Abstract
The characterization of in situ ground conditions is essential for geotechnical practice. The probabilistic estimation of soil parameters can be achieved via updating with monitoring data within the Bayesian framework. The estimation of spatially varying soil parameters is seldom undertaken with time-variant monitoring data. In this study, an efficient Bayesian method is presented for the estimation of spatially varied saturated hydraulic conductivity ks of unsaturated soil slope with spatiotemporal monitoring data. The computationally cheap surrogate model of the adaptive sparse polynomial chaos expansion method is adopted to approximate the transient numerical model. Markov chain Monte Carlo method is used for the probabilistic estimation of basic random variables. Based on the hypothetical cases, the effects of monitoring frequency and stage are studied. The errors and the uncertainties of the estimated ks fields are increased with the decreasing monitoring frequency. Bayesian estimation of spatial variability is more accurate when using the later stage of monitoring data. The estimated method is further verified with a real case study by the comparison of borehole data, dynamic probe test (DPT) data, and field monitoring data. The distribution of the soil types acquired from boreholes is reflected in the estimated ks. The estimated field of ks has a certain agreement with the borehole log and DPT measurements and can reproduce the spatial variability of the site to an acceptable degree.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
Alcolea A, Carrera J, Medina A (2006) Pilot points method incorporating prior information for solving the groundwater flow inverse problem. Adv Water Resour 29(11):1678–1689
Beran PS, Pettit CL, Millman DR (2006) Uncertainty quantification of limit-cycle oscillations. J Comput Phys 217(1):217–247
Bilgin Ö, Arens K, Dettloff A (2019) Assessment of variability in soil properties from various field and laboratory tests. Georisk Assess Manag Risk Eng Syst Geohazards 13(4):247–254
Blatman G, Sudret B (2010) An adaptive algorithm to build up sparse polynomial chaos expansions for stochastic finite element analysis. Probab Eng Mech 25(2):183–197
Blatman G, Sudret B (2011) Adaptive sparse polynomial chaos expansion based on least angle regression. J Comput Phys 230(6):2345–2367
Bozorgzadeh N, Bathurst RJ (2019) A Bayesian approach to reliability of MSE walls. Georisk Assess Manag Risk Eng Syst Geohazards. https://doi.org/10.1080/17499518.2019.1666999
Brooks SP, Gelman A (1998) General methods for monitoring convergence of iterative simulations. J Comput Graph Stat 7(4):434–455
Cao Z, Wang Y (2012) Bayesian approach for probabilistic site characterization using cone penetration tests. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 139(2):267–276
Ching J, Phoon KK (2013) Effect of element sizes in random field finite element simulations of soil shear strength. Comput Struct 126:120–134
Ching J, Phoon KK (2019) Constructing site-specific multivariate probability distribution model using Bayesian machine learning. J Eng Mech 145(1):04018126
Ching J, Wang JS (2016) Application of the transitional Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to probabilistic site characterization. Eng Geol 203:151–167
Cho KH, Choi MK, Nam SW, Lee IM (2006) Geotechnical parameter estimation in tunnelling using relative convergence measurement. Int J Numer Anal Methods Geomech 30(2):137–155
Cho SE (2014) Probabilistic stability analysis of rainfall-induced landslides considering spatial variability of permeability. Eng Geol 171:11–20
Davis JM, Wilson JL, Phillips FM, Gotkowitz MB (1997) Relationship between fluvial bounding surfaces and the permeability correlation structure. Water Resour Res 33(8):1843–1854
Desai A, Witteveen JA, Sarkar S (2013) Uncertainty quantification of a non-linear aeroelastic system using polynomial chaos expansion with constant phase interpolation. J Vib Acoust 135(5):051034
Ering P, Babu GS (2016) Probabilistic back analysis of rainfall induced landslide—a case study of Malin landslide, India. Eng Geol 208:154–164
Evans NC, Lam JS (2003) Tung Chung East natural terrain study area ground movement and groundwater monitoring equipment and preliminary results. Geotechnical Engineering Office, Civil Engineering Department
Feng S, Vardanega PJ (2019) A database of saturated hydraulic conductivity of fine-grained soils: probability density functions. Georisk Assess Manag Risk Eng Syst Geohazards 13(4):255–261
Fredlund DG, Rahardjo H, Fredlund MD (2012) Unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering practice. Wiley, New York
Gelman A, Rubin DB (1992) Inference from iterative simulation using multiple sequences. Stat Sci 7(4):457–472
Ghanem RG, Spanos PD (2003) Stochastic finite elements: a spectral approach. Courier Corporation, North Chelmsford
