Daniele Tonina, Ph.D., P.E.

• Hydrology
• Water resources
• Aquatic habitat
• Surface-subsurface water interactions
• Fluvial geomorphology
• Sediment transport
• River restoration

Daniele Tonina joined the Center of Ecohydraulics Research and the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in 2009. Natural environments are complex systems that require a holistic approach for synthesizing physical and biological processes. He follows this approach in his research, which can be broadly defined as ecohydrology. His research interests are in identifying and modeling linkages between physical processes and biological systems. This line of research improves our knowledge and ability to manage and protect river basins, water supplies, and riverine ecosystems, and thus forms an important basis for new public policy, urban development, and engineering designs. His research is not focused on one subject, but it examines the connection and interaction of different components that form a natural system.

His interests include surface and ground water processes and the interface between these two major systems — the hyporheic zone. In subsurface hydrology, he has investigated solute transport in heterogeneous formations with a stochastic approach. In surface waters, he is interested in sediment transport, river morphology response to disturbances and their effect on solute mixing and the aquatic habitat. He is particularly interested in surface-subsurface water interaction and its implications for ecosystems and water quality. He has been investigating how these interactions affect nutrient cycles, in-stream self-cleaning processes, both of which address engineering needs and answer ecological questions on how to manage and protect water resources. He is interested in defining the importance of hyporheic flow in different environments and under changing conditions. He is currently collaborating on the evaluation of a new airborne green lidar technology for surveying both terrestrial and aquatic systems (EAARL systems). This tool will provide extremely accurate topographic data of river networks and their surrounding riparian and floodplain zones and will support new research in river network evolution and structure, aquatic and terrestrial habitats, and surface processes.

Current Professional Activities

• Member, American Geophysical Union
• Member, Idaho Board of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors
• Member, Guild of the Professional Engineers of the Autonomous Province of Trento

