HR: 0830h
AN: H11E-0899 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Post-audits of Three Groundwater Models for Evaluating Plume Containment
AU: * Andersen, P F
EM: pandersen@geotransinc.com
AF: GeoTrans, Inc., 1080 Holcomb Bridge Road Building 100, Suite 190, Roswell, GA 30076 United States
AB: Groundwater extraction systems were designed using numerical models at three sites within a U.S. Army Ammunition Plant in Tennessee. Each site, and hence model, has unique qualities such as boundary conditions, extensiveness of the contaminant plume, and quantity and quality of hydrogeologic data. Performance of each of these extraction systems has been evaluated throughout their operation, providing an opportunity to perform post-audits on the accuracy of the groundwater models that were used in their design. Areas of comparison between the models and the observed response in the natural systems include hydraulic head, drawdown, horizontal and vertical gradients, and extent of capture zones. The results of the post-audits show the importance of using all available data in the construction and calibration of the models, the importance of having sufficient data, and the critical nature of an accurate conceptual model. The post-audits also show that although it may be possible to assess the accuracy of the model predictions, it is often not possible to explain the reasons for discrepancies between predicted and observed results. From a practical perspective, parameter uncertainty is important to account for in the development of the models and subsequent design of the extraction systems.
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1832 Groundwater transport
DE: 3210 Modeling
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting