Thermal modeling of a Swiss urban aquifer and implications for geothermal heat pump systems

The progressive electrification of the building conditioning sector in recent years has greatly contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by using renewable energy sources, particularly shallow geothermal energy. This energy can be exploited through open and closed shallow geothermal systems (SGS), and their performances greatly depend on the ground/groundwater temperature, which can be affected by both natural and anthropogenic phenomena. The present study proposes an approach to characterize aquifers affected by high SGS exploitation (not simulated in this work). Characterization of the potential hydro/thermogeological natural state is necessary to understand the regional flow and heat transport, and to identify local thermal anomalies. Passive microseismic and groundwater monitoring were used to assess the shape and thermal status of the aquifer; numerical modeling in both steady-state and transient conditions allowed understanding of the flow and heat transport patterns. Two significant thermal anomalies were detected in a fluvio-glacial aquifer in southern Switzerland, one created by river water exfiltration and one of anthropogenic nature. A favorable time lag of 110 days between river and groundwater temperature and an urban hot plume produced by underground structures were observed. These thermal anomalies greatly affect the local thermal status of the aquifer and consequently the design and efficiency of current and future SGS. Results show that the correct characterization of the natural thermo-hydrogeological status of an aquifer is a fundamental basis for determining the impact of boundary conditions and to provide initial conditions required to perform reliable local thermal sustainability assessments, especially where high SGS exploitation occurs.

     

Sulla costituzione interna terrestre

Riassunto L'A., ricordata la classica equazione di Clairaut sulla costituzione interna terrestre ed accennate le varie ipotesi sulla variazione continua della densità escogitate per integrare l'equazione di Clairaut, riporta i dati numerici ottenuti da Bullen per una distribuzione discontinua di densità. Determina in base ai dati di Bullen i coefficienti di quattro funzioni atte a fornire la densità a qualsiasi profondità e istituisce notevoli confronti fra le ipotesi di Roche, Helmert, Legendre, De Chaurand, Helmert generalizzata e Bullen. — Da ultimo studia il problema della variazione della gravità nell'interno della terra prendendo a base dei calcoli la ipotesi sulla variazione discontinua della densità di Bullen e qualla sulla variazione continua dovuta all'A. e da lui denominata ipotesi di Helmert generalizzata.

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Summary The Author, having summarized the classical equation of Clairaut on the internal structure of the earth and having touched upon the sundry hypotheses on the continual variation of density devised for the integration of Clairaut's equation, reports the numerical data obtained by Bullen for a discontinual distribution of density. The Author determines, after bullen's data, the coefficients of four functions apt to furnish the density at any dept whatever and makes some remarkable comparisons among the hypotheses of Roche, Helmert, Legendre, De Chaurand, Helmert generalized and Bullen. Lastly the Author studies the problem of the variation of gravity in the interior of the errth taking as a foundation of his calculations the hypothesis on the discontinual variation by Bullen and his own hypothesis on the continual variation that he calls Helmert's generalized hypothesis.

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Zusammenfassung Der Verf. erinnert zuerst die Gleichung von Clairaut betreffs der innere Beschaffenheit der Erde, sowie die verschiedenen Annahmen über die Veränderungen seiner Dichte. Auf Grund der Verteilung von Bullen bestimmt er die Koeffizienten von vier Funktionen durch welche möglich ist die Dichte in von Roche, Helmert, Legender, De Chaurand, Helmert verallgem. und Bellen. Ausserdem untersucht er das Problem der Schwere-Verteilung im Innern der Erde für die Annahme von Bullen sowie für die stetige Verteilung nach einer Formel des Verf. welche eine Verallgemeineung der Helmertschen Formel darstellt.

     

Su un programma di ricerche geofisiche in Toscana per l'individuazione di giacimenti metalliferi

Riassunto L'A., premessi brevi cenni sulle caratteristiche fisiche di alcuni minerali metallici (di piombo, zinco ed antimonio) e richiamate le condizioni geo-minerarie della Toscana, segnala l'opportunità di misure gravimetriche specialmente nella zona del Bottino allo scopo di individuare giaciture, spessori e pendenze di nuovi filoni e dove possono essere applicati i procedimenti di Jung sui rilievi eötvössiani relativi a figure bidimensionali.

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Summary The Author, after some hints on the physical characters of sundry metallic minerals (such of lead, zinc and antimony) and having summarized the geominerary conditions of Tuscany, points out the necessity of gravimetrical measurements particularly in the zone of Bottino in order to find out the layers, the thickness and inclination of new veins and the place where the methods of Jung on the eötvössian reliefs cancerning bidimensional figures may be applied.

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Zusammenfassung Bezugsnehmend auf die physik. Eigenschaften einiger Erzen (besonders von Blei, Zink und Antimon) und auf die geologischen Verhältnisse von Toskana, hebt der Verf. die Zweckmässigkeit gravimetrischer Messungen hervor und vor allem in der Zone des Bottino um die Erzmassen in der betreffenden Lage zu bestimmen.

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Pisa, 14 aprile 1940-XVIII     

Frequency‐dependent multi‐offset phase analysis of surface waves: an example of high‐resolution characterization of a riparian aquifer

Multi‐offset phase analysis of seismic surface waves is an established technique for the extraction of dispersion curves with high spatial resolution and, consequently, for the investigation of the subsurface in terms of shear wave velocity distribution. However, field applications are rarely documented in the published literature. In this paper, we discuss an implementation of the multi‐offset phase analysis consisting of the estimation of the Rayleigh wave velocity by means of a moving window with a frequency‐dependent length. This allows maximizing the lateral resolution at high frequencies while warranting stability at the lower frequencies. In this way, we can retrieve the shallow lateral variability with high accuracy and, at the same time, obtain a robust surface‐wave velocity measurement at depth. In this paper, we apply this methodology to a dataset collected for hydrogeophysical purposes and compare the inversion results with those obtained by using refraction seismics and electrical resistivity tomography. The surface‐wave results are in good agreement with those provided by the other methods and demonstrate a superior capability in retrieving both lateral and vertical velocity variations, including inversions. Our results are further corroborated by the lithological information from a borehole drilled on the acquisition line. The availability of multi‐offset phase analysis data also allows disentangling a fairly complex interpretation of the other geophysical results.