Understanding connected surface-water/groundwater systems using Fourier analysis of daily and sub-daily head fluctuations

R. I. Acworth; Gabriel C. Rau; Andrew M. McCallum; Martin S. Andersen; Mark O. Cuthbert

doi:10.1007/s10040-014-1182-5

Understanding connected surface-water/groundwater systems using Fourier analysis of daily and sub-daily head fluctuations

R. I. Acworth^*, Gabriel C. Rau, Andrew M. McCallum, Martin S. Andersen, Mark O. Cuthbert

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

428 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The long-term monitoring records of hydraulic heads frequently contain fluctuations originating from different cyclic drivers. Fourier analysis applied to these records can reveal connected surface-water/groundwater system characteristics. The various components of the atmospheric tides, the earth tides and the presence of diurnal responses to evapotranspiration are identified and isolated through band-pass filtering of data recorded from both vented and absolute gauge transducers. The signature of the different cyclic drivers is contained in amplitude and phase of the various signal components and can be used to determine the degree of system confinement. A methodology is described for the calculation of barometric efficiency in confined aquifers based upon the amplitude of the M₂ and S₂ components of the earth and atmospheric tides. It is demonstrated that Fourier analysis of water-level fluctuations is a simple but underused tool that can help to characterise shallow groundwater systems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	143-159
Number of pages	17
Journal	Hydrogeology Journal
Volume	23
Issue number	1
Early online date	5 Sept 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-014-1182-5
Publication status	Published - Feb 2015

Keywords

Analytical solutions
Australia
Confining units
Groundwater hydraulics
Groundwater/surface-water relations

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Water Science and Technology

Access to Document

10.1007/s10040-014-1182-5

Acworth 2015 Fourier HJ
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10040-014-1182-5
Submitted manuscript, 3.54 MBLicence: None: All rights reserved

Cite this

@article{c8880a41723048c9861c4ec45840f026,

title = "Understanding connected surface-water/groundwater systems using Fourier analysis of daily and sub-daily head fluctuations",

abstract = "The long-term monitoring records of hydraulic heads frequently contain fluctuations originating from different cyclic drivers. Fourier analysis applied to these records can reveal connected surface-water/groundwater system characteristics. The various components of the atmospheric tides, the earth tides and the presence of diurnal responses to evapotranspiration are identified and isolated through band-pass filtering of data recorded from both vented and absolute gauge transducers. The signature of the different cyclic drivers is contained in amplitude and phase of the various signal components and can be used to determine the degree of system confinement. A methodology is described for the calculation of barometric efficiency in confined aquifers based upon the amplitude of the M2 and S2 components of the earth and atmospheric tides. It is demonstrated that Fourier analysis of water-level fluctuations is a simple but underused tool that can help to characterise shallow groundwater systems.",

keywords = "Analytical solutions, Australia, Confining units, Groundwater hydraulics, Groundwater/surface-water relations",

author = "Acworth, {R. I.} and Rau, {Gabriel C.} and McCallum, {Andrew M.} and Andersen, {Martin S.} and Cuthbert, {Mark O.}",

year = "2015",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1007/s10040-014-1182-5",

language = "English",

volume = "23",

pages = "143--159",

journal = "Hydrogeology Journal",

issn = "1431-2174",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Understanding connected surface-water/groundwater systems using Fourier analysis of daily and sub-daily head fluctuations

AU - Acworth, R. I.

AU - Rau, Gabriel C.

AU - McCallum, Andrew M.

AU - Andersen, Martin S.

AU - Cuthbert, Mark O.

PY - 2015/2

Y1 - 2015/2

N2 - The long-term monitoring records of hydraulic heads frequently contain fluctuations originating from different cyclic drivers. Fourier analysis applied to these records can reveal connected surface-water/groundwater system characteristics. The various components of the atmospheric tides, the earth tides and the presence of diurnal responses to evapotranspiration are identified and isolated through band-pass filtering of data recorded from both vented and absolute gauge transducers. The signature of the different cyclic drivers is contained in amplitude and phase of the various signal components and can be used to determine the degree of system confinement. A methodology is described for the calculation of barometric efficiency in confined aquifers based upon the amplitude of the M2 and S2 components of the earth and atmospheric tides. It is demonstrated that Fourier analysis of water-level fluctuations is a simple but underused tool that can help to characterise shallow groundwater systems.

AB - The long-term monitoring records of hydraulic heads frequently contain fluctuations originating from different cyclic drivers. Fourier analysis applied to these records can reveal connected surface-water/groundwater system characteristics. The various components of the atmospheric tides, the earth tides and the presence of diurnal responses to evapotranspiration are identified and isolated through band-pass filtering of data recorded from both vented and absolute gauge transducers. The signature of the different cyclic drivers is contained in amplitude and phase of the various signal components and can be used to determine the degree of system confinement. A methodology is described for the calculation of barometric efficiency in confined aquifers based upon the amplitude of the M2 and S2 components of the earth and atmospheric tides. It is demonstrated that Fourier analysis of water-level fluctuations is a simple but underused tool that can help to characterise shallow groundwater systems.

KW - Analytical solutions

KW - Australia

KW - Confining units

KW - Groundwater hydraulics

KW - Groundwater/surface-water relations

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84921018447&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10040-014-1182-5

DO - 10.1007/s10040-014-1182-5

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84921018447

SN - 1431-2174

VL - 23

SP - 143

EP - 159

JO - Hydrogeology Journal

JF - Hydrogeology Journal

IS - 1

ER -

Understanding connected surface-water/groundwater systems using Fourier analysis of daily and sub-daily head fluctuations

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this