• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.751-758
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• 2019

This study tested various assumptions that simplified the configuration of the numerical model for unsaturated zone's contaminant transport to simulate the pathway to exposed point. This study investigated the contaminant migration through in the pollutant exposure pathway of vadoze zone for risk assessment of the contaminated site. For the purpose, generic scenarios as well as contaminant-based scenarios were simulated using the numerical code for transport of the contaminant in the pathway. The finite-difference one-dimensional transport with adsorption and biodegradation were considered, and it also assumed that the initial concentration was also depleted over time. The results of the generic-scenario show that as the groundwater infiltration rate decreases, the longer the path from the source to the groundwater level, the lower the concentration at the point of inflow into the groundwater level. In particular, in the case of high biodegradation rate and rapid depletion of pollutant sources, statistically outliers were found in the simulated results and generic scenarios was good at prediction.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.160-164
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• 1999

Subsurface environments, including the intermediate vadose zone and aquifers, may be contributing to increased atmospheric concentrations of $N_2$O. Denitrification appears to be the major source of $N_2$O in the subsurface environment. In the intermediate vadose zone, the level of denitrifying activity is dependent on the soil morphology, particularly stratified layers within the soil profile, which impede water and solute movement and create conditions favorable for denitrification. Movement of organic C from the soil surface appears to support denitrifying activity by providing an energy source and increasing the consumption of $O_2$. Denitrirication and $N_2$O production have been observed in aquifers but appear to be of greatest significance in shallow unconfined aquifers. The lack of organic C, N $O_2$, or anaerobiosis is often a limiting factor for activity but seems to be site specific. The presence of denitrifying bacteria does not appear to be a major limitation, based on published results, but the ubiquity of denitrifiers in subsurface environments needs to be confirmed. The fate of the $N_2$O produced in subsurface environments is unknown. Transport of $N_2$O by up ward diffusion, by outgassing at contacts with surface waters, and by ground water use need to be quantified to determine the contribution to atmospheric $N_2$O. Contamination of subsurface environment with N $O_3$$^{ }$ and organics has the potential for increasing the contribution to atmospheric $N_2$O by enhancing denitrification .

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.751-762
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• 1999

In this study, a 1-D laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the characteristics of transient unsaturated solute transport by using two kinds of soils of which properties were known by test. Especially the TDR method which is proposed in this study was used to measure water content and solute concentration. As results, in the transient flow, the wetting front moves down rapidly, and the distribution of solute concentration near the wetting front showed the similar type of the water content distribution(semi-bell type). A numerical model HYDRUS was used to compare with the experimental results. Numerical results for the water movement are similar to experimental result. However, numerical results of the distribution of solute concentration are more scattered than experimental results. It means that measured dispersivity, numerical dispersion, adsorption coefficient, and soil sample size etc. should be considered in order to determine the dispersivity used in the numerical model. The present measuring method was proved to be superior to other formula and to be an available method to apply to solute transport test. The measuring error of the developed method is estimated smaller than 10% while water content is larger than 0.15.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.84-91
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• 2018

The present study deals with the management of groundwater resources of an important agriculture track of north-western part of Saudi Arabia. Due to strategic importance of the area efforts have been made to estimate aquifer proneness to attenuate contamination. This includes determining hydrodynamic behavior of the groundwater system. The important parameters of any vulnerability model are geological formations in the region, depth to water levels, soil, rainfall, topography, vadose zone, the drainage network and hydraulic conductivity, land use, hydrochemical data, water discharge, etc. All these parameters have greater control and helps determining response of groundwater system to a possible contaminant threat. A widely used DRASTIC model helps integrate these data layers to estimate vulnerability indices using GIS environment. DRASTIC parameters were assigned appropriate ratings depending upon existing data range and a constant weight factor. Further, land-use pattern map of study area was integrated with vulnerability map to produce pollution risk map. A comparison of DRASTIC model was done with GOD and AVI vulnerability models. Model validation was done with $NO_3$, $SO_4$ and Cl concentrations. These maps help to assess the zones of potential risk of contamination to the groundwater resources.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.223-230
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• 1997

DRASTIC system developed by U.S.EPA, is widely used for assessing regional groundwater pollution susceptibility by using hydrogeological factors such as depth to water, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, vadose zone media, hydraulic conductivity. The system can be applied to site selection of well or waste disposal and landuse for groundwater protection. In this study, hydrogeological spatial database of Younggwang area about topography, drainage, well, geology, soil and landuse was constructed using GIS (Geographic Information System) and regional groundwater pollution susceptibility is analyzed using the spatial database and GIS overlay technique.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.279-288
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• 2019

