Author(s): Seong Jang; Se-Yeong Hamm; Jae-Yeol Cheong; Gyoo-Bum Kim; Seong-Ho Song
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Keywords: Climate change; Precipitation; Groundwater level; Temperature
Abstract: Climate change shows a gradual increase in surface temperature and great variability in precipitation in different regions of the world. Linear regression of the groundwater levels in Korea between 2000 and 2010 showed a decreasing trend with a slope of-29.2 mm/yr; -29.6 mm/yr in the wet season and-32.0 mm/yr in the dry seasons. Trend analysis of the groundwater levels and groundwater temperatures at 78 locations in South Korea between 2000 and 2010 was carried out using Mann-Kendall and Sen’s tests. From the trend tests, ~50%of the 78 groundwater level data exhibited some trend with~70%of them showing a decreasing trend at the 95%confidence level. This decreasing trend in the groundwater levels might be related to a change in the precipitation and surface temperature patterns in South Korea because more abundant rainfall in the wet season does not contribute much to groundwater recharge, whereas less rainfall occurs in the dry season. Linear regression of the groundwater temperatures showed a slope of 0.1006°C/yr between 2000–2010 and a gentler slope (0.08°C/yr) in summer (June–September), reflecting the influence of an increasing surface temperature on the groundwater temperature. Overall, the paradigm of groundwater management strategy should be altered to confront climate change.
Year: 2012