Global upscaling of hydraulic conductivity for modellingcontaminant transport in groundwater

摘要

Mass transport in groundwater is strongly dependent on the small-scale heterogeneity. Upscalingmay cause inaccurate characterization of contaminant plumes. In this paper we do not attempt to accuratelycharacterize a contaminant plume; instead, we are interested in finding a representative hydraulicconductivity at the global scale for specified objectives of model application. Examples of specificobjectives in water quality management include the prediction of arrival time, the estimation of peakconcentration, and the assessment of remediation alternatives. A reliable representative hydraulicconductivity can be obtained by solving a generalized inverse problem when data are sufficient. Thesufficiency of data can be tested by the worst-case-parameter (WCP). Numerical examples show that theWCP for mass transport problems still has a cluster structure, but its shape may become more complex.Generally, constructing an objective-oriented mass transport model requires more data than constructing anobjective-oriented groundwater flow model.