Groundwater flow and heat transport for systems undergoing freeze-thaw: Intercomparison of numerical simulators for 2D test cases

Grenier, Christophe; Anbergen, Hauke; Bense, Victor; Chanzy, Quentin; Coon, Ethan T.; Collier, Nathaniel; Costard, F.; Ferry, Michel; Frampton, Andrew; Frederick, Jennifer M; Gonçalvès, Julio; Holmén, Johann; Jost, Anne; Kokh, Samuel; Kurylyk, Barret L.; McKenzie, Jeffrey M.; Molson, John; Mouche, Emmanuel; Orgogozo, Laurent; Pannetier, Romain; Rivière, Agnès; Roux, Nicolas Le; Rühaak, W.; Scheidegger, Johanna; Selroos, Jan-Olof; Therrien, René; Vidstrand, Patrik; Voss, Clifford I.

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2018.02.001

Cited by 104 publications

(107 citation statements)

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“…Additional numerical details (including validations) regarding resolution of the Richard's equation (Equation ) with OpenFOAM are given in Orgogozo et al ., and the approaches adopted here to deal with the thermal equation (Equation ) are very similar. The OpenFOAM solver permaFOAM implemented as described above has been successfully validated in saturated conditions by comparison with 1D benchmark test cases available in the literature, and with 2D test cases in the framework of the international benchmark InterFrost . Further validation and details of permaFOAM are given in Data S1 and Data S2, respectively.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These two aspects, namely good parallel performance and the integration in an open source generalist framework, motivated our choice of developing permaFOAM, an OpenFOAM solver for cryohydrogeology. The permaFOAM numerical approach was successfully validated recently from two bidimensional and fully saturated test cases within a benchmark of 13 codes …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The permaFOAM numerical approach was successfully validated recently from two bidimensional and fully saturated test cases within a benchmark of 13 codes. 38 Here we focus on the modeling of water and energy transfer in an experimental watershed in Central Siberia, located within the Siberian basaltic trap province and covered by larch forests. The remoteness, vast extent (~1.5 million km 2 ) and the lithological and landscape homogeneity of this area make it an ideal region for studying chemical weathering processes and river export fluxes in a permafrost terrain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Water and energy transfer modeling in a permafrost‐dominated, forested catchment of Central Siberia: The key role of rooting depth

Orgogozo

Прокушкин

Pokrovsky

et al. 2019

Permafrost & Periglacial

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To quantify the impact of evapotranspiration phenomena on active layer dynamics in a permafrost‐dominated forested watershed in Central Siberia, we performed a numerical cryohydrological study of water and energy transfer using a new open source cryohydrogeology simulator, with two innovative features: spatially distributed, mechanistic handling of evapotranspiration and inclusion of a numerical tool in a high‐ performance computing toolbox for numerical simulation of fluid dynamics, OpenFOAM. In this region, the heterogeneity of solar exposure leads to strong contrasts in vegetation cover, which constitutes the main source of variability in hydrological conditions at the landscape scale. The uncalibrated numerical results reproduce reasonably well the measured soil temperature profiles and the dynamics of infiltrated waters revealed by previous biogeochemical studies. The impacts of thermo‐hydrological processes on water fluxes from the soils to the stream are discussed through a comparison between numerical results and field data. The impact of evapotranspiration on water fluxes is studied numerically, and highlights a strong sensitivity to variability in rooting depth and corresponding evapotranspiration at slopes of different aspect in the catchment.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Water and energy transfer modeling in a permafrost‐dominated, forested catchment of Central Siberia: The key role of rooting depth

Orgogozo

Прокушкин

Pokrovsky

et al. 2019

Permafrost & Periglacial

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“…SUTRA simulates permafrost by incorporating the physics of water phase change, allowing for modeling of pore water freeze and thaw, and permeability variations with changing ice and water content, temperature-dependent variations in liquid water density, and the contribution of the latent heat of fusion to the subsurface energy balance. The freeze-thaw version of SUTRA has been used simulate groundwater flow and heat transport in a number of frozen ground studies (e.g., Briggs et al, 2014Briggs et al, , 2018Evans et al, 2018;Evans & Ge, 2017;Ge et al, 2011;Kurylyk et al, 2014Kurylyk et al, , 2016Lamontagne-Hallé et al, 2018;McKenzie & Voss, 2013;Walvoord et al, 2019;Wellman et al, 2013;Zipper et al, 2018) and has been benchmarked against other coupled cryohydrogeological models by Grenier et al (2018).…”

