Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-178
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-178
Submitted as: model description paper
 | 
30 Oct 2024
Submitted as: model description paper |  | 30 Oct 2024
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal GMD.

Representing Lateral Groundwater Flow from Land to River in Earth System Models

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

Abstract. Lateral groundwater flow (LGF) is an important hydrologic process in controlling water table dynamics. Due to the relatively coarse spatial resolutions of land surface models, the representation of this process is often overlooked or overly simplified. In this study, we developed a hillslope-based lateral groundwater flow model. Specifically, we first developed a hillslope definition model based on an existing watershed delineation model to represent the subgrid spatial variability in topography. Building upon this hillslope definition, we then developed a physical-based lateral groundwater flow using Darcy’s equation. This model explicitly considers the relationships between the groundwater table along the hillslope and the river water table levels. We coupled this intra-grid model to the land component (ELM) and river component (MOSART) of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). We tested both the hillslope definition model and the lateral groundwater flow model and performed sensitivity experiments using different configurations. Simulations for a single grid cell at 0.5° × 0.5° within the Amazon basin show that the definition of hillslope is the key to modeling lateral flow processes and the runoff partition between surface and subsurface can be dramatically changed using the hillslope approach. Although our method provides a pathway to improve the lateral flow process, future improvements are needed to better capture the subgrid structure to account for the spatial variability in hillslopes within the simulated grid of land surface models.

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

Status: open (until 25 Dec 2024)

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

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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 don't have detailed enough information about the land surface. 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.