Refereed Journals

• Glenn*, J, Tonina, D., Morehead, M.D., Fiedler, F., Benjankar, R.M., (2016), Effect of transect location, transect spacing and interpolation methods on river bathymetry accuracy, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, doi: 10.1002/esp.3891.
• Marzadri, A., Tonina, D., Bellin, A., Valli, A., (2016) Mixing interfaces, fluxes, residence times and redox conditions of the hyporheic zones induced by dune-like bedforms and ambient groundwater flow, Advances in Water Resources, 88, 139-151 doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.12.014.
• Monsalve*, A., Tonina, D., (2015), Efectos de la canalización y rectificación de cauces en la calidad del hábitat del salmón Chinook durante las etapas de desove y juvenil, Revista Ingeniería de Obras Civiles, 4, 05-13.
• Hassan, M.A., Tonina, D., Buxton*, T.H., (2015), Does small‐bodied salmon spawning activity enhance streambed mobility?, Water Resources Research, 51, 9, 7467-7484.
• Buxton*, T.H., Buffington, J.M., Tonina, D., Fremier, A.K., Yager, E.M., (2015), Modeling the Influence of Salmon Spawning on Hyporheic Exchange of Marine-Derived Nutrients in Gravel Streambeds, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 72(8): 1146-1158, 10.1139/cjfas-2014-0413.
• Carnie*, R., Tonina, D., McKean, J.A., Isaak, D., (2015), Habitat connectivity as a metric for aquatic microhabitat quality: application to Chinook salmon spawning habitat, Ecohydrology, doi: 10.1002/eco.1696.
• Tranmer*, A.W., Tonina, D., Benjankar, R., Tiedemann*, M., Goodwin, P., (2015), Floodplain persistence and dynamic-equilibrium conditions in a canyon environment, Geomorphology, 250, 147-158.
• Rohan B., Yager, E., Tonina, D., Merz, N., (2015), REI: Riparian Ecosystem Index to assess the impact of hydrologic regime changes on riparian ecosystems, Ecohydrology, DOI: 10.1002/eco.1621.
• Tonina, D.; Marzadri, A.; Bellin, A., (2015), Benthic Uptake Rate due to Hyporheic Exchange: The Effects of Streambed Morphology for Constant and Sinusoidally Varying Nutrient Loads. Water 7, 398-419.
• Bellin, A., Tonina, D., and Marzadri, A., (2015), Breakthrough curve moments scaling in hyporheic exchange, Water Resour. Res., 51, 2, 1353–1358, doi:10.1002/2014WR016559.
• Benjankar, R., Tonina, D., McKean, J.A., (2015), One‐dimensional and two‐dimensional hydrodynamic modeling derived flow properties: impacts on aquatic habitat quality predictions, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 40, 3, 340-356, doi: 10.1002/esp.3637.
• Hassan, M.A., Tonina, D., Beckie, R.D., Kinnear*, M., (2015), The effects of discharge and slope on hyporheic flow in step-pool morphologies, Hydrological Processes, 29, 3, 419-433 doi: 10.1002/hyp.10155.
• Li, R., Chen, Q., Tonina, D., Cai, D., (2015), Effects of upstream reservoir regulation on the hydrological regime and fish habitats of the Lijiang River, China, Ecological Engineering, 76, 75-83, doi: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2014.04.021.
• Benjankar, R., Burke, M., Yager, E., Tonina, D., Egger, G., Rood, S.B., Merz, N., (2014), Development of a spatially-distributed hydroecological model to simulate cottonwood seedling recruitment along rivers, Journal of Environmental Management, 145, 277-288, doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.06.027.
• Marzadri, A., Tonina, D., McKean, J.A., Tiedemann, M.G., Benjankar, R.M., (2014), Multi-scale streambed topographic and discharge effects on hyporheic exchange at the stream network scale in confined streams, Journal of Hydrology, 519, Part B, 1997-2011, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.09.076.
• Marzadri, A., Tonina, D., Bellin, A., Tank, J.L., 2014 A hydrologic model demonstrates nitrous oxide emissions depend on streambed morphology, Geophysical Research Letters, 41,15, 5484-5491, doi: 10.1002/2014GL060732.
• McKean, J., Tonina, D., Bohn, C., Wright, C., (2014), Effects of bathymetric lidar errors on flow properties predicted with a multi-dimensional hydraulic model, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface,119, 3, 644-664, doi: 10.1002/2013JF002897.
• Maturana*, O., Tonina, D., McKean, J.A., Buffington, J.M., Luce, C.H., and Caamaño, D., (2014), Modeling the effects of pulsed versus chronic sand inputs on salmonid spawning habitat in a low‐gradient gravel‐bed river, Earth Surfaces and Landform Processes, 39, 7, 877-889, doi: 10.1002/esp.3491.
• Tonina, D., Gariglio*, F., and C. H. Luce (2014), Quantifying streambed deposition and scour from stream and hyporheic water temperature time series, Water Resources Research, 50, 1, 287-292, doi: 10.1002/2013WR014567.
• Conner*, Jeff T. and Tonina, D., (2014), Effect of cross-section interpolated bathymetry on 2D hydrodynamic model results in a large river, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 39, 4, doi: 10.1002/esp.3458
