Abstract:
Partitioning interwell tracer tests (PITTs) have emerged as a useful tool in
characterizing the volume of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) in contaminated aquifers.
More than thirty PITTs have been conducted in various NAPL-contaminated sites for both
initial estimation of NAPL volume and post remediation performance assessment of
various cleanup technologies. An effective interpretation of PITT results requires an
accurate determination of the confidence limits of the volume of NAPL estimated from
PITT data. This necessitates a description of the various errors, both systematic and
random, associated with the measurement and analysis of PITT data. In this paper, an
approach for performing this error analysis for both vadose-zone and saturated-zone
PITTs is presented. This approach is based upon identifying the various sources of
errors in both the measurement of PITT data and the errors from the data analysis using
the method of temporal moments. Results are illustrated using our data from several
soil column studies and two field PITTs, one saturated and one unsaturated.
Reference:
V. Dwarakanath, N. Deeds, and G.A. Pope, "Analysis of Partitioning Interwell Tracer
Tests," Environmental Science & Technology, 33 (21), 3829-3836, 1999.
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Last updated: April 25, 2002