Measuring horizontal groundwater flow with distributed temperature sensing along cables installed with direct-push equipment

Abstract

The pressure on groundwater systems, especially in coastal regions, increases as the population rapidly grows. In these regions, management of water tables and fluxes is important to minimize droughts, salt-water intrusion, and flooding. Proper management of such groundwater systems requires knowledge of how groundwater responds to water entering and leaving the system. Groundwater models can translate changes in inflow and outflow into changes in the groundwater table and flow. Proper calibration of these models depends on measurements of the flow and the groundwater table. While the groundwater table can be measured relatively easily, flow can only be measured either when it enters or exits groundwater systems (e.g., wells, infiltration, seepage), indirectly with tracers (solutes or heat), or with a variety of geophysical techniques. In this dissertation, a new approach is presented to measure horizontal groundwater in the aquifer with distributed temperature sensing (DTS) along cables that are inserted with direct-push equipment...