Section: Numerical Groundwater Flow and Heat Transport Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Tracks Enhance Water Flow Above Permafrost in Upland Arctic Alaska Hillslopes

et al. 2020

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Upland permafrost regions occupy approximately one third of the Arctic landscape. In upland regions, hydrologic fluxes are influenced by water tracks, curvilinear features on hillslopes that preferentially fill with and route water in response to snowmelt and rainfall when the soil above continuous permafrost thaws in the summer. As continued warming of the Arctic may alter hydrologic cycling leading to increased frequency of extreme hydrologic events like drought and flooding as well as modification of biogeochemical cycling, it is imperative to untangle the interplay between precipitation, runoff, and subsurface flow as water is routed from upland Arctic regions to the Arctic Ocean. This study quantifies how ground surface temperatures affect groundwater discharge from hillslopes with water tracks in the upland Arctic by employing a three‐dimensional, physically based subsurface flow model with variable saturation and freeze and thaw capabilities that is calibrated to field measurements from the Upper Kuparuk River watershed on the North Slope of Alaska, USA. Model analysis indicates that higher ground surface temperatures along water track hillslopes promote increases in groundwater discharge where water tracks act as conduits for large‐recharge events and continue to discharge groundwater into the autumn after the adjacent hillslope has frozen. Simulating the conditions that distinguish water tracks from their hillslope watersheds changes subsurface water storage and ground thermal responses but does not alter the total magnitude of groundwater discharge outside of parameter uncertainty. These findings suggest that water tracks play a complex and critical role in hydrologic cycles of the upland Arctic.

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“…The modified model simulates saturated groundwater flow including freeze/thaw processes, which impact subsurface hydrologic and thermal properties based on the relative composition of three materials: liquid water, solid water (ice), and matrix material (soil solids). While there are various approaches to coupled simulations of groundwater and heat transport in freeze/thaw settings, the InterFrost model comparison project found that this modified version of SUTRA performed comparably to other codes including freeze-thaw processes (Grenier et al, 2018).…”

Section: Modeling Approachmentioning

confidence: 97%

Groundwater Controls on Postfire Permafrost Thaw: Water and Energy Balance Effects

et al. 2018

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Fire frequency and severity are increasing in high‐latitude regions, but the degree to which groundwater flow impacts the response of permafrost to fire remains poorly understood. Here we use the Anaktuvuk River Fire (Alaska, USA) as an example for simulating groundwater‐permafrost interactions following fire. We identify key thermal and hydrologic parameters controlling permafrost response to fire both with and without groundwater flow, and separate the relative influence of changes to the water and energy balances on active layer thickness. Our results show that mineral soil porosity, which influences the bulk subsurface thermal conductivity, is a key parameter controlling active layer response to fire in both the absence and presence of groundwater flow. However, including groundwater flow in models increases the perceived importance of subsurface hydrologic properties, such as the soil permeability, and decreases the perceived importance of subsurface thermal properties, such as the thermal conductivity of soil solids. Furthermore, we demonstrate that changes to the energy balance (increased soil temperature) drive increased active layer thickness following fire, while changes to the water balance (decreased groundwater recharge) lead to reduced landscape‐scale variability in active layer thickness and groundwater discharge to surface water features such as streams. These results indicate that explicit consideration of groundwater flow is critical to understanding how permafrost environments respond to fire.

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Groundwater flow and heat transport for systems undergoing freeze-thaw: Intercomparison of numerical simulators for 2D test cases

Cited by 104 publications

References 81 publications

Water and energy transfer modeling in a permafrost‐dominated, forested catchment of Central Siberia: The key role of rooting depth

Water and energy transfer modeling in a permafrost‐dominated, forested catchment of Central Siberia: The key role of rooting depth

Water Tracks Enhance Water Flow Above Permafrost in Upland Arctic Alaska Hillslopes

Groundwater Controls on Postfire Permafrost Thaw: Water and Energy Balance Effects

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