Journal

of
Hydrology
ELSEVI ER Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160
Analysis of rainfall-recharge relationships
J i n q u a n Wu * , R e n d u o Z h a n g , J i n z h o n g Ya n g
Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071-3354, USA
Received 24 June 1994; revision accepted 31 January 1995
Abst ract
Underst andi ng the recharge process and its relationship with rainfall is of critical importance
to the management of groundwat er systems and enormous effort has been made to estimate the
amount and process of recharge by infiltration using precipitation data. I n the present research,
in-situ lysimeter experiments and numerical simulations were used to study the relationships
between rainfall and recharge by infiltration at different groundwat er depths. Four lysimeters,
1.5, 3, 4.5, and 5 m deep, were installed in the field to measure the infiltration recharge rates
under conditions of fixed water tables at the bot t oms of the soil columns. Annual infiltration
recharges at different groundwat er depths were obtained t hrough the lysimeter measurements.
The effect of rainfall pat t ern and annual rainfall distribution on infiltration recharge was
simulated at various groundwat er depths using a numerical model based on soil-water
dynamics, and compari sons of the simulated and observed recharges showed very good agree-
ment. Relationships between rainfall and infiltration recharge at different groundwat er depths
were investigated using the lysimeter measurements and comput er simulations. Groundwat er
systems were classified into three categories, i.e. shallow water table, intermediate water table,
and deep water table, based on the relationship between rainfall and infiltration recharge at
different groundwat er depths.
1. I n t r o d u c t i o n
I nf i l t r at i on by r ai nf al l i nf l uences t he q u a n t i t y a n d qual i t y o f soil a nd g r o u n d wa t e r
s ys t ems a nd is t he ma j o r dr i vi ng f or ce f or t r a n s p o r t o f c o n t a mi n a n t s f r o m t he soil
s ur f ace o r va dos e z one t o t he wa t e r t abl e. Hence, e s t i ma t i on o f t he a mo u n t o f infil-
t r at i on r e c ha r ge t o a r e a s ona bl e degr ee o f a c c ur a c y is essent i al f or t he p r o p e r ma n a g e -
me n t o f aqui f er s. Pr e vi ous r es ear ch o n r ai nf al l i nf i l t r at i on was c onc e nt r a t e d ma i nl y i n
t wo ar eas: t he s t udy o f t he i nf i l t r at i on me c h a n i s m a nd t he r echar ge pr oces s usi ng
exper i ment s, anal yt i cal s ol ut i ons a nd numer i cal s i mul at i ons (Phi l i p, 1957, 1969;
* Corresponding author.
0022-1694/96/$15.00 1996 - Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
SSDI 0022-1694(95)02935-4
144 J. Wu et al. / Journal o f Hydrology 177 (1996) 143 160
Freeze, 1969; Par l ange et al., 1985; Al l i son et al., 1994; Ni mmo et al., 1994); and t he
i nvest i gat i on of r ai nf al l - r echar ge rel at i onshi ps usi ng gr oundwat er regi me dat a
(Venetis, 1971; Rennol l s et al., 1980; Vi swanat han, 1983, 1984). These met hods
were suitable mai nl y f or shal l ow gr oundwat er s, where t here is a close cor r espondence
bet ween i ndi vi dual rai nfal l events and wat er t abl e fl uct uat i ons. When gr oundwat er is
relatively deep, t he cor r espondence bet ween i ndi vi dual rainfall and recharge events is
usual l y obscur ed by the increases of t i me-l ag and dur at i on of the r echar ge events.
Then the recharges of several i sol at ed rainfalls merge i nt o a single event so t hat it is
ver y difficult, i f not impossible, t o i dent i fy t he recharges gener at ed by i ndi vi dual
rainfalls.
In this paper, in-situ lysimetric experi ment s and numeri cal si mul at i ons were used t o
st udy rel at i onshi ps bet ween rai nfal l and r echar ge at vari ous gr oundwat er dept hs.
Based on var i at i ons in t he rel at i onshi p bet ween rai nfal l and i nfi l t rat i on r echar ge at
di fferent gr oundwat er dept hs, gr oundwat er systems were classified i nt o shallow,
i nt ermedi at e, and deep wat er tables, and t he cor r el at i ons bet ween rainfall and
r echar ge in t hree di fferent cat egori es were det er mi ned.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Lysimeter experiments
Lysi met er experi ment s were car r i ed out in the field at an i rri gat i on exper i ment
st at i on in Hebei pr ovi nce of nor t her n Chi na. Fo u r soil lysimeters, 60 cm in di amet er,
and 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 5.0 m deep respectively, si mul at ed wat er flow in soil profiles wi t h
di fferent gr oundwat er dept hs, and wat er fluxes were measur ed at the bot t om of each
soil col umn. The l ysi met er set up is shown schemat i cal l y in Fig. 1.
The soil profiles in t he col umns were similar t o t hose in the field and compr i sed f our
di st i nct layers; t he t ext ur e of the t op layer, f r om 0 t o 55 cm was l oam, of the l ayer
f r om 55 t o 101 cm, light clay, of t he l ayer f r om 101 t o 150 cm, heavy clay, and of the
l ayer f r om 150 t o t he maxi mum sampl i ng dept h of 800 cm, fine sand. In t he process of
packi ng t he soils i nt o the lysimeters, t he soils of di fferent dept hs were put back l ayer
by l ayer at 10-cm intervals. Small a mount of wat er was added so t hat t he wat er
cont ent of t he refilled soil was slightly hi gher t han ai r - dr y wat er cont ent .
