Goal-Oriented Site Characterization: High Permeability Zones and Preferential Flow Paths
Monday, October 5, 2015
Bradley Harken1,2, Uwe Schneidewind3, Thomas Kalbacher1, Yoram Rubin2 and Peter Dietrich1, (1)Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, (2)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, (3)Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Abstract:
Connected, high permeability zones are of particular interest in many subsurface applications, including predicting early arrivals in contaminant transport. Often, early contaminant arrivals are the result of a single connected high permeability zone. Thus, if the goal of the field and modeling campaigns is to predict early contaminant arrivals, the success of the characterization may hinge on detecting the presence of a high permeability zone, as well as characterizing its spatial distribution and permeability. New site characterization technologies allow for rapid measurements of permeability along high resolution vertical profiles which can indicate the presence of high permeability zones, but cannot immediately indicate their horizontal connectivity. Thus, if early measurements indicate the presence of high permeability zones, further characterization efforts should focus on determining the horizontal connectivity of these zones. Presented here is a framework for designing characterization strategies for the goal of detecting and characterizing connected high permeability zones, along with a case study focusing on the Lauswiesen site.
