This project supports a collaborative research between Dr. Dongxiao Zhang, Department of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman and Dr. Mahmoud Bakr, National Water Research Center, Cairo, Egypt. They plan to investigate groundwater flow heterogeneity in fractured aquifers using stochastic modeling techniques with a case study of fractured limestone in Sinai.
Intellectual Merits: The main focus of the work is to investigate how our conceptualization of the fractured limestone can be improved through an integrated fieldwork and modeling program. Detailed studies of flow properties using fracture analyses, pumping and tracer techniques and geophysics will be used to develop a revised model of groundwater flow in fractured limestone. The fieldwork will be taken in phased manner, thereby allowing the modeling program to directly interact with and provide direction on the planning and interpretation of the field experiments. Thus, the whole program development will be undertaken in an iterative manner.
Broader Impacts: The project will support graduate students and junior scientists in both countries. New experiments will be developed in the field site run by Egypt NWRC and it is very likely that the new experiment sites will enhance infrastructure for research and education. The research will result in publications in refereed journals. The results can be used for water resource management in the arid environment of Egypt. The two teams will build up their experience jointly through the collaboration, where the US team will utilize the field data obtained by Egyptian team, while the latter will use the numerical and theoretical expertise of the former. Two US graduate students will participate in the research project. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.