A fixed wat er t abl e was mai nt ai ned at t he bot t om of each soil col umn wi t h a plastic
t ube connect ed t o a gr aded Mar i ot t e wat er t ank si t uat ed in t he under gr ound cham-
ber. A weir was also connect ed t o each soil col umn t hr ough t he plastic t ube, and t he
wat er level was kept t he same as t he base of t he ai r i nl et t ube in t he Mar i ot t e bot t l e. A
filtering l ayer under l ai n by gravel was pl aced i mmedi at el y beneat h t he gr oundwat er
t abl e at t he bot t om of each l ysi met er t o pr event t he fine part i cl es in the soil f r om
flowing out dur i ng drai nage. The hydr aul i c conduct i vi t y of the filtering l ayer was
much hi gher t han t hat of t he overl yi ng soil. No pl ant was al l owed t o grow at the
surfaces of t he l ysi met ers and onl y one l ysi met er was installed at each dept h.
Af t er t he lysimeters had been packed, wat er was suppl i ed f r om under neat h t hr ough
t he Mar i ot t e vessels connect ed t o t hem, and t he systems were left t o stabilize under
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146 J. Wu et al. / Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160
nat ur al condi t i ons f or about 2 years. Fl ow rat es at t he bot t oms of the lysimeters were
measur ed daily. The decrease of wat er in t he Mar i ot t e bot t l e det er mi ned t he gr ound-
wat er evapor at i on r at e f r om t he soil col umn. When rai nfal l i nfi l t rat ed t o t he gr ound-
wat er t abl e in t he soil col umn, excess gr oundwat er was measur ed by t he weir.
An agri cul t ural met eor ol ogi cal obser vat i on st at i on was set up near t he lysimeters t o
col l ect t he r el evant met eor ol ogi cal dat a of dai l y pr eci pi t at i on, wat er surface evapor a-
t i on f r om an E-601 evapor at i on pan (equi val ent t o t he US Weat her Bur eau ( USWB)
class A pan), soil and ai r t emper at ur es, rel at i ve humi di t y, wi nd speed, and al bedo.
2.2. Numerical simulations
To st udy t he r el at i on of rai nfal l and r echar ge t o gr oundwat er systems wi t h deep
wat er tables, an one- di mensi onal model based on t he Ri char d' s equat i on si mul at ed
soi l -wat er movement in a vert i cal profi l e under rai nfal l i nfi l t rat i on and soil surface
evapor at i on. The l ower bounda r y was t he same as t hat in t he lysimeters, i.e. a fixed
wat er table. The upper bounda r y was t aken as a flux boundar y; the flux equal l ed the
rai nfal l i nt ensi t y dur i ng pr eci pi t at i on, and t he soil surface evapor at i on rat e dur i ng
evapor at i on. Mat hemat i cal l y, t he well posed pr obl em f or the numeri cal si mul at i on
was expressed as follows:
[
C(h)--=Oh 0 K (O ) -~z - 1
Ot Oz
h(z , t)lt=o = ho(z)
K ( O ) ( ~ z - 1 ) z=O= qo
h(z , t)lz=O = 0 (1)
where C(h) and K(O) are t he soi l -wat er capaci t y and uns at ur at ed hydr aul i c conduc-
tivity respectively; 0 and h are t he vol umet r i c wat er cont ent and pressure head; t is
time; z is t he cart esi an coor di nat e ori gi nat i ng f r om soil surface and posi t i ve down-
ward; h0 (z) is t he initial di st r i but i on of pressure head in t he vert i cal profile; D is t he
dept h t o gr oundwat er ; q0 is ei t her t he rai nfal l i nt ensi t y r or soil surface evapor at i on
r at e % The rai nfal l i nt ensi t y was obt ai ned f r om t he obser vat i on of preci pi t at i on, and
the soil surface evapor at i on r at e was est i mat ed usi ng t he fol l owi ng equat i ons (Zhang,
1966):
/90 - - 0 a
s = Yw Of - - 0 a Oa < O0 ~< Or
es = 0 Oo < Oa
s = w O0 > Of (2)
J. Wu et al. / Journal o f Hydrol ogy 177 ( 1996) 143- 160
Table 1
Hydraulic parameters for the soils in different layers
147
Layer Depth (cm) Soil type K s 0s O r a n
1 0-55 Loam 50.6 0.4 0.103 0.011 2.24
2 55-101 Light clay 10.2 0.475 0.143 0.0065 1.75
3 l 01 - 150 Heavy clay 5.6 0.497 0.113 0.0031 1.55
4 150 800 Fine sand 221.4 0.376 0.003 0.0086 5.64
K s, saturated hydraulic conductivity (cmday-l); 0s and 0r, saturated and residual water content
(cm 3 c m- 3 ) ; o~ ( c m 1) and n, coefficients in the van Genuchten equation.
wher e ew is t he r at e o f wa t e r sur f ace e v a p o r a t i o n ( mm d a y - l ) , 00 t he wa t e r c ont e nt at
t he soi l sur f ace, 0 a t he ai r - dr y wat er c ont e nt o f t he t op soil, a nd Of t he field c a pa c i t y o f
t he t o p soil.
