Comparing sensitivities of groundwater head to variations in hydraulic parameters under boundary conditions of river stage rise and tidal variation

Abstract

The sensitivity of hydraulic head responses to spatially distributed hydraulic parameters is essential for uncertainty analysis, inverse modeling, and parameter estimation and interpretation. This study formulates the Fréchet sensitivity kernel of hydraulic head responses to a suddenly rising boundary and a sinusoidal head fluctuation boundary to variation of spatially distributed hydraulic parameters in a semi-infinite, one-dimensional (1-D), confined aquifer, and it then derives analytical solutions. Different from previous studies that derived expressions for Fréchet kernels in the time domain for a 2-D pumping test, this study is the first to derive the closed-form Fréchet kernels in time and frequency domains for a semi-infinite, 1-D, confined aquifer. This study uses the Fréchet kernels to investigate the nature of singularities in the spatial sensitivity functions around the observation location and boundary. The information content revealed by observation of head change or head fluctuation amplitude at a given specified location and time (or frequency) under the above two boundary conditions is different. When comparing Fréchet sensitivity kernels across various times or periods, multi-frequency information, much like multi-time information, can be instrumental for hydrogeological parameter inversion. The explicit-form Fréchet sensitivity kernels also identify the optimal time or period for obtaining measurements.