Modeling Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport

In many parts of the world, groundwater resources are under increasing threat from growing demands, wasteful use, and contamination. To face the challenge, good planning and management practices are needed. A key to the management of groundwater is the ability to model the movement of fluids and contaminants in the subsurface. The purpose of this book is to construct conceptual and mathematical models that can provide the information required for making decisions associated with the management of groundwater resources, and the remediation of contaminated aquifers.

The basic approach of this book is to accurately describe the underlying physics of groundwater flow and solute transport in heterogeneous porous media, starting at the microscopic level, and to rigorously derive their mathematical representation at the macroscopic levels. The well-posed, macroscopic mathematical models are formulated for saturated, single phase flow, as well as for unsaturated and multiphase flow, and for the transport of single and multiple chemical species. Numerical models are presented and computer codes are reviewed, as tools for solving the models. The problem of seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers is examined and modeled. The issues of uncertainty in model input data and output are addressed. The book concludes with a chapter on the management of groundwater resources. Although one of the main objectives of this book is to construct mathematical models, the amount of mathematics required is kept minimal.

• Matrix
• contaminants
• groundwater
• linear optimization
• model
• modeling
• optimization

From the reviews:

“This book is a comprehensive and authoritative treatise of groundwater flow and transport modeling. It provides easy-to-follow descriptions of basic concepts, governing equations, relevant parameters, methods of measurement and observation, numerical solution methods, and interpretation of results, for real-world situations. It is a "must have" for students, teachers, researchers, engineers, and managers in subsurface hydrology and management." S.M. Hassanizadeh, Professor of Hydrogeology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

“A very comprehensive and well written textbook that addresses the formulation of both conceptual and mathematical models to predict flow and transport through porous media and to make decisions for a sustainable development of the subsurface resources and remediation of contaminated groundwater based on optimal management under uncertainty. The readers who are potentially interested include practitioners, modelers, managers and researchers as well as students at the graduate and upper undergraduate level in civil and environmental engineering." Giuseppe Gambolati, Universita degli Studi di Padova, Italy

“This book is a must for researchers as well as practitioners who are interested in understanding the fundamentals and the state-of-the-art of groundwater modeling issues." Prabhakar Clement, Arthur H. Feagin Chair of Civil Engineering, Auburn University, USA

“I teach three graduate courses, “Introduction to Modeling Transport Phenomena for Aquifer Remediation”, “Modeling Flow and Transport through Heterogeneous Media”, and “Numerical Approximation by the Finite Element Method”, to students coming from Natural Sciences and Engineering Sciences areas at my university, and also at several world-wide institutes. This book comprehensively covers a spectrum of theoretical and practical topics addressing quantitative modeling and environmental issues of groundwater flow andtransport. I will definitely recommend the book as a valuable reference to my students and colleagues. " Shaul Sorek, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

“This is an excellent reference book for postgraduate students and researchers in the discipline of groundwater. This book provides detailed information regarding modelling of contaminant transport in porous medium that is particular important for environmental scientists and numerical modellers." Dong-Sheng Jeng, NRP Chair in Civil Engineering, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK

“Bear and Cheng have provided a unified and systematic approach in this reference book for engineers and scientists interested in modelling subsurface flow. They presented each chapter with clarity explaining why the topics discussed are of importance. In addition to covering traditional areas of groundwater flow and contaminant transport, the authors provide a good introduction to topics such as uncertainty, optimization and inverse problems which gained importance in recent years." Yavuz Corapcioglu, Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, USA

“This book presents the methodology and procedures for constructing complete mathematical models of two problems: first, groundwater flow, and second, groundwater contaminant transport, both in saturated and unsaturated zones. … The book could be of interest to researchers, scientists and professionals who face the need to build and solve models of flow and contaminant transport in the subsurface.” (Valeriu Al. Sava, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1195, 2010)

“This new textbook by Jacob Bear … and Alexander H.-D. Cheng provides a comprehensive reference on this subject. … The topics covered in this textbook are comprehensive, and the treatment is extremely thorough; thus … Modeling Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport provides an excellent, up-to-date reference for researchers andprofessionals interested in modeling groundwater flow.” (Sujit S. Datta, Pure and Applied Geophysics, August, 2012)

• Dept. Civil & Environmental, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

  Jacob Bear

• Dept. Civil Engineering, University of Mississippi, University, U.S.A.

  Alexander H.-D. Cheng

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