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| Titel |
Transferring the concept of minimum energy dissipation from river networks to subsurface flow patterns |
| VerfasserIn |
S. Hergarten, G. Winkler, S. Birk |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1027-5606
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ; 18, no. 10 ; Nr. 18, no. 10 (2014-10-31), S.4277-4288 |
| Datensatznummer |
250120509
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/hess-18-4277-2014.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Principles of optimality provide an interesting alternative to modeling
hydrological processes in detail on small scales and have received growing
interest in the last years. Inspired by the more than 20 years old concept of
minimum energy dissipation in river networks, we present a corresponding
theory for subsurface flow in order to obtain a better understanding of
preferential flow patterns in the subsurface. The concept describes flow
patterns which are optimal in the sense of minimizing the total energy
dissipation at a given recharge under the constraint of a given total porosity.
Results are illustrated using two examples: two-dimensional flow towards a
spring with a radial symmetric distribution of the porosity and dendritic
flow patterns. The latter are found to be similar to river networks in their
structure and, as a main result, the model predicts a power-law distribution
of the spring discharges. In combination with two data sets from the Austrian
Alps, this result is used for validating the model. Both data sets reveal
power-law-distributed spring discharges with similar scaling exponents. These
are, however, slightly larger than the exponent predicted by the model. As a
further result, the distributions of the residence times strongly differ
between homogeneous porous media and optimized flow patterns, while the mean
residence times are similar in both cases. |
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