Published online 21 June 2006
Published in Vadose Zone J 5:850-855 (2006)
DOI: 10.2136/vzj2005.0109
© 2006 Soil Science Society of America
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Can Basin-Scale Recharge Be Estimated Reasonably with Water-Balance Models?
Abigail E. Fausta,b,
Ty P. A. Ferréb,*,
Marcel G. Schaapc and
Andrew C. Hinnellb
a USGS, 520 N. Park Ave., Suite 221, Tucson, AZ 85719
b Dep. of Hydrology and Water Resources, Univ. of Arizona, P.O. Box 210011, Tucson, AZ 85721
c George E. Brown, Jr., Salinity Lab., 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507

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Fig. 1. Location of study area, Rillito hydrologic unit 15050302 (Seaber et al., 1987), and physiographic features.
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Fig. 2. Annual potential recharge estimates for (A) Pedotransfer function PTF12 and (B) PTF 8. PTF 12 results in the least amount of basin total recharge of all the PTFs used in the study, and PTF 8 results in the greatest amount of basin total recharge.
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Fig. 3. Distribution of (A) soil depth (B) average annual precipitation, and (C) average annual precipitation less potential evaporation in the Rillito Creek study area from the Basin Characterization Model. Part C is the sum of monthly values, after adjusting for negative values.
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Fig. 4. Basin total recharge estimates and the percentage of the precipitation less potential evapotranspiration (P-PET) that becomes potential recharge in the Rillito Creek study area for each pedotransfer function.
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Fig. 5. Positive linear relation between the normalized recharge summed for a map unit and the difference of porosity and field capacity of the same map unit.
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Copyright © 2006 by the Soil Science Society of America.