Experiments on vertical transverse mixing in a large-scale heterogeneous model aquifer

Vertical transverse mixing is known to be a controlling factor in natural attenuation of extended biodegradable plumes originating from continuously emitting sources. We perform conservative and reactive tracer tests in a quasi two-dimensional 14 m long sand box in order to quantify vertical mixing in heterogeneous media. The filling mimics natural sediments including a distribution of different hydro-facies, made of different sand mixtures, and micro-structures within the sand lenses. We quantify the concentration distribution of the conservative tracer by the analysis of digital images taken at steady state during the tracer-dye experiment. Heterogeneity causes plume meandering, leading to distorted concentration profiles. Without knowledge about the velocity distribution, it is not possible to determine meaningful vertical dispersion coefficients from the concentration profiles. Using the stream-line pattern resulting from an inverse model of previous experiments in the sand box, we can correct for the plume meandering. The resulting vertical dispersion coefficient is approximately approximately 4 x 10(-)(9) m(2)/s. We observe no distinct increase in the vertical dispersion coefficient with increasing travel distance, indicating that heterogeneity has hardly any impact on vertical transverse mixing. In the reactive tracer test, we continuously inject an alkaline solution over a certain height into the domain that is occupied otherwise by an acidic solution. The outline of the alkaline plume is visualized by adding a pH indicator into both solutions. From the height and length of the reactive plume, we estimate a transverse dispersion coefficient of approximately 3 x 10(-)(9) m(2)/s. Overall, the vertical transverse dispersion coefficients are less than an order of magnitude larger than pore diffusion coefficients and hardly increase due to heterogeneity. Thus, we conclude for the assessment of natural attenuation that reactive plumes might become very large if they are controlled by vertical dispersive mixing.     

热带树木燃烧颗粒物中脱水糖和醋菲烯的排放特征

森林植被燃烧是大气颗粒物的重要来源之一.为研究生物示踪物,对22种东南亚典型热带树木进行开放式燃烧实验,这些树木主要可分为常绿乔木、落叶乔木和灌木这3大类.分析植被燃烧产生的脱水糖、醋菲烯(acephenanthrylene)、醋蒽烯(aceanthrylene)、惹烯等生物质燃烧示踪物的排放因子特征.22种典型东南亚热带树木燃烧产生的颗粒物中3种植物类型的总糖平均排放因子大小趋势为:常绿乔木(1.56 g·kg~(-1)±1.01 g·kg~(-1))灌木(1.99 g·kg~(-1)±0.64 g·kg~(-1))落叶乔木(5.38 g·kg~(-1)±7.18 g·kg~(-1));醋菲烯平均排放因子趋势为常绿乔木(2.63 mg·kg~(-1)±2.44 mg·kg~(-1))≈灌木(2.46 mg·kg~(-1)±2.14 mg·kg~(-1))落叶乔木(6.07 mg·kg~(-1)±8.50 mg·kg~(-1)).关于示踪物特征比率,乔木、灌木的左旋葡聚糖(Lev)/甘露聚糖(Man)平均值分别为20.6±11.9、23.2±9.20,总范围为5.80~51.5;两者的醋菲烯(AP)/醋蒽烯(AC)平均值分别为7.13±5.18、5.53±1.51.相较于受影响条件较多的脱水糖,芳烃类化合物分析方法简捷,其中AP/AC虽然较荧蒽(FL)/芘(PY)的稳定性略差,但受到的其他污染源干扰少、特异性高.因此,在生物质源解析方面可以综合考虑各示踪物的优缺点以提高准确性,其中醋菲烯是作为生物示踪物的较优选择.     

浙江省中西部典型地区PM2.5中二次有机气溶胶示踪物的分布特征

为了解我国中小城市地区SOA（二次有机气溶胶）的质量浓度及来源,采集了浙江省中西部典型地区——兰溪市城区和近郊2个站点2016年四季的PM_2.5样品,利用GC/MS（气相色谱/质谱）分析了PM_2.5中11种指示不同来源的SOA示踪物的质量浓度水平,利用示踪物产率法估算了不同来源前体物对SOC（二次有机碳）的贡献.结果表明:兰溪市PM_2.5中ρ（异戊二烯SOA示踪物）的年均值为40.79 ng/m3,约占检测示踪物总质量浓度的89%;ρ（α-蒎烯SOA示踪物）、ρ（β-石竹烯SOA示踪物）和ρ（甲苯SOA示踪物）的年均值分别为4.09、0.36和1.01 ng/m3.ρ（异戊二烯SOA示踪物）和ρ（α-蒎烯SOA示踪物）存在夏季 > 秋季 > 春季 > 冬季的季节性变化趋势,ρ（β-石竹烯SOA示踪物）为秋季、冬季 > 春季、夏季,而ρ（甲苯SOA示踪物）的季节性变化不显著,表明不同类型VOCs（挥发性有机物）前体物排放量的季节性变化明显不同.基于示踪物产率法的估算结果表明:夏季异戊二烯等植物源VOCs可能是兰溪市PM_2.5中SOA的主要来源;而春季、秋季、冬季甲苯等人为源VOCs是SOA的主要前体物,贡献了兰溪市PM_2.5中ρ（SOC）的60%左右.研究显示,减少人为源VOCs的排放对相关地区灰霾及大气细颗粒物污染的防控具有重要作用.      

