Modelagem computacional e calibração da condutividade hidráulica horizontal em aqüífero da Bacia Sedimentar do Araripe utilizando o método iterativo do gradiente hidráulico

Abstract

The process of calibration of hydrodynamic parameters represents an important part in computer modeling; its general approach consists of minimizing an objective function expressed by the difference between observed and simulated hydraulics heads. Guo and Zhang, in the decade of 90 and Schuster and Araújo (2004)proposed an alternative process for estimating the parameters, through the minimization of the difference between observed and simulated hydraulic gradients and denominated Iterative Method of the Hydraulic Gradient (IMHG). The generation of the matrix of observed heads has decisive function in the success of the calibration process. In the traditional approach, the observed matrix is obtained using a mathematical interpolation. This work intends to investigate the generation of the observed head matrix, using the simulation process itself, fixing, in the model, the points where the heads are known. Normally, great manual efforts were noticed in the attempt of integrating the simulating software (PMWIN) and the (IMHG), therefore, all calibration methodology was automatically implemented and a computer code was developed, denominated UFC-MIGH. Geoprocessing techniques were added to the calibration process in order to simplify the generation of the input matrix of the model. For the application of the proposed methodology, the horizontal hydraulic conductivities of two hypothetical examples and a real case were used. The real case consisted of a portion of the aquifer of the Sedimentary Basin of Araripe,including the total urban area of the municipal district of Crato. In all of the simulated cases, the results them IMHG, demonstrated smaller errors than the traditional methodology, implemented in the software PEST. Thus, IMHG demonstrated larger flexibility, showing superior effectiveness in problems with or without the zoning of the hydraulic conductivities. The new methodology of generation of observed heads matrix is much more hydrogeological consistent than using just mathematical interpolation. This new methodology takes into account singularities of the model, as rivers, wells and impermeable outlines. Finally, as important final products, present in the thesis, the map of horizontal hydraulic conductivity and the contour map of the hydraulic heads of the area where the methodology was applied