Problem statement
Write a function to compute the water table elevation h above the bottom of the aquifer and the position of a groundwater divide xd given the water table elevations h0 at x = 0, hL at x = L, hydraulic conductivity K, and recharge rate i0. If there is no groundwater divide, set xd to the empty set [].
Background
As in other problems in this series, the movement of groundwater is governed by conservation of mass and (if the flow is slow enough) Darcy’s law. In an unconfined aquifer, the latter relates the flow of water to the gradient in water table elevation above the bottom of the aquifer by
Q = -K(dh/dx)hw
where w is the width of the aquifer. For steady, one-dimensional flow, conservation of mass says that the flow at any position x is
Q = Q0 + i0 w x
where is the (unknown) flow at x = 0. Using Darcy’s law to replace Q provides a differential equation that can be integrated using the water table elevations at the boundaries to determine Q0 and a constant of integration.
Unlike the flows in Cody Problem 58966, the flows here can have a groundwater divide, or a point in the profile that separates flow to the left from flow to the right.
Unconfined aquifer with recharge
Solve

Solution Stats

11 Solutions

4 Solvers

Last Solution submitted on Feb 23, 2025

Last 200 Solutions

Problem Comments

Solution Comments

Show comments

Problem Recent Solvers4

William David Hill Christian Schröder Matthew Morton

Suggested Problems

More from this Author321

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!