more integrated view on the hydraulic cycle and how the different processes interact with each other. This has led to new ways of thinking in management of watersheds, which sparked the creation of new integrated tools for flow characterization. Characterization of a watersheds flow is an important step in future research regarding water quality and climate change issues. The Krycklan catchment, located in the northern part of Sweden, has been under research for many years. With a great deal of measurements regarding stream water chemistry as well as climate measurements (evaporation, transpiration and temperature), the catchment has great potential regarding solute transportation and climate change investigation. This thesis was made to aid in future research by characterization of the catchments groundwater and surface flow, by the use of an integrated model software tool, MIKE-SHE. The model have been calibrated and validated with the help of real time observed measurements at Krycklan combined with model data from SMHI:s HYPE-model. Throughout the calibration it was discovered that the hydraulic conductivities were important for the surface and groundwater interaction, regulating base flow as well as peak flows. The shape and timing of the spring flood was also affected by the snow melt while the summer peaks for the upstream rivers, probably due to the relatively large difference in topography elevation, were more affected by the representation of the topography created by the grid size. A smaller grid-size resulted in a finer representation of the topography, which resulted in a quicker runoff to the upstream rivers without an increase of base flow. This gave better fitted hydrographs of the flows in the upstream rivers compared to observed measurements. The final model created was able to capture the discharge-hydrograph and groundwater fluctuations with small error and high correlation coefficients compared to observed data and model data from SMHI. The results as well as the calibration process helped with a deeper understanding of the modeling tool itself as well. Future improvements that can be considered are to introduce new calibration data and the use of an even smaller grid size. This can improve the understanding of the catchment as well as the representation of the flow in the upstream rivers. However, the effects of a smaller grid size must be reflected upon. The model will most likely become more unstable and the run time of the model will greatly increase. One suggestion to solve this issue is to look into a sub-catchment to reduce these complications.

Hydrological drought at high latitudes represents a rising environmental hazard induced byglobal climate change. Yet, we still know little about how drought events influence thebiogeochemistry of boreal streams. Here, I used 15 years of data from eight streams withinthe Krycklan Catchment to test how interannual variability in summer low flows influencesstream water chemistry. My analysis focused several key biogeochemical indicators in thesestreams, including concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved organicnitrogen (DON), nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4), as well as the total C/N and NH4/NO3ratios. Overall, results revealed widespread declines in summer average DOC concentrationsand C/N ratios with greater drought severity. These responses likely reflect shifts in thebiogeochemical properties of soils that feed streams during high- versus low-flow summers.By comparison, nitrogen-based parameters were less clearly influenced by drought, exceptfor in mire-dominated headwaters, where NH4 and DON both increased during the lowestflow periods. Overall, the strong effects of flow variability drove a high degree of interannualsynchrony for DOC and C/N across all sites in the drainage system. This synchrony was morevariable overall for nitrogen-based parameters, with several sites having unique year-to-yearchanges in concentrations and ratios. However, strong temporal coherence for NH4 acrossforested streams suggest other broad-scale factors (e.g., related to forest processes) mayregulate interannual patterns for this nutrient. Collectively, results provide insight into howincreases in drought frequency and severity may alter boreal streams and rivers in the future.