Data-driven estimates for the geostatistical characterization of subsurface hydraulic properties

Abstract

The geostatistical characterization of the subsurface is confronted with the double challenge of large uncertainties and high exploration costs. Making use of all available data sources is consequently very important. Bayesian inference is able to mitigate uncertainties in such a data-scarce context by drawing on available background information in the form of a prior distribution. To make such a prior distribution transparent and objective, it should be calibrated against a data set containing estimates of the target variable from available sites. In this study, we provide a collection of covariance and/or variogram functions of the subsurface hydraulic parameters from a large number of sites. We analyze this data set by fitting a number of widely used variogram model functions and show how they can be used to derive prior distributions of the parameters of said functions. In addition, we discuss a number of conclusions that can be drawn for our analysis and possible uses for the data set.