Events Calendar

Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. Dissertation

Speaker: Maria Morvillo, Ph.D. Candidate, Viterbi School of Engineering- Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Talk Title: Reproducible and Rapid Computational Approaches for Assessing Contamination in Natural Aquifers

Abstract: The ubiquitous presence of multi-scale heterogeneity in hydrological properties is the cause of complex subsurface flow patterns that impact the transport behavior of a solute plume. Fluctuations in the velocity field lead to increased solute spreading which enhances mass transfer mechanisms and impact solute arrival times. This thesis proposes a series of methods which accounts for the effects of aquifer heterogeneity on transport observables which are essential for risk analysis, performance assessment of waste disposal facilities and the selection of optimal remediation cleanup strategies. The approaches proposed in this dissertation are computationally rapid and reproducible. The first contribution of this thesis consists of the development of a novel aquifer connectivity-ranked Monte Carlo method that accelerates the statistical convergence of the statistics of the first arrival times of a solute body in an environmentally sensitive location. Secondly, I propose an innovative kernel-based reactive random walk particle tracking method to improve the computational efficiency associated with reactive transport in spatially variable groundwater flows. Finally, we present a computational package that links the various components relevant for the estimation of the concentration of a pollutant at an environmentally sensitive target and its uncertainty to support decision making in risk analysis.



Host: Advisor, Dr. Felipe de Barros

More Info: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96445541938

Location: Zoom Meeting

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes

Event Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96445541938