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Simulation of solute transport using a transfer function model
Author(s) -
Jury William A.
Publication year - 1982
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/wr018i002p00363
Subject(s) - statistical physics , function (biology) , transfer function , field (mathematics) , distribution function , distribution (mathematics) , mathematics , environmental science , thermodynamics , physics , mathematical analysis , engineering , evolutionary biology , electrical engineering , biology , pure mathematics
A transfer function model is proposed for simulating solute transport under natural field conditions where substantial variability exists in water transport properties. This approach makes no attempt to describe the variability through a deterministic model but merely measures the distribution of solute travel times from the soil surface to a reference depth. Using this distribution function, it is possible to simulate the average solute concentrations at any depth and time for arbitrary solute inputs or water application variability. Equivalently, the model may be used to predict the probability of extremely long or short travel times for a mobile chemical. In this paper several illustrative calculations are performed for which analytic solutions are possible. In a companion paper (Jury et al., this issue) a field test of the model is reported.