Hydraulic tomography of discrete networks of conduits and fractures in a karstic aquifer by using a deterministic inversion algorithm

Fischer, Pierre; Jardani, Abderrahim; Masséi, Nicolas

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2017.11.029

Cited by 38 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In synthetic studies, the HT can be tested under a variety of conditions for different DFNs. While a few synthetic simulation studies of HT for characterization of hydraulic parameters of fractured rocks have been attempted (e.g., Castagna et al, ; Fischer et al, , ; Hao et al, ; Ni & Yeh, ; Sharmeen et al, ; Wang et al, ; Zha et al, , ), most of these studies adopted EPM‐hetero models to describe fractures and to generate synthetic hydraulic interference test data for HT. These studies suggested that EPM‐hetero models with high contrast in hydraulic parameters and fined grids appear to be appropriate for representing fractured geologic media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equivalence of Discrete Fracture Network and Porous Media Models by Hydraulic Tomography

Dong

Yeh

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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Hydraulic tomography (HT) has emerged as a potentially viable method for mapping fractures in geologic media as demonstrated by recent studies. However, most of the studies adopted equivalent porous media (EPM) models to generate and invert hydraulic interference test data for HT. While these models assign significant different hydraulic properties to fractures and matrix, they may not fully capture the discrete nature of the fractures in the rocks. As a result, HT performance may have been overrated. To explore this issue, this study employed a discrete fracture network (DFN) model to simulate hydraulic interference tests. HT with the EPM model was then applied to estimate the distributions of hydraulic conductivity (K) and specific storage (Ss) of the DFN. Afterward, the estimated fields were used to predict the observed heads from DFN models, not used in the HT analysis (i.e., validation). Additionally, this study defined the spatial representative elementary volume (REV) of the fracture connectivity probability for the entire DFN dominant. The study showed that if this spatial REV exists, the DFN is deemed equivalent to EPM and vice versa. The hydraulic properties estimated by HT with an EPM model can then predict head fields satisfactorily over the entire DFN domain with limited monitoring wells. For a sparse DFN without this spatial REV, a dense observation network is needed. Nevertheless, HT is able to capture the dominant fractures.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equivalence of Discrete Fracture Network and Porous Media Models by Hydraulic Tomography

Dong

Yeh

et al. 2019

Water Resources Research

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“…Recently, Hochstetler et al (2016) used HT to investigate a highly heterogeneous (K range of 10 −7 to 10 −1 m/s) unconsolidated sedimentary aquifer at HRFS with highquality results. For HT in fractured aquifers, synthetic and field studies using drawdown, tracer, and temperature data have been conducted in 2D (e.g., Hao et al 2008;Klepikova et al 2014;Trottier et al 2014;Wang et al 2016;Somogyvári et al 2017;Fischer et al 2018), and 3D (e.g., Klepikova et al 2013) but we are only aware of distributed-parameter 3D HT field studies at the Mizunami research site in Japan (Illman et al 2009;Zha et al 2015). The Mizunami studies were at the scale of >0.5 km lateral and vertical extent, or considerably larger than the HRFS focus of this paper and in situ remediation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic Tomography: 3D Hydraulic Conductivity, Fracture Network, and Connectivity in Mudstone

Tiedeman¹,

Barrash

2019

Groundwater

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We present the first demonstration of hydraulic tomography (HT) to estimate the three‐dimensional (3D) hydraulic conductivity (K) distribution of a fractured aquifer at high‐resolution field scale (HRFS), including the fracture network and connectivity through it. We invert drawdown data collected from packer‐isolated borehole intervals during 42 pumping tests in a wellfield at the former Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey, in the Newark Basin. Five additional tests were reserved for a quality check of HT results. We used an equivalent porous medium forward model and geostatistical inversion to estimate 3D K at high resolution (K blocks <1 m3), using no strict assumptions about K variability or fracture statistics. The resulting 3D K estimate ranges from approximately 0.1 (highest‐K fractures) to approximately 10−13 m/s (unfractured mudstone). Important estimated features include: (1) a highly fractured zone (HFZ) consisting of a sequence of high‐K bedding‐plane fractures; (2) a low‐K zone that disrupts the HFZ; (3) several secondary fractures of limited extent; and (4) regions of very low‐K rock matrix. The 3D K estimate explains complex drawdown behavior observed in the field. Drawdown tracing and particle tracking simulations reveal a 3D fracture network within the estimated K distribution, and connectivity routes through the network. Model fit is best in the shallower part of the wellfield, with high density of observations and tests. The capabilities of HT demonstrated for 3D fractured aquifer characterization at HRFS may support improved in situ remediation for contaminant source zones, and applications in mining, repository assessment, or geotechnical engineering.

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“…Nevertheless, our new approach (linking of CFPv2 and OSTRICH) provides new insight to the study area and proves the existence of a major conduit, most probably with a diameter of 3 m, although the exact location of the conduit remains unknown. Field geophysical (Chalikakis et al, 2011;McGrath et al, 2002;Šumanovac and Weisser, 2001) and hydraulic tomography (e.g., Illman et al, 2009;Zha et al, 2016Zha et al, , 2015Wang et al, 2017;Fischer et al, 2018) surveys may be necessary to map the conduit geometry more accurately.…”

Section: Limitations Of the Model And Future Improvementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of the hydrodynamic characteristics of a karst conduit with CFPv2 coupled to OSTRICH

Mohammadi

Illman

Karimi

2018

Journal of Hydrology

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Hydraulic tomography of discrete networks of conduits and fractures in a karstic aquifer by using a deterministic inversion algorithm

Cited by 38 publications

References 37 publications

Equivalence of Discrete Fracture Network and Porous Media Models by Hydraulic Tomography

Equivalence of Discrete Fracture Network and Porous Media Models by Hydraulic Tomography

Hydraulic Tomography: 3D Hydraulic Conductivity, Fracture Network, and Connectivity in Mudstone

Optimization of the hydrodynamic characteristics of a karst conduit with CFPv2 coupled to OSTRICH

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