Chloride Conservative Mass Balance Checker

Audit conservative dissolved chloride inventory with trapezoidal sampled mass-flux integration and independent final inventory; this tracer is not chlorine disinfectant, and groundwater/deposition inputs must be included externally.

Description

Dissolved chloride can act as a conservative tracer in a lake water budget.

Dissolved chloride can act as a conservative tracer in a lake water budget. Integrating sampled flow-concentration products predicts the inventory change for comparison with an independently observed final inventory.^[1]

The tool returns integratedImportedChlorideKg, integratedExportedChlorideKg, predictedFinalChlorideInventoryKg, observedMinusPredictedResidualKg, withinClosureTolerance. The computation uses supplied observations and parameters rather than acquiring measurements.

When to use Chloride Conservative Mass Balance Checker

Use this for the following task: Audit conservative dissolved chloride inventory with trapezoidal sampled mass-flux integration and independent final inventory; this tracer is not chlorine disinfectant, and groundwater/deposition inputs must be included externally. Prepare observations and calibration parameters on the same unit and reporting basis.

How to use Chloride Conservative Mass Balance Checker and understand its results

Prepare the measured quantities and supplied model parameters. Match the units and align paired lists before calculating.
Enter timesDays, inflowM3PerDay, inflowChlorideMgPerLiter, outflowM3PerDay, outflowChlorideMgPerLiter, initialChlorideInventoryKg, observedFinalChlorideInventoryKg, closureToleranceKg according to the field table, then run the tool.
Read integratedImportedChlorideKg, integratedExportedChlorideKg, predictedFinalChlorideInventoryKg, observedMinusPredictedResidualKg, withinClosureTolerance. Use the calculation below to interpret the selected mean or the model’s signs, units and comparison flags.
Review the supplied assumptions and calibration before comparing or reporting the result.

Input field	Meaning	Value type and bounds	Requirement
timesDays	Times days	list of number	Required
inflowM3PerDay	Inflow m3 per day	list of number	Required
inflowChlorideMgPerLiter	Inflow chloride mg per liter	list of number	Required
outflowM3PerDay	Outflow m3 per day	list of number	Required
outflowChlorideMgPerLiter	Outflow chloride mg per liter	list of number	Required
initialChlorideInventoryKg	Initial chloride inventory kg	number	Required
observedFinalChlorideInventoryKg	Observed final chloride inventory kg	number	Required
closureToleranceKg	Closure tolerance kg	number	Required

Supply increasing times, aligned nonnegative flow/concentration records, nonnegative inventory measurements and closure tolerance. Reject a negative predicted final inventory and compare the absolute observed-minus-predicted residual with an inclusive tolerance.

massFlux kg/day=flow m³/day×chloride mg/L/1000; predictedFinal=initial+trapezoidIntegral(import)−trapezoidIntegral(export)

The symbols and boundary conditions refer to the supplied fields and the implementation described above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
integratedImportedChlorideKg	Integrated imported chloride kg	number
integratedExportedChlorideKg	Integrated exported chloride kg	number
predictedFinalChlorideInventoryKg	Predicted final chloride inventory kg	number
observedMinusPredictedResidualKg	Observed minus predicted residual kg	number
withinClosureTolerance	Within closure tolerance	boolean

json

{
  "input": {
    "timesDays": [
      0,
      1,
      2
    ],
    "inflowM3PerDay": [
      10,
      10,
      10
    ],
    "inflowChlorideMgPerLiter": [
      100,
      100,
      100
    ],
    "outflowM3PerDay": [
      5,
      5,
      5
    ],
    "outflowChlorideMgPerLiter": [
      200,
      200,
      200
    ],
    "initialChlorideInventoryKg": 10,
    "observedFinalChlorideInventoryKg": 11,
    "closureToleranceKg": 0.1
  },
  "output": {
    "integratedImportedChlorideKg": 2,
    "integratedExportedChlorideKg": 2,
    "predictedFinalChlorideInventoryKg": 10,
    "observedMinusPredictedResidualKg": 1,
    "withinClosureTolerance": false
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Chloride is distinct from chlorine disinfectant. Groundwater, deposition and other exchanges must be accounted for externally; closure alone does not establish measurement accuracy.

Numerical inputs must be finite. Input-shape and calculation checks do not establish measurement quality or the validity of a supplied calibration.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Choose Phosphorus Retention Coefficient when you need its operation: Close matched phosphorus inflow/outflow/storage budget to apparent retention; negative retention or ratios above one expose unmodeled exchange and are not clamped. Choose Dilution Capacity Low Flow for the complementary operation: Invert ideal complete mixing for an effluent flow capacity when receiving concentration < target < effluent; not a legal discharge allowance, mixing-zone model or ecological guarantee.

Background reference: Chloride Mass Balance in Streams to Estimate Recharge.

References

Chloride Mass Balance in Streams to Estimate Recharge — U.S. Geological Survey

Similar or alternative tools

Phosphorus Retention Coefficient
Close matched phosphorus inflow/outflow/storage budget to apparent retention; negative retention or ratios above one expose unmodeled exchange and are not clamped.
Dilution Capacity Low Flow
Invert ideal complete mixing for an effluent flow capacity when receiving concentration < target < effluent; not a legal discharge allowance, mixing-zone model or ecological guarantee.