A hydrographic method to identify the groundwater net recharge, barometric effect and evapotranspiration from a complicated semidiurnal water table fluctuation

A hydrographic method was proposed to separate out the hourly scaled groundwater level changes caused by net recharge, barometric effects and evapotranspiration from a semidiurnal water table fluctuation. A characteristic midnight time, with a turning point of the barometric pressure change and high relative air humidity, which meant that neither the barometric effect nor groundwater evapotranspiration occurred, was proposed for determining the net recharge rate rnet. Then, the barometric efficiency fbar was estimated using the other time period without evapotranspiration, and the evapotranspiration rate rETG was finally obtained using the remainder of the water level changes. A case example illustrated that estimation of fbar using the proposed method was more accurate than that using the traditional error analysis method, which may result in a significant underestimation under the condition of the present water level changes. Additionally, the abnormal semidiurnal fluctuations, more specifically, two step‐down fluctuations, which may be a common pattern when the groundwater level is controlled by net recharge, barometric effects and evapotranspiration, can be well understood using the three components separated out. The results also showed that nighttime groundwater evapotranspiration, accounting for an average of 23% of that during the daytime, cannot be ignored. A hydrographic method to estimate the groundwater net recharge rate, barometric efficiency and hourly groundwater evapotranspiration rate. Midnight, with high air humidity and turning point of barometric pressure change was a characteristic time to estimate the net recharge rate. An abnormal two step‐down daily water table fluctuation was identified and well understood following the proposed method.