Groundwater

Recharge
Irina Engelhardt

1
 Glossary

Recharge: Water which percolates down through the unsaturated zone and
enters the dynamic ground-water flow system, thereby contributing to
replenishment of the groundwater reservoir.

Recharge area: Area receiving water from infiltration and percolation. Flow of
water is directed downward away from the water table. The recharge area
encompasses most of the upper free surface of the groundwater reservoir.

Discharge area: The area of a groundwater basin in which the groundwater

flow is directed toward the water table.

2 (Modified from Freeze and Cherry 1979, Schwartz and Zhang 2008, Poehls and Smith 2009)
 Groundwater Flow Net with Recharge and Discharge Area
Topographically controlled flow pattern:
• Water table is higher under topographically high areas and lower under
topographically low areas
• Water table relief is less marked than the relief of the ground surface
- Works best in areas with plenty of recharge
- In arid areas and strongly heterogeneous areas, water table does often not
resemble the ground surface

(Hubbert 1940)
3
 Recharge as Component of the Water Balance

N = ET + Q ±  S R = NR – ETR - Qs
R = recharge to ground water which equals D
N = precipitation
(groundwater discharge)
ET = evapotranspiration
Qs = surface runoff
Q = discharge ET = evapotranspiration
S
4 = change in storage (Modified from Freeze & Cherry 1979)
 Concepts of groundwater recharge
Recharge of groundwater may occur from: precipitation, rivers, canals, lakes,
irrigation, urbanization

Direct recharge: water added to

the groundwater reservoir in
excess of soil moisture and
evapotranspiration deficits, by
direct vertical percolation of
water.
Indirect recharge: results from
percolation to the water table
following runoff and localization
in joints, as ponding in low lying
areas and lakes, or through beds
of surface water courses.

5
(Lerner et al. 1990) (Stephens 1996)
 Groundwater Recharge

In which regions do you expect local recharge to be a major

component to refresh the groundwater resources?

6
 Groundwater Recharge – Time Scales

(Lerner et al. 1990)

7
 Guidelines to Determine Groundwater Recharge

• How much groundwater can an aquifer store? (a "full " aquifer cannot take up
more water).
• How much water percolates through the unsaturated zone per time? (potentially
high groundwater recharge may never happen because the hydraulic
conductivities of the geological layers are too small, e.g. loess)
• Where does the excess water flow to in cases of potentially high groundwater
recharge? (e.g. interflow )
• Relationship between potential and actual groundwater recharge?
• What are the results from other methods to determine groundwater recharge? (If
possible, apply more than one method)

8
 Errors and Inaccuracies Effecting Groundwater Recharge Calculations

• Conceptual model: A wrong conceptual model is the most important error. It is the
result of misconceptualisation of the groundwater recharge process, or the
process has been oversimplified.
• Temporal and spatial interpretation: Most of the groundwater recharge processes
are non-linear with respect to time. Errors are generated when monthly, annual, or
long-term data series are used, to quantify shorter time periods.
• Errors associated with measurement: Those errors are created by the measuring
device itself.
• Calculation errors.

9
 Conceptual Models of Groundwater Recharge in Temperate
Humid Climate

? ?
?
Soil zone

? ?
Saturated zone Unsaturated zone

Groundwater table
Upper aquifer
?
?
Lower aquifer

(modified from Dörhöfer and Josopait 1996)

10
 Conceptual Models of Groundwater Recharge in Temperate
Humid Climate
Transpiration Precipitation
Precipitation Precipitation
Transpiration
Transpiration Losing stream
Soil zone

Interflow
Infiltration
Saturated zone Unsaturated zone

Percolation Percolation Percolation Percolation

Groundwater table
Groundwater flow Upper aquifer
Groundwater flow Groundwater flow
Leakage

Lower aquifer

(modified from Dörhöfer and Josopait 1996)

11
 Methods for Estimating Groundwater Recharge

1. Direct measurements
2. Water balance calculations
3. Darcy approaches
4. Deconvolution of hydrographs
5. Tracer techniques
6. Other approaches, mainly empirical methods

12
 Direct Measurement of Recharge with Lysimeters
- requires expensive construction - point measurement
- accurate - do not account for loss by interflow
- upscaling to catchment area difficult

13 http://www.igw.uni-jena.de/angeol/lysimeterstation/start.html
 Types of Lysimeters

- water is pumped - lysimeter base above the

in or out to water table with suction
maintain the drainage. It is relatively
same water level complicated to have the
inside and out same potentials in the
lysimeter and in the
surrounding soil.
14
 Lysimeter Data

What must be
measured in a
lysimeter to calculate
recharge?