Gong W, Tien YM, Juang CH, Martin JR, Luo Z (2017) Optimization of site investigation program for improved statistical characterization of geotechnical property based on random field theory. Bull Eng Geol Environ 76(3):1021–1035
Gómez-Hernánez JJ, Sahuquillo A, Capilla J (1997) Stochastic simulation of transmissivity fields conditional to both transmissivity and piezometric data—I. Theory. J Hydrol 203(1–4):162–174
Griffiths DV, Huang J, Fenton GA (2011) Probabilistic infinite slope analysis. Comput Geotech 38(4):577–584
Hess KM, Wolf SH, Celia MA (1992) Large-scale natural gradient tracer test in sand and gravel, Cape Cod, Massachusetts: 3. Hydraulic conductivity variability and calculated macrodispersivities. Water Resour Res 28(8):2011–2027
Huang J, Griffiths DV (2015) Determining an appropriate finite element size for modelling the strength of undrained random soils. Comput Geotech 69:506–513
Huang J, Zheng D, Li DQ, Kelly R, Sloan SW (2018) Probabilistic characterization of two-dimensional soil profile by integrating cone penetration test (CPT) with multi-channel analysis of surface wave (MASW) data. Can Geotech J 55(8):1168–1181
Jiang SH, Li DQ, Zhang LM, Zhou CB (2014) Slope reliability analysis considering spatially variable shear strength parameters using a non-intrusive stochastic finite element method. Eng Geol 168:120–128
Jiang SH, Papaioannou I, Straub D (2018) Bayesian updating of slope reliability in spatially variable soils with in situ measurements. Eng Geol 239:310–320
Klaas DK, Imteaz MA (2017) Investigating the impact of the properties of pilot points on calibration of groundwater models: case study of a karst catchment in Rote Island, Indonesia. Hydrogeol J 25(6):1703–1719
Li S, Zhao H, Ru Z, Sun Q (2016) Probabilistic back analysis based on Bayesian and multi-output support vector machine for a high cut rock slope. Eng Geol 203:178–190
Liu K, Vardon PJ, Hicks MA (2018) Sequential reduction of slope stability uncertainty based on temporal hydraulic measurements via the ensemble Kalman filter. Comput Geotech 95:147–161
Mai CV, Sudret B (2017) Surrogate models for oscillatory systems using sparse polynomial chaos expansions and stochastic time warping. SIAM/ASA J Uncertain Quantif 5(1):540–571
Mollon G, Dias D, Soubra AH (2010) Probabilistic analysis of pressurized tunnels against face stability using collocation-based stochastic response surface method. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 137(4):385–397
Mualem Y (1976) A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media. Water Resour Res 12(3):513–522
Ng CWW, Wong HN, Tse YM, Pappin JW, Sun HW, Millis SW, Leung AK (2011) A field study of stress-dependent soil–water characteristic curves and permeability of a saprolitic slope in Hong Kong. Geotechnique 61(6):511–521
Pan Q, Dias D (2017) Probabilistic evaluation of tunnel face stability in spatially random soils using sparse polynomial chaos expansion with global sensitivity analysis. Acta Geotech 12(6):1415–1429
Pan Q, Dias D (2017) Sliced inverse regression-based sparse polynomial chaos expansions for reliability analysis in high dimensions. Reliab Eng Syst Saf 167:484–493
Pan Q, Qu X, Liu L, Dias D (2020) A sequential sparse polynomial chaos expansion using Bayesian regression for geotechnical reliability estimations. Int J Numer Anal Methods Geomech 44(6):874–889
Peng M, Li XY, Li DQ, Jiang SH, Zhang LM (2014) Slope safety evaluation by integrating multi-source monitoring information. Struct Saf 49:65–74
Phoon KK, Kulhawy FH (1999) Characterization of geotechnical variability. Can Geotech J 36(4):612–624
Qi XH, Zhou WH (2017) An efficient probabilistic back-analysis method for braced excavations using wall deflection data at multiple points. Comput Geotech 85:186–198
Richards LA (1931) Capillary conduction of liquids through porous mediums. Physics 1(5):318–333
Santoso AM, Phoon KK, Quek ST (2011) Effects of soil spatial variability on rainfall-induced landslides. Comput Struct 89(11–12):893–900
Srivastava A, Babu GS, Haldar S (2010) Influence of spatial variability of permeability property on steady state seepage flow and slope stability analysis. Eng Geol 110(3–4):93–101
Tabarroki M, Ching J (2019) Discretization error in the random finite element method for spatially variable undrained shear strength. Comput Geotech 105:183–194
van Genuchten MT (1980) A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 44(5):892–898
Vardon PJ, Liu K, Hicks MA (2016) Reduction of slope stability uncertainty based on hydraulic measurement via inverse analysis. Georisk Assess Manag Risk Eng Syst Geohazards 10(3):223–240
Vrugt JA (2016) Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation using the DREAM software package: theory, concepts, and MATLAB implementation. Environ Model Softw 75:273–316