• Marzadri, A., Tonina, D., and Bellin, A., (2013) Quantifying the importance of daily stream water temperature fluctuations on the hyporheic thermal regime: Implication for dissolved oxygen dynamics, Journal of Hydrology, 507, 241-248, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.10.030
• Gariglio*, F., Tonina, D., and C. H. Luce (2013), Spatio-temporal variability of hyporheic exchange through a pool-riffle-pool sequence, Water Resources Research, 49, 11, 7185-7204, doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20419.
• McKean, J. and Tonina, D., (2013), Bed stability in unconfined gravel bed mountain streams: With implications for salmon spawning viability in future climates, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 118, 3, doi:10.1002/jgrf.20092.
• Benjankar, R., Koenig, F., Tonina, D., (2013), Comparison of hydromorphological assessment methods: Application to the Boise River, USA, Journal of Hydrology, 492, pp. 128-138, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.03.017.
• Marzadri*, A., Tonina, D., and Bellin, A. (2013), Effects of stream morphodynamics on hyporheic zone thermal regime, Water Resources Research, 49, 4, doi:10.1002/wrcr.20199.
• Goode, J.R., Buffington, J.M., Tonina, D., Isaak, D., Thurow, R., Luce, C., Wenger, S., Nagel, D., Tetzlaff, D., Soulsby, C. (2013), Potential effects of climate change on streambed scour and risks to salmon survival in mountain basins, Hydrological Processes, 27, 5, pp. 750-765, Invited, Special Issue doi:10.1002/hyp.9728. (1 citation)
• Luce, C. H., Tonina, D., Gariglio*, F., and Applebee, R. (2013), Solutions for the diurnally forced advection-diffusion equation to estimate bulk fluid velocity and diffusivity in streambeds from temperature time series, Water Resources Research, 49, doi:10.1029/2012WR012380. (1 citation)
• Marzadri*, A., Tonina, D., and Bellin, A., (2012), Morphodynamic controls on redox conditions and on nitrogen dynamics within the hyporheic zone: Application to gravel bed rivers with alternate-bar morphology, Journal of Geophysical Research, 117, G00N10, doi:10.1029/2012JG001966. (1 citation)
• Marzadri*, A., Tonina, D., and Bellin, A., (2011), A semi-analytical three-dimensional process-based model for hyporheic nitrogen dynamics in gravel bed rivers, Water Resources Research 47, W11518, doi:10.1029/2011WR010583. (14 citations)
• Tonina, D., and Buffington, J.M., (2011) Effects of stream discharge, alluvial depth and bar amplitude on hyporheic flow in pool-riffle channels, Water Resources Research, 47, W08508, doi:10.1029/2010WR009140. (15 citations)
• Marzadri*, A., Tonina, D., Bellin, A., Vignoli, G., Tubino, M., (2010) Effects of bar topography on hyporheic flow in gravel-bed rivers, Water Resources Research, 46, W07531, doi:10.1029/2009WR008285. (3 citations)
• Tonina, D., and Buffington, J.M., (2009), Effects of salmon redds on river hydraulics and hyporheic flow in gravel-bed rivers, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 66, 12, pp. 2157-2173, doi: 10.1139/F09-146. (18 citations)
• McKean, J., Nagel, D., Tonina, D., Bailey, P., Wright, C. W., Bohn, C., Nayegandhi, A., (2009), Remote sensing of channels and riparian zones with a narrow-beam aquatic-terrestrial Lidar, Remote Sensing, 1, 4, pp. 1065-1096, doi:10.3390/rs1041065. (36 citations)
• Tonina, D., and Buffington, J.M., (2009), Hyporheic exchange in mountain rivers I: Mechanics and measuring hyporheic exchange, Geography Compass, 3, 3, pp. 1063-1086, doi: 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2009.00226.x. (38 citation)
• Buffington, J.M., and Tonina, D., (2009), Hyporheic exchange in mountain rivers II: Effects of channel morphology on mechanics, scales, and rates of exchange, Geography Compass, 3, 3, pp. 1038-1062, doi: 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2009.00225.x. (47 citations)
• Tonina D., Luce, C., Clayton, S.R., Alì, S.Md., Barry, J.J., Rieman, B., Goodwin, P., Buffington, J.M., Berenbrock, C., (2008), Hydrological response to timber harvest in northern Idaho: Implications for channel scour and persistence of salmonids, Journal of Hydrological Processes, 22, 17, doi: 10.1002/hyp.6918. (19 citations)
• Tonina, D., and Bellin, A., (2008), The influence of pore scale dispersion, formation heterogeneity, source size, and sampling volume on the concentration of conservative tracers, Advances in Water Resources, 31, 2, doi: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2007.08.009. (17 citations)
• Bellin, A., and Tonina D., (2007), Probability density function of non-reactive solute concentration in heterogeneous porous formations, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 94, 1, pp. 109-125, doi: 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2007.05.005. (41 citations)
• Tonina, D., and Buffington, J.M., (2007), Hyporheic exchange in gravel-bed rivers with pool-riffle morphology: Laboratory experiments and three-dimensional modeling, Water Resources Research, 43, W01421, doi:10.1029/2005WR004328. (100 citations)

