| 1. |
- Barthel, Roland, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Similarity-based approaches in hydrogeology: proposal of a new concept for data-scarce groundwater resource characterization and prediction
- 2021
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Ingår i: Hydrogeology Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1435-0157 .- 1431-2174. ; 29:5, s. 1693-1709
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new concept is proposed for describing, analysing and predicting the dynamic behaviour of groundwater resources based on classification and similarity. The concept makes use of the ideas put forward by the “PUB” (predictions in ungauged basins) initiative in surface-water hydrology. One of the approaches developed in PUB uses the principle that similar catchments, exposed to similar weather conditions, will generate a similar discharge response at the catchment outlet. This way, models developed for well-observed catchments can be used to make predictions for ungauged catchments with similar properties (topography, land use, etc.). The concept proposed here applies the same idea to groundwater systems, with the goal to make predictions of the dynamic behaviour of groundwater in poorly observed systems using similarities to well-observed and understood systems. This paper gives an overview of the main ideas, the methodological background, the progress so far, and the challenges that the authors regard as most crucial for further development. One of the main goals of this article is thus to raise interest for this new concept within the groundwater community. There are a multitude of highly interesting aspects to investigate, and a community effort, as with PUB, is required. A second goal is to foster and exchange ideas between the groundwater and surface water research communities who, while often working on similar problems, have often missed the opportunity to learn from each other.
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| 2. |
- Barthel, Roland, 1967, et al.
(författare)
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Systematic visual analysis of groundwater hydrographs: potential benefits and challenges
- 2022
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Ingår i: Hydrogeology Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1431-2174 .- 1435-0157. ; 30, s. 359-78
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Visual analysis of time series in hydrology is frequently seen as a crucial step to becoming acquainted with the nature of the data, as well as detecting unexpected errors, biases, etc. Human eyes, in particular those of a trained expert, are well suited to recognize irregularities and distinct patterns. However, there are limits as to what the eye can resolve and process; moreover, visual analysis is by definition subjective and has low reproducibility. Visual inspection is frequently mentioned in publications, but rarely described in detail, even though it may have significantly affected decisions made in the process of performing the underlying study. This paper presents a visual analysis of groundwater hydrographs that has been performed in relation to attempts to classify groundwater time series as part of developing a new concept for prediction in data-scarce groundwater systems. Within this concept, determining the similarity of groundwater hydrographs is essential. As standard approaches for similarity analysis of groundwater hydrographs do not yet exist, different approaches were developed and tested. This provided the opportunity to carry out a comparison between visual analysis and formal, automated classification approaches. The presented visual classification was carried out on two sets of time series from central Europe and Fennoscandia. It is explained why and where visual classification can be beneficial but also where the limitations and challenges associated with the approach lie. It is concluded that systematic visual analysis of time series in hydrology, despite its subjectivity and low reproducibility, should receive much more attention.
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| 3. |
- Giese, Markus, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative hydrogeology – reference analysis of groundwater dynamics from neighbouring observation wells
- 2020
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Ingår i: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 65:10, s. 1685-1706
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Groundwater level fluctuations are caused by spatial and temporal superposition of processes within and outside the aquifer system. Most of the subsurface processes are usually observed on a small scale. Upscaling to the regional scale, as required for future climate change scenarios, is difficult due to data scarcity and increasing complexity. In contrast to the limited availability of system characteristics, high-resolution data records of groundwater hydrographs are more generally available. Exploiting the information contained in these records should thus be a priority for analysis of the chronical lack of data describing groundwater system characteristics. This study analyses the applicability of 63 indices derived from daily hydrographs to quantify different dynamics of groundwater levels in unconfined gravel aquifers from three groundwater regions (Bavaria, Germany). Based on the results of two different skill tests, the study aids index selection for different dynamic components of groundwater hydrographs.
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| 4. |
- Haaf, Ezra, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Data-Driven Estimation of Groundwater Level Time-Series at Unmonitored Sites Using Comparative Regional Analysis
- 2023
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Ingår i: Water Resources Research. - 0043-1397 .- 1944-7973. ; 59:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A new method is presented to efficiently estimate daily groundwater level time series at unmonitored sites by linking groundwater dynamics to local hydrogeological system controls. The proposed approach is based on the concept of comparative regional analysis, an approach widely used in surface water hydrology, but uncommon in hydrogeology. Using physiographic and climatic site descriptors, the method utilizes regression analysis to estimate cumulative frequency distributions of groundwater levels (groundwater head duration curves, HDC) at unmonitored locations. The HDC is then used to construct a groundwater hydrograph using time series from distance-weighted neighboring monitored (donor) locations. For estimating times series at unmonitored sites, in essence, spatio-temporal interpolation, stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR), extreme gradient boosting (XGB), and nearest neighbors are compared. The methods were applied to 10-year daily groundwater level time series at 157 sites in unconfined alluvial aquifers in Southern Germany. Models of HDCs were physically plausible and showed that physiographic and climatic controls on groundwater level fluctuations are nonlinear and dynamic, varying in significance from “wet” to “dry” aquifer conditions. XGB yielded a significantly higher predictive skill than nearest neighbor and MLR. However, donor site selection is of key importance. The study presents a novel approach for regionalization and infilling of groundwater level time series that also aids conceptual understanding of controls on groundwater dynamics, both central tasks for water resources managers.