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions from streams are a significant component of the global carbon cycle.Terrestrial export of CO2 through runoff is increasingly recognized as a major source of CO2 in boreal headwater streams. However, the spatial and temporal distribution of soil water CO2 within theterrestrial landscape remains poorly quantified, contributing to large uncertainties about the origin of CO2 in headwater streams. The riparian zone (i.e. the area with fine sediments and organic rich soils closest to the stream) is accepted as a main contributor of organic carbon to streams, but its importanceas a source of CO2 is less evident. Here I evaluate the riparian zone as a main source by quantifying the contribution of lateral CO2 export from the riparian and hillslope zones to a headwater stream in a Swedish boreal catchment. Hourly measurements of CO2 concentration, conductivity, soil temperature and water table levels were taken in the riparian zone and the hillslope from June 2014 to October 2015. The riparian zone accounted for 58-89 % (August 2014 and March respectively) of the total terrestrial CO2 export from the slope to the stream. The hillslope, in turn, became a progressively larger source of CO2 to the stream during high flow events. To identify the drivers behind these zone-dependent and seasonal patterns in CO2 export, the CO2 production dissolved in the groundwater (groundwater- absorbed carbon) was estimated by taking the temporarily stored CO2  into account. The highest groundwater-absorbed carbon was observed during April and May (5.0 and 7.1 g C-CO2 m-2 month-1 respectively) which is the period with the highest discharge due to snow melt and the initiation of spring production. As such, conventional methods (gas chambers and the gradient method) may underestimate the soil respiration up to 50% during periods of high flow, as they exclude groundwater-absorbed carbon. CO2 consumption was observed in September 2014 and October 2015 (-0.2 and -0.7 g C-CO2 m-2 month-1 respectively) and may be explained by a major amount of the soil respiration being emitted instead of diluted in the groundwater during periods of low groundwater levels. It can be concludedthat, regardless of season, the riparian zone is a major source of CO2 to the headwater stream. / En signifikant mängd koldioxid (CO2) är lagrad i skog och marken. Marken i barrskogsregionernaförvarar en signifikant mängd CO2 där det partiella trycket av CO2 varierar mellan ~10 000 – 50 000 ppm i jämförelse med atmosfären (400 ppm). Mättnaden av CO2 gör att mycket avdunstar tillbaka till atmosfären. Dock absorberas en del CO2 av grundvattnet; vilket resulterar i en naturlig transport av CO2 vidare till ytvattnen där det kapillära nätverket av bäckar är största recipienten. Det är fortfarande oklart hur transporten av CO2 är distribuerad i ett vattenavrinningsområde vilket medför brister i förståelsen av en viktig processväg som kan komma att spela en större roll i framtidens kolkretslopp på grund av den globala uppvärmningen. Därför är en kvantifiering av olika områdens bidrag av CO2 till bäckarna nödvändig. Två betydande zoner i ett vattenavrinningsområde som troligen bidrar olika är: the riparian zone som är närmast bäcken och består av fina sediment med hög organisk halt och, the hillslope som är resterande område och består av grovkorniga jordar med låg organisk halt. Den förstnämnda misstänks transportera mer CO2 via grundvattnet på grund av dess närhet till bäcken, höga halter av CO2 och höga vattenmättnad men detta är ännu inte verifierat. Jag evaluerar the riparian zone som en viktig källa till CO2 i ett vattenavrinningsområde genom att kvantifiera transporten av CO2 från de två zonerna. För att förklara varför transporten varierar presenterar jag en ny modell (GVR) som beräknar den månatliga fluktuationen av den del av CO2-produktionen som absorberas i grundvattnet i the riparian zone. Mätningar av data utfördes i Västrabäcken, ett mindre vattenavrinningsområde i ett större vid namn Krycklan, i norra Sverige. En transekt av tre mätstationer (i bäcken, the riparian zone och the hillslope) installerades i den förmodade grundvattenströmningsriktningen. Resultaten visar på en hög produktion av CO2 under vårfloden (maj) då en hög grundvattenyta troligen absorberar en signifikant mängd CO2. Detta kan betyda att jordrespiration under våren underskattas då dagens mätmetoder är begränsade till mätningar i jorden av CO2 ovan grundvattenytan. Fortsatta studier rekommenderas där GVR-modellen och andra mätmetoder utförs samtidigt för att vidare utröna den kvantitativa underskattningen under perioder med hög grundvattenyta (speciellt under våren). Bidraget från the riparian zone till den totala laterala transporten av CO2 till bäcken under ett år varierar mellan 58-89 % och det månatliga transportmönstret kunde förklaras med resultaten från GVR-modellen. Resultaten verifierar att oberoende av säsong så är the riparian zone den huvudsakliga laterala koltransporten från landvegetationen; medan the hillslope procentuellt bidrar med mer CO2 under höga grundvattenflöden.

