Comparative Study of Coupling Approaches for Surface Water and Subsurface Interactions
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 14, Issue 5
Abstract
In the core of an integrated watershed model there is coupling between surface water and subsurface water flows. Recently, interest in hydrology literature, regarding the fully coupled approach for surface and subsurface water interactions, has increased. For example, the assumption of a gradient-type flux equation, based on Darcy’s law and the numerical solution of all governing equations in a single global matrix, has been reported. This paper argues that this “fully coupled approach” is only a special case of all possible coupling combinations and, if not applied with caution, the nonphysics interface parameter becomes a calibration tool. Generally, there are two cases of surface/subsurface coupling based on the physical nature of the interface: continuous or discontinuous assumption; when a sediment layer exists at the interface, the discontinuous assumption may be justified. As for numerical schemes, there are three cases: time lagged, iterative, and simultaneous solutions. Since modelers often resort to the simplest, fastest schemes in practical applications, it is desirable to quantify potential errors and the performance specific to each coupling scheme. This paper evaluates these coupling schemes in a watershed model, WASH123D, with numerical experiments. They are designed to compare the performance of each coupling approach for different types of surface water and subsurface interactions. These experiments are evaluated in terms of surface water and subsurface water solutions, along with exchange flux (e.g. infiltration/seepage rate).
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Acknowledgments
This research is supported by the U.S. EPA–Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Program under Grant No. UNSPECIFIEDR-82795602 with the University of Central Florida. The preparation of this manuscript is supported by National Center for High Performance Computing (NCHC) while the senior writer took a sabbatical leave. The writers thank the three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that significantly improved the manuscript.
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© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 27, 2008
Accepted: Aug 19, 2008
Published online: May 1, 2009
Published in print: May 2009
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