Vulnerability Assessment of Groundwater Inrush from Underlying Aquifers Based on Variable Weight Model and its Application

Groundwater inrush from aquifers underlying coal seams is a serious geohazard during coal mining in China. Its occurrence is affected by multiple factors, while the importance of these factors may change over the entire mining area. Traditional model with constant weight cannot reflect the influence of index value mutates with changes in hydrogeological conditions on the comprehensive evaluation value. The theory of variable weight model is thus proposed to evaluate the dynamic processes involved in groundwater inrushes. The model is applied to the Yuzhou coalfield in north China to demonstrate the construction process of the variable weight model and to verify its improvement over the traditional constant weight model in assessing the vulnerability of groundwater inrushes from the underlying aquifers. This innovative method offers not only another tool on assessment of groundwater bursting but also has practical significance in reducing water geohazards in mines.