Mass conservation and atmospheric dynamics in the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS)

This paper examines the spatio-temporal patterns of atmospheric carbon dioxide transport predicted by the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). Forty-eight hour simulations over northern New England incorporating a simple representation of the diurnal summertime surface carbon dioxide forcing arising from biological activity indicate that, in its native formulation, RAMS exhibits a significant degree of mass non-conservation. Domain-wide rates of non-physical mass gain and mass loss are as large as three percent per day which translates into approximately eleven parts per million per day for carbon dioxide — enough to rapidly dilute the signature of carbon dioxide fluxes arising from biological activity. Analysis shows that this is due to the approximation used by RAMS to compute the Exner function. Substitution of the exact, physically complete equation improves mass conservation by two orders of magnitude. In addition to greatly improving mass conservation, use of the complete Exner function equation has a substantial impact on the spatial pattern of carbon dioxide predicted by the model, yielding predictions differing from a conventional RAMS simulation by as much as forty parts per million. Such differences have important implications both for comparisons of modeled atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to observations and for carbon dioxide inversion studies, which use estimates of atmospheric transport of carbon dioxide in conjunction with measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to infer the spatio-temporal distribution of surface carbon dioxide fluxes. Furthermore, use of the complete Exner function equation affects the vertical velocity and water mixing ratio fields, causing significant changes in accumulated precipitation over the region.     

Solute transport in crystalline rocks at Äspö — I: Geological basis and model calibration

Water-conducting faults and fractures were studied in the granite-hosted Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (SE Sweden). On a scale of decametres and larger, steeply dipping faults dominate and contain a variety of different fault rocks (mylonites, cataclasites, fault gouges). On a smaller scale, somewhat less regular fracture patterns were found. Conceptual models of the fault and fracture geometries and of the properties of rock types adjacent to fractures were derived and used as input for the modelling of in situ dipole tracer tests that were conducted in the framework of the Tracer Retention Understanding Experiment (TRUE-1) on a scale of metres. After the identification of all relevant transport and retardation processes, blind predictions of the breakthroughs of conservative to moderately sorbing tracers were calculated and then compared with the experimental data. This paper provides the geological basis and model calibration, while the predictive and inverse modelling work is the topic of the companion paper [J. Contam. Hydrol. 61 (2003) 175].The TRUE-1 experimental volume is highly fractured and contains the same types of fault rocks and alterations as on the decametric scale. The experimental flow field was modelled on the basis of a 2D-streamtube formalism with an underlying homogeneous and isotropic transmissivity field. Tracer transport was modelled using the dual porosity medium approach, which is linked to the flow model by the flow porosity. Given the substantial pumping rates in the extraction borehole, the transport domain has a maximum width of a few centimetres only. It is concluded that both the uncertainty with regard to the length of individual fractures and the detailed geometry of the network along the flowpath between injection and extraction boreholes are not critical because flow is largely one-dimensional, whether through a single fracture or a network. Process identification and model calibration were based on a single uranine breakthrough (test PDT3), which clearly showed that matrix diffusion had to be included in the model even over the short experimental time scales, evidenced by a characteristic shape of the trailing edge of the breakthrough curve. Using the geological information and therefore considering limited matrix diffusion into a thin fault gouge horizon resulted in a good fit to the experiment. On the other hand, fresh granite was found not to interact noticeably with the tracers over the time scales of the experiments.While fracture-filling gouge materials are very efficient in retarding tracers over short periods of time (hours–days), their volume is very small and, with time progressing, retardation will be dominated by altered wall rock and, finally, by fresh granite. In such rocks, both porosity (and therefore the effective diffusion coefficient) and sorption K_ds are more than one order of magnitude smaller compared to fault gouge, thus indicating that long-term retardation is expected to occur but to be less pronounced.     

