Spectral responses of water level in tidal river and groundwater     

David Ching‐Fang Shih  Kin‐Forie Chiou  Chin‐Dee Lee  I‐Sen Wang 《水文研究》1999,13(6):889-911

The water level of five river stages and seven groundwater wells in the Taipei Basin were analysed by spectral analysis in the frequency domain. The diurnal, semi‐diurnal and quarter‐diurnal tidal components of the Tanshui River appear to relate closely to astronomical tides as K₁, M₂ and M₄, respectively. It is also found that the diurnal component reveals a reversed phase angle in the middle section of the Tanshui River; the phase of the quarter‐diurnal component is also found to be reversed at stations upstream in the Tanshui River and Hsintien Stream. It is believed that these phenomena could be caused by local variation in the river channel topography. The autospectrum and cross‐spectrum between groundwater elevation and nearby river stage were observed to correlate highly with the frequency of the astronomical tides K₁, M₂ and M₄. From the study of the phase shift and time lag of water level fluctuations at river stages and groundwater wells, it was found that the tidal effects of diurnal, semi‐diurnal, and quarter‐diurnal components were significantly different. The relationships between phase and the fluctuated range of atmospheric pressure and water level imply that change in atmospheric pressure does not affect water level fluctuation in the river stage and groundwater well. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Scaling properties of the runoff variations in the arid and semi-arid regions of China: a case study of the Yellow River basin   总被引：2，自引：2，他引：0  

Qiang Zhang  Chong-Yu Xu  Tao Yang 《Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (SERRA)》2009,23(8):1103-1111

We analyzed long daily runoff series at six hydrological stations located along the mainstem Yellow River basin by using power spectra analysis and multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) technique with aim to deeply understand the scaling properties of the hydrological series in the Yellow River basin. Research results indicate that: (1) the runoff fluctuations of the Yellow River basin exhibit self-affine fractal behavior and different memory properties at different time scales. Different crossover frequency (1/f) indicates that lower crossover frequency usually corresponds to larger basin area, and vice versa, showing the influences of river size on higher frequency of runoff variations. This may be due to considerable regulations of river channel on the runoff variations in river basin of larger basin size; (2) the runoff fluctuations in the Yellow River basin exhibit short-term memory properties at smaller time scales. Crossover analysis by MF-DFA indicates unchanged annual cycle within the runoff variations, implying dominant influences of climatic changes on changes of runoff amount at longer time scales, e.g. 1 year. Human activities, such as human withdrawal of freshwater and construction of water reservoirs, in different reaches of the Yellow River basin may be responsible for different scaling properties of runoff variations in the Yellow River basin. The results of this study will be helpful for hydrological modeling in different time scales and also for water resource management in the arid and semi-arid regions of China.  相似文献   

Multiple Wavelet Coherence to Evaluate Local Multivariate Relationships in a Groundwater System     

Xiufen Gu  HongGuang Sun  Yong Zhang  Zhongbo Yu  Jianting Zhu 《Ground water》2021,59(3):443-452

Groundwater level fluctuations are affected by surface properties due to complex correlations of groundwater-surface water interaction and/or other surface processes, which are usually hard to be accurately quantified. Previous studies have assessed the relationship between groundwater level fluctuations and specific controlling factors. However, few studies have been conducted to explore the impact of the combination of multiple factors on the groundwater system. Hence, this paper tries to explore the localized and scale-specific multivariate relationships between the groundwater level and controlling factors (such as hydrologic and meteorological factors) using bivariate wavelet coherence and multiple wavelet coherence. The groundwater level fluctuations of two wells in areas covered by different plant densities (i.e., the riparian zone of the Colorado River, USA) are analyzed. Main findings include three parts. First, barometric pressure and river stage are the best factors to interpret the groundwater level fluctuations at small scales (<1 day) and large scales (>1 day) at the well of low-density plants stand, respectively. Second, at the well of high-density plants stand, the best predictors to control the groundwater level fluctuations include barometric pressure (<1 day), the combination of barometric pressure and temperature (1-7 days), temperature (7-30 days), and the combination of barometric pressure, temperature, and river stage (>30 days). The best predictor of groundwater head fluctuations depends on the variance of the vegetation coverage and hydrological processes. Third, these results provide a suite of factors to explain the groundwater level variations, which is an important topic in water-resource prediction and management.  相似文献   

