Exact analytical expressions for the piezometric profile

and water exchange between stream and groundwater

during and after a uniform rise of the stream level
Michel C. Boufadel
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Vallorie Peridier
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Received 19 July 2001; revised 19 February 2002; accepted 28 February 2002; published 27 July 2002.
[1] We consider an archetypical problem relevant to a confined aquifer in contact with a
stream. The model problem consists of an idealized one-dimensional region 0 _ x _ L,
where the left boundary at x = 0 is held at a fixed piezometric head h
0
, and the right
boundarys piezometric head at x = L is increased from h
L
to h
0
at a constant rate. Exact
solutions for all times, all points in the aquifer, and for any possible constant rate of
change of the right boundary piezometric head are presented for the piezometric head and
the instantaneous flow rate. An exact expression for the exchange volume at the
groundwater/stream interface for an arbitrary time is also provided. This expression shows
that there is a specific critical rising rate of the stream level above which the net exchange
volume is into the aquifer and below which it is out of the aquifer. The solution shows that
regardless of the rise rate, a certain water volume, inversely proportional to the rise rate,
enters the aquifer. INDEX TERMS: 1829 Hydrology: Groundwater hydrology; 1836 Hydrology:
Hydrologic budget (1655); 1831 Hydrology: Groundwater quality; KEYWORDS: storage, diffusion, surface
water, groundwater, biochemical, exchange
1. Introduction
[2] Quantifying water exchange between the ground-
water and an open water body in transient regime is an
important task in many environmental and water resources
applications. Examples include solute transport in coastal
aquifers subjected to tide [see Venosa et al., 1996; Boufadel
et al., 1999a; Boufadel, 2000, and references therein] and
hyporheic exchange in groundwater/stream systems during
flood events [Mulholland, 1992; Lockaby and Conner,
1999].
[3] The quantification is a challenging task because of,
among other factors, unsaturated flow hydraulics [Boufadel
et al., 1998, 1999a, 1999b; Boufadel, 2000] and subsurface
heterogeneity [e.g., Molz et al., 1997; Boufadel et al., 2000].
[4] This work investigates a simplified situation (Figure 1)
where a homogeneous confined layer is in contact with an
open water body (henceforth referred to as stream) whose
level is rising at a constant speed. The system in Figure 1
represents a practical situation where a high permeability
layer is confined between two impermeable (or very low
permeability) layers. We develop closed-form exact analyt-
ical expressions for the piezometric profile and the water
flow in the confined layer. Such expressions could be used
as test cases for numerical models and guidelines for
experimental works.
[5] The initial piezometric profile in Figure 1 is linear,
and groundwater flows toward the stream. The water level
in the stream is then raised at a constant speed within a
time t
r
(the r is for rise) from h
L
to h
0
, where it is
kept there indefinitely (t ). We show in this work that
the speed of rise (i.e., the value of t
r
) greatly affects the
exchange volume between the stream and groundwater. In
particular, we show that a fast rising stream level results in
stream water entering the subsurface in spite of the fact
that the stream level is always _h
0
. This mechanism is
known as bank storage [Pinder and Sauer, 1971; Hunt,
1990].
2. Problem Statement
[6] The governing equation for one-dimensional water
flow in saturated homogeneous isotropic porous media is
@h
@t
= a
@
2
h
@x
2
; (1)
where h is the water head [L], a[L
2
T
1
] is the aquifer
diffusivity, a=S
0
/K, where S
0
[L
1
] is the specific storativity,
and K[LT
1
] is the (saturated) hydraulic conductivity [Bear,
1988]. The initial condition is (Figure 1)
h x; t = 0 ( ) = h
0
x=L ( ) h
L
h
0
( ): (2)
The boundary conditions are (Figure 1) as follows for left
side, x = 0,
h x = 0; t ( ) = h
0
(3a)
Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union.
0043-1397/02/2001WR000780$09.00
27 - 1
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, VOL. 38, NO. 7, 10.1029/2001WR000780, 2002
and for right side, x = L,
h(x = L; t) = h
L
t=t
r
( ) h
0
h
L
( ); t < t
r
(3b)
h x = L; t ( ) = h
0
; t _ t
r
; (3c)
where t
r
is time for h (L, t) to rise from h
L
to h
0
.
[7] Equations (3b) and (3c) state that the right-side
boundary (i.e., the stream level) starts to vary from h
L
at
time t = 0 and reaches its final state h
0
at time t = t
r
. It is
shown in this work that it would take longer than t
r
for the
piezometric profile within the domain to reach its final
steady state value h = h
0
. Existing analytical solutions are
either approximate or obtained in the limiting situations
where the rise period, t
r
, is very small (t
r
1, a sudden
increase) or very large (t
r
, an infinitely slow rise)
[Polubarinova-Kochina, 1962; Carslaw and Jaeger, 1954;
Bear, 1988; Barenblatt et al., 1990; Barlow and Moench,
2000]. A solution when the rise follows an asymmetric
cosine curve was presented by Cooper and Rorabaugh
[1963]. We present below an exact closed-form analytical
solution for the problem given by equations (1) (3).
[8] It is both convenient and theoretically valuable to
pose the problem in dimensionless variables, defined here as
x = x=L; (4a)
t =
at
L
2
; (4b)
q =
h h
0
h
L
h
0
: (4c)
Notice that q is of opposite sign to h because (h
L
h
0
) is
negative. The problem is restated in a dimensionless form as
@
2
q x; t ( )
@x
2
=
@q x; t ( )
@t
: (5)
Initial condition is
q x; t = 0 ( ) = x: (6)
Boundary conditions are
Left boundary q x; = 0; t ( ) = 0 (7a)
Right boundary q x = 1; t ( ) = 1 t=g; t < g (7b)
q x = 1; t ( ) = 0; t _ g; (7c)
where
g =
at
r
L
2
: (8)
The parameter g represents the period of rise normalized
by the characteristic time L
2
/a that depends on aquifer
properties and geometry. This parameter is the important
governing parameter in the problem under study. Note that
all terms in equations (5) (8) are dimensionless and that q
decreases with time at the right-side boundary.
3. Analytical Solution
[9] An exact solution for the problem stated in equations
(5) (8) may be obtained as follows. First, the entire problem
statement is transformed from a partial differential equation
(PDE) to an ordinary differential equation (ODE) using the
Laplace transform [Brown and Churchill, 1996; Kreyszig,
1999]. The Laplace transform of the function q (x, t) is
denoted by (x, s) and is given by
x; s ( ) = L q x; t ( ) ( ) =
Z

