Management of ground-water resources requires that the extent and rate of movement of contaminants in the saturated and unsaturated zones be understood. The contaminants have been and will continue to be both accidentally and deliberately introduced into ground- water systems. Some of these contaminants constitute very hazardous conditions. Because of the immediacy of such contamination problems, understanding of the physical and chemical processes needs to be increased rapidly, and mathematical models derived from this understanding validated and documented. Although the basic mathematical transport models for ground-water systems have been developed, many of the parameters in these models have not been adequately investigated. A [...]
Summary
Management of ground-water resources requires that the extent and rate of movement of contaminants in the saturated and unsaturated zones be understood. The contaminants have been and will continue to be both accidentally and deliberately introduced into ground- water systems. Some of these contaminants constitute very hazardous conditions. Because of the immediacy of such contamination problems, understanding of the physical and chemical processes needs to be increased rapidly, and mathematical models derived from this understanding validated and documented. Although the basic mathematical transport models for ground-water systems have been developed, many of the parameters in these models have not been adequately investigated. A portion of this project will be devoted to increasing understanding of the factors influencing these parameters and of the interrelationship between parameters. As this understanding is developed, appropriate two-dimensional and three-dimensional mathematical models will be derived to describe contaminant movement in complex field situation including the unsaturated zone where critical. Concurrent with model derivation will be extensive study of the appropriate digital computer algorithms used to numerically approximate the solution to the transport equation.