Effects of variations of river stage and hydraulic conductivity on temporal scaling of groundwater levels: numerical simulations     

You-Kuan Zhang  Xiaoying Yang 《Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (SERRA)》2010,24(7):1043-1052

It was found in previous studies that groundwater levels may fluctuate as a temporal fractal. In this study numerical simulations of groundwater level fluctuations in an unconfined aquifer near a river were conducted to investigate the effects of aquifer heterogeneity and river stage variations on the fractal behavior of the water levels, h(t). Groundwater recharge was taken to be a white-noise process. The aquifer heterogeneity was simulated with a second-order stationary field of hydraulic conductivity (K) with an exponential variogram model. The results showed that groundwater levels fluctuate as a temporal fractal in both homogeneous and heterogeneous aquifers as long as K is less than 10 m/d. Most aquifers may indeed act as a fractal filter which takes a random non-fractal recharge inputs and produces a fractal responses of groundwater level fluctuations. A crossover in temporal scaling of h(t) may appear in more permeable aquifers. Fluctuations of the groundwater level in a homogeneous aquifer are dominated by the recharge process when the river stage is constant or by the river stage variations when the river stage varies in highly permeable aquifers. Heterogeneity plays an important role in the temporal scaling of h(t) in more permeable aquifers: the stronger the heterogeneity, the stronger the temporal scaling of h(t).  相似文献   

Hydrogeochemistry and its relation to groundwater level fluctuation in the Palar and Cheyyar river basins,southern India   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

N. Rajmohan  L. Elango 《水文研究》2006,20(11):2415-2427

An investigation was carried out to understand the role of water level fluctuation on major‐ion chemistry of groundwater in the Palar and Cheyyar river basins, southern India. As groundwater is the only major source of water for agricultural and drinking purposes in this area, it is important to know the effect of geological formations and agricultural activities on groundwater chemistry. Groundwater samples were collected once a month from 43 wells (641 samples in total), from January 1998 to June 1999, and analysed for major ions. The results indicate that the major‐ion chemistry of the groundwater varies with respect to space. Groundwater occurring near the River Palar has a high concentration of major ions except calcium, due to the absence of any recharge from the river, whereas lower concentrations of major ions were observed in the central part of the study area due to the recharge of fresh water from a number of surface reservoirs. The major‐ion chemistry of the study region is controlled by both mineral dissolution and anthropogenic activities. The relative contributions of mineral dissolution and anthropogenic contamination are estimated by a stoichiometric approach, which suggests that mineral dissolution is the dominant process in both the formations. The relation between water level fluctuations and major‐ion chemistry indicates that major‐ion chemistry is also greatly influenced by the water level fluctuations in different geological formations. Thus, the major‐ion chemistry of groundwater in this region is greatly influenced by mineral dissolution, anthropogenic activities and water level fluctuations in different geological formations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Shallow groundwater dynamics and its driving forces in extremely arid areas: a case study of the lower Heihe River in northwestern China          下载免费PDF全文

Ping Wang  Jingjie Yu  Sergey P. Pozdniakov  Sergey O. Grinevsky  Changming Liu 《水文研究》2014,28(3):1539-1553