Th e hydr a ul i c c onduc t i vi t y a n d r et ent i on cur ve o f t he soil i n each l ayer wer e
o b t a i n e d f r o m i nde pe nde nt l a b o r a t o r y exper i ment s wi t h soil s ampl es f r o m t he field
st udi ed. The f ol l owi ng c l os e d- f or m e qua t i ons ( van Ge nuc ht e n, 1980) wer e e mp l o y e d
t o expr ess t he 0 ,-~ h a n d K ,-~ 0 r el at i ons hi ps :
(0s - Or)
0 = 0 r - t [ l + ( _ a h ) , ] m, h < 0
K = Ks O1 / 2 [ 1 - (1 - ol/m)m] 2
O- 0 - 0________~r
0s - 0r
m = 1 - 1 / n (3)
wher e 0s a nd Or ar e t he s a t ur a t e d a n d r esi dual soi l - wat er c ont e nt s r espect i vel y; K s is
t he s a t ur a t e d hydr a ul i c c onduc t i vi t y; c~ a nd n ar e coeffi ci ent s. The val ues o f 0 s, Or, Ks,
c~ a n d n o f t he soils i n di f f er ent l ayer s ar e s u mma r i z e d i n Tabl e 1. The Ga l e r ki n finite
el ement me t h o d was e mp l o y e d t o sol ve t he non- l i ne a r i ni t i a l - bounda r y pr obl e m. The
nume r i c a l mo d e l was val i dat ed wi t h t he l ysi met er d a t a o f 1988 bef or e bei ng appl i ed t o
s i mul at e i nf i l t r at i on r e c ha r ge f or deep g r o u n d wa t e r t abl es.
Th e s i mul a t i on s t ar t ed f r o m t he be gi nni ng o f t he r ai ny s eas on o f 1988 ( Ma y 1), a n d
t he s oi l - moi s t ur e pr of i l e at t he end o f t he pr e vi ous n o n - r a i n y s eas on was used as t he
i ni t i al pr of i l e f or t he s i mul at i on. I f a g r o u n d wa t e r t abl e is deep, t he soi l - wat er di s-
t r i but i on i n a pr of i l e is af f ect ed by t he l ong- t e r m a nt e c e de nt r ai nf al l a nd e va por a t i on.
Ther ef or e, a cer t ai n pe r i od o f pr e l i mi na r y s i mul a t i on pr i or t o t he t i me o f i nt er est is
needed; t hi s var i es wi t h g r o u n d wa t e r de pt hs a n d ma y be de t e r mi ne d by mode l l i ng t he
r echar ge pr oces s es u n d e r r e pe a t e d a n n u a l pr eci pi t at i on a nd e v a p o r a t i o n f or several
year s unt i l t he var i at i ons i n soi l - wat er pr of i l es a nd r echar ges ma ni f e s t per i odi ci t y.
Us ua l l y a 1- year i nc r e me nt o f p r e p a r a t o r y s i mui at i on is ne e de d f or an i ncr ease o f 5 m
i n g r o u n d wa t e r dept h.
148 J. Wu et al. / Journal o f Hydrology 177 (1996) 143 160
2.3. Rainfall-rech arge relationship
Lysimeters and computer-simulated data revealed drastic changes in the relation-
ship between rainfall and recharge at different groundwater depths. When the water
table is shallow, infiltration reaches groundwater relatively quickly, so t hat most of
the individual rainfalls correspond to isolated infiltration recharge events with very
small time-lags. As the depth to groundwater increases, the correspondence between
rainfall and recharge decreases. For groundwater at intermediate depths, the recharge
events produced by individual rainfalls merge into one single annual process although
a few peaks of recharge correspond to large rainfall events or concentrated rainfall
clusters. When the groundwater table is very deep, the variations in the recharge rate
become imperceptible. According to these criteria, groundwater systems were divided
into shallow water table, intermediate water table, and deep water table, and the
correlations between rainfall and recharge were analyzed as follows.
2.3.1. Shallow water table
The close correspondence between individual daily rainfalls and their recharge is
employed to establish rainfall-recharge relationships for shallow groundwater sys-
tems. By integrating an isolated recharge event, the recharge, Re, corresponding to an
individual rainfall event, P, is determined; the relationship between individual rain-
falls and their recharges is then established through a regression analysis of the (Re, P)
data. In this research, annual recharge dat a from the 1.5-m-deep lysimeter were used
to analyze the rainfall-recharge correlation for a shallow groundwater system. I f only
groundwater regime data are available, the recharge, Re, may be calculated by multi-
plying the water table rise by the specific yield (Zhang, 1983; Viswanathan, 1984). In
this case, other factors, such as pumping, which have great effect on water table
fluctuation, needs to be taken into account.
2.3.2. Intermediate water table
When the groundwater table is of intermediate depth, peaks in an annual recharge
process correspond only to large rainfall events or concentrated rainfall groups.
Actually, a peak in the annual recharge process represents an integrated recharge
event produced by a group of individual rainfalls clustering around a large rainfall
event corresponding to this peak. In this paper, the group of individual rainfalls
producing an integrated recharge event is called a concentrated rainfall cluster. By
separating the integrated recharge events from each other in an annual recharge
process and quantifying the integrated recharge events and the concentrated rainfall
clusters, the correlation between the effective rainfall of a concentrated rainfall cluster
and the recharge of an integrated recharge event can be established.
