Airflow induced by pumping tests in unconfined aquifer with a low‐permeability cap

Abstract

Most analytical and numerical models developed to analyze pumping test data focus on saturated flow below the water table. Traditionally the soil above the initial water table prior to pumping has been thought to have little influence on the test results and has usually been ignored. It is hypothesized that, if the unsaturated zone is capped by low‐permeability soil, airflow in the unsaturated zone may be developed during pumping and may have impact on the drawdown in the aquifer. A transient, three‐dimensional and variably saturated flow model is employed to simulate the pumping‐induced air and groundwater flows in both the saturated zone and unsaturated zone with a low‐permeability layer. The results demonstrate that negative pressure in the unsaturated zone can be generated by pumping. The negative pressure begins to appear as the drawdown rate increases to a maximum, approaches a peak before the drawdown rate becomes zero, and then gradually disappears. Drawdown obtained from the capped aquifer is much greater because the water in the pores in the unsaturated zone is sucked by the negative pressure and the gravity drainage from the pores is hampered. Consequently, the drawdown versus time curve does not conform to the traditional S‐shaped curve for an unconfined aquifer but is similar to that of a confined aquifer. If the airflow caused by the low‐permeability cap is ignored, the error in estimated drawdown could be over 80% for the specific parameters and aquifer configuration used in the study. The possible errors in parameter estimation when airflow is ignored are explored. Overall, the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer can be overestimated and the specific yield of the aquifer underestimated if airflow is ignored. The estimation error for specific yield tends to be greater than that in hydraulic conductivity.