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An improved time series approach for estimating groundwater recharge from groundwater level fluctuations
Author(s) -
Cuthbert M. O.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2009wr008572
Subject(s) - groundwater recharge , aquifer , groundwater , water table , hydrology (agriculture) , precipitation , groundwater model , drainage , drainage basin , water level , series (stratigraphy) , geology , environmental science , soil science , geotechnical engineering , meteorology , geography , paleontology , cartography , biology , ecology
An analytical solution to a linearized Boussinesq equation is extended to develop an expression for groundwater drainage using estimations of aquifer parameters. This is then used to develop an improved water table fluctuation (WTF) technique for estimating groundwater recharge. The resulting method extends the standard WTF technique by making it applicable, as long as aquifer properties for the area are relatively well known, in areas with smoothly varying water tables and is not reliant on precipitation data. The method is validated against numerical simulations and a case study from a catchment where recharge is “known” a priori using other means. The approach may also be inverted to provide initial estimates of aquifer parameters in areas where recharge can be reliably estimated by other methods.