2.3.2.1. Separation of integrated recharge events. Integrated recharge events were
separated from one another by an extrapolation similar to the separation of hydro-
graph (Linsley et al., 1949), and snowmelt runoff (Martinec, 1982). An integrated
recharge event usually comprises three parts, the first is the rising limb where both the
recharge rate and its gradient increase; the second is the peak part where the recharge
J. Wu et al. / Journal o f Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160 149
T i m e ( d a y )
0 4 0 8 0 1 2 0 1 6 0
, i , , , i , , , i , , , i
i
- " J l
8 o
T1
o
I n t e g r a t e d r e c h a r g e
. . . . . . o f t h e 1 s t r a i n f a l l
/ ~ . . . . o f t h e l a s t r a i n f a l l
' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I
0 4 0 8 0 1 2 0 1 6 0
T i m e ( day)
Fig. 2. Time-lag effect of recharge events by a concentrated rainfall cluster and individual rainfalls.
rat e increases wi t h a decreasi ng gradi ent before t he peak and decreases wi t h a increas-
ing gr adi ent af t er t he peak; t he t hi r d is t he decl i ni ng par t or recession l i mb where bot h
t he r echar ge r at e and its gr adi ent decrease. Mat hemat i cal l y, these t hree par t s can be
di vi ded by t wo poi nt s of inflexion bef or e and af t er t he peak. The first t wo par t s and a
por t i on of the t hi rd par t can be obt ai ned f r om the measur ed annual r echar ge pr o-
cesses. The t hi r d par t is usual l y i ncompl et e because the last por t i on of a recessi on l i mb
is of t en obscur ed by the f ol l ow- up r echar ge events. The unknown por t i on of t he
recession l i mb in an i nt egr at ed r echar ge event is est i mat ed usi ng t he dat a of t he
known por t i on in t he recessi on peri od, i.e. t he r echar ge rat es in the recessi on limb
af t er a peak. Because of its ever-decreasi ng gradi ent , t he fol l owi ng model was
pr opos ed t o si mul at e t he r echar ge rat e in t he recession peri od:
q = qi nfl exp[ -7(t - t i n f l ) ] - - ( g (4)
wher e q ( mm day -1) is t he r echar ge rat e at t i me t (day), qinfl ( mm day -1) and tinfl (day)
are the r echar ge rat e and t i me at the poi nt of i nfl ect i on af t er t he peak, eg ( mm day 1)
is t he st eady gr oundwat er evapor at i on r at e whi ch is a const ant dependent on the
gr oundwat er dept h (Zhang, 1983; Ni chol s, 1994) and 7 is a coefficient.
In pract i ce, it is difficult t o find t he exact l ocat i on of t he poi nt of inflection in a
measur ed r echar ge event; t herefore, t he above equat i on is f ur t her expressed as
follows:
q = q0exp( - Tt ) - eg (5)
wher e q0-----qinflexp(T/infl), is a l umped coefficient reflecting t he influence of qinfl
and /intl. q0 and 3' can be obt ai ned f r om obser ved r echar ge rat es in the recession
150 J. Wu et al. / Journal o f Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160
per i od by least-squares, and g c a n be obt ai ned f r om measur ement s of gr ound-
wat er evapor at i ons.
The separ at i on began f r om the first peak in an annual r echar ge series; all the
subsequent i nt egr at ed r echar ge events were separ at ed sequent i al l y and the recharge,
Re, of each event was comput ed by i nt egrat i on.
2.3.2.2. Grouping of concentrated rainfall clusters. A concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er is a
gr oup of i ndi vi dual rai nfal l events whi ch t oget her generat e a single peak in an annual
r echar ge process; the t i me i nt erval s of t he adj acent rainfalls in t he cl ust er are t oo small
t o separ at e the peaks gener at ed by i ndi vi dual rainfalls. Whet her t wo adj acent rainfalls
bel ong t o t he same cl ust er is dependent on the t i me-l ag of t hei r recharges. The time-
lag of a r echar ge event can be char act er i zed by t hree par amet er s, i.e. initial time-lag,
peak time-lag, and cessat i on time-lag. The initial t i me-l ag is the t i me el apsed f r om the
begi nni ng of a rainfall t o t he begi nni ng of t he r echar ge (day); t he peak t i me-l ag is the
t i me el apsed f r om the begi nni ng of an i ndi vi dual rai nfal l event t o t he t i me at whi ch
the r echar ge rat e reaches its maxi mum; and t he cessat i on t i me-l ag is t he t i me el apsed
f r om t he begi nni ng of rai nfal l t o t he cessat i on of the r echar ge (day). I f t he i nt erval
bet ween t wo adj acent rainfalls is l arger t han t he rising peri od, these t wo rainfalls will
generat e t wo di st i nct peaks; consequent l y, these t wo rainfalls will bel ong t o t wo
di fferent concent r at ed rai nfal l clusters (Fig. 2). Hence, concent r at ed rai nfal l clusters
were gr ouped t oget her , based on the i nt erval s bet ween adj acent i ndi vi dual rainfalls. A
concept of critical i nt erval was i nt r oduced, defi ned as t he mi ni mum i nt erval r equi r ed
f or t wo adj acent rainfalls t o gener at e t wo di st i nct peaks. The critical i nt erval is the
same as the rising per i od of the recharge pr oduced by an i sol at ed rai nfal l event. It can
be det er mi ned i f t he r echar ge of an i ndi vi dual rai nfal l event can be i sol at ed f r om an
annual r echar ge process. However , in i nt er medi at e gr oundwat er systems, this is
sel dom possible so t hat an i nt egr at ed r echar ge event gener at ed by a concent r at ed
rai nfal l cl ust er has t o be consi der ed and the fol l owi ng assumpt i ons were i nt r oduced:
the initial t i me-l ag of an i nt egr at ed r echar ge event gener at ed by a concent r at ed rain-
fall cl ust er is t he same as t hat of the r echar ge gener at ed by the first i ndi vi dual rai nfal l
event in t he cl ust er alone; and the peak t i me of the i nt egrat ed r echar ge event is
t he same as t hat of t he r echar ge event pr oduced by t he last rai nfal l in t he concen-
t r at ed cluster. These assumpt i ons will not hol d i f the first or last rai nfal l of a con-
cent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er is t oo small t o cont r i but e t o the i nt egr at ed recharge event.
