Detailed characterization of a fractured limestone formation using stochastic inverse approaches

Abstract

We discuss here two inverse approaches to construction of fracture flow models and their application in characterizing a fractured limestone formation. The first approach creates ``equivalent discontinuum`` models that conceptualize the fracture system as a partially filled lattice of conductors which are locally connected or disconnected to reproduce the observed hydrologic behavior. An alternative approach viz. ``variable aperture lattice`` models represent the fracture system as a fully filled network composed of conductors of varying apertures. The fracture apertures are sampled from a specified distribution, usually log-normal consistent with field data. The spatial arrangement of apertures is altered through inverse modeling so as to fit the available hydrologic data. Unlike traditional fracture network approaches which rely on fracture geometry to reproduce flow and transport behavior, the inverse methods directly incorporate hydrologic data in deriving the fracture networks and thus naturally emphasize the underlying features that impact the fluid flow and transport. However, hydrologic models derived by inversion are non-unique in general. We have addressed such non-uniqueness by examining an ensemble of models that satisfy the observational data within acceptable limits. We then determine properties which are shared by the ensemble of models as well as their associated uncertainties to create amore » conceptual model of the fracture system. « less

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