36 From Data to Decision: Integrating Geophysics, Data Systems, and Modeling for Aquifer Characterization in Data-Sparse Regions

Advances in data acquisition, management, and analytics are transforming water-resources research in semi-arid, data-sparse regions. This session highlights the integration of geophysics, data systems, and modeling, including AEM, legacy data digitization, and cloud platforms. Contributions demonstrate how advances in data collection, management, analysis, and modeling  approaches improve the characterization of fresh and brackish groundwater to support management, recharge, and long-term planning.

Wednesday, 20 May 2026
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Alvarado F

Automated Processing of Legacy Water-Well Logs for Aquifer Characterization in New Mexico

Paper number: 36-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:40 AM – 10:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

High-quality borehole logs are critical calibration datasets for resistivity-to-lithology interpretation of airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys used in aquifer mapping. However, in many regions of New Mexico targeted for intensive groundwater investigations, borehole logs are sparse or absent. To address this data gap, we developed an automated workflow to extract, standardize, and classify historical driller-reported lithologic logs archived in the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (OSE)’s Water Rights Reporting System (NMWRRS). NMWRRS contains more than 170,000 lithologic records spanning multiple decades and representing one of the largest compilations of subsurface observations in the state.

We implemented automated scraping, optical character recognition, and parsing algorithms that convert driller’s descriptions in pdf files into structured lithologic interval datasets, producing hundreds of thousands of digitized depth intervals. A rule-based word-matching classification scheme translates variable driller terminology into standardized lithology codes and broader, extensible sediment classes (e.g., coarse, mixed, fine—with geophysically important clay and shale distinctions—plus volcanic, limestone, evaporite, and surficial categories). These standardized intervals are incorporated into statistical and probabilistic frameworks that inform resistivity-to-rock transforms while explicitly accounting for uncertainty inherent in driller-reported data.

Applications demonstrate the value of this approach across the state. In southwestern New Mexico, where recent AEM surveys span five counties with limited geophysical log coverage, digitized driller’s logs provide critical constraints on subsurface lithologic variability and aquifer structure. In northern New Mexico, analysis of Rio Arriba County produced an extensive dataset of shallow and deep aquifer intervals that supports the development of conceptual hydrogeologic models and evaluation of fresh and brackish groundwater systems.

This workflow complements the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources goal to map and characterize aquifers statewide by transforming legacy well records into quantitative calibration datasets. Systematic integration of airborne geophysics, geologic mapping, borehole data, and automated data processing improves aquifer characterization in structurally complex and data-limited basins and provides a scalable framework for groundwater assessment across New Mexico.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 4

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026RM-410673

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