Estimation of hydrogeologic parameters and groundwater-balance components based on fluctuations of the water tables

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 1803-1812 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Zaltsberg

The Wilson Creek experimental basin is located on the slope of the Manitoba Escarpment, southwestern Manitoba. Observations of groundwater regime, weather conditions, and stream discharge were carried out in this basin from 1965 to 1980. Using groundwater fluctuations in observation wells, it was found that the values of the specific yield of till range from 0.03 to 0.04 and the specific yield of shale is equal to 0.04. Calculated vertical hydraulic conductivity of till ranges from 2 × 10−4 to 3 × 10−4 m/day.On the basis of these determinations, groundwater balances for separate segments of the watershed and for the whole of the basin were calculated. Considering the basin as a whole, it was found that the average values of groundwater-balance components during spring–summer seasons were as follows: infiltration, 111 mm or 30% of precipitation; evaporation, 58 mm or 19% of precipitation; and groundwater runoff, 61 mm or 20% of precipitation.

Soil Research ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 343 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Talsma ◽  
EA Gardner

Groundwater recharge was investigated within a representative hillslope segment of a small forested catchment, where the depth to the water table increased when progressing upslope from a free water outlet. Catchment soils varied with progression upslope from grey through yellow to red earths, which were underlain by low hydraulic conductivity B horizons and permeable substrata. The catchment was equipped for measuring stream discharge, rainfall characteristics, water table position, soil water content and soil hydraulic properties. Measurements commenced when soil water was severely depleted by drought, and were continued to monitor infiltration and redistribution with depth after more than 1000 mm of rainfall. Water movement occurred under approximately unit hydraulic gradients to the layer of restricted hydraulic conductivity; with movement through this layer proceeding under gradients considerably in excess of unity. Between rainfall events water movement in the soil profiles with deep water tables occurred by redistribution, with the capillary flux exceeding the gravitational flux. Where water tables were shallow (<m), profile recharge occurred within 7 weeks, after which sustained recharge to the groundwater body occurred at rates of the order of 3 mm day-1. Where water tables were deep (>7 m) it took many months for the soil water deficit to be replenished by rainfall. Recharge to groundwater in this case commenced with a flux of about 0.5 mm day-1 and decreased to an estimated value of 0.3 mm day-1 some 5 months later. Following winter rain more than 30% of the annual groundwater discharge from the catchment originated from a relatively small but expanding area near the free water outlet.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5415
Author(s):  
Mitra Khalilidermani ◽  
Dariusz Knez ◽  
Mohammad Ahmad Mahmoudi Zamani

A number of empirical correlations have been achieved between the hydraulic properties measured through geoelectrical methods and water well data of Arak Aquifer located in Markazi province, Iran. The geoelectrical method of Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique was used to calculate the hydraulic properties of the aquifer. Through the VES technique, the pivotal hydraulic properties such as porosity, hydraulic conductivity, and specific yield of the layers were calculated. The results of VES technique were compared with the data obtained from seven observation water wells that were already drilled as exploratory coring boreholes in the region. The results demonstrate that as the porosity and hydraulic conductivity of the water-bearing layer increase, the results of VES technique appear much identical to the water well records. Furthermore, the specific yield was calculated as 4.6% that was very close to the value of 3.5% measured through the previous pumping tests. Moreover, VES technique predicted the water table of the aquifer very close to the water level monitored in the observation water wells. The obtained correlations can be used as an alternative for drilling of new observation wells that are inefficient in time and expense, and may encounter environmental limitations of drilling and site construction.


1990 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny Fredericia

The background for the present knowledge about hydraulic conductivity of clayey till in Denmark is summarized. The data show a difference of 1-2 orders of magnitude in the vertical hydraulic conductivity between values from laboratory measurements and field measurements. This difference is discussed and based on new data, field observations and comparison with North American studies, it is concluded to be primarily due to fractures in the till.


2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weihong Dong ◽  
Gengxin Ou ◽  
Xunhong Chen ◽  
Zhaowei Wang

In this study, in situ and on-site permeameter tests were conducted in Clear Creek, Nebraska, USA to evaluate the effect of water temperature on streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity Kv. Fifty-two sediment cores were tested. Five of them were transferred to the laboratory for a series of experiments to evaluate the effect of water temperature on Kv. Compared with in situ tests, 42 out of the 52 tests have higher Kv values for on-site tests. The distribution of water temperature at the approximately 50 cm depth of streambed along the sand bar was investigated in the field. These temperatures had values in the range 14–19 °C with an average of 16 °C and had an increasing trend along the stream flow. On average, Kv values of the streambed sediments in the laboratory tests increase by 1.8% per 1 °C increase in water temperature. The coarser sandy sediments show a greater increase extent of the Kv value per 1 °C increase in water temperature. However, there is no distinct increasing trend of Kv value for sediment containing silt and clay layers.


2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 556-565

Drainage management problems are usually very hard to simulate due to the uncertainty of the hydraulic parameters involved. Fuzzy analysis is one of the available tools that can be used for such problems, involving uncertain data. A fuzzy analysis approach usually involves the consideration of several α-level cuts and an analytical approach or an explicit scheme approach for the PDE's discretization. Several application examples of this approach are listed in the literature, including uncertainty in hydraulic conductivity, specific yield, transmissivities, porosities, dispersivities, and deoxygenation rate coefficient. A methodology for the simulation of drainage problem having vague values of hydraulic parameters is introduced in this paper, and an analytical solution for a two-dimensional drainage application is presented. The two-dimensional problem of drainage is handled using fuzzy analysis by defining the hydraulic conductivity K as a triangular fuzzy number (TFN). The method of interval analysis is used in all the α-level cut examples. A solution is obtained using eleven α-level cuts and also solutions for two, three, and five α-level cuts are presented. Trials for different values of effective porosity are also performed. Finally conclusions on the necessary number of α-cuts utilized for drainage problems are drawn.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan R. Harp ◽  
Vitaly Zlotnik ◽  
Charles J. Abolt ◽  
Brent D. Newman ◽  
Adam L. Atchley ◽  
...  

