
Richard James CooperUniversity of East Anglia | UEA · School of Environmental Sciences
Richard James Cooper
PhD Environmental Science (UEA)
About
63
Publications
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Introduction
I am a Lecturer in Catchment Science within the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA). My research has included work on nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment, pesticides, biobeds, cover crops, reduced tillage regimes, indirect nitrous oxide emissions, invasive signal crayfish, integrated constructed wetlands and sediment fingerprinting.
Additional affiliations
March 2015 - August 2017
Education
October 2011 - March 2015
September 2007 - July 2011
Publications
Publications (63)
A high-temporal resolution fluvial sediment source apportionment model, set within an empirical Bayesian framework,
is presented for the River Wensum Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC), UK. Direct X-ray fluorescence
(XRF) and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) analysis of sediment covered
filter papers were used in...
Many of the commonly used analytical techniques for assessing the properties of fluvial suspended particulatematter (SPM) are neither
cost effective nor time efficient, making them prohibitive to long-term high-resolution monitoring. We present an in-depth
methodology utilizing two types of spectroscopy which, when combined with automatic water sam...
We present an annually resolved reconstruction of spring-summer precipitation variability in East Anglia, UK (52–53°N, 0–2°E) for the period AD 900–2009. A continuous regional network of 723 living (AD 1590–2009) and historical (AD 781–1790) oak (Quercus sp.) ring-width series has been constructed and shown to dis-play significant sensitivity to pr...
We present a millennial long dendroclimatic reconstruction of spring/summer precipitation for southern-central England. Previous research identified a significant moisture stress signal in ring-width data measured from oak trees growing in southern England. In this study, we build upon this earlier work, specifically targeting south-central England...
We present an annually resolved reconstruction
of spring-summer precipitation variability in East Anglia,
UK (52–53�N, 0–2�E) for the period AD 900–2009.
A continuous regional network of 723 living (AD
1590–2009) and historical (AD 781–1790) oak (Quercus sp.)
ring-width series has been constructed and shown to display
significant sensitivity to pre...
Globally scarce and ecologically valuable, the lowland chalk streams of southern and eastern England experience extensive eutrophication pressures arising from intensive agriculture. Mitigation measures are required to restore natural chalk stream functioning and the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) could provide a solution. Her...
Through the provision of drinking and agricultural irrigation water, groundwater resources fundamentally underpin the existence of modern human society across large regions of the world. Despite this, decades of unsustainable exploitation have led to acute degradation of groundwater quantity and quality, creating pressing challenges that society mu...
High loads of microplastics and anthropogenic fibres can be discharged from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into surface water bodies. Integrated Constructed Wetlands (ICWs) are potentially well suited to provide a cost-effective mitigation solution at small WWTPs where conventional treatment is prohibitively expensive. This study aimed to asse...
The pressure of nutrient pollution derived from wastewater treatment works and agricultural runoff is a reason for the decline in the ecological health of aquatic habitats. Projected residential development in catchments creates further nutrient loading that can be offset by nutrient management solutions that maintain 'nutrient neutrality' either o...
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is widely regarded as a seminal piece of environmental legislation. However, two decades since its inception, many European waterbodies are failing to meet its ambitious goal to ensure 'good' quantitative and qualitative status. Here, we investigate the impact of the WFD upon the environmentally sensitive yet...
The transfer of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from land to watercourses plays a major role in the carbon cycle, and in the transport and fate of associated organic and inorganic contaminants. We investigated, at global scale, how the concentrations and properties of riverine DOC depend upon combinations of terrestrial source solutions. For topsoil...
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is widely regarded as a seminal piece of environmental legislation. However, two decades since its inception, many European waterbodies are failing to meet its ambitious goal to ensure ‘good’ quantitative and qualitative status. Here, we investigate the impact of the WFD upon the environmentally sensitive yet...
