Problem 49743. Determine aquifer properties: unsteady pump test in a confined aquifer

An important task in characterizing the flow of groundwater is to determine the properties of the aquifer, or the underground water-bearing formation. One approach is to disturb the aquifer, observe its response, and fit a theoretical formula to the observations.
For example, suppose a confined aquifer initially has no flow. In that case, the piezometric head h, or the level to which water would rise in an observation well, would be a uniform value h0. A well turned on and pumped at a rate Q0 will create a cone of depression; that is, it will draw down the piezometric head to a level h(r), where r is the radial distance from the well. Applying conservation of mass and Darcy’s law to this situation leads to a diffusion equation whose solution for the drawdown s = h0 - h as a function of distance r and time t is
s = (Q0/(4 pi T)) integral(exp(-x)/x, u, infinity)
where T is the transmissivity, S is the storativity, and
u = Sr^2/(4Tt)
Write a function that achieves the objective of a pumping test: to determine the transmissivity and storativity from measurements of drawdown in time.
Solve

Solution Stats

50.0% Correct | 50.0% Incorrect
Last Solution submitted on Apr 16, 2023

Problem Comments

Solution Comments

Show comments

Problem Recent Solvers3

Suggested Problems

More from this Author291

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!