15
 Requirements of a lysimeter for estimating recharge

- undisturbed soil
- large enough to minimize edge effects
- large and deep enough to enclose complete root systems
- surrounded by similar vegetation
- surrounded by the similar hydraulic conditions
- watertight, except for the drainage to be measured

16
(Lerner et al. 1990)
 Estimation of Recharge by Water Balance Approaches

N = ET + Q ±  S R = NR – ETR - Qs
N = precipitation
R = recharge to ground water
ET = evapotranspiration,
Qs = surface runoff
Q = discharge
ET = evapotranspiration
17
S = change in storage (Modified from Freeze & Cherry 1979)
 Precipitation
- includes various forms of water, that
fall to the ground surface from the
atmosphere
- highly variable in space and time
- examples: rain, drizzle, snow, ice
crystals
Precipitation is characterized by:
- precipitation depth hN [mm]
- precipitation duration TN
- spatial distribution
- frequency n, annual occurrence Tn
=1/n
- temporal change of intensity iN(t)
- type of precipitation
Source: ARD2010
18
 Measuring of Precipitation with a Weather Radar

Source: ARD2011
19 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_radar
 Measurement of Precipitation
Local measurement with rain gauges

- Simplest instruments are containers that collect precipitation through the storm
event
- More sophisticated rain gauges record the time, duration and intensity of
precipitation
- Accuracy of measurement is affected by the physical setting and by disturbances
- Snow measurements typically underestimate the actual precipitation, particularly
at high wind speeds
- Precipitation data are available from regional networks (for example DWD, USGS)

Spatial measurement

- Weather radar
20
 Rain gauges

(Schwartz and Zhang 2003)

21
 Examples of Rain Gauges and Weather Stations

Fotos: Sebastian Schmidt

22
 Weather Station Networks
Approaches for areal estimates of
precipitation from networks
Arithmetic average

Area-weighted average
(Thiessen-weighted average)

Pa = average precipitation for the area

Pi = precipitation at station i
N = number of weather stations
ai = area of the polygon around
station i
23
 Evapotranspiration

Evapotranspiration ETP = Evaporation E + Transpiration T unit [L/T] or (mm/a)

Evaporation: physical process by which liquid water is converted into water vapor and
removed from the evaporating surface. The rate is controlled by the availability of
energy at the evaporating surface and how water can diffuse into the atmosphere.
Evaporation refers to the quantity of water loss from soils, rivers, and lakes.

Ward and Elliot, 1995

24
 Evapotranspiration

Transpiration: "process by which moisture is

carried through plants from roots to small
pores on the underside of leaves, where it
changes to vapor and is released to the
atmosphere. Transpiration is essentially
evaporation of water from plant leaves.

Studies have revealed that transpiration

accounts for about 10 percent of the moisture
in the atmosphere, with oceans, seas, and
other bodies of water (lakes, rivers, streams)
providing nearly 90 percent, and a tiny
amount coming from sublimation (ice
changing into water vapor without first
becoming liquid). " (source: USGS) Bronstert and Jürgens, 1995

25
 Potential and Actual Evapotranspiration

Potential evapotranspiration: assumes that the ET flux will not exceed the available
energy and sufficient water is available , i.e. the potential ETP = maximum ETP.

Actual evapotranspiration: Evapotranspiration under field conditions, for example,

when not enough water is available from soil moisture.
26
 Measurement of Evaporation
Measurement of potential evaporation Ep
with an evaporation pan
- shallow tank that contains water
- water depth is measured daily
- water is added or removed to adjust
for evaporation losses
- in general, evaporation from a pan is
higher than evaporation from a lake
because the water can heat up by the
metal sides considerably (Schwartz and Zhang 2003)

- pan evaporation Epan is corrected with

an empirical pan coefficient Cet that
varies depending on the month
Ep = Epan x Cet
27
 Determination of Evaporation from Open Water Surfaces

Dalton equation Penman (1948)

E= evaporation from a water

surface s= slope of the saturated vapor
es = saturation water pressure pressure curve
of the surface Rn = net radiation
e = actual vapor pressure L = latent heat of vaporization
f(u) = function of wind speed in a  = psychrometric constant
given height

Mass transfer equation Combination of energy balance

equation with the Dalton equation
28 (from DVWK 1996)
 Potential Evapotranspiration (ETp) – Calculation

Formula by Thorntwaite
Thorntwaite and Wilen (1948) developed an equation to calculate the potential
evapotranspiration from grasland that is based on the temperature.

ET p  k1 k m (10 TM / I ) a

ETp = monthly potential evapotranspiration (cm)

12 1.514 k1 = 16 mm/month
I    Tm / 5 km = monthly correction factor, function of the latitude
Tm = mean monthly air temperature (°C)
M 1
I = annual heat index, the sum of the 12 monthly values
of (Tm/5)1,514

a = 6.75 * 10-7 I3 - 7.71 * 10-5 I2 + 1.79 * 10-2 I + 0.49

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 Example – water balance approach on different time scales

N > Etpot: ETa = ETpot

Large soil moisture: ETa = ETpot
30
 Groundwater recharge, methods, discharge methods

Darcy- approach

If hydraulic potentials, hydraulic conductivities and boundary fluxes are known,

groundwater recharge can be calculated by applying Darcy‘s law. Two
approaches exist:

a) the field measurement and

b) numerical modeling.

A simple approach for homogeneous conditions and unconfined aquifers is

presented.

