Analytical modeling of saturated zone head response to evapotranspiration and river-stage fluctuations

Bwalya Malama; Brady Allen Johnson

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.12.010

Analytical modeling of saturated zone head response to evapotranspiration and river-stage fluctuations

Bwalya Malama^*, Brady Allen Johnson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Boise State University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigate the response of the saturated zone (unconfined aquifer) to evapotranspiration (ET) flux at ground surface. We neglect fluid flow and storage in the unsaturated zone and treat ET as a sinusoidal forcing function at the watertable. The linearized kinematic condition is imposed at the watertable. Analytical solutions are developed for the case of flow in a domain of (a) semi-infinite extent to simulate response in a domain bounded by a river and (b) infinite lateral extent to simulate the response in a domain with no river boundaries. These solutions are fitted to observed groundwater head fluctuations recorded in observation wells at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site in Idaho and the Larned Research Site in Kansas. Estimates of the amplitude of the ET flux, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, specific storage and specific yield are obtained and these compare well to published results from pumping tests conducted at the site. The field exercise is used to explore the potential for using groundwater head fluctuations to estimate ET and hydraulic parameters of unconfined aquifers.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-9
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Hydrology
Volume	382
Issue number	1-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.12.010
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2010
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

The work presented here was supported, in part, by EPA Grant X-960041-01-0. We would like to thank Dr. Warren Barrash for facilitating the use of the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site, and Dr. James J. Butler Jr., for providing us with the field data from the Larned Research Site, as well as for providing insightful comments during preparation of the manuscript.

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Cite this

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title = "Analytical modeling of saturated zone head response to evapotranspiration and river-stage fluctuations",

abstract = "We investigate the response of the saturated zone (unconfined aquifer) to evapotranspiration (ET) flux at ground surface. We neglect fluid flow and storage in the unsaturated zone and treat ET as a sinusoidal forcing function at the watertable. The linearized kinematic condition is imposed at the watertable. Analytical solutions are developed for the case of flow in a domain of (a) semi-infinite extent to simulate response in a domain bounded by a river and (b) infinite lateral extent to simulate the response in a domain with no river boundaries. These solutions are fitted to observed groundwater head fluctuations recorded in observation wells at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site in Idaho and the Larned Research Site in Kansas. Estimates of the amplitude of the ET flux, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, specific storage and specific yield are obtained and these compare well to published results from pumping tests conducted at the site. The field exercise is used to explore the potential for using groundwater head fluctuations to estimate ET and hydraulic parameters of unconfined aquifers.",

author = "Bwalya Malama and Johnson, {Brady Allen}",

note = "The work presented here was supported, in part, by EPA Grant X-960041-01-0. We would like to thank Dr. Warren Barrash for facilitating the use of the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site, and Dr. James J. Butler Jr., for providing us with the field data from the Larned Research Site, as well as for providing insightful comments during preparation of the manuscript.",

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AU - Malama, Bwalya

AU - Johnson, Brady Allen

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PY - 2010/3/1

Y1 - 2010/3/1

N2 - We investigate the response of the saturated zone (unconfined aquifer) to evapotranspiration (ET) flux at ground surface. We neglect fluid flow and storage in the unsaturated zone and treat ET as a sinusoidal forcing function at the watertable. The linearized kinematic condition is imposed at the watertable. Analytical solutions are developed for the case of flow in a domain of (a) semi-infinite extent to simulate response in a domain bounded by a river and (b) infinite lateral extent to simulate the response in a domain with no river boundaries. These solutions are fitted to observed groundwater head fluctuations recorded in observation wells at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site in Idaho and the Larned Research Site in Kansas. Estimates of the amplitude of the ET flux, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, specific storage and specific yield are obtained and these compare well to published results from pumping tests conducted at the site. The field exercise is used to explore the potential for using groundwater head fluctuations to estimate ET and hydraulic parameters of unconfined aquifers.

AB - We investigate the response of the saturated zone (unconfined aquifer) to evapotranspiration (ET) flux at ground surface. We neglect fluid flow and storage in the unsaturated zone and treat ET as a sinusoidal forcing function at the watertable. The linearized kinematic condition is imposed at the watertable. Analytical solutions are developed for the case of flow in a domain of (a) semi-infinite extent to simulate response in a domain bounded by a river and (b) infinite lateral extent to simulate the response in a domain with no river boundaries. These solutions are fitted to observed groundwater head fluctuations recorded in observation wells at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site in Idaho and the Larned Research Site in Kansas. Estimates of the amplitude of the ET flux, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, specific storage and specific yield are obtained and these compare well to published results from pumping tests conducted at the site. The field exercise is used to explore the potential for using groundwater head fluctuations to estimate ET and hydraulic parameters of unconfined aquifers.

U2 - 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.12.010

DO - 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.12.010

M3 - Article

SN - 0022-1694

VL - 382

SP - 1

EP - 9

JO - Journal of Hydrology

JF - Journal of Hydrology

IS - 1-4

ER -

Analytical modeling of saturated zone head response to evapotranspiration and river-stage fluctuations

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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