Conservative identification of nodal transmissivities: theory, computational experiments and application to the Rharb coastal aquifer (Morocco)

In order to calculate the transmissivity from the inverse problem correspon ding to the groundwater flow in an isotropic horizontal aquifer, a numerica l conservative approach is tested. The method deals with triangulation of t he domain and applies the conservation of mass to elements of the mesh usin g the harmonic mean for internodal transmissivities. An optimal sweeping al gorithm is used to evaluate nodal transmissivities from one element to anot her with a minimal relative error accumulation. The practical importance of the method is demonstrated through two synthetic examples representing tho se experienced in the field, then through application to a Moroccan aquifer . The computed hydraulic head is well fitted to the reference one, which co nfirms the validity of the identified transmissivity model.