Delineating Hydrofacies Spatial Distribution by Integrating Ensemble Data Assimilation and Indicator Geostatistics

Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Sandia journal manuscript; Not yet accepted for publication

OSTI ID:1427267

Song, Xuehang ^[1]; Chen, Xingyuan ^[2]; Ye, Ming ^[3]; Dai, Zhenxue ^[4]; Hammond, Glenn Edward ^[5]

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1. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
2. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
3. Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
4. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
5. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

This study develops a new framework of facies-based data assimilation for characterizing spatial distribution of hydrofacies and estimating their associated hydraulic properties. This framework couples ensemble data assimilation with transition probability-based geostatistical model via a parameterization based on a level set function. The nature of ensemble data assimilation makes the framework efficient and flexible to be integrated with various types of observation data. The transition probability-based geostatistical model keeps the updated hydrofacies distributions under geological constrains. The framework is illustrated by using a two-dimensional synthetic study that estimates hydrofacies spatial distribution and permeability in each hydrofacies from transient head data. Our results show that the proposed framework can characterize hydrofacies distribution and associated permeability with adequate accuracy even with limited direct measurements of hydrofacies. Our study provides a promising starting point for hydrofacies delineation in complex real problems.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1427267
• Report Number(s): SAND--2015-6217J; 598646
• Journal Information: Sandia journal manuscript; Not yet accepted for publication, Journal Name: Sandia journal manuscript; Not yet accepted for publication; ISSN 9999-0014
• Publisher: Sandia
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English