Sewage effluent discharged from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is a major driver of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enrichment, but tertiary treatment methods such as P-stripping have previously been shown to mitigate eutrophication risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impacts of sewage effluent discharged from WWTPs with contrastin...
This dataset contains riverine hydrochemical data generated at monthly intervals between 2010 and 2016 from 20 sites across the River Wensum catchment, UK. Data were obtained via manual grab sampling of river water from each of the 20 locations across the catchment, followed by subsequent laboratory analysis to determine concentrations of nutrients...
High-resolution water quality data recorded at the outlet of the Blackwater Drain, Norfolk, between 2011 and 2019 by an in-situ automated bankside monitoring station.
In 2010, the UK government launched the Demonstration Test Catchments (DTC) platform to evaluate the extent to which on-farm mitigation measures can cost-effectively reduce the impacts of agricultural water pollution on river ecology whilst maintaining food production capacity. In this paper, we compare the impacts on soil health of two types of co...
The nutrient removal efficiency of two integrated constructed wetlands (ICWs) installed at commercial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Norfolk, UK, is assessed – the River Ingol ICW (1 year old) and the River Mun ICW (5 years old). Analysing water samples collected across the ICWs between February and September 2019, significant reductions in...
In 2010, the UK government established the Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC) initiative to evaluate the extent to which on-farm mitigation measures can cost-effectively reduce the impacts of agricultural water pollution on river ecology whilst maintaining food production capacity. A central component of the DTC platform was the establishment of a...
This chapter provides an introduction to the ecosystem services and assessment methods associated with catchment water resources. It considers the main pressures on such resources and the different techniques that can be used to monitor and evaluate the state of water quality and quantity in a catchment. Issues associated with the design of monitor...
This chapter discusses the range of measures that can be used to mitigate the impacts of water pollution and flooding. It makes a distinction between source measures which aim to reduce the amount of water or pollutant initially mobilised, pathway interventions which seek to slow the flow of pollutant enriched water once it has become mobilised and...
Mitigating agricultural water pollution requires changes in land management practices and the implementation of on-farm measures to tackle the principal reasons for water quality failure. However, a paucity of robust empirical evidence on the hydrological functioning of river catchments can be a major constraint on the design of effective pollution...
Evidence presented from the River Wensum Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC)
Metalled roads have been shown to act as a major pathway for land-to-river sediment transfer, but there currently exists limited research into mitigation solutions to tackle this pollution source. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of three roadside constructed wetlands, installed in September 2016, at reducing sediment enrichmen...
Purpose
Wastewater effluent discharged into rivers from sewage treatment works (STWs) represents one of the most important point sources of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) pollution and is a major driver of freshwater eutrophication. In this study, we assess the ability of riverbed sediments to act as a self-regulating buffering system to reduce...
Farming to protect our water resources - results from UK farm trials: 2011-2018
Excess nutrients in surface waters, such as phosphorus (P) from agriculture, result in poor water quality, with adverse effects on ecological health and costs for remediation. However, understanding and prediction of P transfers in catchments have been limited by inadequate data and over-parameterised models with high uncertainty. We show that, wit...
Excess nutrients in surface waters, such as phosphorus (P) from agriculture, result in poor water quality, with adverse effects on ecological health and costs for remediation. However, understanding and prediction of P transfers in catchments have been limited by inadequate data and over-parameterised models with high uncertainty. We show that, wit...
Recent advances in sediment fingerprinting research have seen Bayesian mixing models being increasingly employed as an effective method to coherently translate component uncertainties into source apportionment results. Here, we advance earlier work by presenting an extended Bayesian mixing model capable of providing a full Bayes treatment of geoche...
The efficacy of cover crops and non-inversion tillage regimes at minimising farm-scale nutrient losses were assessed across a large, commercial arable farm in Norfolk, UK. The trial area, covering 143 ha, was split into three blocks: winter fallow with mouldboard ploughing (Block J); shallow non-inversion tillage with a winter oilseed radish (Rapha...
