Local Water Balance

The following figure shows the water balance at the monitoring sites for the current year. The balance is calculated using the soil water balance model SWAP. Displayed are the soil water storage down to one meter depth as well as the cumulative balance components precipitation, evapotranspiration, and percolation flux across two meters depth. The latter can be considered as a proxy for groundwater recharge. The cumulative flows are shown from the beginning to the end of a calendar year.
Negative values of percolation flow indicate a net flux towards the groundwater. At sites with rather shallow groundwater, the cumulative percolation flow can become positive (groundwater depletion).

Evapotranspiration consists of soil evaporation, transpiration, and interception loss. It is the result of a complex interaction between meteorological factors, vegetation properties (such as leaf area index, height, and root depth), and the groundwater table depth, which at groundwater-near sites significantly influences water availability for transpiration.

Disclaimer: The values shown are preliminary. Both the CRNS-based soil moisture estimates and the SWAP modeling are still performed with default parameters. This page currently serves only for plausibility checking and validation of data processing.

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