Geoffrey C. Bohling

Associate Scientist, Geohydrology, Kansas Geological Survey

Address Information

Kansas Geological Survey

1930 Constant Avenue

Lawrence, KS 66047-3724

Phone: (785) 864-2093

Fax: (785) 864-7728

E-mail: geoff@kgs.ku.edu

ORCID

Education

• Ph.D. (Hydrogeology), University of Kansas, 1999 (with honors)
• M.S. (Hydrogeology), University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1988
• B.S. (Geophysics) / B.A. (English), University of Kansas, 1986 (with highest distinction)

Interests and Expertise

• Statistical and geostatistical applications in the earth sciences
• Field- and regional-scale aquifer characterization using geostatistical and inverse modeling techniques
• Statistical and scientific programming in Matlab, Fortran, Java, VBA/Excel, and C
• Exploratory data analysis and statistical modeling with R/S-Plus
• Statistical classification (data mining) techniques
• Development of petrophysical data analysis techniques

Additional Computer Skills

• Familiar with Python, ArcGIS, MS Access, SQL, Oracle
• Web development in HTML, Java, Perl/CGI, and SVG
• Experience with Mac OS X, UNIX/Linux, and Windows

Professional Experience

• Associate Scientist, Geohydrology Section, Kansas Geological Survey, 2008-present
  • Continuing research on advanced aquifer characterization techniques
    • Investigating approaches for developing quantitative aquifer models based on abundant but qualitative drillers' log data
    • Developing direct-push hydraulic profiling data analysis techniques
    • Investigating hydraulic tomography and other advanced well test analysis techniques
  • Developed Small County, an interactive exercise in the geological characterization of petroleum reservoirs
• Assistant Scientist, Geohydrology Section, Kansas Geological Survey, 1999-2008
  • Research on aquifer characterization and contaminant transport
    • Developed data inversion techniques for hydraulic tomography
    • Developed Java application and web pages for the Interactive Ground-water Tutor
  • Assisted with development of a geologic model for a large gas field
    • Automating data processing procedures
    • Exploring combined application of neural network and Markov chain simulation to subsurface modeling
  • Developed ADP and other data analysis and visualization tools for CHRONOS
  • Provided guest lectures for Data Analysis in Engineering and Natural Science
  • Developed methodologies and software for petrophysical data analysis, including:
    • The Oz Machine, a Java applet for generation of synthetic stratigraphic sequences and corresponding log suites
    • Kipling.xla: An Excel add-in for nonparametric regression and classification
    • Petrophysical analysis and data mining components of GEMINI, web-based software for well log analysis and reservoir characterization
  • Performed statistical and geostatistical analyses of High Plains aquifer water levels
• Research Staff, Mathematical Geology Section, Kansas Geological Survey, 1988-1998
  • Pursued research on aquifer characterization and contaminant transport
  • Pursued research on classification problems in the earth sciences, including regionalized classification and non-parametric classification techniques
  • Participated in numerous projects involving statistical and geostatistical analysis of earth science data sets
  • Developed, documented, and presented software, including:
    • PfEFFER (well log analysis)
    • GSLIB-style programs for regionalized classification
    • Simulation of oil field discovery sequences
    • SUPRPUMP (aquifer test analysis)
• Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1987-1988
  • Investigated use of ground penetrating radar to map water table
• Student Research Assistant, Geophysics and Geochemistry Section, Kansas Geological Survey, 1985-1986
  • Developed a program for simulating hydrocarbon maturation in a developing sedimentary basin
• Laboratory Teaching Assistant, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Kansas, 1984-1985

Courses Taught:

• Geology 591/791: Geostatistics (Spring 2014, 2017)
• Chemical and Petroleum Engineering 940: Data Analysis in Engineering and Natural Sciences (Fall 2009, team-taught with Dr. John Doveton)

Selected Professional Activities and Awards

• Chair, Hydrology Section Groundwater Technical Committee, American Geophysical Union, 2013-2014
• Deputy Chair, Hydrology Section Groundwater Technical Committee, American Geophysical Union, 2010-2012
• 2008 Editors' Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for Water Resources Research
• Associate Editor, Ground Water, 2007-2015
• Editorial Board Member, Computers & Geosciences, 2004-2013
• Provided extensive technical and editorial assistance for Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology, Third Edition by John C. Davis
• Treasurer, International Association for Mathematical Geology, 2000-2004
• Book Review Editor, Computers & Geosciences, 1996-2000

