Abstract
The comprehension of groundwater flow depends on the knowledge of hydrogeological features and water cycle, especially the recharge process. Geophysical techniques can provide useful hydrogeological information (e.g., water table and base aquifer) toward improving the water balance in groundwater models. This study, conducted in an outcrop area of the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) in São Paulo state (Brazil), applied Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and geoelectrical techniques for structuring a conceptual groundwater model. A GPR with 200 MHz antenna, 4 Vertical Electrical Soundings (VES) with Schlumberger array, and 12 Electrical Resistivity Tomographies (ERT) with dipole–dipole array were used. Geophysical techniques, soil samples, and water level from monitoring wells helped the definition of two different hydraulic conductivity regions and a flux boundary condition for the groundwater flow model.
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Acknowledgements
This research was funded by FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) (Grant Number 2015/03806-1) and Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel—Brazil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. JLP acknowledges National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for providing research support (Grant Number 303731/2017-6). JC and EW are indebted to the relevant collaboration of Centro de Pesquisa de Águas Subterrâneas (CEPAS|USP), Ernande Costa Santos, Marcelo Cesar Stangari, and all students who helped in the data acquisition. JC thanks Angela Giampedro (Cultural Center–PUSP/São Carlos) for the English language review. Finally, the authors thank the reviewers for their valuable critiques and suggestions which improved the paper.
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Coutinho, J.V., Porsani, J.L., Elis, V.R. et al. Applications of geophysical techniques to improve a groundwater conceptual model in an outcrop area of the Guarani Aquifer System, in Brazil. Environ Earth Sci 79, 417 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09163-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09163-4