On the Performance of Pilot-Point Based Hydraulic Tomography with a Geophysical a Priori Model.

Area of Science:

• Hydrogeology
• Geophysics
• Aquifer characterization

Background:

• Heterogeneous aquifer systems pose challenges for accurate hydraulic and storage property estimation.
• Traditional methods often struggle with complex geological formations.
• Geophysical data can provide valuable a priori information for groundwater models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel method for estimating aquifer properties.
• To integrate geophysical a priori models with pilot-point hydraulic tomography (HT) inversion.
• To improve the accuracy of groundwater flow modeling in heterogeneous aquifers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized pilot-point-based hydraulic tomography (HT) inversion.
• Incorporated a geophysical a priori model derived from electrical resistivity tomography and hydrogeological field data.
• Employed the HydroGeoSphere model and PEST software for inversion.
• Compared results with geostatistical interpolation and homogeneous HT inversion.

Main Results:

• The proposed method, using a geophysical a priori model, demonstrated improved parameter estimation.
• HT inversion constrained by geophysical stratification enhanced model accuracy.
• Statistical analyses confirmed the superior performance of the integrated approach.

Conclusions:

• Integrating geophysical a priori models with HT inversion is effective for characterizing heterogeneous aquifers.
• The developed method offers a more robust approach to estimating aquifer hydraulic and storage properties.
• This technique is particularly relevant for granitic aquifer systems like those in the Kandi region.