The comparison model method: A new arithmetic approach to the discrete inverse problem of groundwater hydrology

Let the steady-state pressure z(·) of a fluid in a one-dimensional domain be governed by the equation d _x (a d _x z) = f subject to Dirichlet boundary conditions. We consider the identification of the transmissivity a (·), given f(·), and measured pressure z(·) by the comparison model method, a direct method which has been known and applied for some time but lacked theoretical background. With reference to a domain in one spatial dimension, we examine both the infinite-(‘continuous’) and finite-(discrete) dimensional cases. In the former, the method is based on the solution p(·) of an auxiliary flow equation, where f(·) and the two-point boundary conditions are unchanged with respect to the original or z(·) equation, whereas a tentative constant value b is assigned to the auxiliary transmissivity. The ratio of the first derivatives of p(·) and z(·) multiplied by b yields a solution ã(·) to the inverse problem. We examine in detail the nonuniqueness of ã(·) as a function of b, some cases where existence implies uniqueness, the role of positivity constraints, and a special feature: self-identifiability. We then translate all available results into the discrete case, where the good unknowns for the inverse problem are the internode coefficients. Several algebraic and numerical examples are presented.     

The Differential System Method for the Identification of Transmissivity and Storativity

The differential system (DS) method for the identification of transmissivity and storativity is applied to a confined isotropic aquifer in transient conditions. The data that are required for the identification are the piezometric heads and the source terms, together with the value of transmissivity at a single point only, which is the only parameter value needed a priori. In particular, no a priori knowledge of storativity is needed and, moreover, the identification of transmissivity does not depend upon storativity. The DS method yields the internode transmissivities necessary for the conservative finite differences models in a natural way, because it identifies transmissivities along the internodal segments, so that a well-known formula can be applied that bypasses the difficulty of finding an equivalent cell transmissivity and an averaging scheme. In addition, the DS method takes into account several different flows all over the aquifer, so that the identified parameters are to a certain degree global andflow independent. Moreover, the method allows for a piecemeal identification of the parameters, thus keeping away from the regions where wells are pumping so that a two-dimensional model can be used throughout. We test the applicability of the DS method with noisy data by means of numerical synthetic examples and compare the identified internode transmissivities with the reference values. We use the identified parameters to forecast the behaviour of the aquifer under different exploitation and boundary conditions and we compare the forecast piezometric heads, their gradients and the associated fluxes with those computed with the reference parameters.