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Efficiency comparison of graphical approaches for designing contaminant detection networks in groundwater
Author(s) -
Hudak Paul F.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2001wr001152
Subject(s) - equidistant , groundwater , aquifer , groundwater flow , perpendicular , geology , soil science , hydrology (agriculture) , geotechnical engineering , geometry , mathematics
Graphical approaches for locating monitoring wells near landfills in aquifers dominated by intergranular porosity were evaluated. Both perpendicular groundwater monitoring networks (wells constrained to a monitoring locus perpendicular to flow) and equidistant networks (wells located the same distance along flow paths) were considered, along with several setbacks between wells and a landfill and different flow fields. For an orthogonal landfill oblique to groundwater flow, equidistant networks generally outperformed their perpendicular counterparts. Equidistant monitoring networks with well locations compressed 10–20% closer to the downgradient corner of a landfill outperformed other networks over a wide range of setbacks. However, compression reduced the detection efficiency of an equidistant network at a field setting with divergent flow, a nonlinear buffer zone boundary, and discharge zones near the sides of a landfill. Graphical approaches described in this paper identify effective monitoring networks that can be refined to site‐specific conditions.