Selected Publications

Peer-reviewed Journals

• Bohling, G.C., G. Liu, P. Dietrich, and J.J. Butler, Jr., 2016, Reassessing the MADE direct-push hydraulic conductivity data using a revised calibration procedure, Water Resources Research, v. 52, p. 8970-8985, doi:10.1002/2016WR019008
• Butler, J.J., Jr., D.O. Whittemore, B.B. Wilson, and G.C. Bohling, 2016, A new approach for assessing the future of aquifers supporting irrigated agriculture, Geophysical Research Letters, 43(5), 2004-2010, doi:10.1002/2016GL067879.
• Fiori, A., E. Volpi, A. Zarlenga, and G.C. Bohling, 2015, Gaussian or non-Gaussian logconductivity distribution at the MADE site: What is its impact on the breakthrough curve?, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, v. 179, p. 25-34, doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2015.05.004
• Dogan, M., R.L. Van Dam, G. Liu, M.M. Meerschaert, J.J. Butler, Jr., G.C. Bohling, D.A. Benson, and D.W. Hyndman, 2014, Predicting flow and transport in highly heterogeneous alluvial aquifers, Geophysical Research Letters, v. 41, p. 7560-7565, doi:10.1002/2014GL061800
• Zschornak, L., G.C. Bohling, J.J. Butler, Jr., and P. Dietrich, 2013, Hydraulic profiling with the direct-push permeameter: Assessment of probe configuration and analysis methodology, Journal of Hydrology, v. 496, p. 195-204, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.05.036
• Bohling, G.C., Liu, G., Knobbe, S., Reboulet, E., Hyndman, D.W., Dietrich, P., and Butler, J.J., Jr., 2012, Geostatistical analysis of centimeter-scale hydraulic conductivity variations at the MADE site, Water Resources Research, v. 48, W02525, doi:10.1029/2011WR010791
• Dogan, M., Van Dam, R.L., Bohling, G.C., Butler, J.J., Jr., and Hyndman, D.W., 2011, Hydrostratigraphic analysis of the MADE site with full-resolution GPR and direct-push hydraulic profiling, Geophysical Research Letters, v. 38, L06405, doi:10.1029/2010GL046439
• Bohling, G.C., and Butler, J.J., Jr., 2010, Inherent limitations of hydraulic tomography, Ground Water, vol. 48, no. 6, p. 809-824, doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2010.00757.x
• Liu, G., Butler, J.J., Jr., Bohling, G.C., Reboulet, E., Knobbe, S. and Hyndman, D.W., 209, A new method for high-resolution characterization of hydraulic conductivity, Water Resour. Res., v. 45, W08202, DOI:10.1029/2009WR008319. [Abstract online]
• Bohling, G.C., 2009, Sensitivity and Resolution of Tomographic Pumping Tests in an Alluvial Aquifer, Water Resources Research, v. 45, W02420, doi:10.1029/2008WR007249
• Liu, G., Bohling, G.C., and Butler, J.J., Jr., 2008, Simulation assessment of the direct-push permeameter for characterizing vertical variations in hydraulic conductivity, Water Resources Research, v. 44, W02432, doi:10.1029/2007WR006078
• Bohling, G.C., 2008, Information Fusion in Regularized Inversion of Tomographic Pumping Tests, in Quantitative Information Fusion for Hydrological Sciences (Studies in Computational Intelligence 79), edited by X. Cai and T.-C. J. Yeh, Springer-Verlag, pp. 137-162, doi:10.1007/978-3-540-75384-1
• Bohling, G.C., Butler, J.J., Jr., Zhan, X., and Knoll, M.D., 2007, A Field Assessment of the Value of Steady-shape Hydraulic Tomography for Characterization of Aquifer Heterogeneities, Water Resources Research, vol. 43, no. 5, W05430, doi:10.1029/2006WR004932
• Dubois, M. K., Bohling, G.C., and Chakrabarti, S., 2007, Comparison of four approaches to a rock facies classification problem, Computers & Geosciences, vol. 33, no. 5, p. 599-617, doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2006.08.011
• Bohling, G.C., and Doveton, J.H., 2006, The Oz Machine: A Java applet for interactive instruction in geological log interpretation, Geosphere, vol. 2, no. 5, p. 169-174, doi:10.1130/GES00046.1.
• Macfarlane, P. A., Bohling, G.C., Thompson, K.W., and Townsend, M.A., Helping Students Make the Transition from Novice Learner of Ground-water Concepts to Expert Using the Plume Busters Software, Journal of Geoscience Education, vol. 54, no. 5, p. 610-619
• Bohling, G.C., 2005, Chronos Age-Depth Plot: A Java application for stratigraphic data analysis, Geosphere, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 78-84, doi:10.1130/GES00009.1.
• Bohling, G.C., Zhan, X., Butler, J.J., Jr., and Zheng, L., 2002, Steady-shape analysis of tomographic pumping tests for characterization of aquifer heterogeneities, Water Resources Research, vol. 38, no. 12, 1324, doi:10.1029/2001WR001176.
• Bohling, G.C., and Butler, J.J., Jr., 2001, lr2dinv: A finite-difference model for inverse analysis of two-dimensional linear or radial groundwater flow, Computers & Geosciences, vol. 27, no. 10, p. 1147-1156, doi:10.1016/S0098-3004(01)00036-X
• Butler, J.J., Jr., McElwee, C., and Bohling, G., 1999, Pumping tests in networks of multilevel sampling wells: motivation and methodology: Water Resources Research, vol. 35, no. 11, p. 3553-3560.
• Harff, J., Bohling, G.C., Endler, R., Davis, J.C., and Olea, R.A., 1999, Gliederung holozäner Ostseesedimente nach physikalischen Eigenschaften [Structure of Holocene sediments from the Baltic Sea according to petrophysical properties], Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, vol. 143, p. 50-55.
• Bohling, G.C., Davis, J.C., and Olea, R.A., and Harff, J., 1998, Singularity and nonnormality in the classification of compositional data, Mathematical Geology, v. 30, no. 1, pp. 5-20.
• Bohling, G.C., 1997, GSLIB-style programs for discriminant analysis and regionalized classification, Computers & Geosciences, v. 23, no. 7, pp. 739-761. (Code available here.)
• McElwee, C.D., Bohling, G.C., and Butler, J.J., Jr., 1994, Sensitivity analysis of slug tests I: The slugged well, Journal of Hydrology, v. 164, pp. 53-67.
• McElwee, C.D., Butler, J.J., Jr., Bohling, G.C., and Liu, W., 1994, Sensitivity analysis of slug tests II: Observation wells, Journal of Hydrology, v. 164, pp. 69-87.
• Butler, J.J., Jr., Bohling, G.C., Hyder, Z., and McElwee, C.D., 1994, The use of slug tests to describe vertical variations in hydraulic conductivity, Journal of Hydrology, v. 156, pp. 137-162.
• Bohling, G.C., and Davis, J.C., 1993, A Fortran program for Monte Carlo simulation of oil field discovery sequences, Computers & Geosciences, v. 19, no. 10, pp. 1529-1543.
• Bohling, G.C., and McElwee, C.D., 1992, SUPRPUMP: An interactive program for well test analysis and design, Ground Water , v. 30, no. 2, p. 262-268.

Open File Reports

• Bohling, G.C., and B. B. Wilson, Statistical and Geostatistical Analyses of the Kansas High Plains Water Table Elevations, 2006 Measurement Campaign, Kansas Geological Survey Open File Report 2006-20, 43 pp.
• Bohling, G.C., and B. B. Wilson, 2005, Statistical and Geostatistical Analyses of the Kansas High Plains Water Table Elevations, 2005 Measurement Campaign, Kansas Geological Survey Open File Report 2005-6, 43 pp.
• Dubois, M.K., G.C. Bohling, and S. Chakrabarti, 2004, Comparison of Rock Facies Classification Using Three Statistically Based Classifiers, Kansas Geological Survey Open File Report 2004-64.
• Bohling, G.C., X. Zhan, M. D. Knoll, and Butler, J.J., Jr., Hydraulic Tomography and the Impact of A Priori Information: An Alluvial Aquifer Example, KGS Open-File Report 2003-71, 16 pp. ( PDF)
• Bohling, G.C., and M. K. Dubois, 2003, An Integrated Application of Neural Network and Markov Chain Techniques to Prediction of Lithofacies from Well Logs, KGS Open-File Report 2003-50, 6 pp. (PDF)
• Doveton, J. H., and Bohling, G.C., Reading the Rocks from Logs and Oz Machine Java Applet, KGS Open-File Report 2003-78. (web site)

