5 The Spatio-Temporal Scales of the Research Themes
Selected in This Publication
The selected research themes presented here encompass a wide range of space
and time scales schematized in Fig. 10. In addition to laboratory analyses
(e.g. characterization of organic matter [83], analysis of contaminants [60, 84],
ecotoxicology [85], microbiology [40]), the field activities range from agricultural
plot studies to interannual river exports assessed at the basin outlet. Various intermediate time and spatial scales are considered, depending on the scientific or societal
question being addressed. They include numerous experimental sites (Fig. 1) that are
selected to cover a wide range of impacts, which are generally studied over periods
of 3–30 years. At the process scale, the functioning is, for instance, studied in firstorder catchments of the rural Orgeval site (II on Fig. 1), an experimental site
established in the early 1960s, initially for hydrology and drainage impacts and
then for nutrient budgets and pesticides [86]. Recently, continuous records have
been set up for hydrological, and especially stream aquifer interactions [87, 88], and
biogeochemical monitoring as part of innovative national equipment for the critical
zone [89]. Other experimental sites include mid-order streams (3 and 4), such as the
Grand Morin River (III on Fig. 1), for which social experiments among river users
have been undertaken [50, 90], and the Orge River, a suburban river in the Paris
region with a high population density, where many analyses of legacy and emerging
contaminants have been carried out (IV in Fig. 1) [85]. The Paris station on the
Middle Seine (order 7), just downstream of the Seine-Marne confluence, is located
near the laboratory facilities and is used in particular to study the seasonal variability
of river chemistry, with a handful of other key stations on upper stream orders,
including the Seine reservoirs (5–7, Fig. 1). The Lower Seine course, downstream of
Paris (VI on Fig. 1), corresponds to the maximum degradation sector of the Seine
River. The impact of the Paris conurbation on this section of the river is present in
almost all the following chapters (see, e.g. [37, 40]). The basin output is considered
at the Poses station (Fig. 1), just upstream of a weir preventing tide propagation from
the estuary. This station at Poses integrates all information on the whole basin
upstream. An original feature of the PIREN-Seine programme was to take into
account the whole continuum from small streams to the Seine mouth since the outset
of the programme [32, 41, 46, 66].
The PIREN-Seine has gradually developed numerous models [50]. These are
schematized in Fig. 10 into items with different space and time resolutions: (1) the
biogeochemical RIVE model embedded in the Riverstrahler model, which describes
the river continuum (10 days, 1 km river reach) [41], and in the ProSe model devoted
to a two-dimensional description of the Parisian river sector (15 min, 0.1 km)
[12, 91], and (2) the CaWaQS model (formerly MODCOU model), devoted to
groundwaters (1 day; 1–5 km
2 ) [32, 92]. These models are actually interconnected
and are also connected to another set of estuarine and coastal models. The trajectory
of the Seine River has been modelled for retrospective and climate change scenarios
for both a hydrological [32] and a biogeochemical perspective [41, 76].
22
N. Flipo et al.
Selected in This Publication
The selected research themes presented here encompass a wide range of space
and time scales schematized in Fig. 10. In addition to laboratory analyses
(e.g. characterization of organic matter [83], analysis of contaminants [60, 84],
ecotoxicology [85], microbiology [40]), the field activities range from agricultural
plot studies to interannual river exports assessed at the basin outlet. Various intermediate time and spatial scales are considered, depending on the scientific or societal
question being addressed. They include numerous experimental sites (Fig. 1) that are
selected to cover a wide range of impacts, which are generally studied over periods
of 3–30 years. At the process scale, the functioning is, for instance, studied in firstorder catchments of the rural Orgeval site (II on Fig. 1), an experimental site
established in the early 1960s, initially for hydrology and drainage impacts and
then for nutrient budgets and pesticides [86]. Recently, continuous records have
been set up for hydrological, and especially stream aquifer interactions [87, 88], and
biogeochemical monitoring as part of innovative national equipment for the critical
zone [89]. Other experimental sites include mid-order streams (3 and 4), such as the
Grand Morin River (III on Fig. 1), for which social experiments among river users
have been undertaken [50, 90], and the Orge River, a suburban river in the Paris
region with a high population density, where many analyses of legacy and emerging
contaminants have been carried out (IV in Fig. 1) [85]. The Paris station on the
Middle Seine (order 7), just downstream of the Seine-Marne confluence, is located
near the laboratory facilities and is used in particular to study the seasonal variability
of river chemistry, with a handful of other key stations on upper stream orders,
including the Seine reservoirs (5–7, Fig. 1). The Lower Seine course, downstream of
Paris (VI on Fig. 1), corresponds to the maximum degradation sector of the Seine
River. The impact of the Paris conurbation on this section of the river is present in
almost all the following chapters (see, e.g. [37, 40]). The basin output is considered
at the Poses station (Fig. 1), just upstream of a weir preventing tide propagation from
the estuary. This station at Poses integrates all information on the whole basin
upstream. An original feature of the PIREN-Seine programme was to take into
account the whole continuum from small streams to the Seine mouth since the outset
of the programme [32, 41, 46, 66].
The PIREN-Seine has gradually developed numerous models [50]. These are
schematized in Fig. 10 into items with different space and time resolutions: (1) the
biogeochemical RIVE model embedded in the Riverstrahler model, which describes
the river continuum (10 days, 1 km river reach) [41], and in the ProSe model devoted
to a two-dimensional description of the Parisian river sector (15 min, 0.1 km)
[12, 91], and (2) the CaWaQS model (formerly MODCOU model), devoted to
groundwaters (1 day; 1–5 km
2 ) [32, 92]. These models are actually interconnected
and are also connected to another set of estuarine and coastal models. The trajectory
of the Seine River has been modelled for retrospective and climate change scenarios
for both a hydrological [32] and a biogeochemical perspective [41, 76].
22
N. Flipo et al.