The design and application of an inexpensive pressure monitoring system for shallow water level measurement, tensiometry and piezometry

Greswell, R.; Ellis, Paul A.; Cuthbert, Mark O.; White, Rachel H.; Durand, Véronique

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.05.001

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…A nest of 5 tensiometers (T1 to T5) was installed, with specification and installation techniques as described by Greswell et al (2009) and Cuthbert et al (2009), respectively. Thermocouples were attached to each tensiometer just above the level of the ceramic cup.…”

Section: Tensiometersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…comprised a pre-fabricated filter pack around 25-mm ID plastic casing with 0.3-mm slots and the installation was sealed above the filter pack with bentonite, the top 30 cm being filled with a cement grout, and then fitted with a cover at ground level. It was fitted with custommade electronics including a differential pressure transducer (vented to atmosphere) to enable data to be logged automatically at regular intervals (Greswell et al, 2009). Water levels were recorded manually every few days from June to October 2004 and were then automatically logged from November 2004 to September 2005 at 5-min intervals.…”

Section: Piezometermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking soil moisture balance and source-responsive models to estimate diffuse and preferential components of groundwater recharge

Cuthbert

Mackay

Nimmo

2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract.Results are presented of a detailed study into the vadose zone and shallow water table hydrodynamics of a field site in Shropshire, UK. A conceptual model is presented and tested using a range of numerical models, including a modified soil moisture balance model (SMBM) for estimating groundwater recharge in the presence of both diffuse and preferential flow components. Tensiometry reveals that the loamy sand topsoil wets up via preferential flow and subsequent redistribution of moisture into the soil matrix. Recharge does not occur until near-positive pressures are achieved at the top of the sandy glaciofluvial outwash material that underlies the topsoil, about 1 m above the water table. Once this occurs, very rapid water table rises follow. This threshold behaviour is attributed to the vertical discontinuity in preferential flow pathways due to seasonal ploughing of the topsoil and to a lower permeability plough/iron pan restricting matrix flow between the topsoil and the lower outwash deposits. Although the wetting process in the topsoil is complex, a SMBM is shown to be effective in predicting the initiation of preferential flow from the base of the topsoil into the lower outwash horizon. The rapidity of the response at the water table and a water table rise during the summer period while flow gradients in the unsaturated profile were upward suggest that preferential flow is also occurring within the outwash deposits below the topsoil. A variation of the source-responsive model proposed by Nimmo (2010) is shown to reproduce the observed water table dynamics well in the lower outwash horizon when linked to a SMBM that quantifies the potential recharge from the topsoil. The results reveal new insights into preferential flow processes in cultivated soils and provide a useful and practical approach to accounting for preferential flow in studies of groundwater recharge estimation.

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Section: Tensiometersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Piezometermentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking soil moisture balance and source-responsive models to estimate diffuse and preferential components of groundwater recharge

Cuthbert

Mackay

Nimmo

2013

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Continuous-level transducers monitor the liquid level in an unceasing fashion as long as the liquid surface will be within its sensing range. Some known technologies used for continuous monitoring were: floating sensors [5,9]; pressure-based sensors [8,10,21]; ultrasonic-level sensors [17]; and capacitive sensors [4,6,[11][12][13]22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation on the performance of a multi-wire water level detection system using contact sensing for river water monitoring

Tabada

Loretero

Lasta³

2019

SN Appl. Sci.

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The complexity of the method used in remote sensing for flood monitoring is associated with the necessity of requiring expert services and costly unique facilities. Satellite-based imagery methods still need ground verifications for data comparison which would simply imply that in situ approaches were still reliable. This study investigates the operability of a designed contact-type sensing system using conductor wires intended for water level monitoring in rivers. Although the presented system has been a common concept, factual conclusions of its outdoor operability were unheard and undocumented on fluvial experimentations as most commercially available contact-type water level devices were intended for water tank monitoring only. The sensing accuracy and monitoring reliability have been proven in this study through outdoor experimentations. The detection time, the reading ability and the physical condition of the sensing device were tested under harsh outdoor environment. The increase in water level at a faster rate can be easily detected by the system only at microseconds (µs) range. Likewise, the efficacy of the system to detect the increase and decrease in the water level was proven to work out as actual flood simulation was conducted. The reading stability was also tested by measuring the output voltage of the circuit. It resulted in only 0.22 to 0.31 DC voltage drops recorded between similar level probes (e.g., from Day 1 to Day 30 of all Level 1s) on the sampled 5 wire probes which is just an insignificant loss factor to the operation of the device. In general, the device worked well in accordance with its functionality. The physical condition of the designed system was proven to be reliable as it continuously transmits data up to present.

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“…These changes may be of the order of several millimeters in magnitude depending on the flow conditions and geometry (e.g., Elliott & Brooks 1997; Vollmer et al 2002) and vary over seconds. Thus, using instantaneous measurements taken at a lower frequency (e.g., such as those at 5‐min intervals presented in Fritz and Mackley 2010 and Greswell et al 2009) may introduce an additional source of error in calculations of mean VHG driving GW‐SW interactions. The head gradients are typically large for the case described by Fritz and Mackley (2010) and the impact of small‐scale pressure head changes is likely to be unimportant; it seems likely that spatial and temporal dynamic pressure variations have contributed to the scatter seen in Figure 3.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, Greswell et al (2009) also demonstrated a nearly identical system based on the same concept, although implemented in a slightly different way in practice. Using commonly available components a “universal” differential pressure logging system was developed, which, among several applications, was also used to measure the differential pressure between a riverbed mini‐piezometer and the river above.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Wet/Wet Differential Pressure Sensor for Measuring Vertical Hydraulic Gradient

Cuthbert¹,

Greswell²,

Mackay³

2011

Groundwater

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The design and application of an inexpensive pressure monitoring system for shallow water level measurement, tensiometry and piezometry

Cited by 19 publications

References 9 publications

Linking soil moisture balance and source-responsive models to estimate diffuse and preferential components of groundwater recharge

Linking soil moisture balance and source-responsive models to estimate diffuse and preferential components of groundwater recharge

Investigation on the performance of a multi-wire water level detection system using contact sensing for river water monitoring

A Wet/Wet Differential Pressure Sensor for Measuring Vertical Hydraulic Gradient

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