Representing lateral groundwater flow from  land to river in Earth system models

Liao, Chang; Leung, L. Ruby; Fang, Yilin; Tesfa, Teklu; Negron-Juarez, Robinson

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4601-2025

Articles | Volume 18, issue 14

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4601-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4601-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 14

Model description paper

|

29 Jul 2025

Model description paper |

| 29 Jul 2025

Representing lateral groundwater flow from land to river in Earth system models

Chang Liao, L. Ruby Leung, Yilin Fang, Teklu Tesfa, and Robinson Negron-Juarez

Data sets

Representing lateral groundwater flow from land to river in Earth system models (0.1.4) Chang Liao https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14003482

A hillslope based subsurface lateral groundwater flow model within E3SM (v1.0) Chang Liao https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14338210

Model code and software

HexWatershed: a mesh-independent flow direction model for hydrologic models Chang Liao https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6425880

Short summary

Understanding horizontal groundwater flow is important for understanding how water moves through the ground. Current climate models often simplify this process because they do not have information about the land surface that is detailed enough. Our study developed a new model that divides the land surface into hillslopes to better represent how groundwater flows. This model can help improve predictions of water availability and how it affects ecosystems.