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Large-Time Spatial Covariance of Concentration of Conservative Solute and Application to the Cape Cod Tracer Test

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Abstract

Most studies on conservative transport in stationary velocity fields have focused on the description of the concentration mean. In this work, we use a Lagrangian methodology to develop an analytical expression for the spatial covariance of the concentration, based on the central limit theorem and applicable to large times after injection. We use this expression to analyze the conservative tracer test data from the natural gradient experiment conducted at Cape Cod in 1985–1988, in which bromide was quickly injected into the aquifer and the concentration was measured at many locations at certain points in time. The parameters that determine the concentration mean had been estimated in previous studies. Here, the two-particle covariance matrix, needed to describe the concentration covariance function, is derived from the measurements through a maximum likelihood method. Then, the data are interpolated on a grid using simple kriging, and contour maps of the concentration estimates are plotted. The results of cross-validation indicate that the model is consistent with the field measurements and the kriging estimates appear realistic.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Marilena Pannone

    Present address: Department of Environmental Physics and Engineering, University of Basilicata, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Marilena Pannone & Peter K. Kitanidis

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  1. Marilena Pannone
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  2. Peter K. Kitanidis
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

    Brian Berkowitz

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Pannone, M., Kitanidis, P.K. (2001). Large-Time Spatial Covariance of Concentration of Conservative Solute and Application to the Cape Cod Tracer Test. In: Berkowitz, B. (eds) Dispersion in Heterogeneous Geological Formations. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1278-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1278-1_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5638-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1278-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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