Geostatistical Determination of Appropriate Pedotransfer Functions (PTFs) in the Estimation of Aquifers’ Hydraulic Conductivity in the Near Shore Environment of Akwa Ibom State, South-South, Nigeria

Geostatistical Determination of Appropriate Pedotransfer Functions (PTFs) in the Estimation of Aquifers’ Hydraulic Conductivity in the Near Shore Environment of Akwa Ibom State, South-South, Nigeria

The study deploys six Pedotransfer Functions (PTFs) for computing hydraulic conductivity from particulate size distributions data in order to select those appropriate for determining aquifer hydraulic conductivity in the study area. Particulate size distributions at d10, d20 and d60 was obtained by subjecting 11 core samples collected at aquifer’s location during an ongoing water borehole drilling project to mechanical analysis (sieving) processes. The percentage by mass of core samples that passed each sieve was computed and plotted against the grain size distributions on a semi logarithm paper. Aquifer’s layer porosity was determined for the core samples using the imbibition technique. Hydraulic conductivity and porosity data obtained were regressed using multiple regression technique, and result statistically interpreted.