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Analytic elements for flow in harmonically heterogeneous aquifers
Author(s) -
Craig J. R.
Publication year - 2009
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 - 10.1029/2009wr007800
Subject(s) - discretization , piecewise , hydraulic conductivity , groundwater flow , aquifer , flow (mathematics) , representation (politics) , conductivity , groundwater , transformation (genetics) , variable (mathematics) , boundary (topology) , constant (computer programming) , mathematics , mathematical optimization , mathematical analysis , computer science , geology , geotechnical engineering , soil science , geometry , physics , law , chemistry , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , political science , soil water , programming language , politics , gene
Existing implementations of the analytic element method (AEM) for simulating groundwater flow rely upon a zonal representation of hydraulic conductivity, where the conductivity is piecewise constant within the modeled domain. Using a dependent‐variable transformation, the analytic element method is extended to simulate two‐dimensional groundwater flow through smoothly heterogeneous media represented using pilot points; that is, the conductivity field is interpolated between a set of locations with specified conductivity. This new implementation maintains the existing attributes of AEM solutions: the governing equation is met exactly within the domain, and boundary/continuity conditions are met with extremely high precision, all without volumetric discretization. A number of test cases are used to demonstrate and evaluate the efficacy of the new method.