Shallow groundwater is an important source of water for the maintenance and restoration of ecosystems in arid environments, which necessitates a deeper understanding of its complex spatial and temporal dynamics driven by hydrological processes. This study explores the dominant hydrological processes that control the shallow groundwater dynamics in the Gobi Desert‐riparian‐oasis system of the lower Heihe River, a typical arid inland river basin located in northwestern China. The groundwater level and temperature were monitored in 14 shallow wells at 30‐min intervals during the 2010–2012 period. After combining this information with meteorological and hydrological data, a comprehensive analysis was conducted to understand the dynamic behaviour of the shallow groundwater system and to determine the dominant factors that control the groundwater flow processes. The results of the study indicate notably large temporal and spatial variations in both the groundwater level and temperature. Noticeable fluctuations in the groundwater level (0.5–1 m) and temperature (4–8 °C) were observed in the riparian zone, evidencing a clear river influence. In comparison, the groundwater fluctuations in the Gobi Desert were more stable (the annual variations of the water table were less than 0.5 m, and the water temperature varied by no more than 2 °C). Strong variations in the groundwater table (1.5–5.0 m/year) and temperature (1.5–6.5 °C), mainly caused by surface flood irrigation and groundwater pumping, were observed in the oasis area. The investigated sites were categorized into three types that reflect the dominant hydrological processes: (1) the riparian zone, dominated by riverbank filtration and groundwater evapotranspiration; (2) the Gobi Desert area, controlled by groundwater evaporation and lateral recharge; and (3) the oasis area, dominated by groundwater evapotranspiration as well as surface–groundwater interactions caused by human activities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Melt water driven stream and groundwater stage fluctuations on a glacier forefield (Dammagletscher,Switzerland)          下载免费PDF全文

Jan Magnusson  Florian Kobierska  Stephan Huxol  Masaki Hayashi  Tobias Jonas  James W. Kirchner 《水文研究》2014,28(3):823-836

In many mountain regions, large land areas with heterogeneous soils have become ice‐free with the ongoing glacier retreat. On these recently formed proglacial fields, the melt of the remaining glaciers typically drives pronounced diurnal stream level fluctuations that propagate into the riparian zone. This behaviour was measured on the Damma glacier forefield in central Switzerland with stage recorders in the stream and groundwater monitoring wells along four transects. In spite of the large groundwater stage variations, radon measurements in the near‐stream riparian zone indicate that there is little mixing between stream water and groundwater on daily time scales. At all four transects, including both losing and gaining reaches, the groundwater level fluctuations lagged the stream stage variations and were often damped with distance from the stream. Similar behaviours have been modelled using the diffusion equation in coastal regions influenced by tidal sea level variations. We thus tested the ability of such a model to predict groundwater level fluctuations in proglacial fields. The model reproduced several key features of the observed fluctuations at three of four locations, although discrepancies also arise due to non representative input data and model simplifications. Nevertheless, calibration of the model for the individual transects yielded realistic estimates of hydraulic diffusivities between the stream and groundwater monitoring wells. We conclude that studying diurnal groundwater fluctuations can provide important information about the subsurface hydrology of alpine watersheds dominated by glacier melt. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

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

Donghui Cheng  Jing Yuan  Lijun Qi 《水文研究》2021,35(10):e14383

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 r_net. Then, the barometric efficiency f_bar was estimated using the other time period without evapotranspiration, and the evapotranspiration rate r_ETG was finally obtained using the remainder of the water level changes. A case example illustrated that estimation of f_bar 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.  相似文献   

Evaluation of long-term groundwater level data in regular monitoring wells,Barka, Sultanate of Oman     

Natarajan Rajmohan  Ahmed Al-Futaisi  Ahmad Jamrah 《水文研究》2007,21(24):3367-3379

A detailed investigation was carried out to evaluate long-term groundwater level fluctuation in regular monitoring wells constructed by the Ministry of Water Resources in Barka, Sultanate of Oman. For this study, groundwater level data for 71 wells and rainfall data from six stations were collected from 1984 to 2003 and analysed. Based on long-term water level fluctuation, groundwater wells are classified into three groups. In group 1, water level shows a long-term cyclic trend without yearly fluctuation whereas in group 2 the water level declined continuously until 1995 followed by a constant water level. In group 3, water level decreases continuously throughout the study periods with rapid annual cyclic variation. Group 1 wells show high water-level fluctuations (5 to 10 m) and seem to be regulated by discharge (lateral flow) from this aquifer and recharge from the adjacent Jabal Akhdar mountainous region. Constant trend in water level after 1995 in group 2 wells illustrates the advancement of saline–fresh water interface to the inland due to heavy pumping which is justified by higher electrical conductivity and Cl/HCO₃ ratio. In group 3 wells, the water level dropped continuously due to overabstraction by agricultural farms and human settlements. In addition, wells existing near the recharge dams express the influences of recharge dams and rainfall, and exhibit high water-level fluctuations during heavy rainfall periods. The long-term regional variation indicates that water level drops continuously in the coastal and central parts of the study region. Linear regression analysis revealed that the decline in water level is 0·3–0·4 m year⁻¹ near the coastal and central parts of the study area and is almost constant in the remaining area. We conclude that the contribution of man-made activities on groundwater level is well compared with natural factors. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Linear and non‐linear scaling of the Yangtze River flow     

