Estimation of hydraulic parameters in a complex porous aquifer system using geoelectrical methods

Geoelectrical methods have been widely used for the estimation of aquifer hydraulic properties. In this study, geoelectrical methods were applied in a lithologically and hydrochemically complex porous aquifer to estimate its porosity, hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity. For this purpose, the electrical resistivity of the aquifer as well as the electrical conductivity of the groundwater was measured in 37 sites and wells. Initially, the Archie's law was used to generate sets of cementation factor (m) and alpha (α) parameter from which the mode values of α=0.98 and m=1.75 are representative of the studied aquifer. The transmissivity of the aquifer varies from 5.1×10(-3) to 3.1×10(-5)m(2)/s, whereas the mean value of its porosity is 0.45. The hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer which was calculated according to Archie's law varies from 2.08×10(-6) to 6.84×10(-5)m/s and is strongly correlated with the pumping test's hydraulic conductivity. In contrast, the hydraulic conductivity which was calculated using Dar-Zarrouk parameters presents lower correlation with the pumping test's hydraulic conductivity. Furthermore, a relation between aquifer resistivity and hydraulic conductivity was established for the studied aquifer to enable the estimation of these parameters in sites lacking data.