Software

• Bohling, G.C., W. Jin, and J.J. Butler, Jr., 2011, Kansas Geological Survey barometric response function software user's guide, Kansas Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011-10, 27 pp. [available online]
• Bohling, G.C., 2004, User's Guide to CHRONOS Age-Depth Plot Version 1.00, Kansas Geological Survey Open File Report 2004-55, 10 pp.
• Bohling, G.C., and Doveton, J.H., 2000, Kipling.xla: An Excel Add-in for Nonparametric Regression and Classification, Kansas Geological Survey.
• Bohling, G., Doveton, J., Guy, B., Watney, L., and Bhattacharya, S., 1998, PfEFFER 2.0 Manual, Kansas Geological Survey.
• Bohling, G.C., McElwee, C. D., Butler, J.J., Jr., and Liu, W., 1990, User's guide to well test design and analysis with SUPRPUMP version 1.0, KGS Computer Program Series 90-3, 95 pp.

Software Workshops and Presentations

• PfEFFER workshop, Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence, KS, October 2004
• Kipling workshop, Amoco Petrophysics School, Tulsa, OK, January 1999
• PfEFFER workshop, Phillips 66, Odessa, TX, March 1998
• PfEFFER presentation in workshop at DOE's National Petroleum Technology Office, Tulsa, OK, February 1998
• PfEFFER workshop, Phillips 66, Bartlesville, OK, April 1997
• PfEFFER presentation in Petroleum Technology Transfer Council workshop, Golden, CO, February 1997
• SUPRPUMP presentation at Assessment and Mitigation at Hazardous Waste Sites: A Sixth Research Update, UCSD Extension, La Jolla, CA, July 1992

Proceedings Volumes

• Zschornack, L, G.C. Bohling, J.J. Butler, Jr., and P. Dietrich (2012), Numerical assessment of the direct-push permeameter for investigation of small-scale variations in hydraulic conductivity, in Models - Repositories of Knowledge (Proceedings of ModelCare 2011), IAHS Publ. 355, paper 42.
• Bohling, G.C., 2006, Exploring stochastic flow models with locally linear embedding, International Association for Mathematical Geology, XIth International Congress, Liege, Belgium, Sept. 3-6, 2006, 3 pp.
• Bohling, G.C., 2006, ConDoor: A Java front end for the CONOP stratigraphic event sequencing software, International Association for Mathematical Geology, XIth International Congress, Liege, Belgium, Sept. 3-6, 2006, 4 pp.
• Bohling, G.C., 1999, A radial-coordinate groundwater flow model for analysis of well tests in heterogeneous formations, in Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference of the IAMG, August 6-11, 1999, Trondheim, Norway, p. 693-697.
• Harff, J., Bohling, G.C., Endler, R., Davis, J.C., Olea, R.A., and Schwarzacher, W., 1999, Holocene sediments from the Baltic Sea basins as indicators for the paleoenvironment, in Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference of the IAMG, August 6-11, 1999, Trondheim, Norway, p. 195-200.
• Bohling, G.C., 1997, Canonical variate and principal component analyses of the Darss Sill granulometic data, in Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference of the IAMG, CIMNE, Barcelona, p. 163-168.
• Bohling, G.C., Doveton, J.H., and Hoth, P., 1997, Probabilistic classification and prediction of facies types in a mid-continent cretaceous deltaic-marine sequence from petrophysical log descriptors using a CMAC procedure, in Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference of the IAMG, CIMNE, Barcelona, p. 242-247.
• Bohling, G.C., Harff, J., and Davis, J.C., 1991, Regionalized classification: Ideas and applications, in Proceedings of the Fifth Canadian/American Conference on Hydrogeology: Parameter Identification and Estimation for Aquifer and Reservoir Characterization, National Water Well Association, pp. 229-242.

