| 1. |
- Barthel, Roland, 1967, et al.
(author)
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Systematic visual analysis of groundwater hydrographs: potential benefits and challenges
- 2022
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In: Hydrogeology Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1431-2174 .- 1435-0157. ; 30, s. 359-78
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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| 2. |
- Ehlers, Todd A., et al.
(author)
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Past, present, and future geo-biosphere interactions on the Tibetan Plateau and implications for permafrost
- 2022
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In: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-8252. ; 234
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere are most active in the critical zone, a region extending from the tops of trees to the top of unweathered bedrock. Changes in one or more of these spheres can result in a cascade of changes throughout the system in ways that are often poorly understood. Here we investigate how past and present climate change have impacted permafrost, hydrology, and ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau. We do this by compiling existing climate, hydrologic, cryosphere, biosphere, and geologic studies documenting change over decadal to glacial-interglacial timescales and longer. Our emphasis is on showing present-day trends in environmental change and how plateau ecosystems have largely flourished under warmer and wetter periods in the geologic past. We identify two future pathways that could lead to either a favorable greening or unfavorable degradation and desiccation of plateau ecosystems. Both paths are plausible given the available evidence. We contend that the key to which pathway future generations experience lies in what, if any, human intervention measures are implemented. We conclude with suggested management strategies that can be implemented to facilitate a future greening of the Tibetan Plateau.
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| 3. |
- Haaf, Ezra, 1985, et al.
(author)
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Data-driven Estimation of Groundwater Level Time-Series Using Comparative Regional Analysis
- 2022
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)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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| 4. |
- Karmakar, Shyamal, et al.
(author)
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Numerical Benchmark Studies on Flow and Solute Transport in Geological Reservoirs
- 2022
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In: Water. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-4441. ; 14:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Predicting and characterising groundwater flow and solute transport in engineering and hydrogeological applications, such as dimensioning tracer experiments, rely primarily on numerical modelling techniques. During software selection for numerical modelling, the accuracy of the results, financial costs of the simulation software, and computational resources should be considered. This study evaluates numerical modelling approaches and outlines the advantages and disadvantages of several simulators in terms of predictability, temporal control, and computational efficiency conducted in a single user and single computational resource set-up. A set of well-established flow and transport modelling simulators, such as MODFLOW/MT3DMS, FEFLOW, COMSOL Multiphysics, and DuMu(X) were tested and compared. These numerical simulators are based on three numerical discretisation schemes, i.e., finite difference (FD), finite element (FE), and finite volume (FV). The influence of dispersivity, potentially an artefact of numerical modelling (numerical dispersion), was investigated in parametric studies, and results are compared with analytical solutions. At the same time, relative errors were assessed for a complex field scale example. This comparative study reveals that the FE-based simulators COMSOL and FEFLOW show higher accuracy for a specific range of dispersivities under forced gradient conditions than DuMu(X) and MODFLOW/MT3DMS. FEFLOW performs better than COMSOL in regard to computational time both in single-core and multi-core computing. Overall computational time is lowest for the FD-based simulator MODFLOW/MT3DMS while the number of mesh elements is low (here < 12,800 elements). However, for finer discretisation, FE software FEFLOW performs faster.
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| 5. |
- Lindgren, Amanda, et al.
(author)
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Acid sulfate soils and their impact on surface water quality on the Swedish west coast
- 2022
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In: Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-5818. ; 40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Study region: Halland county, located on the Swedish west coast, with a special focus on the area around Ramsjö canal (Falkenberg municipality). Study focus: This study contributes to the understanding of the development of active acid sulfate soils and environmental consequences of leaching from these soils in an area without previous investigations. Samples taken from different soil profiles in an agricultural area and water samples from the agricultural drainage system were analysed in pH, electrical conductivity, and metal concentrations. To evaluate the on-site situation, the results of the soils sample analysis were compared to the national soil classification system and the water samples to areas in northern Europe affected by acid sulfate soils. New hydrological insights for the region: The results prove the existence of active acid sulfate soils in a coastal area in Halland. In the study region, acid sulfate soils were discovered in an agricultural area of drained wetland and peatland. Water samples taken from the drainage system and a man-made canal flowing into Kattegat Sea have low pH combined with high electrical conductivity and increased metal concentrations. This is a direct consequence of intensive leaching from the discovered acid sulfate soils in that area. Therefore, this is the first case study proofing the existence of acid sulfate soils and highlighting their environmental impact on surface water quality on the Swedish west coast (i.e. outside the Baltic Basin).
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| 6. |
- Nygren, Michelle, et al.
(author)
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Exploring groundwater drought responsiveness in lowland post‑glacial environments
- 2022
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In: Hydrogeology Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1431-2174 .- 1435-0157. ; 30, s. 1937-1961
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Groundwater drought response to meteorological forcing depends on initial hydrological conditions. This makes it difficult to characterise groundwater droughts and identify the drought vulnerability of aquifers. The objective is to increase the understanding of groundwater memory and response to meteorological forcing in lowland post-glacial environments. Eighty-one groundwater hydrographs are analysed, using the standardised groundwater level index (SGI) and the precipitation index. Memory and response times are assessed using auto- and cross-correlation functions. Response time is estimated by comparing two approaches: (1) the traditional use of the maximum cross-correlation, and (2) the alternative use of the cross-correlation slope. Results are interpreted for different hydrogeological settings. The analysis showed that sand aquifers have the longest memory and response times, particularly in confined settings where the memory could be over 4 years. Silts and tills have relatively short memories and response times, at less than 1 year, though median values for silt are higher than for unconfined sand aquifers. In this study, estimating response time using the correlation slope is superior at capturing the initial response time of groundwater to precipitation. However, the results showed that groundwater anomalies in lowland post-glacial environments are sometimes more influenced by climate teleconnections than concurrent forcing. This emphasises the need for a holistic approach for the characterisation and projection of groundwater drought, as it develops in simultaneous response to meteorological forcing at different timescales.
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