Deducing transmissivity from specific capacity in the heterogeneous upper aquifer system of Jifarah Plain, NW-Libya

Abstract

The hydraulic characterisation of aquifer systems is important for the development of exploitation scenarios and management strategies. Especially in lithologically heterogeneous aquifers, local scale variations in transmissivity (T) may not be neglected. Field scale transmissivity values are usually derived from pumping tests, but in most cases their number and availability is rather limited. Therefore T values are often estimated from specific well capacities (SC) which can easily be measured in exploitation wells based on static and dynamic water levels. Empirical relations allow T to be calculated from SC values using a power law relation of the form T=A*SCN. In this paper this relation is investigated for three aquifers in north-west Lybia, using the results from step-drawdown tests which allow determination of well efficiencies, which can be incorporated into the regression analysis. The obtained fitting coefficients of the power law relations were compared with published values from other studies. Both parameters of the power law relation (scale factor and power coefficient) seem to be highly correlated following an exponential relationship (R2=0.89), reducing the T–SC relation to a single parameter equation, which is mainly related to lithology.