The exPrior package implements a procedure for formulating informative priors of geostatistical properties for a target field site, called ex-situ priors and introduced in Cucchi et al. (2019). The procedure uses a Bayesian hierarchical model to assimilate multiple types of data coming from multiple sites considered as similar to the target site. This prior summarizes the information contained in the data in the form of a probability density function that can be used to better inform further geostatistical investigations at the site. The formulation of the prior uses ex-situ data, where the data set can either be gathered by the user or come in the form of a structured database. The package is designed to be flexible in that regard. For illustration purposes and for easiness of use, the package is ready to be used with the worldwide hydrogeological parameter database (WWHYPDA) Comunian and Renard (2009).
Hydrogeological information about an aquifer is difficult and costly to obtain, yet essential for the efficient management of groundwater resources. Transferring information from sampled sites to a specific site of interest can provide information when site-specific data is lacking. Central to this approach is the notion of site similarity, which is necessary for determining relevant sites to include in the data transfer process. In this paper, we present a data-driven method for defining site similarity. We apply this method to selecting groups of similar sites from which to derive prior distributions for the Bayesian estimation of hydraulic conductivity measurements at sites of interest. We conclude that there is now a unique opportunity to combine hydrogeological expertise with data-driven methods to improve the predictive ability of stochastic hydrogeological models.
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