A New Method of Contaminant Plume Analysis

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Abstract
This paper develops an analytical expression for contaminant transport from a finite source in a continuous flow regime. The model requires some numerical integration and its degree of accuracy for near‐field problems depends on discretization procedures applied to the source boundary. A second model for a continuous source is developed by extending a well‐known pulse model. This second model is particularly useful in that it permits the determination of several potential unknowns directly from a concentration distribution. These include the source concentration, source dimensions, the position of the center of mass which is the product of the seepage velocity and the time since the contaminant first entered the ground water, and up to three dispersivities for a three‐dimensional problem. As a demonstration of its utility, this second model is applied with reasonable success to a well‐defined field condition. A comparison of the two models indicates that, except for minor differences in the very near field, the results from each are virtually identical.

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