Based on t he assumpt i ons, the critical i nt erval was est i mat ed by
Tc = TI - To (6)
where To is t he initial time-lag of t he first i ndi vi dual rai nfal l in a concent r at ed rai nfal l
cl ust er (day); T1 is t he peak time-lag of the last i ndi vi dual rai nfal l in a concent r at ed
rai nfal l cl ust er (day). Tc, T1, and T O depend mai nl y on the soil hydr aul i c pr oper t i es
and gr oundwat er dept h.
Because a concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er usual l y compri ses several i ndi vi dual dai l y
rai nfal l events, the r echar ge of t he cl ust er will be affect ed by evapor at i on f r om soil
surface in t he i nt erval s bet ween adj acent dai l y rainfalls in t he cluster. The l onger t he
intervals, t he mor e wat er will be evapor at ed f r om the soil surface and t he less will be
J. Wu et al. / Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160 151
l o o -
8 0 -
~ 60-
O "
~ 40-
: g -
~ 20-
a.
0
o
m
1
A l l
A , I IA
i
100
Ti me (day)
|
Fig. 3. Annual precipitation of 1988.
I
20O
avai l abl e t o r echar ge t he gr oundwat er . A concept of effective pr eci pi t at i on was
utilized t o a c c ount f or the effect of soil surface e va por a t i on bet ween rai nfal l s in a
concent r at ed rai nfal l cluster, and was cal cul at ed as follows:
n n - - I T pi
Pe ~ _ , e i
i = 1 i = 1 j = l
wher e Pe is t he effective pr eci pi t at i on of a concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er ( mm) ; Pi,
i = 1,2, ..., n, is t he ith dai l y rai nfal l in t he concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er ( mm) , T e is
t i me i nt erval bet ween adj acent rainfalls (day), ewj is the dai l y wat er - sur f ace- evapor at i on
~ 6 -
|
~ 4 -
' i
0 100 200 300 4 0 0
Time (day)
T-
~r-
>,
Fig. 4. Annual water surface evaporation of 1988.
152 J. Wu et al. / Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160
( a )
6 0 -
.
4 0 -
~ 2 0 -
& -
~ O-
u
0
-20
observed
I . . . . . . simulated
' I ' I
o lOO 200
T i me (day)
0
,t-,,
>,b
( b )
2 0 -
I
E I O-
E
.
Q
~ O.
U
0
e~
-10
~ _ _ . observed
simulated
0
o
o
m
, r -
=i
, ! I
1 O0 200
T i me (day)
Fi g. 5. Ly s i me t e r - o b s e r v e d ( sol i d l i ne) a n d c o mp u t e r - s i mu l a t e d ( d a s h l i ne) a n n u a l r e c ha r ge s a t g r o u n d wa t e r
d e p t h s o f ( a) 1.5, ( b) 3, (c) 4. 5, a n d (d) 5 m.
on t hej t h day from the beginning of this interval (mm) and Kj is the ratio of evaporation
from the soil surface to that from a water surface.
The evaporation ratio is determined largely by the water content at the soil surface.
A linear relationship between evaporation ratio and soil surface water content was
reported from experimental dat a (Zhang, 1966). Measurements of water content at
soil surfaces exhibited exponential attenuations after rainfall events (Herkelrath et al.,
1977; Chappaz, 1987; Bruckler and Witono, 1989; Wi t ono and Bruckler, 1989).
Therefore, the variation of evaporation ratio, K, with time, t, after a rainfall event
J. Wu et al. / Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160
( c )
8 -
-
v 4- -
-
g 2 -

~ o-
- 2
0
T ' -
o b s e r v e d
I . . . . . . s i m u l a t e d
/ \ '
I ' I
1 0 0 2 0 0
T i m e ( d a y )
( d )
8 -
o
v
2 -
O
i v
- 2
. . . . . s i m u l a t e d
_ _ o _ _ . .
' I
0 1 0 0
T i m e ( d a y )
c o
o ~
: S
I
2 0 0
Fi g. 5. ( c ont i nue d) .
