Skip to main content
Log in

The assessment of high recharge areas using DO indicators and recharge potential analysis: a case study of Taiwan’s Pingtung plain

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Identifying high groundwater recharge areas is important for the conservation of groundwater quality and quantity. A common practice used by previous studies is to estimate groundwater recharge potential (GRP) using recharge potential analysis (RPA) under different environments. These studies use the estimated GRP to identify the high potential groundwater recharge sites. However, the RPA parameters are subjectively defined for these previous studies. To remove the supposition, this study proposes a systematic approach that defines the RPA parameter values based on the theory of parameter identification. This study uses dissolved oxygen (DO) indicators to calibrate the RPA parameters. This calibration improves the correlation coefficient between the DO indicators and computed GRP values from 0.63 to 0.87. By comparing the initial values, these results indicate that the estimated RPA parameters better represent the field infiltration characteristic. This result also indicates that defining the RPA parameter values based on DO indicators is necessary and important for accuracy. These calibrated parameters are used to estimate the GRP distribution of Taiwan’s Pingtung Plain. The GRP values are delineated into five levels. High and excellent GRP areas are defined as high recharge areas, which compose about 26.74 % of the study area. Based on the proposed method, the estimated GRP distribution can accurately represent the study area’s field recharge characteristics. These study results can be a good reference for groundwater recharge analyses, specifically if well data is limited or difficult to obtain.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Notes

  1. Latitude ranges between 22020\(^\prime \)–230 00\(^\prime \)N and its longitude ranges between 120021\(^\prime \)–120039\(^\prime \)E, see Fig. 1.

References

  • Aimrun W, Amin M, Eltaib S (2004) Effective porosity of paddy soils as an estimation of its saturated hydraulic conductivity. Geoderma 121(3):197–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnold TL, Friedel MJ (2000) Effects of land use on recharge potential of surficial and shallow bedrock aquifers in the upper illinois river basin. US Geol Surv Water Resour Invest, 00–4027

  • Bou Kheir R, Shaban A, Girard M-C, Khawlie M, Abdallah C (2003) Caractérisation morpho-pédologique des zones karstiques du liban sensibilité des sols à l’érosion hydrique. Science et changements planétaires/Sécheresse 14(4):247–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouwer H (2002) Artificial recharge of groundwater: hydrogeology and engineering. Hydrogeol J 10(1):121–142

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Braun G, Levine N, Roberts S, Samel A (2003) A geographic information systems methodology for the identification of groundwater recharge areas in waukesha county, wisconsin. Environ Eng Geosci 9(3):267–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brito M, Costa C, Almeida J, Vendas D, Verdial P (2006) Characterization of maximum infiltration areas using gis tools. Eng Geol 85(1):14–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bromley J, Edmunds W, Fellman E, Brouwer J, Gaze S, Sudlow J, Taupin J (1997) Estimation of rainfall inputs and direct recharge to the deep unsaturated zone of southern niger using the chloride profile method. J Hydrol 188:139–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen W, Liu T (2005) Ion activity products of iron sulfides in groundwaters: implications from the choshui fan-delta, western taiwan. Geochimica et cosmochimica acta 69(14):3535–3544

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen WF, Liu TK (2003) Dissolved oxygen and nitrate of groundwater in choshui fan-delta, western Taiwan. Environ Geol 44(6):731–737

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chenini I, Mammou A, El May M (2010) Groundwater recharge zone mapping using gis-based multi-criteria analysis: a case study in central tunisia (maknassy basin). Water Resour Manag 24(5):921–939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domenico P, Schwartz F (1990) Physical and chemical hydrogeology, vol 824. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Eaton AD, Clesceri LS, Rice EW, Greenberg AE, Franson M (2005) Standard methods for the examination of water & wastewater: Centennial edition (standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater). Washington, DC: American Public Health Association (APHA), American Water Works Association (AWWA), and Water Environment Federation (WEF) (publ)

  • Gau H, Hsieh C, Liu C (2006) Application of grey correlation method to evaluate potential groundwater recharge sites. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 20(6):407–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsei CT (1984) A study on the water holding capacities of soils with different vegetative covers at mid-elevation sites in central taiwan. Master’s thesis, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan

  • Jackson R, Patterson R (1982) Interpretation of ph and eh trends in a fluvial-sand aquifer system. Water Resour Res 18(4):1255–1268

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jasrotia A, Kumar R, Saraf A (2007) Delineation of groundwater recharge sites using integrated remote sensing and gis in Jammu district, India. Int J Remote Sens 28(22):5019–5036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mondal N, Singh V (2004) A new approach to delineate the groundwater recharge zone in hard rock terrain. Curr Sci 87(5):658–662

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedretti D, Fernàndez-Garcia D, Sanchez-Vila X, Barahona-Palomo M, Bolster D (2011) Combining physical-based models and satellite images for the spatio-temporal assessment of soil infiltration capacity. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 25(8):1065–1075

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salama R, Tapley I, Ishii T, Hawkes G (1994) Identification of areas of recharge and discharge using landsat-tm satellite imagery and aerial photography mapping techniques. J Hydrol 162(1):119–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaban A, Khawlie M, Abdallah C (2006) Use of remote sensing and gis to determine recharge potential zones: the case of occidental lebanon. Hydrogeol J 14(4):433–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soares P, Pereira S, Simoes S, de Paula Bernardes G, Barbosa S, Trannin I (2012) The definition of potential infiltration areas in guaratinguetá watershed, paraíba do sul basin, southeastern Brazil: an integrated approach using physical and land-use elements. Environ Earth Sci pp 1–10

  • Tolson BA, Shoemaker CA (2007) Dynamically dimensioned search algorithm for computationally efficient watershed model calibration. Water Resour Res 43(1)

  • Tournebize J, Watanabe H, Takagi K, Nishimura T (2006) The development of a coupled model (pcpf-swms) to simulate water flow and pollutant transport in japanese paddy fields. Paddy Water Environ 4(1):39–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vu SH, Ishihara S, Watanabe H (2006) Exposure risk assessment and evaluation of the best management practice for controlling pesticide runoff from paddy fields. part 1: Paddy watershed monitoring. Pest Manag Sci 62(12):1193–1206

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu RS, Sue WR, Chien CB, Chen CH, Chang JS, Lin KM (2001) A simulation model for investigating the effects of rice paddy fields on the runoff system. Math Comput Model 33(6):649–658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh H, Lee C, Hsu K, Chang P (2009) Gis for the assessment of the groundwater recharge potential zone. Environ Geol 58(1):185–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YK, Schilling K (2006) Effects of land cover on water table, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge: a field observation and analysis. J Hydrol 319(1):328–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liang-Cheng Chang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tsai, JP., Chen, YW., Chang, LC. et al. The assessment of high recharge areas using DO indicators and recharge potential analysis: a case study of Taiwan’s Pingtung plain. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 29, 815–832 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-014-0941-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-014-0941-0

Keywords

Navigation