Steady shape analysis of tomographic pumping tests for characterization of aquifer heterogeneities

Bohling, Geoffrey C.; Zhan, Xiaohong; Butler, James J.; Zheng, Liancun

doi:10.1029/2001wr001176

Cited by 125 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Gottlieb and Dietrich (1995); Vasco et al (2000), Yeh and Liu, (2000); Bohling et al (2002); Brauchler et al (2003); ; and others have developed new methods for aquifer characterization, i.e., hydraulic tomography. A simple example of HT involves the installation of at least two wells in an aquifer.…”

Section: Hydraulic Tomography (Ht)mentioning

confidence: 98%

Fusion of hydrologic and geophysical tomographic surveys

et al. 2008

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In this paper, we argue the need for high-resolution characterization of the subsurface and discuss difficulties of traditional characterization approaches to meet this need. Necessary and sufficient conditions are then presented for well-posedness of groundwater inverse problems associated with identifying spatially distributed parameters. Non-uniqueness and large uncertainty in model calibration are subsequently attributed to difficulties in collecting information to meet these conditions. Using an example, we show that a tomographic survey can make problems of identification of spatially distributed parameters better posed. We subsequently present some recent advances in hydrologic/geophysical characterization of the subsurface using information fusion based on tomographic survey concepts. This paper includes hydraulic and electrical resistivity tomographic surveys as well as fusion of hydraulic and resistivity tomography and fusion of hydraulic and tracer tomography.

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Section: Hydraulic Tomography (Ht)mentioning

confidence: 98%

Fusion of hydrologic and geophysical tomographic surveys

et al. 2008

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“…However, obtaining a high-spatial resolution by hydraulic tomographic investigation is still accompanied by relative complex analysis [Bohling et al, 2002], partly high-computational costs, and relative long pumping times.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid field application of hydraulic tomography for resolving aquifer heterogeneity in unconsolidated sediments

Brauchler

et al. 2013

Water Resources Research

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[1] A new framework is introduced for hydraulic tomography application and validation in the field. Our motivation is the need for methods that are both efficient and expressive for resolving the spatial distribution of heterogeneous hydraulic properties in aquifers. The presented strategy involves time-efficient field experiments and a computationally efficient inversion scheme. By exploiting the early travel time diagnostics of the hydraulic pressure pulses recorded during tomographic cross-well tests, and new application of attenuation inversion, only short-term pumping tests are required. Many of these can be conducted in one day. The procedure is developed by a numerical experiment with a highly heterogeneous aquifer analogue and then applied to a field case with a shallow, unconsolidated sedimentary aquifer, the Stegem€ uhle site in Germany. It is demonstrated that the performance of a suite of tomographic short-term pumping tests, data processing and inversion for the reconstruction of heterogeneous diffusivity and specific storage distribution is possible within one day. Additionally, direct-push injection logging is performed at the field site, and the obtained field data is utilized for successful validation of the hydraulic tomograms. We also compare both methods with respect to the necessary requirements, time demand in the field and complexity of interpretation.Citation: Brauchler, R., R. Hu, L. Hu, S. Jim enez, P. Bayer, P. Dietrich, and T. Ptak (2013), Rapid field application of hydraulic tomography for resolving aquifer heterogeneity in unconsolidated sediments, Water Resour.

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“…They include numerical studies [e.g., Gottlieb and Dietrich, 1995;Yeh and Liu, 2000;Bohling et al, 2002;Yeh, 2005, 2006;Fienen et al, 2008;Ni and Yeh, 2008;Castagna and Bellin, 2009;Xiang et al, 2009;Liu and Kitanidis, 2011], followed by laboratory sandbox studies [e.g., Liu et al, 2002;Brauchler et al, 2003;Illman et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2007;Illman et al, 2008;Yin and Illman, 2009;Illman et al, 2010;Berg and Illman, 2011a;Illman et al, 2012] and then experimental field studies [e.g. Bohling et al, 2007;Li et al, 2007;Straface et al, 2007;Cardiff et al, 2009;Illman et al, 2009;Berg and Illman, 2011b;Brauchler et al, 2011;Huang et al, 2011].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Joint interpretation of sequential pumping tests in unconfined aquifers

Mao

Yeh

Wan

et al. 2013

Water Resources Research

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[1] In this study, we developed a stochastic estimator for characterizing the hydraulic heterogeneity in both unsaturated and saturated zones of unconfined aquifers using transient drawdown data from sequential pumping tests. This estimator was built upon the successive linear estimator by Yeh et al. (1996), the simultaneous successive linear estimator by Xiang et al. (2009), and the 3-D finite element program for flow and transport through heterogeneous media by Srivastava and Yeh (1992). The estimator was tested afterward using simulated data sets of sequential pumping tests in a synthetic unconfined aquifer where saturated conductivity, specific storage, saturated water content, and pore-size distribution parameter vary spatially in three dimensions. Test results show that the estimator is able to produce parameter fields that capture the overall 3-D pattern of the true heterogeneous parameter fields. We subsequently validated the estimated parameter fields by assessing their ability to predict drawdowns during an independent pumping test, which was not used during the estimation phase. Results of the validation show that the predicted drawdowns based on the estimated heterogeneous parameter fields are in close agreement with the true drawdowns. In addition, predicted drawdowns based on the parameter fields from the joint interpretation are superior to those based on the parameters estimated from the homogeneous conceptual model. Lastly, while many field experiments are necessary to fully assess the robustness of this estimator and sequential pumping tests, results of this study suggest they are a promising characterization technique for unconfined aquifers.

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Steady shape analysis of tomographic pumping tests for characterization of aquifer heterogeneities

Cited by 125 publications

References 21 publications

Fusion of hydrologic and geophysical tomographic surveys

Fusion of hydrologic and geophysical tomographic surveys

Rapid field application of hydraulic tomography for resolving aquifer heterogeneity in unconsolidated sediments

Joint interpretation of sequential pumping tests in unconfined aquifers

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