outputs

Superwell Outputs

This folder contains simulated outputs from superwell, a hydro-economic tool designed for the long-term assessment of groundwater cost and supply. It offers globally gridded data on extractable groundwater volumes and associated unit costs (USD/km³), driven by various user-defined depletion and ponded depth scenarios.

Outputs Overview

Simulation outputs from superwell will be written to this folder in the format of superwell_py_deep_C_*_B_*_G_*_0.*PD_0.*DL_*RR.csv. These files detail the outputs of global groundwater extraction volumes and cost estimates on a 0.5° scale across user-defined scenarios.

Six standard scenarios that vary Ponded Depth (PD; 0.3 and 0.6 m) and Depletion Limit (DL; 5%, 25%, and 40% of available volume) have been provided in a data repository: . Two sample outputs include:

• superwell_py_deep_all_0.3PD_0.25DL_sample_100.csv presents superwell outputs for 100 sampled data points that match the distributions of global aquifer properties.
• superwell_py_deep_C_all_B_all_G_72548_0.3PD_0.25DL_0.2RR.csv provides superwell output for a single grid cell.

Outputs Description

The output files contain various parameters, grouped as follows:

Geographic and Aquifer Properties

• year_number: Year of pumping
• depletion_limit: Set depletion limit (DL) as a volume fraction of total available groundwater
• Geographic identifiers: continent, country, gcam_basin_id, Basin_long_name, grid_id
• Areas: grid_area (km²): Area of the grid cell, lake_area (km²): inland lake areas, grid_area_dry (km²): corrected grid area that excludes lake area covering the grid cell
• whyclass: Hydrogeological classification of the aquifer
• Aquifer properties: permeability (m/day), porosity (%), total_thickness (m), depth_to_water (m)

Recharge related metrics

• recharge (m): long-term annual averaged recharge rate
• shallow_recharge_depth (m) part of total recharge contributing to shallow part of the aquifer
• threshold_depth (m) depth part of ponded depth the shallow recharge should reduce up to
• net_ponded_depth_target (m) corrected ponded depth target based on recharge
• excessive_recharge_depth (m) extra shallow recharge which will contribute to deep storage increase

Hydraulic Properties and Extraction Metrics

• orig_aqfr_sat_thickness (m), aqfr_sat_thickness (m): Original and remaining/instantaneous saturated thickness of the aquifer
• hydraulic_conductivity (m/day), transmissivity (m²/day)
• radius_of_influence (m), areal_extent (km²): Well radius and area of influence from the well's center
• number_of_wells: Number of wells in a grid cell, determined by the ratio of well area to grid area
• max_drawdown (m), drawdown (m), drawdown_interference (m): Well and aquifer drawdown metrics during extraction
• total_head (m): Total lift for the groundwater
• total_well_length (m): Total depth of wells drilled
• well_yield (m³/day): Pumping rate or well yield

Power and Energy Requirements

• power (kW), energy (kWh): Power and energy needed for groundwater pumping

Volume and Cost Metrics

• volume_produced_perwell (m³), cumulative_vol_produced_perwell (m³): Production volume metrics per well
• volume_produced_allwells (m³), cumulative_vol_produced_allwells (m³): Total extraction volumes for all wells in a grid cell
• available_volume (m³): Available groundwater volume in storage for the grid cell
• depleted_vol_fraction: Fraction of total volume pumped over available volumes in a grid cell
• deep_recharge_vol (m³) total recharge volume going to deep aquifer, deep_recharge_vol_imposed (m³) net deep recharge volume used to increase deep storage
• Cost-related outputs: well_installation_cost (USD), annual_capital_cost, maintenance_cost, nonenergy_cost (USD)
• energy_cost_rate (USD/kWh): Electricity rate
• energy_cost (USD): Energy cost for groundwater pumping
• Total cost metrics: total_cost_perwell (USD), total_cost_allwells (USD)
• unit_cost (USD/m³), unit_cost_per_km3 (USD/km³), unit_cost_per_acreft (USD/acre-ft): Costs for pumping a unit volume of groundwater

Cite Outputs

Cite output data as:
Niazi, H., Ferencz, S., Yoon, J., Graham, N., Wild, T., Hejazi, M., Watson, D., & Vernon, C. (2024). Globally Gridded Groundwater Extraction Volumes and Costs under Six Depletion and Ponded Depth Targets. MultiSector Dynamics-Living, Intuitive, Value-adding, Environment. https://doi.org/10.57931/2307832

Model documentation

Niazi, H., Ferencz, S., Graham, N., Yoon, J., Wild, T., Hejazi, M., Watson, D., & Vernon, C. (2025). Long-term Hydro-economic Analysis Tool for Evaluating Global Groundwater Cost and Supply: Superwell v1.0. Geoscientific Model Development.