Leakage rates are evaluated for a landfill barrier system having a compacted clay liner (CCL) underlain by a vadose zone of variable thickness. A numerical unsaturated flow model SEEP/W is used to simulate the moisture flow regime and steady-state leakage rates for the cases of unsaturated zones with different soil types and thicknesses. The results of the simulations demonstrate that harmonic ...

The unsaturated zone consists of a complex arrangement of solid, liquid, and gaseous phases, most of them interconnected. The spatial distribution and geometrical arrangement of each phase, and the partitioning of solutes between phases, are controlled by physical, chemical, and biological processes. Since the upper part of the vadose zone is the most dynamic region, and controls the further do...

[1] In this study we estimate a time series of regional groundwater anomalies by combining terrestrial water storage estimates from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission with in situ soil moisture observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet. Using supplementary data from the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (DOE ARM) network, we develop an empi...

An analytical one-dimensional model for vertical transmission of barometric pressure in soil unsaturated zone has been developed to examine the effect of free boundary caused by water table. The model is applicable to a special case in which the water table moves in according to the pressure with high barometric efficiency. Ambient sinusoidal pressure fluctuation is assumed at the soil surface....

This paper presents a triple-continuum conceptual model for simulating flow and transport processes in fractured rock. Field data collected from the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, a repository site of high-level nuclear waste, show a large number of small-scale fractures. The effect of these small fractures has not been considered in previous modeling investigations within the context of a...

A 31 year record of ∼44,000 nitrate analyses in ∼11,500 irrigation wells was utilized to depict the decadal expansion of groundwater nitrate contamination (N ≥ 10 mg/L) in the irrigated corn-growing areas of eastern and central Nebraska and analyze long-term nitrate concentration trends in 17 management areas (MAs) subject to N fertilizer and budgeting requirements. The 1.3 M contaminated hecta...

Glucose-dependent growth of the luxCDABE reporter bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens HK44 was monitored noninvasively in quartz sand under unsaturated-flow conditions within a 45- by 56- by 1-cm two-dimensional light transmission chamber. The spatial and temporal development of growth were mapped daily over 7 days by quantifying salicylate-induced bioluminescence. A nonlinear model relating the ...

Aquifer drainage was numerically simulated by a coupled, unsaturated-saturated flow equation. The effect of the vadose zone on aquifer parameter predictions of classical hydraulic theory was investigated. Saturated-zone hydraulic theory was shown to be fairly robust in estimating the saturated hydraulic conductivity but less so in estimating drainable porosity, mainly because of the much tighte...

Thick, heterogeneous unsaturated zones away from large streams in desert areas have not previously been considered suitable for artificial recharge from ponds. To test the potential for recharge in these settings, 1.3 x 10(6) m(3) of water was infiltrated through a 0.36-ha pond along Oro Grande Wash near Victorville, California, between October 2002 and January 2006. The pond overlies a regiona...

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