To browse Academia. Recharge assessment and related spatial distribution remain a recurrent problem while addressing groundwater flow modeling development. Hence the study objective was to develop an automated method for computing the groundwater recharge at the mesh scale and for each time step of the aquifer model. The developed process for computerizing the recharge is based on i literature and existing local studies review, ii senior experts experience, and iii land for dry and wet periods and morphological parameters obtained by satellite imagery processing and on the rainfall spatio-temporal distribution.
Monthly rainfall data are issues from the recorded measurements in meteorological stations equally spread over the studied area. Recharge maps are also displayed at any time step. This fully automatized iterative process for computing the recharge greatly contributes to a far better assessment of the recharge and makes the recharge much more coherent and reliable than in classical cases of groundwater modelling where recharge is manually assessed by a trial and errors iterative process.
Hence, groundwater flow model accuracy is greatly enhanced. This developed process is applicable under any geological and climatic conditions notwithstanding some adjustments to the parameters in accordance to the local climatic and geomorphological conditions.
To demonstrate the capabilities of Geographic Information System GIS techniques and numerical modeling for groundwater resources development in arid areas, specifically for the demarcation of suitable sites for the artificial recharge of groundwater aquifers, a study was carried out in the Maknassy basin, which is located in Central Tunisia. Thematic maps were prepared using a Hydrogeological Information System. All of the thematic layers were integrated using an ARCVIEW based model, enabling a map showing artificial recharge zones to be generated.
Meanwhile, a ground water model, MODFLOW, was used to estimate the effect of such water recharge on the piezometric behavior of the hydrological system. Additionally, these simulations helped manage ground water resources in the study area. The GIS-based demarcation of artificial zones developed in this study was based on logical conditions and reasoning, so that the same techniques, with appropriate modifications, could be adopted elsewhere, especially in similar aquifer systems in arid areas where the occurrence of groundwater is restricted and subject to a greater complexity.