31
 Groundwater recharge: Tracer methods

Isotopes and chemical tracers are commonly used to determine groundwater

recharge in arid and semi-arid climate. They can be:
- natural tracers, i.e. tracers that are already in the geosphere
- man-made tracers, i.e. tracers of anthropogenic origin.
In general, tracers can be used to follow the travel path of a water molecule.
Application of a mass balance approach, the amount of water can be quantified for a
given streamline (i.e. flow path).

Requirements:
a) conservative behaviour of tracers, i.e. no interaction of the tracer with the solid
phase of the aquifer,
b) a contrast, i.e. differences of tracers in the different components,
c) knowledge of concentrations in the respective component.
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 Groundwater recharge: Tracer methods

Tracers can be used in different ways :

1. Tracer method: Tracer is added to a certain amount of water, and the

concentration change of the tracer is observed in time (bomb tritium, artificially
produced tracer). That method is usually applied to the unsaturated zone.
2. Discharge method: This method calculates fluxes of tracer and water for both the
saturated and the unsaturated zone. Natural tracers are commonly used.
3. Calculation of mean residence time: This method is applied on the catchment
area scale. Radioactive isotopes are commonly used.

33
 Groundwater recharge: Tracer methods

Tracer- profiles (Chandrasekharan, 1988)

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 Simulation
variabel gesättigter Strömung

35
 Flow in the Unsaturated Zone
The quantity of water in a partly saturated
zone is defined as volumetric water content
θ with: VW

VT
If the porous medium is fully saturated the
volumetric water content equals the
porosity.
0   n
 in the saturated zone the water flow
follows the head gradient and the
pressure head ψ > 0
 in the unsaturated zone the water
pressure is below atmospheric pressure
and the pressure head ψ < 0
ψ is called suction, matric suction, tension
36
 Microscopic Consideration

• If two or more fluid phases occupy a porous medium, one of the

fluid is adsorbed on the solid surface more strongly than the
other.
• The fluid that is most strongly adsorbed is called wetting fluid or
wetting phase.
• The displaced phase is the non-wetting phase.
• Without interfacial forces (surface tension) separate phases
would not exist.

wetting fluid non-wetting fluid

37 Concept: surface tension

 Capillary Pressure

• The interfacial forces acting on the curved interface between the

phases is balanced by a difference in pressure at the contact between
the phases.
• The pressure difference is called capillary pressure pc:
pc = pnw – pw
• The capillary pressure increases from pc1 to pc2

Laplace Equation:

1 1 2
pc     
r1 r2 r*

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 Capillary Pressure – Saturation Relationship

 Macroscopic consideration:
pc = f(S)

• If the pore space is initially fully

occupied with water a finite
capillary pressure “ pe” must be
exceeded before air can entry
the pore: Entry pressure

It is mostly at a saturation
between 0.8. and 0.9

Increasing water
saturation
Increasing air saturation
39
 Capillary Hysteresis

The pc(S) relationship depends on the saturation history

→ Capillary Hysteresis

40
 Saturation Domains
• The residual saturation Sr is reached if the capillary pressure increases
rapidly with negligible decrease in saturation.
• The residual saturation equals a saturation when the phase film over
the solid phase are not connected anymore.
The effective saturation Se

S  Sr
is defined as: S e 
1  Sr

41
 Empirical pc-S Relationships
Brooks-Corey Model: van Genuchten Model:

pC SW   pe S e
  1
for pc  pe


1 1/ m 1/ n
pC SW   S e 1 

 pe  m
S e  pC      1 
 pc  S e  pC    n
1   pc  

• λ (BC - Parameter) and m, n

(VG-Parameter) account for the pore
size distribution.
• λ can vary between 0.2 and 6.
• λ increases with decreasing porosity
• Materials with uniform pores have
large λ values.
42
• α accounts for the air entry pressure
 Relative Permeability:
Microscopic Consideration

In a two or more phase system the effective permeability Kf of a phase

depends on the shape and pore size through the phase flows:

 g with:
K f  K k r Kf = effective permeability [m2]

n phas K = intrinsic permeability [m2]
0  k  S   1
r krα = relative permeability
 1
of each phase

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 Relative Permeability:
Microscopic Consideration

• If capillary effects exist the wetting fluid

occupies the smaller pores and the non-
wetting fluid the larger pores.
• Tortuosity has a strong influence on the
flow, when the actual flow direction is not
in the direction of the Darcy flow:

2
l  l = straight line
TS     1
ll  Ll = effective flow line
TS = Tortuosity under
saturated conditions
 T1   T1  T1 = Tortuosity of the
   S 2 e    1  S e 2 wetting/non-wetting
 TS w  TS  nw fluid under unsaturated
conditions
44
 Relative Permeability
Macroscopic Consideration

The relative permeability also depends

on the saturation at macro scale:
Brooks & Corey model
2  3
k rel w  S 
e
 1  S 2  1  S e 
2 ( 2 ) / 
k rel nw

van Genuchten model

  
2
k rel w  S e 1  1  S
m
 m 1
 e

  
2
k rel nw  1  S e  1  1  S
 m
m 1
 e

ε and γ account for the connectivity

45 of the pores