153
can be obt ai ned f r om t he measur ement of wat er cont ent at t he soil surfaces. The
var i at i on of K wi t h respect t o t ma y also be est i mat ed by measur i ng soil surface
evapor at i on usi ng t he zero-fl ux-pl ane me t hod (Wellings, 1984), or ot her vadose-
zone t echni ques (Allison et al., 1994).
In this st udy, numer i cal si mul at i ons of wat er cont ent at t he soil surface were
empl oyed t o quant i f y t he r el at i onshi p bet ween K and t, and the fol l owi ng expressi on
was pr opos ed t o char act er i ze t he K ~ t rel at i onshi p:
K = ce e x p ( - 1 3 t 1/m) + Kg (8)
154 J. Wu et al. / Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160
1 2 0 -
E
E c~
Q
~ 6 0 .
Q
~ ' = 0 . 9 6 2
c
o 4 0 .
:l=m f ' R e = 0 . 8 7 * ( P - 5 . 2 5 )
~ = ~ ~ F r o m observed data
E : 0 , ~ ' , ' ' t ' ' ' t ' ' ' t ' ' ' t
0 4 0 8 0 1 2 0 1 6 0
P r e c i p i t a t i o n ( mm)
Fig. 6. Rainfall-recharge correlation at the groundwater depth of 1.5 m.
wher e Kg is t he r at i o of st eady gr oundwat er evapor at i on rat e t o wat er surface eva-
por at i on rat e, called evapor at i on coefficient of phr eat i c wat er (Zhang, 1983); ~, / 3,
and m are coefficients det er mi ned by curve-fitting. Kg is a f unct i on mai nl y of gr ound-
wat er dept h, soil hydr aul i c pr oper t i es, and wat er surface evapor at i on rat e and several
equat i ons have been pr opos ed t o eval uat e it (Zhang, 1983; Ni chol s, 1994).
2.3.2.3. Establish ing th e Re - e e relationsh ip. By t he met hods discussed above, t he
val ues of t ot al recharge, Re, of an i nt egr at ed r echar ge event and of t he effective
pr eci pi t at i on, Pe, of a concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er can be est i mat ed and t he Re - P e
r el at i onshi p can be est abl i shed by a regressi on analysis of t he resul t ed set of (Re, Pe)
dat a.
A special case f or i nt er medi at e dept h wat er tables is an uni - peak annual r echar ge
process wher e onl y one peak appear s in t he whol e year. In such a case, t he
concept of hydr ol ogi cal year is used, whi ch begins at t he end of a dr y season, all
t he rainfalls in one hydr ol ogi cal year are t r eat ed as one concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er
and t he annual r echar ge process is t r eat ed as an i nt egr at ed r echar ge event in the
mul t i - year cont i nuous process. The rel at i onshi p bet ween annual rai nfal l and r echar ge
ma y be det er mi ned by t he me t hod discussed above.
2.4. Deep water table
In t he case of a deep gr oundwat er t abl e, the r echar ge rat e is al most const ant so t hat
an aver age r at e of annual r echar ge can be used t o charact eri ze t he i nfi l t rat i on
r echar ge t o gr oundwat er . Thi s mean annual r echar ge r at e ma y be est i mat ed by
t raci ng t he movement of envi r onment al t racers (Phillips, 1994; Al l i son et al., 1994),
by measur i ng deep per col at i on bel ow t he r oot zone usi ng t he st eady-st at e cent ri fuge
me t hod ( Ni mmo et al., 1994) and lysimeters ( Gee et al., 1994), and by anal yzi ng bor e
hydr ogr aphs (Barnes et al., 1994) and t emper at ur e regimes (Tani guchi and Shar ma,
1993).
J . Wu et al. / Journal o f Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160 155
5-
34-
e 3 .
v
i
~2.
n ,
~ ~ recharge D=6 m
. . . . . re~hh::: ~[2400 :
' I ' I ' I ' I
0 I00 200 300 400
co T i m e ( d a y )
o O
o~
, e-
qr-
Fig. 7. Computer-simulated annual recharges at groundwat er dept hs of 6, 20, and 40 m.
3. Re s ul t s
Figs. 3 and 4, respectively, show the annual rainfall and wat er surface evapor at i on
for 1988 at the i rri gat i on experi ment al st at i on. Figs. 5(a) to (d) present the daily
values of annual rainfall recharges to gr oundwat er at dept hs of 1.5, 3, 4.5, and 5
m, respectively. The recharge dat a were obt ai ned f r om the lysimeter experiments. For
a soil profile wi t h a shal l ow wat er table, the response of recharge to rainfall was very
fast, and there was a close correspondence between them. For a gr oundwat er dept h of
1.5 m, al most every i ndi vi dual rainfall event great er t han about 5 mm corresponded
wi t h a recharge event, and the recharges correspondi ng t o different rainfall events
were separat ed f r om one anot her. The correl at i on between the rainfall dat a in Fig. 3
and the recharge dat a in Fig. 5(a) is shown in Fig. 6, and the fol l owi ng linear relation-
ship was obt ai ned wi t h a coefficient of det er mi nat i on (r 2) of 0.962:
R e = 0 . 8 7 ( P - 5.25) (9)
where Re is the recharge by i nfi l t rat i on of an i ndi vi dual rainfall event (mm), P the
preci pi t at i on (ram), and the const ant 5.25 mm is the t hreshol d value of i ndi vi dual
rainfall events, below which no recharge reaches the groundwat er.