Vrugt JA, Ter Braak CJ, Clark MP, Hyman JM, Robinson BA (2008) Treatment of input uncertainty in hydrologic modeling: doing hydrology backward with Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Water Resour Res 44(12):W00B09
Wan X, Karniadakis GE (2006) Long-term behavior of polynomial chaos in stochastic flow simulations. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 195(41–43):5582–5596
Wang L, Hwang JH, Luo Z, Juang CH, Xiao J (2013) Probabilistic back analysis of slope failure—a case study in Taiwan. Comput Geotech 51:12–23
Wang Y, Zhao T (2016) Interpretation of soil property profile from limited measurement data: a compressive sampling perspective. Can Geotech J 53(9):1547–1559
Wang Y, Cao Z, Li D (2016) Bayesian perspective on geotechnical variability and site characterization. Eng Geol 203:117–125
Wang Y, Jin H, Ouyang LJ (2013) Real-time prediction of seepage field during tunnel excavation. In: Shao J, Liu X (eds) Applied Mechanics and Materials, vol 274. Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland, pp 11–16
Wei X, Zhang L, Yang HQ, Zhang L, Yao YP (2020) Machine learning for pore-water pressure time-series prediction: application of recurrent neural networks. Geosci Front. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2020.04.011
Witteveen JA, Iaccarino G (2013) Simplex stochastic collocation with ENO-type stencil selection for robust uncertainty quantification. J Comput Phys 239:1–21
Xiu D, Karniadakis GE (2002) Modeling uncertainty in steady state diffusion problems via generalized polynomial chaos. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 191(43):4927–4948
Xu J, Zhang L, Li J, Cao Z, Yang H, Chen X (2020) Probabilistic estimation of variogram parameters of geotechnical properties with a trend based on Bayesian inference using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Georisk Assess Manag Risk Eng Syst Geohazards. https://doi.org/10.1080/17499518.2020.1757720
Yang HQ, Chen X, Zhang L, Zhang J, Wei X, Tang C (2020) Conditions of hydraulic heterogeneity under which Bayesian estimation is more reliable. Water 12(1):160
Yang HQ, Zhang L, Li DQ (2018) Efficient method for probabilistic estimation of spatially varied hydraulic properties in a soil slope based on field responses: a Bayesian approach. Comput Geotech 102:262–272
Yang HQ, Zhang L, Xue J, Zhang J, Li X (2019) Unsaturated soil slope characterization with Karhunen-Loève and polynomial chaos via Bayesian approach. Eng Comput 35(1):337–350
Yuan J, Papaioannou I, Straub D (2019) Probabilistic failure analysis of infinite slopes under random rainfall processes and spatially variable soil. Georisk Assess Manag Risk Eng Syst Geohazards 13(1):20–33
Zhang J, Tang WH, Zhang LM (2009) Efficient probabilistic back-analysis of slope stability model parameters. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 136(1):99–109
Zhang LL, Li JH, Li X, Zhang J, Zhu H (2016) Rainfall-induced soil slope failure: stability analysis and probabilistic assessment. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Zhang LL, Wu F, Zheng YF, Chen LH, Zhang J, Li X (2018) Probabilistic calibration of a coupled hydro-mechanical slope stability model with integration of multiple observations. Georisk Assess Manag Risk Eng Syst Geohazards 12(3):169–182
Zhang LL, Zhang J, Zhang LM, Tang WH (2010) Back analysis of slope failure with Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Comput Geotech 37(7–8):905–912
Zhang LL, Zheng YF, Zhang J (2017) Assessment of error assumption in probabilistic model calibration of rainfall infiltration in soil slope. In: Geo-Risk 2017, Denver Colorado, United States, pp 82–100
Zhang LL, Zheng YF, Zhang LM, Li X, Wang JH (2014) Probabilistic model calibration for soil slope under rainfall: effects of measurement duration and frequency in field monitoring. Géotechnique 64(5):365
Zhang LL, Zuo ZB, Ye GL, Jeng DS, Wang JH (2013) Probabilistic parameter estimation and predictive uncertainty based on field measurements for unsaturated soil slope. Comput Geotech 48:72–81
Zheng D, Huang J, Li DQ, Kelly R, Sloan SW (2018) Embankment prediction using testing data and monitored behaviour: a Bayesian updating approach. Comput Geotech 93:150–162
Zimmermann B, Elsenbeer H (2008) Spatial and temporal variability of soil saturated hydraulic conductivity in gradients of disturbance. J Hydrol 361(1–2):78–95
Acknowledgements
The work in this paper was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 51679135 and No. 51422905) and the Program of Shanghai Academic Research Leader (Project No. 19XD1421900).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, HQ., Zhang, L., Pan, Q. et al. Bayesian estimation of spatially varying soil parameters with spatiotemporal monitoring data. Acta Geotech. 16, 263–278 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-00991-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-00991-z