Large-scale groundwater modeling using global datasets: a test case for the Rhine-Meuse basin

Abstract

Abstract. The current generation of large-scale hydrological models does not include a groundwater flow component. Large-scale groundwater models, involving aquifers and basins of multiple countries, are still rare mainly due to a lack of hydro-geological data which are usually only available in developed countries. In this study, we propose a novel approach to construct large-scale groundwater models by using global datasets that are readily available. As the test-bed, we use the combined Rhine-Meuse basin that contains groundwater head data used to verify the model output. We start by building a distributed land surface model (30 arc-second resolution) to estimate groundwater recharge and river discharge. Subsequently, a MODFLOW transient groundwater model is built and forced by the recharge and surface water levels calculated by the land surface model. Results are promising despite the fact that we still use an offline procedure to couple the land surface and MODFLOW groundwater models (i.e. the simulations of both models are separately performed). The simulated river discharges compare well to the observations. Moreover, based on our sensitivity analysis, in which we run several groundwater model scenarios with various hydro-geological parameter settings, we observe that the model can reasonably well reproduce the observed groundwater head time series. However, we note that there are still some limitations in the current approach, specifically because the offline-coupling technique simplifies the dynamic feedbacks between surface water levels and groundwater heads, and between soil moisture states and groundwater heads. Also the current sensitivity analysis Correspondence to: E. H. Sutanudjaja (e.sutanudjaja@geo.uu.nl) ignores the uncertainty of the land surface model output. Despite these limitations, we argue that the results of the current model show a promise for large-scale groundwater modeling practices, including for data-poor environments and at the global scale.

Partitioning of evaporation into transpiration, soil evaporation and interception: a comparison between isotope measurements and a HYDRUS-1D model

“…Interception is the part of rainfall that is intercepted by the Earth's surface such as vegetation, soil surface, litter, rock, roads, etc (Sutanudjaja et al, 2011;Gerrits, 2010;Savenije, 2004). Interception can be defined as a stock (S), flux or the entire interception process (Gerrits et al, 2007.…”

A global-scale two-layer transient groundwater model: development and application to groundwater depletion

“…www.usgs.gov/water) and Europe (Rhine-Meuse delta: Sutanudjaja et al (2011) Limited calibration was used to better fit the groundwater model to the head observations. The calculation times (approximately 2 weeks for a 1960-2010 run) were too long to allow for an full-fledged automated calibration (e.g.…”

“…As PCR-GLOBWB runs on a Gaussian grid (lat-lon projection) we have to take account of the fact that cell areas and volumes of the MODFLOW grid do not vary in space. This is done by adjusting recharge and the storage coefficient in the RCH and BCF packages to account for varying cell areas and volumes associated with a lat-lon grid (see Sutanudjaja et al (2011) andde Graaf et al (2015) for details). Next to the river levels, the boundary conditions of the global groundwater model were obtained as fixed heads set equal to global sea-level ]) (Lacey, 1930;Savenije, 2003;Manning, 1891).…”

Towards a Pan-European Integrated Groundwater and Surface Water Model: Development and Applications

“…Previous works in large-scale simulations include publications mainly focused either on surface water resources (Werner et al 2005;de Roo et al 2014), or on groundwater (Sutanudjaja et al 2011;Fan et al 2013;de Graaf et al 2015), with few applications of coupled models of surface water and groundwater (Sutanudjaja et al 2013). In smaller scales, attempts of coupled surface and groundwater modeling have been more frequent.…”