This thesis aimed to evaluate the groundwater discharge distribution in the Krycklan catchment by developing a groundwater flow model using COMSOL Multiphysics and assuming a topography- controlled groundwater surface. Previous research has shown that the groundwater surface can be modeled as a subdued replica of the topography in humid climate regions where the permeability of the subsurface is low and where the groundwater surface is shallow. In earlier studies by Mojarrad (2021), it has been shown that the modeled infiltration becomes higher than the observed infiltration when a topography-controlled groundwater surface boundary is used and that a solution to this is to decrease the resolution in recharge areas. This method was therefore used in the thesis; however, the modeled infiltration was unsuccessfully lowered. This is thought to be due to differences between the model and the previous study and which are discussed further in this thesis. The discharge and recharge areas were identified using the direction of the vertical component of Darcy velocity, and the discharge flow distribution was evaluated in ArcMAP. The discharge flow distribution in the landscape was compared to real geographical data of surface water to identify a discharge threshold value for when the water balance is upheld by surface water flow or by evapotranspiration. The evapotranspiration discharge flow distribution was also evaluated, where the highest flow values were found in riparian zones of the landscape. / Syftet med denna avhandling var att utvärdera föredelningen av grundvattnets utflöde i Krycklans avrinningsområde genom att utveckla en grundvattenflödesmodell i COMSOL Multiphysics med antagandet av en topografikontrollerad grundvattenyta. Tidigare forskning har visat att grundvattenytan kan modelleras som en dämpad kopia av topografin i fuktiga klimatområden där permeabiliteten i underytan är låg och där grundvattenytan är grund. En implikation av att använda en topografikontrollerad grundvattenyta har visat sig vara att den modellerade infiltrationen blir högre jämfört med den observerade infiltrationen. Tidigare studier av Krycklans avrinningsområde har visat att genom att minska upplösningen i infiltrationsområden kan den modellerade infiltrationen framgångsrikt sänkas, därför användes denna mesh-utjämningsmetod i avhandlingen. För validering av modellen jämfördes den modellerade infiltrationen med den observerade infiltrationen i Krycklans avrinningsområde. Valideringen visade att mesh-utjämningen misslyckades med att minska infiltrationen, vilket tros bero på skillnader mellan modellen och den tidigare studien och som diskuteras vidare i denna avhandling. Grundvattnets infiltration- och utflödesområden identifierades med hjälp av riktningen på den vertikala komponenten av Darcy-hastighet, och utflödesfördelningen utvärderades i ArcMAP. Utflödesfördelningen i landskapet jämfördes med verkliga geografiska data för ytvatten för att identifiera ett tröskelvärde för utflödet när vattenbalansen upprätthålls av ytvattenflöde eller av evapotranspiration. Fördelningen av utflöden genom evapotranspirations utvärderades också, där de högsta flödesvärdena återfanns i områden nära ytvattenkroppar i landskapet.

