Open AccessInvestigation of the impact of sparse data on the use of geostatistical approaches
Author(s) -
G. Lamorey,
E.A. Jacobson
Publication year - 1995
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/399669
Subject(s) - hydraulic head , variogram , head (geology) , flow (mathematics) , groundwater flow , boundary (topology) , geology , inverse , mathematics , inverse problem , statistics , soil science , groundwater , geotechnical engineering , geometry , kriging , mathematical analysis , aquifer , geomorphology
Techniques to estimate semivariogram parameters are investigated with respect to assessing the effects of sparse data and detecting the presence of a trend. These techniques are applied to the determination of semivariogram parameters used in the estimation of hydraulic head values at node locations from measured head data. The presence of no-flow boundaries is included in the estimation of hydraulic heads at node values by applying constraints to the head gradient across the no-flow boundaries. The resulting hydraulic head estimates are used in an inverse groundwater flow model to assess the impact of the no-flow boundary constraints on transmissivities determined from the inverse model. It is found in a case study that when gradients in the prior head distribution do not match assumed no-flow boundaries, the inverse model can produce low transmissivity values along these no-flow boundaries. Prior heads estimated with constraints on the head gradient across no-flow boundaries did not produce the low transmissivity values along no-flow boundaries