Unsaturated zone functioning in a semi-arid flash flood driven climate

地下水是干旱和半干旱地区唯一的常年水源，覆盖了全球陆地的三分之一和澳大利亚的70%。我们仍然不完全了解非饱和带对半干旱地区洪泛区地下水补给的贡献。我们将研究土壤水分的动态，及其对地下水补给的贡献，分别与水文状况和天气模式。我们将使用记录仪测量洪水事件的直接响应，并将其与水化学和同位素示踪模型推断的间接测量进行比较，以更好地了解补给模式、蒸发损失以及不同位置的地表径流、洪泛平原和含水层之间的相互作用。

Groundwater is the only perennial water source in arid and semiarid zones, which encompass 1/3 of the global landmass and 70 % of Australia. We still do not fully understand how the unsaturated zone contributes to groundwater recharge in semi-arid zone floodplains. We will study the dynamics of soil moisture, and its contribution to groundwater recharge respective to hydrological regimes and weather patterns. We will measure direct responses to flood events using loggers and compare them to indirect measurements inferred from hydrochemical and isotope tracer models to better understand recharge patterns, evaporative losses, and interactions between surface runoff, floodplains, and aquifers at different positions in the landscape.