Iron (Fe) speciation is important for many biogeochemical processes. The high abundance and limited solubility of Fe(III) are responsible for the widespread occurrence of Fe(III) minerals in the environment. Co-precipitation and adsorption onto mineral surfaces limits the free concentrations of compounds such as arsenate (As(V)), Fe(III) and, phosphate (P(V)). Mineral dissolution, on the other hand, might lead to elevated concentrations of these compounds. Fe speciation is strongly affected by natural organic matter (NOM), which suppresses hydrolysis of Fe(III) via complexation. It limits the formation of Fe(III) minerals and Fe(III) co-precipitation. This thesis is focused on interactions between Fe(III) and NOM as well as their impact on other elements (i.e. As(V) and P(V)). X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was used to obtain molecular scale information on Fe and As speciation. This was complemented with infrared spectroscopy, as well as traditional wet-chemical analysis, such as pH and total concentration determinations. Natural stream waters, soil solutions, ground water and soil samples from the Krycklan Catchment, in northern Sweden, were analyzed together with model compounds with different types of NOM. A protocol based on ion exchange resins was developed to concentrate Fe from dilute natural waters prior to XAS measurements. Iron speciation varied between the stream waters and was strongly affected by the surrounding landscape. Stream waters originating from forested or mixed sites contained both Fe(II, III)-NOM complexes and precipitated Fe(III) (hydr)oxides. The distribution between these two pools was influenced by pH, total concentrations and, properties of NOM. In contrast, stream waters from wetland sites and soil solutions from a forested site only contained organically complexed Fe. Furthermore, the soil solutions contained a significant fraction Fe(II)-NOM complexes. The soil samples were dominated by organically complexed Fe and a biotite-like phase. Two pools of Fe were also identified in the ternary systems with As(V) or P(V) mixed with Fe(III) and NOM: all Fe(III) was complexed with NOM at low total concentrations of Fe(III), As(V) and/or P(V). Hence, Fe(III) complexation by NOM reduced Fe(III)-As(V)/P(V) interactions at low Fe(III) concentrations, which led to higher bioavailability. Exceeding the Fe(III)-NOM complex equilibrium resulted in the occurrence of Fe(III)-As(V)/P(V) (co-)-precipitates.

Inland waters are important systems for transforming, storing and transporting carbon along the aquatic continuum, but also by emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. In light of the last decades observed increase in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in many inland waters across the northern hemisphere, a logical question arise whether other aquatic carbon species display similar trends. This study examined the measured concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in a boreal catchment over a 14-year period. The objectives were to determine changes in DIC concentration over time and try to explain the causes for the observed changes. Data from 15 mostly forested sub-catchments were analyzed, both over the full time period, and grouped by season. Over the full 14-year period, only two of the sites exhibited significant trends in DIC concentration, both being negative. However, by seasonally grouping the data distinct patterns for the different seasons emerged. The autumn and winter data displayed no significant trends, whereas the spring flood data showed significant negative trends for almost all sites (14 out of 15). The summer data showed significant negative trends for seven sites, and positive for one site. The DIC concentration data were expectedly positively correlated with pH across most sites (13 out of 15). The correlation with DOC was negative for most sites (11 out of 15), possibly indicating different origins of the different carbon species. The DIC concentration was also negatively correlated with discharge for most sites (13 out of 15), suggesting a diluting effect with increased discharge. In conclusion, significant negative trends were observed during the spring flood and summer periods. Although the cause of these trends will require further investigation, the correlation analysis showed that the DIC concentration was closely related to the catchment hydrology. This suggests changes in terrestrial source areas where DIC is mobilized during spring and summer, and that these changes might continue during altered hydrometeorological conditions. The differences in DIC trends between sub-catchments further show the variability of the boreal landscape and highlight the need for local-scale process understanding when scaling to larger landscape units. We further conclude that trends in DIC concentration do not follow observed DOC changes over time, suggesting that DIC and DOC exports are mechanistically decoupled.

Compiling comprehensive understanding of all the available natural resources is an important task which should be carried out as it holds a crucial role for the next generation’s lives. In particular, groundwater is considered as one of the vital resources in providing essential drinking water. Krycklan catchment is a well-monitored catchment in Sweden that is characterized with almost 30% of the world’s forest cover and it has a range of data sets stored from 1920. A numerical model with several observational constrains is used in this study to investigate the groundwater flow circulation. The numerical model is developed with Visual MODFLOW Flex 6.1 software to investigate the temporal effects of the climate condition on the groundwater flow of the Krycklan catchment through a transient-state condition. Daily precipitation and daily evapotranspiration data along with stream data are used to represent the climatic boundary conditions. The impact of climatic condition on groundwater flow was investigated using two different metrices: groundwater level, and groundwater flow travel time reaching the stream network. The results clearly indicated the variability in groundwater level due to the impact of climatic condition in which the winter and summer months have the highest and lowest groundwater levels, respectively. In addition, the particles tracing results show that physical characteristics of the stream channel substantially influence the shallow groundwater travel time.