Eliminating or Exploiting Environmental Fluctuations to Improve Hydraulic Characterization
Eliminating or Exploiting Environmental Fluctuations to Improve Hydraulic Characterization
Presented on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Large-scale aquifer tests for groundwater development and contaminant transport projects can meaningfully reduce uncertainty of hydraulic-property estimates. Environmental fluctuations in groundwater levels from barometric changes, tidal forcing, or surface-water stage changes can hinder or enhance hydraulic characterization. Environmental fluctuations obscure drawdowns during pumping-aquifer tests and are best eliminated to expand the investigated volume. Hydraulic properties also can be estimated by interpreting the ubiquitous signals that environmental fluctuations provide.
Moderators:
Keith J. Halford, Ph.D.
U.S. Geological Survey, Carson City, NV
U.S. Geological Survey, Carson City, NV
Keith Halford is a research hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey and has served as Hydrologist and Groundwater Specialist in California, Florida, and Nevada offices of the USGS since 1987. He wrested a Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from Louisiana State University. His areas of expertise are aquifer tests, borehole geophysics, geostatistics, groundwater simulation, and parameter estimation. Developing methods and software for modeling water levels to estimate drawdowns has been the focus of recent publications.
James J. Butler, Ph.D.
Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Jim Butler is a Senior Scientist and Chief of the Geohydrology Section of the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas. He holds a B.S. in Geology from the College of William and Mary, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Hydrogeology from Stanford University. His current research interests include high-resolution subsurface characterization, well responses to natural stimuli, and the role of phreatophytes in stream-aquifer systems.