<p>I would suggest Bense (Hydrologische Karakterisering van Breukzones in Zuid-Oost Nederland), as a starting point. It provides a clear view of a few methods used in the past and an indication of the level of detail needed for the analysis, possibly helping you narrow down your search to a suitable method. Mostly Dutch (not a problem, judging by your name), but few international sources too.</p>

<p>I have attempted to ascertain something similar in a spatial model (MODFLOW) recently. From experience, I can tell you that the placement of measurement locations is vital, especially when estimating fault resistances. In my case, the available observations offered no evidence supporting the presence of a fault, even though upward seepage and indicator species were widely observed. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-09T19:35:23.880Z
2014-05-09T19:35:23.880Z
Pytrik
<p>I have a dataset containing high frequency measurements of the hydraulic head at different locations in a 5x6km area. Also known are the precipitation, evaporation, and pumped discharges from a number of wells (unfortunately only monthly totals for the latter). Using the <a href="http://www.kwrwater.nl/Menyanthes/" rel="noreferrer">Menyanthes</a> software, timeseries analysis is performed returning the stationary drawdown at each location as a result of the groundwater withdrawal.</p>

<p>A very schematic crosssection of the pumping wells and measurement wells is given below. The red lines indicate pumping wells, blue lines are some of measurement locations, in reality there are 10 pumping wells and some 40 measurement wells. The thick dotted lines are faults, hatched lines indicate an aquitard, while crosshatching indicates an aquiclude. I'm mainly interested in the top layer as that is where the drinking water is extracted from, but I included the deeper layers for completeness.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/anNRW.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>From the calculated drawdown at each location I want to calculate (or at least estimate) the transmissivity of each aquifer so I can hopefully tell a bit more about the resistance caused by the faults (by smeared out clay layers mostly). I know of the Thiem and Theis models (see for example <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02626669809492183#.U2e6cHV_sro" rel="noreferrer">this article</a>) for the drawdown in equilibrium and fluctuating situations, but are there any other models around that might be helpful to determine the geohydrological properties of the different compartments?</p>

<p>I realise this question probably doesn't have a single conclusive answer, but I think it is relevant for this site anyway as it tries to compare the available models/equations for evaluation of a definitely on-topic problem.</p>

<measurements><models><hydrology>
How to determine the transmissivity of a system of rocks and faults from the stationary drawdown pattern?
hugovdberg
# How to determine the transmissivity of a system of rocks and faults from the stationary drawdown pattern?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-05)

I have a dataset containing high frequency measurements of the hydraulic head at different locations in a 5x6km area. Also known are the precipitation, evaporation, and pumped discharges from a number of wells (unfortunately only monthly totals for the latter). Using the [Menyanthes](http://www.kwrwater.nl/Menyanthes/) software, timeseries analysis is performed returning the stationary drawdown at each location as a result of the groundwater withdrawal.

A very schematic crosssection of the pumping wells and measurement wells is given below. The red lines indicate pumping wells, blue lines are some of measurement locations, in reality there are 10 pumping wells and some 40 measurement wells. The thick dotted lines are faults, hatched lines indicate an aquitard, while crosshatching indicates an aquiclude. I'm mainly interested in the top layer as that is where the drinking water is extracted from, but I included the deeper layers for completeness.

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/anNRW.png)

From the calculated drawdown at each location I want to calculate (or at least estimate) the transmissivity of each aquifer so I can hopefully tell a bit more about the resistance caused by the faults (by smeared out clay layers mostly). I know of the Thiem and Theis models (see for example [this article](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02626669809492183#.U2e6cHV_sro)) for the drawdown in equilibrium and fluctuating situations, but are there any other models around that might be helpful to determine the geohydrological properties of the different compartments?

I realise this question probably doesn't have a single conclusive answer, but I think it is relevant for this site anyway as it tries to compare the available models/equations for evaluation of a definitely on-topic problem.

**Tags:** measurements, models, hydrology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-05-09. Score: 6

I would suggest Bense (Hydrologische Karakterisering van Breukzones in Zuid-Oost Nederland), as a starting point. It provides a clear view of a few methods used in the past and an indication of the level of detail needed for the analysis, possibly helping you narrow down your search to a suitable method. Mostly Dutch (not a problem, judging by your name), but few international sources too.

I have attempted to ascertain something similar in a spatial model (MODFLOW) recently. From experience, I can tell you that the placement of measurement locations is vital, especially when estimating fault resistances. In my case, the available observations offered no evidence supporting the presence of a fault, even though upward seepage and indicator species were widely observed.


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