Identification of pollution sources in transient groundwater systems

Mahar, Pooran S., and Datta, Bithin (2000) Identification of pollution sources in transient groundwater systems. Water Resources Management, 14 (3). pp. 209-227.

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Abstract

A methodology using a nonlinear optimization model is presented for estimating unknown magnitude, location and duration of groundwater pollution sources under transient flow and transport conditions. The proposed optimization model incorporates the governing equations of flow and solute transport as binding equality constraints, and thus essentially simulates the physical processes of transient flow and transient transport in the groundwater systems.The proposed inverse model identifies unknown sources of pollution by using measured values of pollutant concentration at selected locations. Performance of the proposed model for the identification of unknown groundwater pollution sources is evaluated for an illustrative study area in a hypothetical confined aquifer under different cases of data availability. The effect of observation well location vis-à-vis pollution source location on identification accuracy is also investigated. Performance of the developed identification model is also evaluated for a condition when concentration measurements are missing during few initial time periods after the pollution sources become active. The effect of specified initial guesses of the variable values on the optimal solutions are also investigated. These performance evaluation results demonstrate the limitations and potential applicability of the proposed optimization model for identifying the sources of pollution in transient groundwater systems.

Item ID: 9495
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1573-1650
Keywords: groundwater systems; intial values; measuremental errors; pollution sources; source flux; source idenfication; transient
Date Deposited: 02 Sep 2010 05:05
FoR Codes: 09 ENGINEERING > 0907 Environmental Engineering > 090702 Environmental Engineering Modelling @ 50%
09 ENGINEERING > 0905 Civil Engineering > 090509 Water Resources Engineering @ 50%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9606 Environmental and Natural Resource Evaluation > 960604 Environmental Management Systems @ 50%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960506 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments @ 25%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9609 Land and Water Management > 960999 Land and Water Management of Environments not elsewhere classified @ 25%
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