Numeri cal l y si mul at ed annual recharges are present ed wi t h the lysimeter dat a in
Figs. 5 (a) t o (d). The good agreement s bet ween the observed and si mul at ed results
confi rm the reliability of the numeri cal model in generat i ng r ai nf al l - r echar ges to
vari ous gr oundwat er tables. Fig. 7 shows comput er-si mul at ed r ai nf al l - r echar ges
for soil profiles wi t h gr oundwat er dept hs of 6, 20, and 40 m. When the gr oundwat er
table is deep, the vari at i on of the recharge rate tends to be small, and the annual
recharge rat e may be t reat ed as const ant . The result is consi st ent wi t h the observa-
tions in the loess pl at eau in nort h-west ern Chi na (Li, 1986; Yan, 1986), where the
gr oundwat er table was about 40 m deep; const ant hydraul i c gradi ent near the deep
gullies was observed, which suggested a const ant rat e of recharge.
156 J. Wu et al. / Journal o f Hydrol ogy 177 (1996) 143- 160
A 4-
( g -
[ : : .
32-
.
~0-
n ,
- 1
8 0
i i |
1 2 0
i , , , I , , , i , , , i , ,
1 6 0 2 0 0 2 4 0
T i m e ( d a y )
Fig. 8. Comparison of computer-simulated and extrapolation-predicted recharges with daily precipitations
of 40, 60, and 90 mm.
For soil profiles wi t h wat er tables of i nt er medi at e dept h, t he rel at i onshi p bet ween
rai nfal l and r echar ge is mor e compl i cat ed and concept s of i nt egr at ed r echar ge event
and concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er had t o be i nt r oduced. Comput er - si mul at ed dat a
t est ed t he val i di t y of t he ext r apol at i on me t hod t o separat e t he i nt egr at ed r echar ge
events in an annual r echar ge sequence. Fi ve consecut i ve known dai l y r echar ge rat es at
t he begi nni ng of t he recessi on l i mb of a r echar ge event were used t o ext r apol at e t he
r echar ge r at e in t he recession peri od. Excel l ent agr eement bet ween t he ext r apol at ed
and si mul at ed r echar ge rat es resul t ed (Fig. 8) f or t he r echar ge event s pr oduced by
dai l y rainfalls of 40, 60, and 90 mm, respectively, at a gr oundwat er dept h of 4.5 m.
The concept of t he critical i nt erval bet ween adj acent rainfalls was appl i ed t o gr oup
concent r at ed rai nfal l clusters. The rel at i onshi p bet ween critical i nt erval and gr ound-
wat er dept h was anal yzed usi ng t he l ysi met ri c obser vat i ons and comput er - si mul at ed
dat a (Fig. 9). The critical i nt erval increases exponent i al l y wi t h gr oundwat er dept h.
The effective pr eci pi t at i on of a concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er was used t o assess t he
effect of soil surface evapor at i on on t he i nfi l t rat i on r echar ge t o t he gr oundwat er ; it
was cal cul at ed by subt r act i ng soil surface evapor at i on bet ween adj acent rainfalls of a
concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er f r om t he gross preci pi t at i on. A modi fi ed exponent i al
model descri bed t he var i at i on of evapor at i on r at i o wi t h time, and si mul at ed dat a
<~>30-
t ~
~ 2 0 -
~ 1 0 -
( 3
..--
O
Ov
0
[ ] O b s e r v e d
- - G - - S i m u l a t e d
r
s
2 4 6
G r o u n d w a t e r D e p t h ( m )
Fig. 9. Relationship between the critical interval and groundwater depth.
J. Wu et al. / Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160 157
1 " 2 1 Fitted cur ve
0.8 0 Si mul at ed dat a
c ~ 0. 4-
0
0.0 ' I ' I ' I ' "1
0 10 20 30 40
Ti me (day)
Fig. 10. Variation of evaporation ratio with continuous evaporation time. The symbols represent computer-
generated data for different rainfalls throughout a year and the solid line is the best-fitting curve.
were used t o det er mi ne t he coefficients at a gr oundwat er dept h of 4.5 m. Fig. 10 shows
t he at t enuat i ons of the evapor at i on rat i os af t er di fferent dai l y rainfalls t hr oughout a
year. The rainfalls r ange f r om 30 t o 90 mm. The gr oundwat er evapor at i on coefficient,
Kg, obt ai ned f r om a numer i cal si mul at i on usi ng an average wat er surface evapor at i on
was 0.018, and l east -square regressi on and opt i mi zat i on analysis yi el ded t he values of
a, /3 and m in Eq. (8) of 0.97, 0.57, and 3.05, respectively, wi t h a coefficient of
det er mi nat i on (r 2) of 0.997.
Numer i cal l y si mul at ed annual recharges under di fferent annual rai nfal l processes
were used t o est abl i sh t he rel at i onshi p bet ween t he effective pr eci pi t at i ons of concen-
t r at ed rai nfal l clusters and t he i nfi l t rat i on recharges of t he i nt egr at ed r echar ge events,
usi ng t he above- descr i bed t echni ques. The pr ocedur e f or anal yzi ng t he cor r el at i on is
summar i zed as follows:
(a) Di vi de t he annual r echar ge process i nt o i nt egr at ed r echar ge event s cor r espond-
i ng t o peaks in t he process, and separ at e t he i nt egr at ed r echar ge events t hr ough
ext r apol at i on usi ng t he known r echar ge rat es at t he begi nni ng of t he recessi on peri od.