Abstract. The pathways and timing of drainage from inundated ice-wedge polygon centers in a warming climate have important implications for carbon flushing, advective heat transport, and transitions from carbon dioxide to methane dominated emissions. This research provides intuition on this process by presenting the first in-depth analysis of drainage from a single polygon based on fundamental hydrogeological principles. We use a recently developed analytical solution to provide a baseline for the effects of polygon aspect ratios (radius to thawed depth) and hydraulic conductivity anisotropy (horizontal to vertical hydraulic conductivity) on drainage pathways and temporal depletion of ponded water heights of inundated ice-wedge polygon centers. By varying the polygon aspect ratio, we evaluate the effect of polygon size (width), inter-annual increases in active layer thickness, and seasonal increases in thaw depth on drainage. One of the primary insights from the model is that most inundated ice-wedge polygon drainage occurs along an annular region of the polygon center near the rims. This implies that inundated polygons are most intensely flushed by drainage in an annular region along their horizontal periphery, with implications for transport of nutrients (such as dissolved organic carbon) and advection of heat towards ice wedge tops. The model indicates that polygons with large aspect ratios and high anisotropy will have the most distributed drainage. Polygons with large aspect ratio and low anisotropy will have their drainage most focused near the their periphery and will drain most slowly. Polygons with small aspect ratio and high anisotropy will drain most quickly. Our results, based on idealized scenarios, provide a baseline for further research considering geometric and hydraulic complexities of ice-wedge polygons.


Author(s):  
P. Allen Macfarlane

In his reports on the regional hydrogeology of the central Great Plains, in particular southeastern Colorado and southwestern and central Kansas, Darton considered the Dakota aquifer to be a classic example of an artesian system. Computer simulations of the flow system in this study, however, suggest that the Dakota is not a regional artesian aquifer in the classic sense. Sensitivity analysis of a steady-state vertical profile flow model demonstrates that the flow system in the upper Dakota in western Kansas is heavily influenced by the Upper Cretaceous aquitard, the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado, and rivers in central Kansas, such as the Saline, that have eroded through the aquitard and into the Dakota to the west of the main outcrop area of the aquifer. The model shows that local flow systems and the vertical hydraulic conductivity of the Upper Cretaceous aquitard heavily influence the water budget and the flow patterns. The aquitard restricts recharge from the overlying water table to underlying aquifers in western Kansas because of its considerable thickness and low vertical hydraulic conductivity. The Arkansas River intercepts ground-water flow moving toward western Kansas from recharge areas south of the river and further isolates the upper Dakota from sources of freshwater recharge. In central Kansas, the Saline River has reduced the distance between confined portions of the aquifer and its discharge area. In essence, this has improved the hydraulic connection between the confined aquifer and its discharge area, thus helping to generate subhydrostatic conditions in the upper Dakota upgradient of the river.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arezou Dodangeh ◽  
Mohammad Mahdi Rajabi ◽  
Marwan Fahs

&lt;p&gt;In coastal aquifers, we face the problem of salt water intrusion, which creates a complex flow field. Many of these coastal aquifers are also exposed to contaminants from various sources. In addition, in many cases there is no information about the characteristics of the aquifer. Simultaneous identification of the contaminant source and coastal aquifer characteristics can be a challenging issue. Much work has been done to identify the contaminant source, but in the complex velocity field of coastal aquifer, no one has resolved this issue yet. We want to address that in a three-dimensional artificial coastal aquifer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To achieve this goal, we have developed a method in which the contaminant source can be identified and the characteristics of the aquifer can be estimated by using information obtained from observation wells. First, by assuming the input parameters required to simulate the contaminant transfer to the aquifer, this three-dimensional coastal aquifer that is affected by various phenomena such as seawater intrusion, tides, shore slope, rain, discharge and injection wells, is simulated and the time series of the output parameters including head, salinity and contaminant concentration are estimated. In the next step, with the aim of performing inverse modeling, random values &amp;#8203;&amp;#8203;are added to the time series of outputs obtained at specific points (points belonging to observation wells) in order to rebuilt the initial conditions of the problem to achieve the desired unknowns (contaminant source and aquifer characteristics). The unknowns estimated in this study are the contaminant source location (x, y, z), the initial contaminant concentration, the horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer. SEAWAT model in GMS software environment has been used to solve the equations of flow and contaminant transfer and simulate a three-dimensional coastal aquifer. Next, for reverse modeling, one of the Bayesian Filters subset (ensemble Kalman filter) has been used in the Python programming language environment. Also, to reduce the code run time, the neural network model is designed and trained for the SEAWAT model.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This method is able to meet the main purpose of the study, namely estimating the value &amp;#8203;&amp;#8203;of unknown input parameters, including the contaminant source location, the initial contaminant concentration, the horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer. In addition, that makes it possible to achieve a three-dimensional numerical model of the coastal aquifer that can be used as a benchmark to examine more accurately the impact of different phenomena simultaneously. In conclusion, we have developed an algorithm which can be used in the world's coastal aquifers to identify the contaminant source and estimate its characteristics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Key words: coastal aquifer, seawater intrusion, contaminants, groundwater, flow field, parameter estimation, ensemble kalman filter&lt;/p&gt;


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