Book reviews

Abstract

There are 60 papers in the volume, organized under four themes: (1) General Introduction, (2) Criteria for Optimal Sampling Strategies, (3) Methods and Techniques for the Determination of Geohydrological Parameters and Variables, and (4) Instrumentation. The two introductory papers-by Kovacs of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Skinner of the UK Severn-Trent Water Authority-set the tone for the papers that follow by emphasizing such issues as the need for integrating field measurement programmes and predictive mathematical modelling, the importance of stochastic features of hydrogeological systems, and the need to define information needs in terms of management objectives. The scope of the papers is quite broad. The largest groups (5-10 papers each) treat the design of field exploration programmes, the design of monitoring networks, the application of geophysical techniques, and the description of new instrumentation. Among the geophysical papers, we were most intrigued by the report by Gandino & Tonelli on their use of aerial infrared surveys to locate submarine freshwater springs along the south coast of Italy. This methodology appears to provide the final link in the mapping of coastal groundwater flow systems. A number of articles in the instrumentation section describe automatic data acquisition systems for measuring such diverse variables as water levels in observation wells, negative pore-water pressures from tensiometers, pumping rates, fluid temperatures, and electrical conductivities. These systems, which are often driven by microprocessors or mini-computers, can store large amounts of data on magnetic-tape cassettes that are computer-compatible. One of the more exotic of the systems, described by Kohlmeier, Strayle & Giesel of FR Germany, uses ultrasonic pulses to make water level measurements during pumping tests. The system can obtain measurements at 30 different locations in less than 1.5 s. Several articles describe similar systems for acquiring data from permeability and water-quality packer tests. Sophisticated data analysis techniques are required to realize fully all the advantages of these high-speed data acquisition systems. Several articles describe techniques for storing,