A Unit‐Concentration Method to Quantify Source Contribution

Abstract

AbstractSolute migration is typically simulated to describe and estimate the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater. The unit‐concentration approach is investigated here as a method to enable solute transport simulations to expand the capabilities of groundwater flow modeling. The unit‐concentration method uses a concentration value of one to identify sources of water to be assessed and a concentration of zero for all other water sources. The distribution of concentration thus obtained, unlike particle tracking methods, provides a more intuitive and direct quantification of the contribution of sources reaching various sinks. The unit‐concentration approach can be applied readily with existing solute transport software for a range of analyses including source allocation, well capture analysis, and mixing/dilution calculations. This paper presents the theory, method, and example applications of the unit‐concentration approach for source quantification.