Status of Models for Land Surface Spills on Nonaqueous Liquids

摘要

This report discusses models for describing the behavior of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) spilled over a land surface. This study addresses NAPLs that are not highly volatile and as such would not tend to exhibit a large evaporative mass loss before being mainly absorbed into the land. The study devises a NAPL spill model that can estimate the spreading area, which possibly would determine the liquid's detectability by remote sensing. The size of the surface region wetted by a particular NAPL spill clearly determines the opportunity for detecting it by remote sensing technology. Therefore, the main attribute of a model for treating NAPL spills on a land surface is the capability to predict spreading behavior. Clearly, how rapidly a spilled liquid disappears into the subsurface determines how far it may spread on the land surface. Thus, the modeling of both liquid spreading and infiltration into the subsurface are equally important to determining the extent of a spill.