Guojie Wang  Buda Su  Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz  Tong Jiang 《水文研究》2008,22(10):1532-1536

Power law correlation properties of sign and magnitude series have been studied based on the series of observation records of flow of the River Yangtze. The results obtained give improved insight into and understanding of the linear and non‐linear processes of the water cycle. With the newly developed Delayed Vector Variance method and the surrogate test, the documented linkage between the sign series and the linear process, and that between the magnitude series and non‐linear process can be verified. The spectra estimated by detrended fluctuation analysis method show different properties of intra‐annual and inter‐annual correlations in both sign and magnitude series. The linear process behaves as an 1/f noise at a time scale less than about 60 days, but shows features of anti‐persistence in terms of long‐term fluctuation. The magnitudes are clustered in three ways mainly caused by non‐linear processes, i.e. periodic clustering, strong short‐term clustering of 1/f noise at time scales less than 20 days, and long‐term clustering with weak persistence. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Temporal Scaling Analytical Method to Identify Multi-Fractionality in Groundwater Head Fluctuations     

Lin Yuan  HongGuang Sun  Yong Zhang  YouKuan Zhang  Xiufen Gu  Shawn Dawley 《Ground water》2019,57(3):485-491

Natural dynamics such as groundwater head fluctuations may exhibit multi-fractionality, likely caused by multi-scale aquifer heterogeneity and other controlling factors, whose statistics requires efficient quantification methods. As a scaling exponent, the Hurst exponent can describe the temporal correlation or multifractal behavior in groundwater level fluctuation processes. However, the scaling behavior may change with time under natural conditions, likely due to the non-stationary evolution of internal and external conditions, which cannot be characterized by traditional methods using a single or several scaling exponents for the complex features of the overall process. This methods note quantifies the multi-fractionality using the timescale local Hurst exponent (TS-LHE) and then proposes a systematic statistical method to analyze groundwater head fluctuations. Time series of daily groundwater level fluctuations from three wells located in the lower Mississippi valley are analyzed, after removing the seasonal cycle, which leads to transient TS-LHE, implying multi-fractionality and multifractal-scaling behavior that changes with time and location. Therefore, the temporal scaling analysis proposed here may provide useful and quantitative information to understand the nature of dynamic hydrologic systems.  相似文献   

A Mathematical View of Water Table Fluctuations in a Shallow Aquifer in Brazil          下载免费PDF全文

Dagmar C. Neto  Hung K. Chang  Martinus Th. van Genuchten 《Ground water》2016,54(1):82-91

Detailed monitoring of the groundwater table can provide important data about both short‐ and long‐term aquifer processes, including information useful for estimating recharge and facilitating groundwater modeling and remediation efforts. In this paper, we presents results of 4 years (2002 to 2005) of monitoring groundwater water levels in the Rio Claro Aquifer using observation wells drilled at the Rio Claro campus of São Paulo State University in Brazil. The data were used to follow natural periodic fluctuations in the water table, specifically those resulting from earth tides and seasonal recharge cycles. Statistical analyses included methods of time‐series analysis using Fourier analysis, cross‐correlation, and R/S analysis. Relationships could be established between rainfall and well recovery, as well as the persistence and degree of autocorrelation of the water table variations. We further used numerical solutions of the Richards equation to obtain estimates of the recharge rate and seasonable groundwater fluctuations. Seasonable soil moisture transit times through the vadose zone obtained with the numerical solution were very close to those obtained with the cross‐correlation analysis. We also employed a little‐used deep drainage boundary condition to obtain estimates of seasonable water table fluctuations, which were found to be consistent with observed transient groundwater levels during the period of study.  相似文献   