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| 5. |
- Haaf, Ezra, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Physiographic and climatic controls on regional groundwater dynamics
- 2020
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Ingår i: Water Resources Research. - 0043-1397 .- 1944-7973. ; 56:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The main goal of this study is to explore whether the ideas established by surface water hydrologists in the context of “PUB” (predictions in ungauged basins) can be useful in hydrogeology. The concrete question is whether it is possible to create predictive models for groundwater systems with no or few observations based on knowledge derived from similar groundwater systems which are well‐observed. To do so, this study analyses the relationship between temporal dynamics of groundwater levels and climatic and physiographic characteristics. The analysis is based on data from 341 wells in Southern Germany with ten‐year daily groundwater hydrographs. Observation wells are used in confined and unconfined sand and gravel aquifers from narrow mountainous valleys as well as more extensive lowland alluvial aquifers. Groundwater dynamics at each location are summarized with 46 indices describing features of groundwater hydrographs. Besides borehole log‐derived geologic information, local and regional morphologic characteristics as well as topography‐derived boundary and climatic descriptors were derived for each well. Regression relationships were established by mining the data for associations between dynamics and descriptors with forward stepwise regression at a confidence level >95%. The most important predictors are geology and boundary conditions and secondarily, climate, as well as some topographic features, such as regional convergence. The multiple regression models are in general agreement with process understanding linked to groundwater dynamics in unconfined aquifers. This systematic investigation suggests that statistical regionalization of groundwater dynamics in ungauged aquifers based on map‐derived physiographic and climatic controls may be feasible.
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| 6. |
- Nygren, Michelle, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in seasonality of groundwater level fluctuations in a temperate-cold climate transition zone
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Hydrology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-1694 .- 2589-9155. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In cold (i.e. boreal, subarctic, snowy) climate zones, dynamic groundwater storage is greatly affected by the timing and amount of snowmelt. With global warming, cold climates in the northern hemisphere will transition to temperate. As temperatures rise, the dominant type of precipitation will change from snow to rain in winter. Further, the growing season is prolonged. This has a direct impact on the aquifer recharge pattern. However, little is known about the effect of changing annual recharge regimes on groundwater storage. The present work deduces the impact of shifting climate zones on groundwater storage by evaluating the effect of climate seasonality on intra-annual hydraulic head fluctuations. The work compares intra-annual hydraulic head fluctuations in a temperate-cold climate transition zone (Fennoscandia) from two different periods (1980–1989, 2001–2010). This is done by associating rising vs. declining hydraulic heads with hydrometeorology. Due to the northwards migration of the temperate climate zone, there is a shift in seasonality between the two periods. This has a negative impact on groundwater levels, which are significantly lower in 2001–2010, particularly near the climate transition zone. The results demonstrate that increasing temperatures in cold climate regions may change the seasonality of groundwater recharge, by altering the main recharge period from being snowmelt-dominated (spring) to rain-dominated (winter). Additionally, this is connected to the duration of the growing season, which impedes groundwater recharge. The coupled effect of this on groundwater in the study area has led to a significant decrease in groundwater storage.
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| 7. |
- Bikse, Janis, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing automated gap imputation of regional scale groundwater level data sets with typical gap patterns
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Hydrology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-1694. ; 620
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large groundwater level (GWL) data sets are often patchy with hydrographs containing continuous gaps and irregular measurement frequencies. However, most statistical time series analyses require regular observations, thus hydrographs with larger gaps are routinely excluded from further analysis despite the loss of coverage and representativity of an initially large data set. Missing values can be filled in with different imputation methods, yet the challenge is to assess the imputation performance of automated methods. Assessment of such methods tends to be carried out on randomly introduced missing values. However, large GWL data sets are commonly dominated by more complex patterns of missing values with longer contiguous gaps. This study presents a new artificial gap introduction approach (TGP- typical gap patterns) that improves our understanding of automated imputation performance by mimicking typical gap patterns found in regional scale groundwater hydrographs. Imputation performance of machine learning algorithm missForest and imputePCA is then compared with commonly applied linear interpolation to prepare a gapless daily GWL data set for the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). We observed that imputation performance varies among different gap patterns, and performance for all imputation algorithms declined when infilling previously unseen extremes and hydrographs influenced by groundwater abstraction. Further, missForest algorithm substantially outperformed other methods when infilling contiguous gaps (up to 2.5 years), while linear interpolation performs similarly for short random gaps. The TGP approach can be of use to assess the complexity of missing observation patterns in a data set and its value lies in assessing the performance of gap filling methods in a more realistic way. Thus the approach aids the appropriate selection of imputation methods, a task not limited to groundwater level time series alone. The study further provides insights into region-specific data peculiarities that can assist groundwater analysis and modelling.
