Temporal scaling of hydraulic head and river base flow and its implication for groundwater recharge

You-Kuan Zhang; Keith Schilling

doi:10.1029/2003WR002094

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Temporal scaling of hydraulic head and river base flow and its implication for groundwater recharge

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Temporal scaling of hydraulic head and river base flow and its implication for groundwater recharge

You-Kuan Zhang and Keith Schilling

Water resources research, Vol.40(3), pp.W03504-n/a

03/2004

DOI: 10.1029/2003WR002094

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Abstract

Spectral analyses were conducted for hourly hydraulic head (h) data observed over a 4-year period at seven monitoring wells in the Walnut Creek watershed, Iowa. The log power spectral density of the hydraulic head fluctuations versus log frequency (f) at all seven wells is shown to have a distinct slope or fractal dimension (D), indicating temporal scaling in the time series of water level fluctuations. The fractal dimension of the time series varies from well to well, and the spectrum for the average h over all seven wells has a fractal dimension of 1.46 and Hurst coefficient of 0.54. The log power spectral density of estimated base flow in the Walnut Creek and four other watersheds versus log f is shown to have two distinct slopes with a break in scaling at about 30 days. It is shown that the groundwater recharge process in a basin can be estimated from a head spectrum based on existing theoretical results. Hydraulic head in an aquifer may fluctuate as a fractal in time in response to either a white noise or fractal recharge process, depending on physical parameters (i.e., transmissivity and specific yield) of the aquifer. The recharge process at the Walnut Creek watershed is shown to have a white noise spectrum based on the observed head spectrum.

Fluid Dynamics

Hydrogeology

Hydrology

United States

Watersheds

aquifers

atmospheric precipitation

base flow

critical load

Environmental geology

fluctuations

fluvial features

ground water

hydraulic head

hydrologic cycle

Iowa

levels

nitrate ion

nitrogen

nonpoint sources

pollutants

pollution

recharge

runoff

stochastic processes

streamflow

unsaturated zone

Walnut Creek

water balance

water management

water resources

Details

Title: Subtitle: Temporal scaling of hydraulic head and river base flow and its implication for groundwater recharge
Creators: You-Kuan Zhang - University of Iowa
Keith Schilling - Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Water resources research, Vol.40(3), pp.W03504-n/a
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
DOI: 10.1029/2003WR002094
ISSN: 0043-1397
eISSN: 1944-7973
Number of pages: 9
Language: English
Date published: 03/2004
Academic Unit: Earth and Environmental Sciences; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering
Record Identifier: 9984383924702771

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