0
q x; t ( )e
st
dt (9)
Taking the Laplace transform of equation (8) yields
d
2
x; s ( )
dx
2
= s x; s ( ) q x; t = 0 ( ) = s s; x ( ) x: (10)
Figure 1. Specification of the problem analyzed in this work. The water level in the stream starts from
h
L
and is raised uniformly during a time t
r
until reaching h
0
. It is then left there for an infinite time.
27 - 2 BOUFADEL AND PERIDIER: TECHNICAL NOTE
Equation (10) is an ODE in as a function of x, where s is
merely a free parameter. It is subject to the following
boundary conditions:
x = 0; s ( ) = 0 (11a)
and
x = 1; s ( ) =
1
s

1
gs
2
1 e
sg
( ): (11b)
Equation (10) may be solved by elementary methods, and its
solution is
x; s ( ) =
x
s

1 e
gs
( )
gs
2
sin h x

s
_
( )
sin h

s
_ : (12)
It can be easily verified that equation (12) satisfies the
governing equation, equation (10), and the boundary
conditions, equations (11a) and (11b). To obtain the solution
of the stated problem, one takes the inverse Laplace transform
defined by
q x; t ( ) = L
1
x; s ( ) ( ) =
1
2pi
Z
i
i
x; s ( )e
st
ds; (13)
where is an arbitrary positive real number. To calculate this
integral, the path of the line integral is closed at |s| , and
the closed contour is evaluated using calculus-of-residues
techniques [Brown and Churchill, 1996]. The exact solution
of equation (5) subject to equations (6) (8) is
q x; t ( ) =x 1
t
g

