A data-driven approach for simplifying the estimation of time for contaminant plumes to reach their maximum extent

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • A. Köhler - , Institute of Groundwater Management, Joswig Ingenieure GmbH (JIG) (Author)
  • P. K. Yadav - , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTW) (Author)
  • R. Liedl - , Chair of Groundwater Systems (Author)
  • J. B. Shil - , TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • T. Grischek - , Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTW) (Author)
  • P. Dietrich - , Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Author)

Abstract

Globally there exist a very large number of contaminated or possibly contaminated sites where a basic preliminary assessment has not been completed. This is largely, among others, due to limited simple methods/models available for estimating key site quantities such as the maximum plume length, further denoted as Lmax and the corresponding time T=TLmax, at which the plume reaches its maximum extent L=Lmax. An approach to easily obtain an estimate of TLmax in particular is presented in this work. Limited availability of high-quality field data, particularly of TLmax, necessitates the use of synthetic data, which constrains the overall model development works. Taking BIOSCREEN-AT (transient 3D model) as a base model, this work proposes second-order polynomial models, with only two parameters, for estimating Lmax and TLmax. This reformulation of the well established solution significantly reduces data requirement and workload for initial site assessment purposes. A global sensitivity analysis (Morris, 1991), using a large number of random synthetic data, identifies the first-order decay rate constants in the plume λEFF and at the source γ as dominantly most influential for TLmax. For Lmax, the first-order decay rate constant λEFF and groundwater velocity v are the two important parameters. The sensitivity analysis also identifies that these parameters non-linearly impact TLmax or Lmax. With this information, the proposed polynomial models (each for Lmax and TLmax) were trained to obtain model coefficients, using a large amount of synthetic data. For verification, the developed models were tested using four datasets comprising over 100 sample sets against the results obtained from BIOSCREEN-AT and the developed BIOSCREEN-AT-based steady-state model. Additionally, the developed models were evaluated against two well documented field sites. The proposed models largely simplify estimation, particularly, of TLmax, for which only very limited field or literature information is available.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number104336
Number of pages10
Journal Journal of contaminant hydrology
Volume263
Early online date22 Mar 2024
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 38552336

Keywords

Keywords

  • Analytical model, Contaminated site management, Maximum plume length, Time to reach maximum plume extent

Library keywords