Precision and accuracy of manual water-level measurements taken in the Yucca Mountain area, Nye County, Nevada, 1988-90
Water-Resources Investigations Report
93-4025
By: M.S. Boucher
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Abstract
Water-level measurements have been made in deep boreholes in the Yucca Mountain area, Nye County, Nevada, since 1983 in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Project, which is an evaluation of the area to determine its suitability as a potential storage area for high-level nuclear waste. Water-level measurements were taken either manually, using various water-level measuring equipment such as steel tapes, or they were taken continuously, using automated data recorders and pressure transducers. This report presents precision range and accuracy data established for manual water-level measurements taken in the Yucca Mountain area, 1988-90. Precision and accuracy ranges were determined for all phases of the water-level measuring process, and overall accuracy ranges are presented. Precision ranges were determined for three steel tapes using a total of 462 data points. Mean precision ranges of these three tapes ranged from 0.014 foot to 0.026 foot. A mean precision range of 0.093 foot was calculated for the multiconductor cable, using 72 data points. Mean accuracy values were calculated on the basis of calibrations of the steel tapes and the multiconductor cable against a reference steel tape. The mean accuracy values of the steel tapes ranged from 0.053 foot, based on three data points to 0.078, foot based on six data points. The mean accuracy of the multiconductor cable was O. 15 foot, based on six data points. Overall accuracy of the water-level measurements was calculated by taking the square root of the sum of the squares of the individual accuracy values. Overall accuracy was calculated to be 0.36 foot for water-level measurements taken with steel tapes, without accounting for the inaccuracy of borehole deviations from vertical. An overall accuracy of 0.36 foot for measurements made with steel tapes is considered satisfactory for this project.
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Precision and accuracy of manual water-level measurements taken in the Yucca Mountain area, Nye County, Nevada, 1988-90 |
| Series title | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Series number | 93-4025 |
| DOI | 10.3133/wri934025 |
| Edition | - |
| Year Published | 1994 |
| Language | ENGLISH |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey : USGS Earth Science Information Center, Open-File Reports Section [distributor], |
| Description | iv, 18 p. :ill. ;28 cm. |
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