x 1 x
2

6g

2
g
X

m=1
sin mpx ( ) 1 ( )
m
e
mp ( )
2
t
mp ( )
3
;
0 _ t _ g (14)
q x; t ( ) =
2
g
X

m=1
sin mpx ( ) 1 ( )
m
e
mp ( )
2
t
e
mp ( )
2
tg ( )

mp ( )
3
;
t _ g _ 0: (15)
[10] It is important to verify that equations (14) and (15)
provide the same value of q at t = g. By setting t = g in
equation (15), one obtains
q x; g ( ) =
2
g
X

m=1
sin mpx ( ) 1 ( )
m
e
mp ( )
2
g
1

mp ( )
3
=
2
g
X

m=1
sin mpx ( ) 1 ( )
m
mp ( )
3

2
g
X

m=1
sin mpx ( ) 1 ( )
m
e
mp ( )
2
g
mp ( )
3
: (16)
The first term of equation (14) is identically zero at t = g,
and it may be shown that the first term in equation (16) is the
Fourier series expansion of x(1 x
2
)/6g. Hence equations
(14) and (15) are identical for t = g.
4. Water Flow
[11] The dimensional flow rate (assuming a unit cross-
sectional area) in the subsurface is given by
q* = K
dh
dx
: (17)
Using the dimensionless formulation (equations (4a) (4c)),
one obtains
q* = K
h
L
h
0
( )
L
@q
@x
: (18)
A dimensionless flow, q, may be defined as
q =
q*
K
hLh0 ( )
L
=
@q
@x
: (19)
The denominator of the second term in equation (19) is the
initial flow rate. From equations (14) and (15), one obtains
the dimensionless flow q at a selected time t and a selected
location x:
For t _ g,
q x; t ( ) = 1
t
g

1 3x
2

6g

2
g
X

m=1
1 ( )
m
cos mpx ( )e
mp ( )
2
t
mp ( )
2
;
(20)
and for t _ g,
q x; t ( ) =
2
g
X

m=1
1 ( )
m
cos mpx ( ) e
mp ( )
2
t
e
mp ( )
2
tg ( )

mp ( )
2
: (21)
Note that q (or q*) is positive in the positive x direction. The
flow rate at the groundwater/stream interface is obtained by
setting x = 1 in equations (20) and (21), resulting in
q x = 1; t ( ) = 1
t
g

1
3g

2
g
X

m=1
e
mp ( )
2
t
mp ( )
2
; t _ g: (22)
q x = 1; t ( ) =
2
g
X

m=1
e
mp ( )
2
t
e
mp ( )
2
tg ( )
(mp)
2
; t _ g: (23)
The (dimensionless) net outflow volume at the ground-
water/stream interface is obtained by integrating the flow q
over time, namely,
V(t) =
Z
t
0
q x = 1; t
/
( )dt
/
; (24)
where t is an integration variable. In other words, V is the
algebraic sum of the water volume that left the aquifer and
the water volume that entered the aquifer up to time t.
Inserting equations (22) and (23) in equation (24) results in
V(t < g) = t 1
t
2g

t
3g

2
g
X

m=1
1 e
mp ( )
2
t
mp ( )
4
; 0 _ t < g;
(25)
BOUFADEL AND PERIDIER: TECHNICAL NOTE 27 - 3
V
r
= V(t = g) =
g
2

1
3

2
g
X

m=1
1 e
mp ( )
2
g
mp ( )
4
; t = g; (26)
V t > g ( ) = V
r

2
g
X

m=1
1 e
mp ( )
2
g

1 e
mp ( )
2
tg ( )

mp ( )
4
;
t > g; (27)
where V
r
is the net exchange volume at the end of the rise
period.
[12] The final net exchange volume (i.e., for t ) is
obtained from equation (27) (after substituting for V
r
from
equation (26)) as V

