A coupled hydrogeophysical approach to enhance groundwater resources management in developing countries

Fifty Vertical Electrical Soundings (VES) in the region including 14 near existing boreholes for comparison, and 180 horizontal soundings were carried out in a Pan-African geological environment. Pumping tests carried out on the 14 existing boreholes enabled to obtain the transmissivity (T) and hydraulic conductivity (K) of aquifers. An empirical relationship between the hydraulic conductivity and electrical Dar-Zarrouck parameters obtained from the sounding curves interpretation was used to compute the hydrodynamic characteristics of aquifers on the remaining 36 VES sites. Results show that the Pan-African aquifers are characterized by a depth ranged between 7 and 84 m with a thickness up to 100 m in some places, a resistivity ranged from 3 to 825 Ωm, a hydraulic conductivity ranged from 0.012 and 1.667 m/day, and a transmissivity ranged between 0.46 and 46.02 m²/day. These results could be observed in all regions worldwide where the Pan-African geological setting is extended. And this environmentally friendly approach, using conjointly geophysical and hydrological methods can be used to explore aquifers elsewhere in the context of sustainable management of groundwater resources

کلیدواژه ها:

developing countries ، hydrodynamic parameter ، VES ، groundwater ، sustainable management