|
|
Lysimeter-percolate and well-hydrograph analyses were combined to evaluate recharge for the Masser Recharge Site (central Pennsylvania, USA). In humid regions, aquifer recharge through an unconfined low-porosity fractured-rock aquifer can cause large magnitude water-table fluctuations over short time scales. The unsaturated hydraulic characteristics of the subsurface porous media control the magnitude and timing of these fluctuations. Data from multiple sets of lysimeters at the site show a highly seasonal pattern of percolate and exhibit variability due to both installation factors and hydraulic property heterogeneity. Individual event analysis of well hydrograph data reveals the primary influences on water-table...
|
Up to now, field studies set up to measure field-saturated hydraulic conductivity to evaluate contamination risks, have employed small cylinders that may not be representative of the scale of measurements in heterogeneous media. In this study, a large adjustable ring infiltrometer was designed to be installed on-site directly on rock to measure its field-saturated hydraulic conductivity. The proposed device is inexpensive and simple to implement, yet also very versatile, due to its large adjustable diameter that can be fixed on-site. It thus allows an improved representation of the natural system’s heterogeneity, while also taking into consideration irregularities in the soil/rock surface. The new apparatus was...
|
Soil structural disturbance influences the downward flow of water that percolates deep enough to become aquifer recharge. Data from identical experiments in an undisturbed silt-loam soil and in an adjacent simulated waste trench composed of the same soil material, but disturbed, included (1) laboratory- and field-measured unsaturated hydraulic properties and (2) field-measured transient water content profiles through 24 h of ponded infiltration and 75 d of redistribution. In undisturbed soil, wetting fronts were highly diffuse above 2 m depth, and did not go much deeper than 2 m. Darcian analysis suggests an average recharge rate less than 2 mm/year. In disturbed soil, wetting fronts were sharp and initial infiltration...
|
In hydrologic studies, especially those using dynamic unsaturated zone moisture modeling, calculations based on property transfer models informed by hydraulic property databases are often used in lieu of measured data from the site of interest. Reliance on database-informed predicted values has become increasingly common with the use of neural networks. High-quality data are needed for databases used in this way and for theoretical and property transfer model development and testing. Hydraulic properties predicted on the basis of existing databases may be adequate in some applications but not others. An obvious problem occurs when the available database has few or no data for samples that are closely related to...
|
|
