AquiferTest is designed to automate the most common tasks that hydrogeologists and other water supply professionals typically encounter when planning and analyzing the results of an aquifer test. The program design allows you to efficiently manage all the information from your aquifer test and perform more analyses, consistently, and in less time. For example, you need to enter information about your testing wells (e.g. X and Y coordinates, elevation, screen length, etc.) only once in AquiferTest. After you create a well, you can see it in the navigator panel, or in the wells grid.

When you import data or create an analysis, you specify which wells to include from the list of available wells in the project. If you decide to perform additional analyses, you can again specify from the available wells without re-creating them in AquiferTest. There is no need to re-enter your data or create a new project. Your analysis graph is refreshed, and the data re-analyzed using the selected solution method. This is useful for quickly comparing the results of data analysis using different solution methods. If you need solution-specific information for the new analysis, AquiferTest prompts you for the required data.

This section describes the layout of AquiferTest and how to navigate in it.  The AquiferTest interface consists of two main windows:

•The Welcome Screen acts as a landing page for you when working with AquiferTest and allows you to manage your projects.

•The AquiferTest Main Window provides the core functionality of AquiferTest allowing you to manage, analyse, and report on your aquifer test data. The main window includes a main menu and provides several options for navigating through your data and associated workflows.

Welcome Screen

AquiferTest opens at the Welcome Screen.  The Welcome Screen allows you to:

•Create a New Project with a new Pumping Test, Slug Test, or Lugeon Test

•Open an an existing Project:

ofrom a Recent Projects list that show the most recently opened projects

ofrom a list of Example projects

ousing Windows Explorer

•Learn More by visiting the Waterloo Hydrogeologic website.

Main Window and Navigating the Interface

A typical AquiferTest window is shown below followed by descriptions of the different sections.

The AquiferTest Interface is composed of several components:

•Navigation Tab: Provides access to the data entry and analysis windows in the program; these include Pumping/Slug Test, Discharge, Water Levels, Analysis, Site Plan, and Reports. The contents of the navigation tab depend on the analysis method used (i.e. Pumping Test, Predictive Pumping Test, Slug Test, or Lugeon Test).

•Menu Bar: Contains menu commands with access to all the functions available in the AquiferTest.

•Toolbar: Contains several context sensitive short-cut buttons for some of the frequently used AquiferTest tools.

•Project Navigator Panel: Contains a tree view of all of the components which comprise an AquiferTest project. These include panels for Tests, Wells, Discharge Rates, Water Level data, Analyses, and other frequently used tasks.

•Main Workspace: Contains the information and controls required to perform tasks so that you can enter, visualize, and interpret your data

The following sections describe each of these components in greater detail:

Navigation Tabs

The interface in AquiferTest has been designed so that information can be quickly and easily entered, and modified at any time later if needed. The data entry and analysis windows have been separated into navigation tabs; the tabs are logically ordered such that the information flow is in a left-to-right fashion; this means that data is first entered in the far left tab, then the process proceeds to the right from there. The tabs are explained below:

For Pumping Tests:

•Pumping Test: project particulars, aquifer properties, pumping test details and info, well locations and dimensions and units

•Discharge: specify constant or variable discharge rates for one or more pumping wells

•Water Levels: time drawdown data, filtering, and trend affects

•Analysis: contains selected analysis graphs and associated options (diagnostic plots, drawdown derivatives) and calculated parameters

•Site Plan: map showing basemaps, well locations, drawdown, regional gradients, and streamlines.

•Reports: preview and print selected reports

For Pumping Test Predictions:

•Pumping Test: project particulars, aquifer properties, pumping test details and info, well locations and dimensions and units

•Discharge: specify constant or variable discharge rates for one or more pumping wells

•Drawdown: specify assumption, analysis method(s), and aquifer parameters, to obtain predicted drawdown at specified observation well locations.

•Site Plan: map showing basemaps, well locations, predicted drawdown, regional gradients, and streamlines.

