Application of Modified Tank Model to Simulate Groundwater Level Fluctuations in Kabul Basin, Afghanistan

Abstract

Groundwater management is a significant task to have sustainable groundwater sources in Afghani- stan especially in Kabul Basin. In this study, the groundwater level fluctuation simulation and forecast by a traditional tank model, snow tank + traditional tank model (S + traditional tank), combined tank model and snow combined tank model (SC-tank model) were compared. The variables (precipitation, groundwater level, temperature and evaporation) were utilized to simulate and forecast groundwater level fluctuations at a representative observation well (CKB1-W) in Kabul Basin from 2005 to 2013. Shuffled Complex Evolution-University of Arizona (SCE-UA) algorithm was utilized to find the best parameter for the models. Accuracy of model estimation was evaluated by coefficient of determina- tion, Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) coefficient and root-mean-square error (RMSE). Consequently, the SC-tank model provided the most accurate result in simulation and forecast of groundwater level fluctuations at the representative observation well in Kabul Basin. The result indicated that the SC- tank model constructed in this study could be applied for groundwater management in Kabul Basin, Afghanistan.