To obtain insightful knowledge of geochemical process controlling fluoride enrichment in groundwater of the villages near Shilabati river bank, West Bengal, India, multivariate statistical techniques were applied to a subgroup of the dataset generated from major ion analysis of groundwater samples. Water quality analysis of major ion chemistry revealed elevated levels of fluoride concentration in groundwater. Factor analysis (FA) of fifteen hydrochemical parameters demonstrated that fluoride occurrence was due to the weathering and dissolution of fluoride-bearing minerals in the aquifer. A strong positive loading (> 0.75) of fluoride with pH and bicarbonate for FA indicates an alkaline dominated environment responsible for leaching of fluoride from the source material. Mineralogical analysis of soli sediment exhibits the presence of fluoride-bearing minerals in underground geology. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was carried out to isolate the sampling sites according to groundwater quality. With HCA the sampling sites were isolated into three clusters. The occurrence of abundant fluoride in the higher elevated area of the observed three different clusters revealed that there was more contact opportunity of recharging water with the minerals present in the aquifer during infiltration through the vadose zone.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.43-51
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• 2020

About 90% of groundwater wells in Jeju Island are reported to be under the threat of contamination by infiltration of the surface pollutants. Most of those wells have improperly grouted annulus which is an empty space between the well and the inner casing. As a remedy to this problem, some of the wells were re-grouted by filling the annulus with cement without lifting an inner casing. In order to evaluate whether this method is appropriate for the geological structure of Jeju Island, two wells (W1 and W2) were selected and this method was applied. The water holding capacity did not decrease while the nitrate levels decreased from 16.8 and 20.2 to 6.8 and 13.8 mg/L in W1 and W2, respectively. The higher nitrate level in W2 is deemed to be influenced by the livestock farms located in the upper area of the well. In addition, transmissivity of the vedose zone was higher in W2 than W1, potentially facilitating the transport of nitrate to the groundwater. The overall result of this study suggests re-grouting of wells for the purpose of protecting water quality of goundwater should take into account geological structure of vadose zone as well as appropriate source control of the contaminants.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.201-216
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• 2013

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were conducted in a sand tank model in a laboratory and at an alluvial field site to detect the groundwater table and to investigate the influence of saturation on GPR response in the unsaturated zone. In the sand tank model, the groundwater table and saturation in the sand layer were altered by injecting water, which was then drained by a valve inserted into the bottom of the tank. GPR vertical reflection profile (VRP) data were obtained in the sand tank model for rising and lowering of the groundwater table to estimate the groundwater table and saturation. Results of the lab-scale model provide information on the sensitivity of GPR signals to changes in the water content and in the groundwater table. GPR wave velocities in the vadose zone are controlled mainly by variations in water content (increased travel time is interpreted as an increase in saturation). At the field site, VRP data were collected to a depth of 220 m to estimate the groundwater table at an alluvial site near the Nakdong river at Iryong-ri, Haman-gun, South Korea. Results of the field survey indicate that under saturated conditions, the first reflector of the GPR is indicative of the capillary fringe and not the actual groundwater table. To measure the groundwater table more accurately, we performed a GPR survey using the common mid-point (CMP) method in the vicinity of well-3, and sunk a well to check the groundwater table. The resultant CMP data revealed reflective events from the capillary fringe and groundwater table showing hyperbolic patterns. The normal moveout correction was applied to evaluate the velocity of the GPR, which improved the accuracy of saturation and groundwater table information at depth. The GPR results show that the saturation information, including the groundwater table, is useful in assessing the hydrogeologic properties of the vadose zone in the field.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.52-58
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• 2012

Capillary fringe divides the groundwater and the vadose zone controlling the diffusive mass transfer of contaminants and gases. The thickness of capillary fringe is of great importance for the rate of contaminant mass transfer across the capillary fringe. Application of surface active chemicals including surfactants and alcohol-based products into the subsurface environment changes the surface tension of the aqueous phase, which in turn, affects the thickness of the capillary fringe. In this study, a bench-scale model was used to assess the quantitative relationship between the surface tension and the thickness of the capillary fringe. An anionic surfactant (Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, SDBS) and an aqueous solution of ethanol were used to control the surface tension of the groundwater. It was found that the thickness of the capillary fringe is directly proportional to the surface tension. The air entry pressures measured by the Tempe Pressure Cell at different surface tensions using SDBS (200 mg/L) and ethanol (20%, v/v) solutions were in good agreement with the thicknesses of the capillary fringe measured by the model. A simple method to correct the conventional Brooks-Corey model for estimating the air entry pressure was also presented.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.3-15
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• 1999

This paper includes the basic experimental results performed for developing an innovative and technologically feasible process wherein gaseous ozone, a powerful oxidant. is injected directly into vadose zone by which in-situ chemical degradation of semi- or, non-volatile petroleum product such as diesel fuel is derived. As ozone gas injected continuously(50mL/min, 119.0$\pm$6.1mg/L) into soil packed columns artificially contaminated with diesel fuel(initial concentration 1,485mg-DRO/kg/soil), the removal rates at the inlet and outlet point of 14hrs-operated column are 87.9% and 100.0%, respectively. On the other hand, soil vapor extraction system showed less than 30% of removal rates of residual diesel both at the inlet and outlet samples under the same experimental conditions which confirms the limited treatability of SVE in diesel contaminated soil.