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| 8. |
- Haaf, Ezra, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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An inter-comparison of similarity-based methods for organisation and classification of groundwater hydrographs
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Hydrology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-1694. ; 559, s. 222-237
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Classification and similarity based methods, which have recently received major attention in the field of surface water hydrology, namely through the PUB (prediction in ungauged basins) initiative, have not yet been applied to groundwater systems. However, it can be hypothesised, that the principle of ‘‘similar systems responding similarly to similar forcing” applies in subsurface hydrology as well. One fundamental prerequisite to test this hypothesis and eventually to apply the principle to make ‘‘predictions for ungauged groundwater systems” is efficient methods to quantify the similarity of groundwater system responses, i.e. groundwater hydrographs. In this study, a large, spatially extensive, as well as geologically and geomorphologically diverse dataset from Southern Germany and Western Austria was used, to test and compare a set of 32 grouping methods, which have previously only been used individually in localscale studies. The resulting groupings are compared to a heuristic visual classification, which serves as a baseline. A performance ranking of these classification methods is carried out and differences in homogeneity of grouping results were shown, whereby selected groups were related to hydrogeological indices and geological descriptors. This exploratory empirical study shows that the choice of grouping method has a large impact on the object distribution within groups, as well as on the homogeneity of patterns captured in groups. The study provides a comprehensive overview of a large number of grouping methods, which can guide researchers when attempting similarity-based groundwater hydrograph classification.
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| 9. |
- Haaf, Ezra, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Data-driven Estimation of Groundwater Level Time-Series Using Comparative Regional Analysis
- 2022
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A new method is presented to efficiently estimate daily groundwater level time series at unmonitored sites by linking groundwater dynamics to local hydrogeological system controls. The presented approach is based on the concept of comparative regional analysis, an approach widely used in surface water hydrology, but uncommon in hydrogeology. The method uses regression analysis to estimate cumulative frequency distributions of groundwater levels (groundwater head duration curves (HDC)) at unmonitored locations using physiographic and climatic site descriptors. The HDC is then used to construct a groundwater hydrograph using time series from distance-weighted neighboring monitored (donor) locations. For estimating times series at unmonitored sites, in essence, spatio-temporal interpolation, stepwise multiple linear regression, extreme gradient boosting, and nearest neighbors are compared. The methods were applied to ten-year daily groundwater level time series at 157 sites in alluvial unconfined aquifers in Southern Germany. Models of HDCs were physically plausible and showed that physiographic and climatic controls on groundwater level fluctuations are nonlinear and dynamic, varying in significance from “wet” to “dry” aquifer conditions. Extreme gradient boosting yielded a significantly higher predictive skill than nearest neighbor and multiple linear regression. However, donor site selection is of key importance. The study presents a novel approach for regionalization and infilling of groundwater level time series that also aids conceptual understanding of controls on groundwater dynamics, both central tasks for water resources managers.
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| 10. |
- Haaf, Ezra, 1985
(författare)
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Towards prediction in ungauged aquifers – methods for comparative regional analysis
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Hydrogeological investigations and in particular groundwater resource assessments are strongly reliant on understanding the factors controlling groundwater level dynamics. However, historical records of measured groundwater levels are often scarce and unevenly distributed in space and time. This irregularity of measurements, combined with hydrogeological systems with heterogeneous properties and unclear inputs and driving processes, leads to the need for systematic methods for prediction of groundwater in poorly-observed (ungauged) groundwater systems. In this thesis, methods of comparative regional analysis are presented to estimate groundwater level dynamics at ungauged sites based on similarity of groundwater system response and climatic and non-climatic characteristics. In order to carry out comparative regional analysis, methods were developed and compared for measuring similarity of groundwater system response based on entire (Paper I) and on features (Paper II) of groundwater levels time series. The relationship between similar groundwater response and groundwater system characteristics are evaluated further by identifying groups of similar sites using similarity-based classification (Paper I-III). Finally, climatic and physiographic system characteristics are identified that can be linked to groundwater dynamics aided by regression analysis and conceptual models (Paper IV). They can therefore serve as a basis for prediction in ungauged aquifers (Paper V). The thesis presents novel methods for regional analysis of groundwater resources that can be used to link groundwater dynamics to groundwater system characteristics. It demonstrates the strong potential of the presented methods and ways forward for prediction of groundwater dynamics in ungauged aquifers.
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