Peer Reviewed/Evaluated Conference Proceedings

• Benjankar, R., Tonina, D. and McKean, J.A., 2014. Effects of 2D and 1D modeling on mapping aquatic habitat quality, in Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Hydroinformatics, 17-21 August 2014 New York, USA.
• Benjankar, R., Tonina, D., McKean, J.A. and Isaak, D.J., 2014. Does hyporheic intensity explain spawning site selection?, in Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Hydroinformatics, 17-21 August 2014 New York, USA.
• Benjankar, R., Goodwin, P., Tonina, D., Tranmen, A, W., Woods, P., Tiedemann, G., A Cascade Of Models To Guide Reservoir Operations: Application On The Deadwood River System, Idaho, USA, in Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Hydroinformatics, 17-21 August 2014 New York, USA.
• Marzadri, A, Reeder*, W. J., Tonina, D., and Bellin, A., (2013), Dune morphology control on redox conditions within the hyporheic zone, in Proceedings of 35th IAHR World Congress 2013, Sept 8-13, 2013, Chengdu, China, Tsinghua University Press, Beijing (59% acceptance ratio).
• Tonina, D., Luce, C.H., Gariglio*, F.P. (2013), Monitoring the spatiotemporal changes of the hyporheic zone: Changes in fluxes, thermal regime and streambed surface elevations, in Proceedings of 35th IAHR World Congress 2013, Sept 8-13, 2013, Chengdu, China, Tsinghua University Press, Beijing (59% acceptance ratio).
• Benjankar, R.M., Tranmer*, A., Tiedemann*, M.G., Tonina, D., and Goodwin, P. (2013), Analysis of an impact of different discharge scenarios on the thermal regime of the stream below the Dead Wood Reservoir in the central Idaho, USA, in Proceedings of 35th IAHR World Congress 2013, Sept 8-13, 2013, Chengdu, China, Tsinghua University Press, Beijing (59% acceptance ratio).
• Tranmer*, A., Tonina, D., Goodwin, P., Benjankar, R.M., and Tiedemann*, M.G., (2013), Stream power changes in an alluvial canyon - Deadwood River, USA, in Proceedings of 35th IAHR World Congress 2013, Sept 8-13, 2013, Chengdu, China, Tsinghua University Press, Beijing (59% acceptance ratio).
• Marzadri, A., Tonina, D., Bellin, A., (2012), Effect of hyporheic fluxes on streambed pore water temperature, in Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Hydroinformatics HIC 2012, 4th-8th July 2012, Hamburg, Germany. (68% acceptance ratio).
• Marzadri, A., Tonina, D., McKean, J., Tiedemann*, M. G. (2012), Hyporheic exchange along a river bel;ow a dam, in Proceedings of 9th International Symposium on Ecohydraulics ISE 2012, 17th-21th September 2012, Vienna, Austria. (70% acceptance ratio).
• Tonina, D., Marzadri*, A., Bellin, A., (2011), Effect of hyporheic flows induced by alternate bars on benthic oxygen uptake, in Proceedings of 34th IAHR World Congress 2011, 26th June-1st July 2011, pp:3129-3137, Brisbane, Australia. (70% acceptance ratio).
• Tonina, D., McKean, J.A., Tang, C., and Goodwin, P. (2011), New tools for aquatic habitat modeling, in Proceedings of 34th IAHR World Congress 2011, 26th June-1st July 2011, pp: 3137-3144, Brisbane, Australia. (70% acceptance ratio)
• Tonina, D., and McKean, J.A., (2010), Climate change impact on low-gradient salmonid spawning reaches in central Idaho, in Proceedings of 9th International Conference on Hydroinformatics 2010, 7th-11th September 2010, Tianjin, China. (71% acceptance ratio)

Books and Book Chapters

• Tonina, D. and Klaus Jorde, (2013), Hydraulic modeling approaches for ecohydraulics studies: 3D, 2D, 1D and non-numerical modeling, in Ecohydraulics: an integrated approach, Eds. Maddock I., Harby A., Kemp P. and Wood P., J. Wiley and Sons. ISBN: 978-0-470-97600-5. pp.31-60.
• Tonina, D., (2012), Surface water and streambed sediment interaction: The hyporheic exchange, in Fluid mechanics of environmental interfaces Eds.Gualtieri C. and Mihailovic D. T., Taylor and Francis, pp 500. ISBN-13: 978-0415621564.

Patents

• U.S. Patent Application No. 13/890,919 for method and apparatus for monitoring waterbed environment using temperature measurements.

* denotes students

• Effect of hyporheic flow on solute, heat and nutrient transport in river and streambed sediment
• Bathymetry accuracy on flow field
• Gas emissions from streams
• Detection of shallow landslides
• Aquatic habitat modeling for salmonid spawning sites
• Advancing the Experimental Advance Airborne Laser (EAARL) system
• Effect of in-channel vegetation on surface and subsurface flow