= g/2 1/3. Thus the critical results are

g > 2=3 =V

> 0; (28a)
where more water leaves the aquifer than enters it;
g < 2=3 =V

< 0; (28b)
where less water leaves the aquifer than enters it;
g = 2=3 =V

= 0; (28c)
where the volume that leaves the aquifer is equal to the
volume that enters it. Noting that g represents the rise period,
one may use the relations above to classify the rise as slow
rise (g > 2/3), fast rise (g < 2/3), and neutral rise (g = 2/3).
5. Discussion
[13] Figure 2 shows plots of the dimensionless piezomet-
ric profile, (1 q), as function of space and time for g = 2/3.
Figure 3 shows plots of the volume V (equations (26) (27))
as a function of time for various g values. At earlier times,
groundwater leaves the subsurface (V positive and increas-
ing) until a critical time, t
max
, when V reaches its maximum
value, V
max
, and starts decreasing, which indicates that the
outward flow has stopped and stream water is entering the
subsurface. The time t
max
is obtained by setting the time
derivative of V, Q (x = 1, t), equation (20), to zero. The
resulting solution contains the sum over m in the general
case. However, because V
max
always occurs for t
max
< g,
one may neglect the sum over m for g _ 1. This results in
t
max
~ g 1=3: (29)
The error in estimating t
max
by equation (29) is less than
2% for g _ 1.
[14] V
max
is obtained by setting t = t
max
in equation (25).
Using the approximation given by equation (29), one obtains
V
max
~ Y=2 1=3 1= 9g ( ): (30)
In such a case the amount of water that enters the subsurface
when t is obtained as
V
in
= V

V
max
~ 1= 9g ( ): (31)
V
in
is negative indicating that even at large g values, a
certain volume of stream water will enter the subsurface.
Although this volume is small at large g values (~ 0.05 at
g = 2), the chemicals that it typically carries (e.g., dissolved
oxygen, nutrients) might be essential for biochemical
reactions around the groundwater/stream interface [Lendvay
et al., 1998; Genereux and Slater, 1999; Boufadel et al.,
1999b]. Equation (31) shows that this volume is inversely
proportional to g. The volume that enters the aquifer after
the rise period is given by
V
r
= V

V
r
=
2
g
X

m=1
1 e
mp ( )
2
g
mp ( )
4
: (32)
[15] Figure 4 shows that the magnitude of V
r
decreases
as g increases. The maximum value occurs at the intercept
(i.e., for g = 0) and is obtained by applying lHospital rule
on equation (32):
V
r
[ [
g=0
=
2
p
2
X

m=1
1
m
2
~ 0:3323 ~
1
3
: (33)
6. Notation
K hydraulic conductivity.
h piezometric head.
Figure 2. Variation of the surrogate piezometric profile, 1 q, as a function of the dimensionless space
and time (equations (14) and (15)).
27 - 4 BOUFADEL AND PERIDIER: TECHNICAL NOTE
h
L
Minitial piezometric head at right boundary
(Figure 1).
h
0
piezometric head at left boundary (Figure 1).
L domain length.
q dimensionless flow rate.
q* dimensional flow rate.
S
0
specific storativity.
t time.
t
r
rise period, time taken by h (L, t) to reach the value
h
0
starting from h
L
(Figure 1).
V dimensionless net exchange volume at the ground-
water/stream interface.
V
max
maximum outflow volume.
V
r
dimensionless net exchange volume at the ground-
water/stream interface at time t
r
.
V
r
dimensionless volume that enters the subsurface after
the time t
r
.
V

