Abstract
Indexing methods are used for the evaluation of aquifer vulnerability and establishing guidelines for the protection of ground-water resources. The principle of the indexing method is to rank influences on groundwater to determine overall vulnerability of an aquifer to contamination. The analytic element method (AEM) of ground-water flow modeling is used to enhance indexing methods by rapidly calculating a potentiometric surface based primarily on surface-water features. This potentiometric map is combined with a digital-elevation model to produce a map of water-table depth. This is an improvement over simple water-table interpolation methods. It is physically based, properly representing surface-water features, hydraulic boundaries, and changes in hydraulic conductivity. The AEM software, SPLIT, is used to improve an aquifer vulnerability assessment for a valley-fill aquifer in western New York State. A GIS-based graphical user interface allows automated conversion of hydrography vector data into analytic elements.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to recognize the work and input from all of the colleagues involved in the project, directly and indirectly. This project was funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, under the supervision of the University at Buffalo Groundwater Research Group.
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Fredrick, K.C., Becker, M.W., Flewelling, D.M. et al. Enhancement of aquifer vulnerability indexing using the analytic-element method. Env Geol 45, 1054–1061 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-004-0973-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-004-0973-8