Tracers and Transit Time Distributions

This lecture introduces hydrologic transport, focusing on water travel time within a catchment and solute transport. It covers various scales of the problem, examples of water pollution, and the EU WATER FRAMEWORK directive. The lecture discusses the EU directive's implementation, water quality protection, and Swiss water bodies' status. It explores methods to infer water transit times, including the long-term mean transit time concept. The lumped convolution approach and tracer breakthrough curves are also explained, along with stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen. The lecture concludes with the age balance in hydrologic systems and the water age balance, showcasing model results and age variability during wet and dry periods.