Quantifying the Value of High Resolution Characterization Data for Flow and Transport Predictions at the Highly Heterogeneous MADE Site
Tuesday, October 6, 2015: 12:00 PM
David W Hyndman, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States, Mine Dogan, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States and Remke L. Van Dam, Queensland University of Technology, Science and Engineering Faculty, Brisbane, Australia
Abstract:
Flow and transport simulations were used to quantify the value of a range of different high resolution data sets that were collected to characterize the Macro Dispersion Experiment (MADE) site. The highly heterogeneous nature of the MADE aquifer is ideal to characterize the value of different characterization methods and to evaluate tradeoffs between cost and data density for different data types. Hydraulic conductivity (K) data from the MADE site are available from flow meters with 15 cm vertical resolution, and from direct push methods with 1.5 cm vertical resolution. Detailed ground penetrating radar data were also collected allowing data integration across a range of scales. The value of different data sets across scales was evaluated by reducing the lateral and vertical resolution of data used to generate three-dimensional stochastic hydraulic conductivity fields. The resulting K fields based on subsets of the data were used in flow and transport simulations to quantify the vertical and lateral resolutions sufficient to accurately reproduce the observed tracer transport behavior at the MADE site.