dimensionless net exchange volume at the ground-

Figure 3. Variation of the net exchange volume at the groundwater/stream interface as a function of t
for various g values (equations (25) (27)).
Figure 4. Magnitude of the total volume that enters the aquifer after the rise period as a function of g
(equation (32)).
BOUFADEL AND PERIDIER: TECHNICAL NOTE 27 - 5
water/stream interface at an infinite time.
x spatial location.
Greek
a aquifer diffusivity equal to K/S
0
.
g dimensionless rise period equal to t
r
a/L
2
.
q (h h
0
)/(h
L
h
0
).
t dimensionless time equal to t a/L
2
.
t
max
dimensionless time at which V = V
max
.
x dimensionless spatial location equal to x/L.
References
Barenblatt, G. I., V. M. Entov, and V. M. Ryzhik, Theory of Fluid Flows
Through Natural Rocks, 395 pp., Kluwer Acad., Norwell, Mass, 1990.
Barlow, P., and A. F. Moench, Aquifer response to stream-stage and re-
charge variations, 1, Analytical step-response functions, J. Hydrol., 230,
192210, 2000.
Bear, J., Dynamics of Fluids in Porous Media, 764 pp., Dover, Mineola, N.
Y., 1988.
Boufadel, M. C., A mechanistic study of nonlinear solute transport in a
groundwater-surface water system under steady state and transient hy-
draulic conditions, Water Resour. Res., 36, 25492565, 2000.
Boufadel, M. C., M. T. Suidan, A. D. Venosa, C. H. Rauch, and P. Biswas,
2-D variably-saturated flows: Physical scaling and Bayesian estimation,
J. Hydraul. Eng., 3, 223231, 1998.
Boufadel, M. C., M. T. Suidan, C. H. Rauch, C.-H. Ahn, and A. D. Venosa,
Nutrient transport in beaches subjected to freshwater input and tides, in
Proceedings of the 1999 Oil Spill Conference, Article 170, Am. Pet. Inst.,
Washington, D.C., 1999a.
Boufadel, M. C., P. Reeser, M. T. Suidan, B. A. Wrenn, J. Cheng, X. Du,
and A. D. Venosa, Optimal nitrate concentration for the biodegradation
of n-heptadecane in a variably-saturated sand column, Environ. Technol.,
20, 191199, 1999b.
Boufadel, M. C., S. Lu, F. J. Molz, and D. Lavallee, Multifractal scaling of
the intrinsic permeability, Water Resour. Res., 36, 32113222, 2000.
Brown, J. W., and R. V. Churchill, Complex Variables and Applications, 6th
ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1996.
Carslaw, H. S., and J. C. Jaeger, Conduction of Heat in Solids, 510 pp.,
Oxford at the Clarendon Press, London, 1954.
Cooper, H. H., and M. I. Rorabaugh, Ground-water movement and bank
storage due to flood stages in surface streams, Water Supply Pap. 1536j,
P343-366, U.S. Geol. Surv., Reston, Va., 1963.
Genereux, D., and E. Slater, Water exchange between canals and surround-
ing aquifers and wetlands in the southern everglades, USA, J. Hydrol.,
219, 153168, 1999.
Hunt, B., An approximation for the bank storage effects, Water Resour.
Res., 26, 27692775, 1990.
Kreyszig, E., Advanced Engineering Mathematics, 1156 pp., John Wiley,
New York, 1999.
Lendvay, J. M., S. M. Dean, and P. Adriaens, Temporal and spatial trends in
biogeochemical conditions at a groundwater-surface water interface: Im-
plications for natural bioattenuation, Environ. Sci. Technol., 32, 3472
3478, 1998.
Lockaby, B. G., and W. H. Conner, N:P balance in wetland forests: Pro-
ductivity across a biogeochemical continuum, Botanical Rev., 65, 171
185, 1999.
Molz, F. J., H. H. Liu, and J. Szulga, Fractional Brownian motion and
fractional Gaussian noise in subsurface hydrology: A review, presenta-
tion of fundamental properties, and extensions, Water Resour. Res., 33,
22732286, 1997.
Mulholland, P. J., Regulation of nutrient concentrations in a temperate
forest stream: Roles of upland, riparian, and instream processes, Limnol.
Oceanogr., 37, 15121526, 1992.
Pinder, G. F., and S. P. Sauer, Numerical simulation of flood wave mod-
ifications due to bank storage effects, Water Resour. Res., 7, 6370,
1971.
Polubarinova-Kochina, P. Y., Theory of Groundwater Movement, 809 pp.,
Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, N. J., 1962.
Venosa, A. D., M. T. Suidan, B. A. Wrenn, K. L. Strohmeir, J. R. Haines,
B. L. Eberhart, D. King, and E. Holder, Bioremediation of an experi-
mental oil spill on the shoreline of Delaware Bay, Environ. Sci. Tech-
nol., 30, 17641775, 1996.

M. C. Boufadel, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

Temple University, 1947 N. 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
(boufadel@temple.edu)
V. Peridier, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Temple University,
1947 N. 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. (val@vjp.eng.temple.
edu)
27 - 6 BOUFADEL AND PERIDIER: TECHNICAL NOTE