Using EARTH model to estimate groundwater recharge at five representative zones in the Hebei Plain, China

Abstract

Accurate estimation of groundwater recharge is essential for efficient and sustainable groundwater management in many semi-arid regions. In this paper, a lumped parameter model (EARTH) was established to simulate the recharge rate and recharge process in typical areas by the observation datum of weather, soil water and groundwater synthetically, and the spatial and temporal variation law of groundwater recharge in the Hebei Plain was revealed. The mean annual recharge rates at LQ, LC, HS, DZ and CZ representative zones are 220.1, 196.7, 34.1, 141.0 and 188.0 mm/a and the recharge coefficients are 26.5%, 22.3%, 7.2%, 20.4%, and 22.0%, respectively. Recharge rate and recharge coefficient are gradually reduced from piedmont plain to coastal plain. Groundwater recharge appears as only yearly waves, with higher frequency components of the input series filtered by the deep complicated unsaturated zone (such as LC). While at other zones, groundwater recharge series strongly dependent on the daily rainfall and irrigation because of the shallow water table or coarse lithology.

Keywords

EARTH model / groundwater recharge / Hebei Plain

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