Usefulness of flux measurements during hydraulic tomographic survey for mapping hydraulic conductivity distribution in a fractured medium

Yuanyuan Zha, Tian Chyi Jim Yeh, Deqiang Mao, Jinzhong Yang, Wenxi Lu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Scopus citations

Abstract

Using the first-order analysis, we investigate the spatial cross-correlation between hydraulic conductivity variation and specific discharge (flux) as well as its components measured in a borehole under steady-state flow conditions during cross-hole pumping tests in heterogeneous aquifers. These spatial correlation patterns are found to be quite different from that between the hydraulic conductivity variation and the hydraulic head measurement in the same borehole. This finding suggests that a specific discharge measurement carries non-redundant information about the spatial distribution of heterogeneity, even this measurement is collected from the same location where the head measurement is taken. As such, specific discharge observations should be included in the analysis of hydraulic tomography to increase the resolution of estimated aquifer heterogeneity. Using numerical experiments, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the joint interpretation of both hydraulic heads and fluxes for mapping fracture distributions in a hypothetic geologic medium.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)162-176
Number of pages15
JournalAdvances in Water Resources
Volume71
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2014

Keywords

  • Cross-correlation analysis
  • Hydraulic tomography
  • Inversion
  • Joint interpretation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Water Science and Technology

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