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Project

High resolution characterization of spatially variable riverbed hydraulic conductivity for a better assessment of river-aquifer interactions (FWOKN277)

Characterization of groundwater-surface water exchange fluxes is important for riparian ecology, determining the quantity and quality of pumped groundwater close to rivers, modelling groundwater flow and predicting flood peaks and low flows. The exchange fluxes between river and aquifer are strongly influenced by the hydraulic conductivity of the riverbed which can vary several orders of magnitude and show a strong spatial variation. Neglecting this spatial variation can lead to a very significant systematic underestimation of net river-aquifer exchange fluxes. This project aims at a better characterization of riverbed hydraulic conductivity through a combination of (1) an extensive field campaign measuring small-scale spatial variability of riverbed conductivity, (2) measuring river-aquifer exchange fluxes using temperature measurements and (3) application of multiple-point geostatistics to obtain geologically realistic simulations of riverbed conductivity. Riverbed hydraulic conductivity will be measured in situ on a very dense grid at two study sites using falling head tests and pneumatic slug testing. These high resolution field data will be the input to simulate geologically realistic realizations of riverbed hydraulic conductivity using multiple-point geostatistics. These fields of riverbed hydraulic conductivity will be used as input to a fine-scale spatially distributed local groundwater flow model that will be calibrated using hydraulic head and temperature data.
Date:1 Jan 2016 →  31 Dec 2016
Keywords:Hydraulic conductivity
Disciplines:Water engineering not elsewhere classified