Scale‐Dependent Inter‐Catchment Groundwater Flow in Forested Catchments: Analysis of Multi‐Catchment Water Balance Observations in Japan

Abstract Inter‐catchment groundwater flow (IGF) plays an essential role in streamflow generation and water quality in forested headwaters. Multiple factors are thought to contribute to IGF, including climate, topographical, and geological factors. However, studies have not clarified the relationship...

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Main Authors: Tomoki Oda, Kenta Iwasaki, Tomohiro Egusa, Tayoko Kubota, Sho Iwagami, Shin'ichi Iida, Hiroki Momiyama, Takanori Shimizu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-07-01
Series:Water Resources Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037161
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author Tomoki Oda
Kenta Iwasaki
Tomohiro Egusa
Tayoko Kubota
Sho Iwagami
Shin'ichi Iida
Hiroki Momiyama
Takanori Shimizu
author_facet Tomoki Oda
Kenta Iwasaki
Tomohiro Egusa
Tayoko Kubota
Sho Iwagami
Shin'ichi Iida
Hiroki Momiyama
Takanori Shimizu
author_sort Tomoki Oda
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Inter‐catchment groundwater flow (IGF) plays an essential role in streamflow generation and water quality in forested headwaters. Multiple factors are thought to contribute to IGF, including climate, topographical, and geological factors. However, studies have not clarified the relationships between IGF and catchment properties in the headwater catchments due to the lack of observational data at scales smaller than 100 ha. This study examined possible factors influencing IGF using random forest analysis based on annual water balance data from 152 forested catchments ranging from 0.09 to 9400 ha in Japan. The results showed that catchment scale had the greatest influence on IGF, and IGF tended to decrease with increasing catchment area at scales of less than 10 ha. The average IGF stabilized around zero in catchments greater than 10 ha. The averaged IGF trend with catchment scale indicated more outward groundwater flow in catchments smaller than 10 ha, but no relationship between IGF and catchment size in catchments larger than 10 ha. The variability in IGF decreased with catchment size and was lowest at 10–100 ha. The decrease in variability in catchments less than 100 ha was mainly due to river confluence and the increased variability in catchments larger than 100 ha indicated potential observation errors increase in catchments of this size.
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spelling doaj-art-db3ff955c0444a33a89b2adb7300d1e52025-08-20T03:22:22ZengWileyWater Resources Research0043-13971944-79732024-07-01607n/an/a10.1029/2024WR037161Scale‐Dependent Inter‐Catchment Groundwater Flow in Forested Catchments: Analysis of Multi‐Catchment Water Balance Observations in JapanTomoki Oda0Kenta Iwasaki1Tomohiro Egusa2Tayoko Kubota3Sho Iwagami4Shin'ichi Iida5Hiroki Momiyama6Takanori Shimizu7Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tsukuba JapanForestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tsukuba JapanFaculty of Agriculture Shizuoka University Shizuoka JapanForestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tsukuba JapanForestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tsukuba JapanForestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tsukuba JapanForestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tsukuba JapanForestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tsukuba JapanAbstract Inter‐catchment groundwater flow (IGF) plays an essential role in streamflow generation and water quality in forested headwaters. Multiple factors are thought to contribute to IGF, including climate, topographical, and geological factors. However, studies have not clarified the relationships between IGF and catchment properties in the headwater catchments due to the lack of observational data at scales smaller than 100 ha. This study examined possible factors influencing IGF using random forest analysis based on annual water balance data from 152 forested catchments ranging from 0.09 to 9400 ha in Japan. The results showed that catchment scale had the greatest influence on IGF, and IGF tended to decrease with increasing catchment area at scales of less than 10 ha. The average IGF stabilized around zero in catchments greater than 10 ha. The averaged IGF trend with catchment scale indicated more outward groundwater flow in catchments smaller than 10 ha, but no relationship between IGF and catchment size in catchments larger than 10 ha. The variability in IGF decreased with catchment size and was lowest at 10–100 ha. The decrease in variability in catchments less than 100 ha was mainly due to river confluence and the increased variability in catchments larger than 100 ha indicated potential observation errors increase in catchments of this size.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037161water balancegroundwater flowforested catchment
spellingShingle Tomoki Oda
Kenta Iwasaki
Tomohiro Egusa
Tayoko Kubota
Sho Iwagami
Shin'ichi Iida
Hiroki Momiyama
Takanori Shimizu
Scale‐Dependent Inter‐Catchment Groundwater Flow in Forested Catchments: Analysis of Multi‐Catchment Water Balance Observations in Japan
Water Resources Research
water balance
groundwater flow
forested catchment
title Scale‐Dependent Inter‐Catchment Groundwater Flow in Forested Catchments: Analysis of Multi‐Catchment Water Balance Observations in Japan
title_full Scale‐Dependent Inter‐Catchment Groundwater Flow in Forested Catchments: Analysis of Multi‐Catchment Water Balance Observations in Japan
title_fullStr Scale‐Dependent Inter‐Catchment Groundwater Flow in Forested Catchments: Analysis of Multi‐Catchment Water Balance Observations in Japan
title_full_unstemmed Scale‐Dependent Inter‐Catchment Groundwater Flow in Forested Catchments: Analysis of Multi‐Catchment Water Balance Observations in Japan
title_short Scale‐Dependent Inter‐Catchment Groundwater Flow in Forested Catchments: Analysis of Multi‐Catchment Water Balance Observations in Japan
title_sort scale dependent inter catchment groundwater flow in forested catchments analysis of multi catchment water balance observations in japan
topic water balance
groundwater flow
forested catchment
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037161
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