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An assessment of an approximate analytic method for predicting breakthrough curves for steady state longitudinal dispersion of solute in soil with non‐uniform water distribution
Author(s) -
TOWNER G. D.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1984.tb00291.x
Subject(s) - dispersion (optics) , range (aeronautics) , water content , simple (philosophy) , mathematics , distribution (mathematics) , set (abstract data type) , statistics , soil science , mathematical analysis , environmental science , materials science , computer science , physics , geotechnical engineering , geology , optics , philosophy , epistemology , composite material , programming language
SUMMARY Breakthrough curves have been determined using an analytic solution of the dispersion equation for constant water content—set equal to the mean water content—and compared with those obtained for the actual water distribution using an analysis developed by Wilson & Gelhar (1981). Numerical analysis of selected examples confirmed the validity and accuracy of the latter method. The error in using the mean water content could become unacceptably large when the water content range was large or changed abruptly with distance, but was other‐wise small and probably negligible for many applications. It was not possible to devise simple criteria, but the method of Wilson & Gelhar is simple to apply, and it is unnecessary to consider alternative approximate methods.