Agriculture is a major source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. Whilst direct N2O emissions from soils have been widely investigated, indirect N2O emissions from nitrogen (N) enriched surface water and groundwater bodies are poorly understood. In this contribution, indirect N2O emissions from subsurface agricultural field d...
Indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions produced by nitrogen (N) leaching into surface water and groundwater bodies are poorly understood in comparison to direct N2O emissions from soils. In this study, dissolved N2O concentrations were measured weekly in both lowland headwater streams and subsurface agricultural field drain discharges over a two-ye...
Agricultural point source pesticide pollution arising from contaminated machinery washings and accidental spillages pose a significant threat to river water and groundwater quality. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of a three-stage on-farm biobed for treating pesticide contaminated waste water from a large (20 km2) commercial arable estat...
Purpose
A small number of recent studies have linked daily cycles in stream turbidity to nocturnal bioturbation by aquatic fauna, principally crayfish, and demonstrated this process can significantly impact upon water quality under baseflow conditions. Adding to this limited body of research, we use high-resolution water quality monitoring data to...
Climate model projections suggest widespread drying in the Mediterranean Basin and wetting in Fennoscandia in the coming decades largely as a consequence of greenhouse gas forcing of climate. To place these and other “Old World” climate projections into historical perspective based on more complete estimates of natural hydroclimatic variability, we...
Sedimentary basins in the South Atlantic contain multiple petroleum systems with source rocks formed in different depositional environments. Published information on organic geochemistry of source rocks in these basins is still very limited. Lacking in particular are molecular level studies that integrate biomarker and stable isotope methodologies....
This paper describes a study on the Salle Farms estate in Norfolk to assess the effectiveness of a cover crop (oilseed radish) and reduced tillage methods as mitigation measures for controlling diffuse pollution from agriculture. Results from porous pot sampling of nitrate in soil water indicate a substantial contrast between the fields with and wi...
Whilst the processes involved in the cycling of dissolved phosphorus (P) in rivers have been extensively studied, less is known about the mechanisms controlling particulate P concentrations during small and large flows. This deficiency is addressed through an analysis of large numbers of suspended particulate matter (SPM) samples collected under ba...
Sediment fingerprinting is a commonly employed technique for estimating sediment contributions from various eroding terrestrial sources to fluvial sediment load via a mixing model approach. However, there remain significant shortcomings in sediment fingerprinting practice, specifically relating to difficulties in producing high-temporal resolution...
Mixing models have become increasingly common tools for apportioning fluvial sediment load to various sediment sources across catchments using a wide variety of Bayesian and frequentist modeling approaches. In this study, we demonstrate how different model setups can impact upon resulting source apportionment estimates in a Bayesian framework via a...
Sensitivity of fluvial sediment source apportionment to mixing model assumptions: A Bayesian model comparison RJ Cooper, T Krueger, KM Hiscock, BG Rawlins Water Resources Research (2014) 50, 9031-9047, doi. 10.1002/2014WR016194
Sensitivity of fluvial sediment source apportionment to mixing model assumptions: A Bayesian model comparison RJ Cooper, T Krueger, KM Hiscock, BG Rawlins Water Resources Research (2014) 50, 9031-9047,
Sensitivity of fluvial sediment source apportionment to mixing model assumptions: A Bayesian model comparison RJ Cooper, T Krueger, KM Hiscock, BG Rawlins Water Resources Research (2014) 50, 9031-9047, doi. 10.1002/2014WR016194
A high-temporal resolution fluvial sediment source apportionment model, set within an empirical Bayesian framework , is presented for the River Wensum Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC), UK. Direct X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) analysis of sediment covered filter papers were used i...
Many of the commonly used analytical techniques for assessing the properties of fluvial suspended solids are neither
cost-effective nor time-efficient, making them prohibitive to long-term high-resolution monitoring.We propose
a novel methodology utilising two types of spectroscopy which, when combined with automatic water samplers,
can generate ac...