•Reports: preview and print selected reports

For slug tests:

•Slug Test: project particulars, aquifer properties, slug test details and info, well locations and dimensions, and units

•Water Level: water level data

•Analysis: analysis graphs and calculated parameters

•Site Plan: map showing basemaps and well locations

•Reports: preview and print selected reports

For Lugeon Tests:

•Lugeon Test: project particulars, aquifer properties, test details and info, borehole and packer geometry and configurations, dimensions, and units

•Lugeon Test Data & Analysis: data entry and analysis

•Site Plan: map showing basemaps and well locations

•Reports: preview and print selected reports

  Pumping Test Tab

The pumping test tab is shown in both the standard pumping test and pumping test prediction workflows and contains all the general information pertaining to the site where the tests were conducted or are planned. This information need only be entered once and is displayed in the panel unchanged for any additional tests that are created.

Units are specified for the currently active pumping test. When a new pumping test is created, the units return to default and must be changed accordingly. The default units can be set by selecting Tools / Options / General. The units for Site Plan control the XY coordinates and the elevation data; the Dimensions units control the well geometry (r, L, etc.) and water levels; the Time, Discharge, and Pressure units control their respective parameters; Transmissivity units control the units for the calculated parameters transmissivity, storativity, and conductivity.

Pumping test details can be entered for each new test. Different descriptive names for the tests allow for easy navigation using the Project Navigator panel.

Aquifer properties can be uniquely specified for each pumping test or pumping test prediction. These include the aquifer thickness and the aquifer barometric efficiency (BE); the BE value is only necessary if you intend to correct the measured drawdown data based on barometric influences. The BE value may be directly entered in the field, or may be calculated from observed time-pressure data. For more details, see Data Pre-Processing.

In addition, well names, coordinates, elevations, and geometry is entered in this window. XY coordinates are required, as they are used to calculate the radial distance to the pumping well. Well geometry values (r, R, L, b) are necessary only for certain solution methods.

If the option “use r(w)” is selected, then values for n (gravel pack porosity) must be defined.

All wells are available for the entire project, i.e. within the file for several pumping/slug tests. However, the Type attribute refers only to the current pumping/slug test.

  Slug Test Tab

The slug test panel contains the same fields for the project, units, test, aquifer, wells, and site information as does the pumping test panel.

  Lugeon Test Tab

The Lugeon test panel contains similar fields for the project, units, test, wells. Additional information is required for the Test and Packager configurations.

  Discharge Tab

This panel allows the user to specify the discharge rates for each pumping well and is shown only for Pumping Test and Pumping Test (Predictions). Discharge rates may be constant or variable. For variable pumping rates, the measured rates are entered into the table, and are plotted automatically on the corresponding graph window on the right. AquiferTest interprets the numerical data as the end of the respective pumping stage. Therefore, there is no need to enter a pumping rate at time 0; simply enter the rate at the end of the interval.

For example:

The above inputs correspond to a first pumping stage from 0 to 2000 s with 100 gpm, Pumping stage 2 from 2000 s to 3500 s with 200 gpm, and pumping stage 3 from 3500 to 4500 s with 150 gpm.

Water Levels Tab

This panel contains fields for observation well data entry and provides graphical representation of this data. Data may be copied and pasted, imported using the Data Logger Wizard, or imported from a text or Excel file. When importing from Excel, only the first table sheet is imported and the data must be in the first two columns - Time in the first and Water Levels in the second.

In addition, there are data filtering options, and data corrections (trend affects, barometric affects, etc.) By reducing the number of measured values, you can improve the program performance, and calculate the aquifer parameters quicker.

  Water Level Tab

This panel allows the user to specify the water level observations made during the applicable pumping or slug tests. Water levels can be specified in a variety of vertical datums, including elevation above mean sea level (AMSL), elevation relative to a benchmark, depth to water from the top of casing (TOC), and drawdown.  Several data handling tools are available at this step in including:

•data corrections for

obarometric effects and

otrend removal:

▪simple delta,

▪linear,

▪logarithmic,

▪sinusoidal), and

•data filtering:

oby log or linear time difference

oelevation change

This step is made easy to work with by providing numerous options to enter the water level data, including direct entry, import of a wide variety of file formats, and pasting from the clipboard.

