Comparison of Simulation Methods for Recharge Mounds Under Rectangular Basins

Kudzai Chipongo and Mehdi Khiadani ()

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), 2015, vol. 29, issue 8, 2855-2874

Abstract: Various methods for predicting recharge mounds that form beneath basins during recharge and the subsequent decay after recharge stops have been developed over the past half a century. In this paper several analytical methods were compared for very rapid, rapid and moderately rapid hydraulic conductivity values. Subsequently, the results were matched with numerical methods. Results obtained indicate minimal deviations among analytical solutions for predicting infiltration mounds at low recharge time (≤50 days). In addition, the deviations can be easily amended. Numerical solutions predict higher infiltration mounds (up to 32 % for the results chosen) compared to analytical methods, a variation attributed to the fewer assumptions made when solving governing groundwater equations. Yet at the lowest hydraulic conductivity rate (1.6 m/day) used in this investigation, numerical solutions are comparable to analytical solutions. Despite general unanimity on the superiority of numerical over analytical solutions for predicting infiltration mounds; the two methods have not been tested with observed field data. As a result, and to assist in discerning the best approach, analytical and numerical solutions were validated against results from three distinct field observations. The best match was noted between analytical and observed recharge mounds. In conclusion the practical applicability of each solution under various hydro-geologic conditions is summarized in the form of a table. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Keywords: Groundwater Recharge; Artificial Recharge; Recharge Basin; Mound Growth; Mound Decay; Long Recharge Strip (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-015-0974-2 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:waterr:v:29:y:2015:i:8:p:2855-2874

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11269

DOI: 10.1007/s11269-015-0974-2

Access Statistics for this article

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) is currently edited by G. Tsakiris

More articles in Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) from Springer, European Water Resources Association (EWRA)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().