Using groundwater age distributions to estimate the effective parameters of Fickian and non-Fickian models of solute transport

Nicholas B Engdahl; Timothy R Ginn; Graham E Fogg

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.12.008

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Using groundwater age distributions to estimate the effective parameters of Fickian and non-Fickian models of solute transport

Journal article

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Using groundwater age distributions to estimate the effective parameters of Fickian and non-Fickian models of solute transport

Nicholas B Engdahl, Timothy R Ginn and Graham E Fogg

Advances in water resources, Vol.54, pp.11-21

04/2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.12.008

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/117182

PMCID: PMC4375553

PMID: 25821342

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Abstract

Nonstationary

Parameter estimation

Solute transport

Groundwater age

► Groundwater age distributions can be used to determine transport model parameters. ► The method works at all scales if the memory function of the domain is stationary. ► The method works as a transfer function if the domain is non-stationary. Groundwater age distributions are used to estimate the parameters of Fickian, and non-Fickian, effective models of solute transport. Based on the similarities between the transport and age equations, we develop a deconvolution based approach that describes transport between two monitoring wells. We show that the proposed method gives exact estimates of the travel time distribution between two wells when the domain is stationary and that the method still provides useful information on transport when the domain is non-stationary. The method is demonstrated using idealized uniform and layered 2-D aquifers. Homogeneous transport is determined exactly and non-Fickian transport in a layered aquifer was also approximated very well, even though this example problem is shown to be scale-dependent. This work introduces a method that addresses a significant limitation of tracer tests and non-Fickian transport modeling which is the difficulty in determining the effective parameters of the transport model.

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Title: Using groundwater age distributions to estimate the effective parameters of Fickian and non-Fickian models of solute transport
Creators: Nicholas B Engdahl - Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, United States
Timothy R Ginn - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, United States
Graham E Fogg - Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, United States
Publication Details: Advances in water resources, Vol.54, pp.11-21
Academic Unit: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Identifiers: 99900547911501842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article