Townley, L.R. (1985), Response of unconfined aquifers to periodic recharge, 21st Biennial Congress of IAHR, Melbourne, August 1985.

A one-dimensional analytical solution is presented for the spatial distribution of amplitude and phase lag of periodic water table fluctuations due to spatially uniform periodic recharge. A finite element approach is also described which directly predicts the periodic response without the need for time-stepping. The numerical model is used to evaluate one of the limitations of the linearised analytical solution; however, future numerical studies will examine the effects of spatial variability.