Water uptake by saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima) in a desert riparian forest: responses to intra‐annual water table fluctuation          下载免费PDF全文

Ziyong Sun  Xiang Long  Rui Ma 《水文研究》2016,30(9):1388-1402

There is considerable interest in naturalizing flow regime on managed rivers to slow the spread of saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima) invasion in southwestern USA or to preserve riparian forests dominated by saltcedar and other species in northwestern China. However, little is known about the responses of established saltcedar in water sources to frequent intra‐annual fluctuation of water table resulting from this new, more dynamic flow regime. This study investigates how saltcedar at a riparian site in the middle reaches of the Heihe River, northwest China, responds in water sources use to intra‐annual water table fluctuations. Stable oxygen isotope was employed to determine accurate depth at which saltcedar obtains its water supply, and soil moisture monitoring was used to determine sources of plant‐available soil water. We found that the primary zone of water uptake by saltcedar were stable at 25–60 cm depth, but the water sources used by saltcedar switched between groundwater and soil moisture with the water table fluctuations. Saltcedar derived its water from groundwater when water table was at depth less than 60 cm but switched to soil moisture at 25–60 cm depth when water table declined. It is supposed that the well‐developed clay layer at 60–80 cm depth constrained lateral roots of saltcedar to the soil layers above 60 cm, while the fine‐textured soils at this site, which were periodically resaturated by rising groundwater before the stored soil moisture had become depleted, provided an important water reservoir for saltcedar when groundwater dropped below the primary zone of fine roots. The root distribution of saltcedar may also be related to local groundwater history. The quick decline in water table in the early 1980s when the riparian saltcedar had established may strand its roots in the shallow unsaturated zone. We suggested that raising the water table periodically instead of maintaining it invariably above the rooting depth could sustain desired facultative phreatophytes while maximizing water deliveries. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Groundwater responses to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake on Jeju Island,Korea     

Soo‐Hyoung Lee  Kyoochul Ha  Se‐Yeong Hamm  Kyung‐Seok Ko 《水文研究》2013,27(8):1147-1157

Groundwater responses at 15 monitoring wells on Jeju Island were observed in relation to the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku Earthquake off the Pacific coast of Honshu, Japan, on 11 March 2011, at 14:46:23 h local time (05:46:24 h UTC time). In coastal areas, the groundwater level responses to the earthquake were oscillatory at 12 wells, and the range of the maximum groundwater level changes was 3–192.4 cm. The response durations were approximately 1–62 min. The relationship between the maximum groundwater level changes and the response durations displayed a high correlation coefficient (r = 0.81). Groundwater temperature changes were also observed at 7 of 12 wells 3–10 min after the seismic wave arrived, and the range was from 0.01 °C to 1.20 °C. In mid‐elevation areas, the groundwater level changes appeared in three different forms: oscillatory, spiky and persistent. The groundwater temperature changes were also observed at two wells. One indicated decreasing and recovering temperatures, and the other exhibited rising and persistent temperatures. The primary temperature changes occurred 5–6 min after the earthquake and 2–3 min after the seismic wave arrived. In addition, the electrical conductivities at the depth of the transition zone were monitored, and the responses to the earthquake appeared at all three wells. Although the electrical conductivity and temperature changes were not well understood, groundwater inflow and mixing were likely caused by the earthquake, and the responses were various and site specific. The responses to the earthquake were closely related to the hydrogeological characteristics at each monitoring well, and a more detailed hydrogeological characterization is needed to understand the mechanisms related to earthquakes in general. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

The effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation cycles on the decadal scale suspended sediment behavior of a coastal dry‐summer subtropical catchment          下载免费PDF全文

Andrew B. Gray  Gregory B. Pasternack  Elizabeth B. Watson  Jonathan A. Warrick  Miguel A. Goñi 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2015,40(2):272-284

