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Simple procedure to simulate karstic aquifers
Author(s) -
Padilla Alberto,
PulidoBosch Antonio
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.6772
Subject(s) - aquifer , infiltration (hvac) , karst , hydrology (agriculture) , precipitation , geology , spring (device) , vadose zone , environmental science , evapotranspiration , soil science , groundwater , geotechnical engineering , soil water , meteorology , thermodynamics , paleontology , physics , ecology , biology
A procedure to simulate karstic aquifers is presented. It is based on a simulation of spring discharge using precipitation and, where necessary, temperature as input data. The karstic aquifer system is considered to be divided into three zones: the surface zone, the unsaturated zone (UZ) and the saturated zone (SZ). Each of these is described by a transfer function that determines the water supplied from the overlying zone. Water loss through evapotranspiration is calculated empirically and subtracted from the total precipitation in order to obtain the effective infiltration into the UZ. The transfer function characterizing the UZ can be expressed as a convolution function. The UZ acts as a buffer, delaying effective infiltration into the SZ. Water discharge from the SZ is described by the recession function of the spring, and this becomes the transfer function that characterizes the emergence of water from the SZ. The model permits the simulation of the influence of pumped abstractions from the system by a simple modification of the transfer functions involved. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.