Preface Groundwater recharge: Processes and quantification

摘要

Appropriate quantification of groundwater recharge is required for robust model predictions as groundwater recharge is one of the main drivers of the hydrological system. Direct measurement of recharge is, unfortunately, not possible. Each hydrological sub-discipline came up with their own practical solution to quantify groundwater recharge. In groundwater modeling, it is common to approximate recharge as a fraction of rainfall. In the hydrological component of large climate models, as well as in many surface water models, recharge is viewed as a simple loss term. Vadose zone hydrologists try to simulate groundwater recharge as it passes through the unsaturated zone; they apply a variety of approximate conditions at the soil surface and often simplify the vadose zone as homogeneous. Ecohydrologists are the odd ones out, as they require accurate simulations of dynamics in all three parts of the hydrological system. Increased understanding of the rate and behavior of groundwater recharge requires the integration of knowledge from watershed hydrology, vadose zone hydrology, groundwater hydrology, ecohydrology, and hydrometeorology.