Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Vadose zone journal |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
We have developed a novel and simple approach that can be used to derive effective in situ soil water retention characteristics from field monitoring time series in peatlands. The simplicity of the approach is given by the very limited data requirements, which comprise only precipitation, water table, and, if relevant, microrelief data. Our approach is built on two main assumptions: (i) for shallow groundwater systems, the soil moisture profile is always close to hydrostatic equilibrium; and (ii) during short time periods of high precipitation, the water storage change due to lateral fluxes is small compared with the precipitation input. Given these assumptions, the height of a water table rise due to a precipitation event mainly depends on the soil water retention characteristics, the precipitation amount, the initial water table depth, and, if present, the microrelief. In this study, this dependency was used to determine the effective van Genuchten parameters by Bayesian inversion assuming a uniform soil profile. We applied our concept to field data from a peatland with microrelief. Results indicated that observations of water table rises caused by precipitation events can contain sufficient information to constrain the soil water retention characteristics around monitoring wells in peatlands to plausible ranges. In principle, the approach should also be applicable to other shallow groundwater systems. Application limits and potential systematic errors are discussed.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Soil Science
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In: Vadose zone journal, Vol. 15, No. 10, 10.2016.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Deriving effective soil water retention characteristics from shallow water table fluctuations in peatlands
AU - Dettmann, Ullrich
AU - Bechtold, Michel
N1 - Funding information: We gratefullya cknowledgep rimaryfinancial supportf or the project provided by LITHOPROBE/SNORCLE and NSERC and additionals upportfrom the Northern Scientific Research Training Program and a Geological Society of America grant.L ogisticals upportf or field work was provided by the British Columbia GeologicalS urveyand Inmet Mining Corp. Ongoing studiesa re supportebdy the GeologicalS urvey of Canada's Central Foreland NATMAP Project and by LITHOPROBE/ SNORCLE and NSERC. We would like to thank Corwin Sullivan, Dianne Pellerin and Michelle Landry for cheerful and able field assistanceF. inally, we appreciate the frank and constructivceo mmentfsr omM. P. Cecile and B. S. Norford who acted as scientific reviewers.T he LITHO-PROBE publicationn umberf or this paper is #1102.
PY - 2016/10
Y1 - 2016/10
N2 - We have developed a novel and simple approach that can be used to derive effective in situ soil water retention characteristics from field monitoring time series in peatlands. The simplicity of the approach is given by the very limited data requirements, which comprise only precipitation, water table, and, if relevant, microrelief data. Our approach is built on two main assumptions: (i) for shallow groundwater systems, the soil moisture profile is always close to hydrostatic equilibrium; and (ii) during short time periods of high precipitation, the water storage change due to lateral fluxes is small compared with the precipitation input. Given these assumptions, the height of a water table rise due to a precipitation event mainly depends on the soil water retention characteristics, the precipitation amount, the initial water table depth, and, if present, the microrelief. In this study, this dependency was used to determine the effective van Genuchten parameters by Bayesian inversion assuming a uniform soil profile. We applied our concept to field data from a peatland with microrelief. Results indicated that observations of water table rises caused by precipitation events can contain sufficient information to constrain the soil water retention characteristics around monitoring wells in peatlands to plausible ranges. In principle, the approach should also be applicable to other shallow groundwater systems. Application limits and potential systematic errors are discussed.
AB - We have developed a novel and simple approach that can be used to derive effective in situ soil water retention characteristics from field monitoring time series in peatlands. The simplicity of the approach is given by the very limited data requirements, which comprise only precipitation, water table, and, if relevant, microrelief data. Our approach is built on two main assumptions: (i) for shallow groundwater systems, the soil moisture profile is always close to hydrostatic equilibrium; and (ii) during short time periods of high precipitation, the water storage change due to lateral fluxes is small compared with the precipitation input. Given these assumptions, the height of a water table rise due to a precipitation event mainly depends on the soil water retention characteristics, the precipitation amount, the initial water table depth, and, if present, the microrelief. In this study, this dependency was used to determine the effective van Genuchten parameters by Bayesian inversion assuming a uniform soil profile. We applied our concept to field data from a peatland with microrelief. Results indicated that observations of water table rises caused by precipitation events can contain sufficient information to constrain the soil water retention characteristics around monitoring wells in peatlands to plausible ranges. In principle, the approach should also be applicable to other shallow groundwater systems. Application limits and potential systematic errors are discussed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84991690476&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2136/vzj2016.04.0029
DO - 10.2136/vzj2016.04.0029
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84991690476
VL - 15
JO - Vadose zone journal
JF - Vadose zone journal
SN - 1539-1663
IS - 10
ER -