A Bayesian geostatistical transfer function approach to tracer test analysis

Reactive transport modeling is often used in support of bioremediation and chemical treatment planning and design. There remains a pressing need for practical and efficient models that do not require (or assume attainable) the high level of characterization needed by complex numerical models. We focus on a linear systems or transfer function approach to the problem of reactive tracer transport in a heterogeneous saprolite aquifer. Transfer functions are obtained through the Bayesian geostatistical inverse method applied to tracer injection histories and breakthrough curves. We employ nonparametric transfer functions, which require minimal assumptions about shape and structure. The resulting flexibility empowers the data to determine the nature of the transfer function with minimal prior assumptions. Nonnegativity is enforced through a reflected Brownian motion stochastic model. The inverse method enables us to quantify uncertainty and to generate conditional realizations of the transfer function. Complex information about a hydrogeologic system is distilled into a relatively simple but rigorously obtained function that describes the transport behavior of the system between two wells. The resulting transfer functions are valuable in reactive transport models based on traveltime and streamline methods. The information contained in the data, particularly in the case of strong heterogeneity, is not overextended but is fully used. This is the first application of Bayesian geostatistical inversion to transfer functions in hydrogeology but the methodology can be extended to any linear system.