Gringarten-Witherspoon Solution for Fractured Aquifers

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Recommended Book:

Butler (1998)

Gringarten-Witherspoon Solution for Fractured Aquifers with a Single Vertical Plane Fracture

Description

A mathematical solution by Gringarten and Witherspoon (1972) is useful for determining the hydraulic properties (hydraulic conductivity, specific storage, hydraulic conductivity anisotropy and fracture length) of fractured aquifers with a single vertical plane fracture intersecting the pumped well. Analysis involves matching the solution to water-level displacement data collected during a pumping test. The solution estimates hydraulic conductivity anisotropy in a horizontal (x-y) plane.

AQTESOLV for Windows provides visual and automatic methods for matching the Gringarten-Witherspoon solution to pumping test data. This easy-to-use and intuitive software promotes rapid and accurate determination of aquifer properties.

Assumptions

The following assumptions apply to the use of the Gringarten-Witherspoon solution:

	aquifer has infinite areal extent
	aquifer has uniform thickness
	aquifer potentiometric surface is initially horizontal
	fractured aquifer represented by anisotropic system with a single plane vertical fracture that fully penetrates aquifer
	flow is unsteady
	water is released instantaneously from storage with decline of hydraulic head
	diameter of pumping well is very small so that storage in the well can be neglected

Solution Options

AQTESOLV for Windows provides the following options for the Gringarten-Witherspoon solution:

	variable pumping rates
	multiple pumping wells
	multiple observation wells

References

Gringarten, A.C. and P.A. Witherspoon, 1972. A method of analyzing pump test data from fractured aquifers, Int. Soc. Rock Mechanics and Int. Assoc. Eng. Geol., Proc. Symp. Rock Mechanics, Stuttgart, vol. 3-B, pp. 1-9.