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Field‐Scale Subsurface Flow Processes Inferred From Continuous Gravity Monitoring During a Sprinkling Experiment
Author(s) -
Reich Marvin,
Mikolaj Michal,
Blume Theresa,
Güntner Andreas
Publication year - 2021
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 - 10.1029/2021wr030044
Subject(s) - gravimeter , flow (mathematics) , subsurface flow , geology , subsoil , scale (ratio) , water table , gravimetry , gravitational field , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , environmental science , geotechnical engineering , groundwater , mechanics , geophysics , soil water , geography , physics , astronomy , casing , cartography , reservoir modeling
Field‐scale subsurface flow processes are difficult to observe and monitor. We investigated the value of gravity time series to identify subsurface flow processes by carrying out a sprinkling experiment in the direct vicinity of a superconducting gravimeter. We demonstrate how different water mass distributions in the subsoil affect the gravity signal and show the benefit of using the shape of the gravity response curve to identify different subsurface flow processes. For this purpose, a simple hydro‐gravimetric model was set up to test different scenarios in an optimization approach, including the processes macropore flow, preferential flow, wetting front advancement (WFA), bypass flow and perched water table rise. Besides the gravity observations, electrical resistivity and soil moisture data were used for evaluation. For the study site, the process combination of preferential flow and WFA led to the best correspondence to the observations in a multi‐criteria assessment. We argue that the approach of combining field‐scale sprinkling experiments in combination with gravity monitoring can be transferred to other sites for process identification, and discuss related uncertainties including limitations of the simple model used here. The study stresses the value of advancing terrestrial gravimetry as an integrative and non‐invasive monitoring technique for assessing hydrological states and dynamics.

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