(b) Di vi de t he annual rainfalls i nt o concent r at ed rai nfal l clusters based on t he
A
E
g
O
G0
J =
r~
O
C
e-
1 2 0 -
80-
40-
o ,7 o
~= 0.997
~ " - - - R e = 0 . 8 7 * ( P e - 2 7 . 4 )
( ) S i mu l a t e d d a t a
' P ~ I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' ' ' I ' '
40 80 120 160
Effective Rainfall (ram)
Fig. 11. Rainfall-recharge relation at the groundwater depth of 4.5 m.
158 J. Wu et al. / Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160
cor r espondence bet ween large rainfalls or concent r at ed rai nfal l gr oups and peaks in
t he annual recharge.
(c) Cal cul at e the effective preci pi t at i ons, Pc, of concent r at ed rai nfal l clusters and
the recharges, Re, gener at ed by Pc. By per f or mi ng a regressi on analysis on t he (Pc, Re)
dat a, a f unct i onal rel at i onshi p bet ween Pe and Re is det ermi ned. Fig. 11 shows the
rel at i onshi p bet ween Pe and Re obt ai ned f r om comput er - si mul at ed dat a f or a gr ound-
wat er dept h of 4.5 m, wi t h a cor r el at i on of det er mi nat i on (r 2) of 0.980. The rel at i on-
ship bet ween Pe and Re is of t he form:
Re = 0. 87(Pe -- 27.4) (10)
Agai n, the val ue of 27.4 mm is the t hr eshol d rai nfal l f or t hat gr oundwat er dept h.
4. Summary and conclusions
Var i at i ons of annual r echar ge wi t h respect t o gr oundwat er dept hs were investi-
gat ed usi ng l ysi met ri c obser vat i ons and comput er - si mul at ed dat a. Gr oundwa t e r
systems were classified as shallow, i nt er medi at e or deep accor di ng t o dept hs and t o
t he rel at i onshi p bet ween rai nfal l and recharge.
Fo r shal l ow gr oundwat er dept hs, gr oundwat er regi me dat a ma y be used t o obt ai n
t he cor r el at i on bet ween r a i nf a l l a nd recharge.
Fo r a gr oundwat er syst em of i nt er medi at e dept h, the concept of a concent r at ed
rai nfal l cl ust er defi ned as a gr oup of i ndi vi dual rai nfal l events cor r espondi ng t o a
peak in an annual r echar ge process, was i nt r oduced t o anal yze t he rel at i onshi p
bet ween rainfalls and t hei r recharges. The soil surface evapor at i on bet ween i ndi vi dual
rainfalls was t aken i nt o consi der at i on, and t he evapor at i on r at i o of soil surface t o
wat er surface was used t o cal cul at e t he effective pr eci pi t at i on of a concent r at ed rai n-
fall cluster. The var i at i on of evapor at i on r at i o wi t h t i me was anal yzed usi ng compu-
t er - gener at ed dat a. An exponent i al rel at i onshi p fitted t he dat a wi t h a coefficient of
det er mi nat i on (r 2) of 0.997. The concept of critical i nt erval bet ween adj acent rainfalls
was appl i ed t o divide annual rainfalls i nt o concent r at ed rai nfal l clusters. The critical
i nt erval is defi ned as t he mi ni mum t i me i nt erval r equi r ed f or t wo adj acent rainfalls t o
gener at e t wo di st i nct peaks; it was est i mat ed f r om annual rai nfal l and r echar ge dat a.
An ext r apol at i on me t hod was used t o separat e t he i nt egr at ed r echar ge events of
concent r at ed rai nfal l clusters in an annual r echar ge process. An exponent i al at t enua-
t i on of r echar ge r at e in the recessi on par t was empl oyed, and the test of its val i di t y
exhi bi t ed ext r emel y good agr eement bet ween si mul at ed and ext r apol at ed recharge
rates.
Comput er - si mul at ed dat a were used t o establish t he cor r el at i on bet ween t he effec-
tive pr eci pi t at i on of a concent r at ed rai nfal l cl ust er and t he consequent recharge. The
result showed a l i near rel at i onshi p wi t h a coefficient of det er mi nat i on (r 2) of 0.980.
Thi s i ndi cat es t hat t he me t hod f or anal yzi ng t he cor r el at i on bet ween effective rainfalls
and t hei r recharges devel oped in this paper is feasible in pract i ce.
For a ver y deep gr oundwat er table, t he var i at i ons of the r echar ge r at e wi t h t i me
were qui t e small. Ther ef or e, t he annual r echar ge r at e ma y be t r eat ed as a const ant ,
J. Wu et al. / Journal of Hydrology 177 (1996) 143-160 159
a n d t h e me a n a n n u a l r e c h a r g e r a t e ma y b e e s t i ma t e d f r o m a r e g i o n a l wa t e r b a l a n c e
a n a l y s i s o r b y me a s u r i n g t h e d e e p p e r c o l a t i o n .
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