Estimating groundwater recharge for an arid karst system using a combined approach of time-lapse camera monitoring and water balance modelling

Abstract

Abstract:Groundwater is the principal water resource in semi-arid and arid environments. Therefore, quantitative estimates of its replenishment rate are important for managing groundwater systems. In dry regions, karst outcrops often show enhanced recharge rates compared with other surface and sub-surface conditions. Areas with exposed karst features like sinkholes or open shafts allow point recharge, even from single rainfall events. Using the example of the As Sulb plateau in Saudi Arabia, this study introduces a cost-effective and robust method for recharge monitoring and modelling in karst outcrops. The measurement of discharge of a representative small catchment (4.0 · 10 4 m 2 ) into a sinkhole, and hence the direct recharge into the aquifer, was carried out with a time-lapse camera. During the monitoring period of two rainy seasons (autumn 2012 to spring 2014), four recharge events were recorded. Afterwards, recharge data as well as proxy data about the drying of the sediment cover are used to set up a conceptual water balance model. The model was run for 17 years (1971 to 1986 and 2012 to 2014). Simulation results show highly variable seasonal recharge-precipitation ratios between 0 and 0.27. In addition to the amount of seasonal precipitation, this ratio is influenced by the interannual distribution of rainfall events. Overall, an average annual groundwater recharge for the doline (sinkhole) catchment on As Sulb plateau of 5.1 mm has estimated for the simulation period. Copyright

Identification of Tropical‐Extratropical Interactions and Extreme Precipitation Events in the Middle East Based On Potential Vorticity and Moisture Transport

“…Disasters; CRED). At the same time, these recurrent rainfall events replenish scarce freshwater resources that are crucial for agriculture (Amin et al, 2016;Schulz et al, 2016). Therefore, the understanding of extreme precipitation events in the Middle East, their predictability, and changes due to global warming are of high interest.…”

Sinkhole Flooding and Aquifer Recharge in Arid to Dry Sub-Humid Regions: A Systematic Review

“…More in detail, they are relative to North Africa [51], Iberian Peninsula [13], south Continental Europe [49,50,53,54], Italian Peninsula [16,18,46,48,59,63], Balkan Peninsula [44,47,60,67], and Anatolian Peninsula [62,66]. Some articles examine cases of the Middle East: three located near the Mediterranean coast [17,35,65], and three near the coast of the Persian Gulf [52,61,68]. Australia [45,58], China [15,56], and North America [55,64] are featured with two articles each.…”

“…South China multiple objectives 1 Somaratne (2014) [58] South Australia aquifer recharge 3 Iacobellis et al ( 2015) [59] Italian Peninsula flood management 1 Ljubenkov (2015)* [60] Balkan Peninsula flood management 1 Schulz et al ( 2015) [61] Middle East aquifer recharge 1 Delle Rose & Fidelibus (2016) [16] Italian Peninsula flood management 1 Demiroglu (2016)* [62] Anatolian Peninsula flood management und.…”

Global distribution of carbonate rocks and karst water resources

“…Springs were selected on the basis of discharge during low-flow conditions and regional significance. See Table 3 for details overexploitation and rapidly declining water tables ("groundwater mining"; Dirks et al 2018;Schulz et al 2016).…”