Interpretation of injection-withdrawal tracer experiments conducted between two wells in a large single fracture

Tracer experiments conducted using a flow field established by injecting water into one borehole and withdrawing water from another are often used to establish connections and investigate dispersion in fractured rock. As a result of uncertainty in the uniqueness of existing models used for interpretation, this method has not been widely used to investigate more general transport processes including matrix diffusion or advective solute exchange between mobile and immobile zones of fluid. To explore the utility of the injection-withdrawal method as a general investigative tool and with the intent to resolve the transport processes in a discrete fracture, two tracer experiments were conducted using the injection-withdrawal configuration. The experiments were conducted in a fracture which has a large aperture (>500 microm) and horizontally pervades a dolostone formation. One experiment was conducted in the direction of the hydraulic gradient and the other in the direction opposite to the natural gradient. Two tracers having significantly different values of the free-water diffusion coefficient were used. To interpret the experiments, a hybrid numerical-analytical model was developed which accounts for the arcuate shape of the flow field, advection-dispersion in the fracture, diffusion into the matrix adjacent to the fracture, and the presence of natural flow in the fracture. The model was verified by comparison to a fully analytical solution and to a well-known finite-element model. Interpretation of the tracer experiments showed that when only one tracer, advection-dispersion, and matrix diffusion are considered, non-unique results were obtained. However, by using multiple tracers and by accounting for the presence of natural flow in the fracture, unique interpretations were obtained in which a single value of matrix porosity was estimated from the results of both experiments. The estimate of porosity agrees well with independent measurements of porosity obtained from core samples. This suggests that: (i) the injection-withdrawal method is a viable tool for the investigation of general transport processes provided all relevant experimental conditions are considered and multiple conservative tracers are used; and (ii) for the conditions of the experiments conducted in this study, the dominant mechanism for exchange of solute between the fracture and surrounding medium is matrix diffusion.     

高家坪隧道岩溶水系统识别及涌水量预测

为查明在建宜保高速高家坪隧道内ZK45+995m处突水点的补给来源以及隧道区的水文地质条件,并预测可能的涌水量,在对隧道区内岩溶发育规律调查分析的基础上,先后在隧道区开展了两次地下水示踪试验,结果查明:高家坪隧道内ZK45+995m处突水点的补给来源于隧道北侧的下埫岩溶洼地,汇水面积为0.66km2,突水点所处的岩溶管道为黄龙洞岩溶水系统的西支,为单一岩溶管道类型,地下水最大流速为341 m/d,平均流速为244m/d,地下水流速快,管道介质相当发育。根据示踪试验划分的黄龙洞岩溶水系统与干洞坪岩溶水系统边界范围,并利用黄龙洞泉长期降雨量-泉流量监测数据,采用大气降雨入渗法预测高家坪隧道ZK45+995m处突水点未来可能遭遇的最大涌水量为13 216m3/d,正常涌水量为5 940m3/d,为隧道防治水方案的制定提供了水文地质依据。     

Evaluation of a long-range lagrangian dispersion model with ETEX

Performance of a Lagrangian dispersion model was examined in connection with its dependency on the boundary layer modelling and the input data resolution. The European Tracer Experiment (ETEX) data were used as reference. According to the sensitivity analysis of the model performance, the long-range dispersion model with the sparse input data was not noticeably different from that with the finer resolution data. The assumption of the prescribed constant mixing depth did not largely degrade the prediction results as compared with the simulation results with the temporally changing boundary layer. It is, therefore, concluded that the model is practical, considering the limited input data in the operational mode. However, it was also pointed out that the parameterization for the horizontal and vertical diffusion processes used in the present model enhanced the growth of plume. The improvement of input data resolution in time and space caused further dispersion of tracer deterministically. These resulted in the underestimation of the maximum concentration and the unfocussed concentration distribution map although the mean concentration was predicted fairly well.     

垂直流人工湿地水力学特点对污水净化效果的影响

通过在污水中加入示踪剂,研究了人工湿地的水力学特点及其对污水净化效果的影响规律.结果表明,影响水力学各特点的主要原因是湿地植物根系所造成的物理学和生物学上的效应.水力学各特点与污水净化效果之间存在着密切关系:出水快、出水量大的系统具有较好的净化效果;除无植物系统外,停留时间较长的系统有较好的净化效果;容水体积大的系统净化效果也较好;水力负荷则主要通过影响其他各水力学特点而影响净化效果.结果表明,对水力学特点的优化将极大地促进污水净化效果的提高.     

Impact of the 1998 Central American fires on PM2.5 mass and composition in the southeastern United States

The impact of the Central American fires on PM_2.5 mass concentration and composition in the Tennessee Valley region during portions of May, 1998, has been quantified. Elevated concentrations of smoke aerosol tracers—fine potassium, (and to a lesser extent, calcium and silicon) and, where available, organic and elemental carbon—were observed in the region during times in which satellite imagery (TOMS and GOES-8) showed regional transport of hazy, smoky airmasses from southern Mexico and adjacent areas of Central America. Back-trajectories from network sites in the Tennessee Valley network were consistent with this regional transport. The extent of transport of extra-regional fine particle mass during May, 1998, is discussed relative to the new US fine particle mass-based standards for fine particulate matter.