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Real surface conductivity component as indicator for the hydraulic conductivity

Arabian Journal of Geosciences volume 4, pages 269–281 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Estimation of hydraulic conductivity from surface resistivity measurements is one of the most difficult and challenging hydrogeophysical targets. The promising side of this relation is the analogy between electric current flow and water flow, whereas the grand ambiguity is the non-dimensionality between both two quantities. Imaginary surface conductivity component is used recently to deduce the hydraulic conductivity via complex resistivity measurements. Since there are similar properties between imaginary (out-of-phase) and real (in-phase) surface conductivity components, the latter is used in this paper to predict the hydraulic conductivity. Two mathematical parameters were determined to express the electrical equivalent of hydraulic conductivity in sand and clay systems based on the mode of electrical double-layer formation in both systems. The reliability of the proposed method is tested through applying on two datasets representing sand and clay systems. The first dataset is a clean sand and gravel aquifer in the Keritis basin in Chania, Crete, Greece. The second is mostly clayey sand aquifer in Wadi El-Assuity, Egypt. Application of the present approach in these two cases resulted in promising nearly identical values with the measured hydraulic conductivity via pumping test or geometric hydraulic conductivity via grain size analysis.

أستخدام المركبة الحقيقية للتوصيل السطحى كمؤشر للتوصيل الهيدروليكي

يعد تقدير نفاذية المياه بأستخدام قياسات المقاومة الكهربية السطحية واحدا" من الأهداف الأكثر صعوبة وتحديا فى مجال الهيدروجيوفيزياء. إن الجانب الواعد فى هذه العلاقة هو التشابه بين تدفق التيار الكهربائي ، وتدفق المياه ، في حين أن الغموض الكبير هو عدم التشابة بين أبعاد كل منهما. إن المركبة التخيلية للتوصيل السطحى تستخدم في الآونة الأخيرة للاستدلال على نفاذية المياه عن طريق قياسات المقاومة النوعية المعقدة. ولأن هناك خصائص مماثلة بين المركبة التخيلية و المركبة الحقيقية، فقد استخدمت الأخيرة في هذه الورقة البحثية للتنبؤ بنفاذية المياه. تم التوصل الى معامليين رياضيين يعبران عن المكافئ الكهربى للموصلية الهيدروليكية في الرمل والطين بناءا" علي طبيعة التوصيل السطحى لكلا النظاميين. تم إختبارمصداقية الطريقة المقترحة من خلال التطبيق على مجموعتين من البيانات التي تمثل نظم الترسيبات الطينية والرملية. بيانات المجموعة الاولى هي لخزان من الرمال والحصى في جزيرة كريت - اليونان أما المجموعة الثانية فهي لخزان مكون في معظمه من رسوبيات طينية رملية فى وادي الأسيوطى - مصر.

إن تطبيق الطريقة المقترحة الحاليه فى هاتين المنطقتين قد أسفرت عن قيم متطابقة تقريبا للتوصيل الهيدروليكي المقاس عبر إختبار الضخ أوالمحسوب عبر تحليل حجم الحبيبات.

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Acknowledgment

The author is indebted to the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) for the support through the post-doctor fellowship (SFRH\BPD\29971/2006). This work was partly developed in the scope of the scientific cooperation agreement between the Center of Geophysics, University of Lisboa (CGUL), and the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Cairo, Egypt (NRIAG).

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  1. Centro de Geofísica da Universidade de Lisboa-IDL, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Ed. C8, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Mohamed Ahmed Khalil

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Khalil, M.A. Real surface conductivity component as indicator for the hydraulic conductivity. Arab J Geosci 4, 269–281 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-010-0143-0

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Keywords

  • Hydrogeophysics
  • Hydraulic conductivity
  • Electric resistivity
  • Surface conductance