Global assessment
6 important questions on Global assessment
How do numerical Water Balance models partition water surplus? Name two fluxes. Note that Water Balance models consider surface hydrological processes, but they are a numerical model of VZ recharge.
Name 3 characteristics of the Vadose Zone Recharge models (eg Hydrus and SWAP). Note that these are numerical
- Physical processes in the VZ
- Driven by meteorological input (P, T)
- Needs a representation of subsurface parameters (K-q, f, depth to water table)
What are typical data requirements for numerical Water Balance models?
• Climate (P-E)
• Land-use
• Soil type
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Global assessment modeling - when is it good?
Interestingly: Future recharge predictions at a global scale are highly uncertain, and even more so at a local scale. Can you think why (check lec)?
Name 4 benefits/downsides of VZ models used to estimate GW recharge rates in the vadose zone.
• Provide a physical-process based estimate of VZ recharge
fluxes.
• Computational demands usually prohibit regional scale
assessments using such models (meta-models, i.e. simplified
representations), although there is examples in the literature of
this (e.g. coupling Hydrus and MODFLOW).
• Data demands are high compared to surface water balance
methods.
• Hydraulic properties of VZ are uncertain, as well potential
existence of preferential flow paths (e.g., loess recharge
study).
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