We develop innovative methodologies for characterizing aquifers and reservoirs by integrating different types of data.

1. Joint hydrological-geophysical inversion

Geophysical interpretation of subsurface structures is traditionally performed without any account of hydrological (flow and transport) behavior. The key element of the proposed approach is the identification of the intimate relation between rock compliance and rock transmissivity (rock-physics model) , which determine the acoustic and flow responses of a geologic reservoir, respectively. We investigate rock-physics model that couples hydrological and geophysical information. Figure below shows an example of joint flow-seismic work flow.

2. Joint inversion of flow and transport data for characterizing saline aquifers

The injection and storage of freshwater in brackish or salty aquifers for the purpose of managed aquifer recharge and recovery (MAR) is an important but also challenging technology due to the density difference between the injected and residual groundwater. While many tracer studies have been designed for the injection of a saline tracer into fresh groundwater in order to characterize underlying aquifers, very few studies have dealt with freshwater injection into a saline formation as an effective underground storage. Robust assessment and efficient planning of MAR is challenging due to the complex coupled physics (density-dependent flow and transport) and the large natural heterogeneity in the characteristics of the porous medium (porosity and permeability).

Motivated by the field MAR site with a saline aquifer in South Korea, we develop innovative inversion approaches to estimate the permeability field in saline aquifers.

More details will be updated soon.