Framework for incorporating spectral observations into steady state analysis of groundwater discharge around the margins of the Great Artesian Basin

Abstract

Diffuse groundwater discharge (also known as vertical leakage) forms an important and poorly constrained component of the water balance of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB), Australia's largest groundwater resource. Around the south-western margin of the GAB, the diffuse leakage from the artesian aquifer discharges into the unconfined water table and subsequently into the atmosphere via evapotranspiration (ET). Under steady state conditions (i.e. prior to the development of the GAB), the evaporative flux, in addition to natural artesian discharge from springs, are considered to equal the potentiometric head driven flow to the Basin margin. Since 2007, a project has been collecting field data on..