Estimating Hydraulic Conductivity Profiles Using Borehole Resistivity Logs

Mea-surements of aquifer resistivity are intuitively attractive for estimating aquifer hydraulic conductivity because of the fundamental relation between hydraulic conductivity and electrical conductivity; both of these properties depend on porosity, grain size and packing configuration ([1], [2]). In this study porosity and hydraulic conductivity profiles are estimated in three boreholes in Glafkos aquifer, located near the city of Patras in Western Greece. For this purpose, resistivity measurements, the law of Archie [1], the Kozeny-Carman model [2] and numerical simulations of pumping tests performed in the boreholes, have been used. It is shown that resistivity logs and pumping tests constitute a useful data set for the estimation of hydraulic conductivity profiles. The reliability of the results has been discussed. The relationships between porosity and hydraulic conductivity resulting for each of the three investigated boreholes have been compared to each other as well as with literature data. The comparison confirms that the value of the hydraulic conductivity for a given value of the porosity varies significantly.