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Factors controlling the daily change in groundwater level during the growing season on the Great Hungarian Plain: a statistical approach

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Abstract

The phenomenon of diurnal fluctuation in the groundwater level (GWL) often reflects the water uptake by plants. The rate of evapotranspiration from the groundwater (ETgw) can be calculated from the daily rate of change in GWL, but several factors may influence the vertical groundwater dynamics. The occurrence of diurnal fluctuation and the daily rate of change in GWL were determined in 20 monitoring wells on the Great Hungarian Plain with different vegetation cover (Quercus robur L., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Populus × euramericana and unforested control sites) and with differences in the water table depth (WTD) and in soil and salinity characteristics. ETgw was calculated for eight selected sites. Forest vegetation significantly increased the occurrence of diurnal fluctuation (8 out of 11 cases), and the mean daily change in GWL multiplied by the specific yield (S y) was 2.2 times higher for forest sites than for the unforested control sites. The median daily change in GWL showed a significant negative correlation with S y, where the vegetation effect was manifested as ETgw-induced diurnal fluctuation. A significant correlation was obtained at each monitoring well between the meteorological parameters controlling the evaporative demand and the daily rate of change in GWL. A reduction in groundwater uptake after rainfall events and increasing groundwater consumption during dry periods were also revealed. A significant positive correlation was found at some study sites between the daily change in GWL and WTD, and between ETgw and the leaf area index (LAI). Mean ETgw was 8.2 mm day−1 for oak stand and 0.4 mm day−1 for black locust stand, while it ranged from 1.7 to 6.0 mm day−1 for the four poplar stands, which may reflect the variability in water demand, LAI, groundwater and soil characteristics.

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Acknowledgements

The establishment of the monitoring network and data collection were funded by OTKA NN 79835 (National Scientific Research Programmes, Hungary), EU COST FA0901 and VKSZ_12-1-2013-0034–AGRÁRKLÍMA.2. Péter Csáfordi, Kitti Balog and Tibor Tóth acknowledge funding from the Postdoctoral Research Programme PD-029/2015 of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Zoltán Gribovszki from the European Union and the State of Hungary, co-financed by the European Social Fund in the framework of the TÁMOP 4.2.4. A/2-11-1-2012-0001 “National Excellence Program”. The authors thank Dr. Norbert Móricz for his advice on the calculation of evapotranspiration and Dr. Klára Ádámné Pokovai for her help with LAI calculations. Special thanks are due to the Trans Tisza Water Directorate and the Water Directorate of the Central Tisza Region for the daily precipitation data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry, Centre for Agricultural Research, HAS, Herman Ottó út 15, Budapest, 1022, Hungary

    Péter Csáfordi, Kitti Balog & Tibor Tóth

  2. Forest Research Institute, National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre, Frankel L. út 1, Budapest, 1027, Hungary

    András Szabó

  3. Institute of Geomatics and Civil Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky u. 4-6, Sopron, 9400, Hungary

    Zoltán Gribovszki

  4. Institute of Environmental and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky u. 4-6, Sopron, 9400, Hungary

    András Bidló

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  1. Péter Csáfordi
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Correspondence to Péter Csáfordi.

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Csáfordi, P., Szabó, A., Balog, K. et al. Factors controlling the daily change in groundwater level during the growing season on the Great Hungarian Plain: a statistical approach. Environ Earth Sci 76, 675 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-7002-1

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