Book and Software Reviews

• Bohling, G.C., 2008, Review of "Petroleum Geostatistics" by Jef Caers, Computers & Geosciences, v. 34., no. 3, pp. 299-300, doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2007.07.002.
• Bohling, G.C., 2007, Review of "Parameter Estimation and Inverse Problems" by Aster, Borchers, and Thurber, Computers & Geosciences, v. 33, no. 7, pp. 987-988, doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2007.03.003.
• Bohling, G.C., 2001, Review of "VARIOWIN: Software for Spatial Data Analysis in 2D" by Yvan Pannetier, Computers & Geosciences, v. 27, no. 1, pp. 125-127.
• Bohling, G.C., 2000, Review of "GS+ for Windows, Version 3.1" by Gamma Design Software, Computers & Geosciences, v. 26., no. 7, pp. 855-863.
• Bohling, G.C., 1998, Review of "EnvironmentalStats for S-Plus", Version 1.0, by Stephen P. Millard, Computers & Geosciences, v. 24, no. 6, pp. 597-602.
• Bohling, G.C., 1998, Review of "Introduction to Geostatistics: Applications in Hydrogeology", by P. K. Kitanidis, Computers & Geosciences, v. 24, no. 3, pp. 293-294.
• Bohling, G.C., 1998, Review of "Applied Contaminant Transport Modeling: Theory and Practice", by Chunmiao Zheng and Gordon D. Bennett, Computers & Geosciences, v. 24, no. 2, pp. 207-208.
• Bohling, G.C., 1994, Review of "GSLIB: Geostatistical Software Library and User's Guide" by Clayton V. Deutsch and A. G. Journel, Computers & Geosciences, v. 20, no. 6, pp. 1063-1064.

Grants and Contracts Awarded

• Wilson, B.B., G.S. Liu, G.C. Bohling, D. O. Whittemore, and J. J. Butler, Jr., Design and construction of ground-water model for Western Kansas GMD#1, Kansas Water Office No. 0070863: $95,000, Jan. 2013 - Dec. 2014.
• Bohling, G.C., Butler, J.J., Jr., Reboulet, E.C., Wilson, B.B., and Whittemore, D.O., Getting the information modelers need: Extracting hydrostratigraphic information from drillers' logs, Kansas Water Resources Institute, Mar. 2012-Feb. 2014, $30,000.
• Butler, J.J., Jr., R.L. Stotler, D.O. Whittemore, and Bohling, G.C., High Plains aquifer calibration monitoring well program, $25,000, Kansas Water Office, 2012.
• Butler, J.J., Jr., Liu, G., and Bohling, G.C., Integrated use of surface and subsurface NMR for measuring and mapping saturated hydraulic conductivity in three dimensions, $20,963 (Phase 1--2010-11) and $225,000 (Phase 2--2011-2013), Vista Clara, Inc.
• Bohling, G.C., and Doveton, J., Small County: Web-based Instruction in the Geological Characterization of Petroleum Reservoirs, January 2008-December 2009, $148,132.
• Butler, J. J., Jr., Bohling, G.C., G. Liu, and others at Michigan State University and University of Alabama, Collaborative Research: High-resolution Dynamic Characterization of Transport Pathways: Providing New Insights into Subsurface Processes, March 2008-February 2011, National Science Foundation, $162,335.
• Dubois, M., Carr, T., Byrnes, A., Bohling, G.C., Battacharya, S., Doveton, J., Hugoton Asset Management Project: An Industry-University Study of Reservoir Systems in Southwest Kansas Hugoton Embayment and the Oklahoma Panhandle, January 2004-December 2005, $360,000.
• Davis, J.C., Bohling, G.C., and Olea, R. A., Numerical Correlation of Late-Quaternary Sediments from the Baltic Sea, Kattegat, Skagerrak and North Atlantic with Regard to their Role as Paleoclimate Indicators, National Science Foundation, $13,920, 2001-2002.
• Watney, W.L., Bohling, G.C., Battacharya, S., Look, K., Doveton, J., Carr, T., and Gerlach, P., Geo-Engineering Modeling Through Internet Informatics (GEMINI), Department of Energy, $877,271, September 2000.
• Butler, J.J., Jr., Bohling, G.C., McElwee, C.D., and Zheng, L., A new method for identification of preferential flow paths at sites of groundwater contamination, Hydrologic Sciences Program, National Science Foundation, $226,538, August 1999.
• Butler, J.J., Jr., McElwee, C.D., and Bohling, G.C., Identification of Preferential Flow Paths at Sites of Groundwater Contamination, National Science Foundation, $49,998, 28 pp., May 1995.
• Butler, J.J., Jr., and Bohling, G.C., Assessment of hydraulic and tracer tests at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Sandia National Laboratory, $9,767, Oct. 1995.

Kansas Geological Survey, Geohydrology
Updated Dec. 20, 2018
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