Determination of hydraulic parameters of an unconfined alluvial aquifer by the floodwave-response technique
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Aquifer properties
Specific storage
Aquifer test
Groundwater model
Slug test
Abstract A comparison between two hypothetical flow models of an unconfined aquifer, one saturated and the other variably saturated, indicates that the variably saturated model which explicitly models drainage from the unsaturated zone provides a better conceptual framework for analyzing unconfined aquifer test data and better estimates of the lateral and vertical hydraulic conductivity in fine‐grained sands. Explicitly accounting for multiple aquifers, well‐bore storage, and the effects of delayed drainage from the unsaturated zone increases confidence in aquifer property estimates by removing some assumptions and allowing for the inclusion of early time data and water‐table observations in an aquifer test analysis. The inclusion of the unsaturated zone expands the number of parameters to be estimated, but reasonable estimates of lateral and vertical hydraulic conductivity and specific storage of the unconfined aquifer can be obtained. For the cases examined, only the van Genuchten parameter a needed to be determined by the test, because the parameters n and 9r had a minimal effect on the estimates of hydraulic conductivities, and literature values could be used for these parameters. Estimates of lateral and vertical hydraulic conductivity using MODFLOW were not as good as the VS2DT based estimates and differed from the known values by as much as 30 percent. The hydraulic properties of a surficial aquifer system were estimated through a series of aquifer tests conducted at Cecil Field Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. Aquifer test results were analyzed by calibrating a variably saturated, radial flow model to the measured drawdowns. Parameter estimation was performed by minimizing the difference between simulated and measured drawdowns with an optimization routine coupled to VS2DT and was constrained by assuming that the hydraulic properties of each aquifer or confining unit were homogeneous. Given the hydrogeologic conditions at the field site, estimating the hydraulic properties of the aquifers and confining units with analytically derived type curves would have been inappropriate. Estimates of the lateral hydraulic conductivity from the VS2DT solution were more consistent with the observed geology than estimates from Theis analyses, which ranged from 20 to 80 percent more than the final estimates. The unsaturated zone affected an aquifer test conducted in a leaky aquifer about 100 feet below land surface more than the other two aquifer tests because about half of the pumped water came from the overlying, unconfined aquifer.
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The management of groundwater resources requires a thorough understanding of groundwater flow and storage. Aquitards, in particular, can store large amounts of groundwater, but are generally often overlooked or ignored in groundwater surveys. In this study, we show how a pumping test performed in a leaky aquifer can be used to estimate the storage coefficient of an overlying aquitard. A new analytical solution is presented for a constant-rate pumping test in a leaky aquifer taking into account the water released from storage in the aquitard. The utility of the method is demonstrated by a practical application using data from a pumping test conducted in a semi-confined sandy aquifer overlain by an aquitard consisting of a mixture of clay and sand. The results obtained show that the solution enables the accurate calculation of the storage properties of the aquitard.
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The origin and movement of groundwater are the fundamental questions that address both the temporal and spatial aspects of ground water run and water supply related issues in hydrological systems. As groundwater flows through an aquifer, its composition and temperature may variation dependent on the aquifer condition through which it flows. Thus, hydrologic investigations can also provide useful information about the subsurface geology of a region. But because such studies investigate processes that follow under the Earth's shallow, obtaining the information necessary to answer these questions is not continuously easy. Springs, which discharge groundwater table directly, afford to study subsurface hydrogeological processes. The present study of estimation of aquifer factors such as transmissivity (T) and storativity (S) are vital for the evaluation of groundwater resources. There are several methods to estimate the accurate aquifer parameters (i.e. hydrograph analysis, pumping test, etc.). In initial days, these parameters are projected either by means of in-situ test or execution test on aquifer well samples carried in the laboratory. The simultaneous information on the hydraulic behavior of the well (borehole) that provides on this method, the reservoir and the reservoir boundaries, are important for efficient aquifer and well data management and analysis. The most common in-situ test is pumping test performed on wells, which involves the measurement of the fall and increase of groundwater level with respect to time. The alteration in groundwater level (drawdown/recovery) is caused due to pumping of water from the well. Theis (1935) was first to propose method to evaluate aquifer parameters from the pumping test on a bore well in a confined aquifer. It is essential to know the transmissivity (T = Kb, where b is the aquifer thickness; pumping flow rate, Q = TW (dh/dl) flow through an aquifer) and storativity (confined aquifer: S = bSs, unconfined: S = Sy), for the characterization of the aquifer parameters in an unknown area so as to predict the rate of drawdown of the groundwater table/potentiometric surface throughout the pumping test of an aquifer. The determination of aquifer's parameters is an important basis for groundwater resources evaluation, numerical simulation, development and protection as well as scientific management. For determining aquifer's parameters, pumping test is a main method. A case study shows that these techniques have been fast speed and high correctness. The results of parameter's determination are optimized so that it has important applied value for scientific research and geology engineering preparation.
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