  Analysis Tab

The analysis panel contains the workspace for calculating aquifer parameters using the abundance of graphical solution methods for pumping and slug tests. There are two main tabs available: Diagnostic and Analysis.

Diagnostic graphs

The Diagnostic graph provides tools for interpreting the drawdown data, and is a visual aid for determining the aquifer type if this is not well understood. The measured drawdown data are plotted on a log-log scale, or a semi-log scale and is available for pumping tests only.

On the right side, apart from the actual graph, the processes characteristic of different aquifer types are schematically represented. By comparing the observed data to the pre-defined templates, it is possible to identify the aquifer type and conditions (confined, well bore storage, boundary influences, etc.) Using this knowledge, an appropriate solution method and assumptions can then be selected from the Analysis tab, and the aquifer parameters calculated.

In addition, AquiferTest calculates and displays the derivative of the measured drawdown values; this is helpful since quite often it is much easier to analyze and interpret the derivative of the drawdown data, then just the measured drawdown data itself.

Analysis graph tab

In the Analysis tab, there are several panels on the right hand side of the graph that allow setting up the graph, changing the aquifer parameters to achieve an optimal curve fit, model assumptions, display and other settings.

For more information, please see the Analysis Tab section.

  Drawdown Tab

The drawdown analysis tab is similar to the Analysis tab and contains the workspace for estimating drawdown associated with specified pumping discharge, aquifer conditions, and parameters based on the selected analytical solution method.   There are several panels on the right hand side of the graph that allow you to specify the Prediction method (i.e. the analytical solution), associated parameters, model assumptions, and various chart settings. For more information, please see the

  Lugeon Test Data & Analysis

The Lugeon Test Data and Analysis tab contains the workspace of entering the test data, standard Lugeon Test plots, and companion example charts to facilitate interpretation of the Lugeon Test.

  Site Plan Tab

AquiferTest automatically plots the wells on a map layout. The site map layout may contain a CAD file or raster image (e.g. a topographic map, an air or satellite photograph etc.). Raster images must be georeferenced using two known co-ordinates, at the corners of the image. For more details, see the Import Map Image... section.

  Reports Tab

The Reports page displays report previews, and allows the user to select from various report templates. The reports are listed in hierarchical order for the current pumping/slug test. A zoom feature is available, with preview settings.

The dark grey area around the page displays the margins for the current printer. You can modify these settings by selecting File/Printer Setup.

Select Print on this page to print all selected reports. Using Print on a selected tab will print the context related report directly - such as a data report from the Water Levels page.

Menu Bar

The menu bar provides access to most of the features available in AquiferTest. For more details, see the Main Menu Bar section.

AquiferTest Toolbar

The following sections describe each of the items on the toolbar, and the equivalent icons. For a short description of an icon, move the mouse pointer over the icon without clicking either mouse button.

The toolbars that appear beneath the menu bar are dynamic, changing as you move from one window to another. Some toolbar buttons become available only when certain windows are in view, or in a certain context. For example, the Paste button is only available after the Copy command has been used and the PDF and DOCX buttons must be configured using the program Options to appear/function in the AquiferTest.

The following tool buttons appear at the top of the AquiferTest main window:

New button creates a new project.

Open button opens an existing project.

Save button saves the current project.

Print button prints the data item which is currently in focus.

PDF creates a PDF of the data item which is currently in focus. For more information, please see the section about PDF Support.

DOCX button creates a Word document report of the data item which is currently in focus. For more information, please see the topic about Word Reports.

Copy button copies selected character(s) in a grid cell or a plot to the clipboard.

Paste button pastes text from the clipboard to the active cell.

Refresh button refreshes the current view.

Project Navigator Panel

Page url:https://www.waterloohydrogeologic.com/help/aquifertest/index.html?at_chapter15.htm