Rivers display temporal dependence in suspended sediment–water discharge relationships. Although most work has focused on multi‐decadal trends, river sediment behavior often displays sub‐decadal scale fluctuations that have received little attention. The objectives of this study were to identify inter‐annual to decadal scale fluctuations in the suspended sediment–discharge relationship of a dry‐summer subtropical river, infer the mechanisms behind these fluctuations, and examine the role of El Niño Southern Oscillation climate cycles. The Salinas River (California) is a moderate sized (11 000 km²), coastal dry‐summer subtropical catchment with a mean discharge (Q_mean) of 11.6 m³ s^?1. This watershed is located at the northern most extent of the Pacific coastal North America region that experiences increased storm frequency during El Niño years. Event to inter‐annual scale suspended sediment behavior in this system was known to be influenced by antecedent hydrologic conditions, whereby previous hydrologic activity regulates the suspended sediment concentration–water discharge relationship. Fine and sand suspended sediment in the lower Salinas River exhibited persistent, decadal scale periods of positive and negative discharge corrected concentrations. The decadal scale variability in suspended sediment behavior was influenced by inter‐annual to decadal scale fluctuations in hydrologic characteristics, including: elapsed time since small (~0.1 × Q_mean), and moderate (~10 × Q_mean) threshold discharge values, the number of preceding days that low/no flow occurred, and annual water yield. El Niño climatic activity was found to have little effect on decadal‐scale fluctuations in the fine suspended sediment–discharge relationship due to low or no effect on the frequency of moderate to low discharge magnitudes, annual precipitation, and water yield. However, sand concentrations generally increased in El Niño years due to the increased frequency of moderate to high magnitude discharge events, which generally increase sand supply. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Analytical and statistical approach for evaluating the effects of a river barrage on river–aquifer interactions          下载免费PDF全文

Yun‐Yeong Oh  Se‐Yeong Hamm  Heesung Yoon  Gyoo‐Bum Kim 《水文研究》2016,30(21):3932-3948

The construction of a river barrage can increase groundwater levels upstream of the barrage during the rainy season. Analytical and statistical approaches were applied to evaluate the relationship between groundwater and river water at the Changnyeong–Haman river barrage in Korea using time series data of water level and electrical conductivity from June 2011 to September 2014. An artificial neural network based time series model was designed to filter out the effect of rainfall from the groundwater level data in the study area. Aquifer diffusivity and river resistance were estimated from the analytical solution of a one‐dimensional unit step response function by using the filtered groundwater level data. River resistance increased in response to groundwater level fluctuations. Cross‐correlation analyses between the groundwater and the river water showed that the lag time increased during the observation period for both the water level and the electrical conductivity while the cross‐correlation function declined for the same period. The results indicated that a constant river stage maintained at the river barrage can weaken the hydrologic stress and reduce the exchange of material between the river and the adjacent aquifer because of the deposition of fine sediment on the river bottom and walls. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Integrated evaluation of urban groundwater hydrogeochemistry in context of fractal behaviour of groundwater level fluctuations     

Andrea Farsang  Ildikó Fejes  Tivadar M. Tóth 《水文科学杂志》2017,62(8):1216-1229

The present study was carried out as part of a complex survey of urban groundwater quality and quantity in Szeged, southeast Hungary. The concentrations of 12 inorganic contaminants in 28 shallow groundwater monitoring wells were determined over a 2-year period (2010–2012). The evaluation of concentrations indicates remarkable contamination all over the city. Discriminant analysis (DA) was used to evaluate the spatial changes of groundwater quality. The groundwater levels were measured over a 14-year period (2000–2013). The fractal properties of water level fluctuations time series characterizing the groundwater system and Tisza River were investigated using rescaled range (R/S) analysis. The resulting Hurst exponents clearly showed the persistency and thus long memory effects of both the groundwater and the river flow. Comparison of the results of DA with the results of R/S analysis thus implies that the geological conditions and the changing groundwater quantities are not related to groundwater quality.