Evaluation of hydrogeologic al parameters in heterogeneous porous media

Abstract

For most hydrogeological problems, and particularly in heterogeneous porous media, the global permeability (or transmissivity) of the aquifers is the most important parameter to be determined for long-term predictions. In practice, the most common methods used by hydrogeologis ts to determine these parameters consist in radial pumping or injection tests. Two approaches can thus be considered: the first consists of performing numerous short duration tests and then to calculate from these local values a global estimation of the transmissivity; the second consists of performing long-term pumping tests where the value of the effective transmissivity is obtained directly by classical methods of interpretatio n. The aim of this paper is to compare, by means of numerical simulations, the results of the two approaches for the estimation of the global transmissivity. Results appear to be identical as long as a few rules of interpretation are