Variation of Groundwater Flow Caused by Any Spatiotemporally Varied Recharge

Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop a complete analytical solution to determining the effect of any varying rainfall recharge rates on groundwater flow in an unconfined sloping aquifer. The domain of the unconfined aquifer was assumed to be semi-infinite with an impervious bottom base, and the initial water level was parallel to the impervious bottom of a mild slope. In the past, similar problems have been discussed mostly by considering a uniform or temporally varying recharge rate, but the current study explored the variation of groundwater flow under temporally and spatially distributed recharge rates. The presented analytical solution was verified by comparing its results with those of previous research, and the practicability of the analytical solution was validated using the 2012 and 2013 data of a groundwater station in Dali District of Taichung City, Taiwan.