Beyond One-Dimension: How Transient Groundwater Flow Amplifies Groundwater Evapotranspiration and Extinction Depth

Accurate quantification of groundwater evapotranspiration (ETg) is essential for reliable water resource assessment. Existing methods for estimating ETg from water table fluctuation largely rely on one-dimensional simplifications that neglect transient groundwater flow. However, in areas with shallow water table and topographic relief, where transient groundwater flow often occurs, the validity and accuracy of this simplification remain inadequately evaluated. In this study, we used HYDRUS-2D to construct a 50 m-long sandy hillslope with a 0.05 gradient to investigate ETg based on the water table fluctuation (WTF) method under transient groundwater flow conditions. The results indicate that periodic evapotranspiration generates water table fluctuations along the hillslope that exhibit amplitude attenuation and temporal phase lag, features not captured by 1D models. Ignoring transient groundwater flow leads to a systematic underestimation of ETg by up to 85% in sandy soil near the topographic lows. Furthermore, we found that both the decoupling depth and the extinction depth are significantly amplified by lateral groundwater flow, by up to 66% and 51%, respectively, compared with 1D estimates derived from the Shah method. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating transient flow processes into ETg estimation to improve the accuracy of water balance assessments and ecohydrological predictions, particularly in areas with shallow water tables and topographic relief.