EU Field internship ER: hydrometry, hydrology, hydrochemistry

The status of a watercourse within the meaning of the WFD comprises two aspects: chemical status and ecological status. To define ecological status, several parameters must be taken into account, including parameters related to the volume of water (measured by flow rate) in the watercourse. In this course, students will be required to carry out field or laboratory measurements to determine some of the key parameters used in determining the status of a watercourse or more generally used in hydrological studies (floods, resource assessment, etc.).

Four topics will be addressed:

- Hydrometry, using various gauging techniques (point-by-point method with electromagnetic current meter, ADCP, dilution method, float gauging, radar).

- Soil hydrodynamics, using several infiltration methods to determine saturation conductivity, and soil cylinder sampling to determine porosity, dry density, and soil water content after drying.

- Hydrochemistry, including:

• fieldwork (sampling and analysis using a multiparameter meter and a field spectrophotometer) for physical and chemical parameters (temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, TAC, PO4, and NO3, etc.)
• a laboratory component (analysis and quantification of the presence of 4-tert-octylphenol in a surface water sample, using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS)) to determine the presence of trace amounts of emerging contaminants from the alkylphenol ethoxylate (APEO) family, compounds found in products such as detergents, emulsifiers, and solubilizers.

- Hydrobiology, taking into account the presence or absence of certain species: fish, invertebrates, macrophytes (aquatic plants), and diatoms (unicellular algae), in order to determine specific indices (IPR, IBGN, IBMR, IBD) relating to the biological quality of the watercourse.

The overall objective of this course unit is to enable students to independently carry out measurements in the field or in the laboratory (use of equipment, precautions to be taken, areas of validity, calibrations, accuracy, uncertainty calculations, etc.) and to process the resulting data. They will thus be able to apply this know-how in the Project course units that follow in M2, then during their internship and professional life.

EU "water cycle"

100% Continuous Monitoring

- a report on the laboratory practical

- a spreadsheet-based assessment for processing soil flow and hydrodynamic data

- a CR for hydrochemistry and hydrobiology analyses in the field