Vertical Flow (vertical + flow)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Determining soil saturated hydraulic conductivity and sorptivity from single ring infiltration tests

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2007
J. Touma
Summary The difference between the cumulative infiltration occurring during three-dimensional axisymmetric and one-dimensional vertical flow is a linear function of time. The slope of this line is a function of the source radius, initial and final volumetric soil water contents and the soil sorptivity. This allows the determination of the sorptivity and saturated conductivity of the soil from data of axisymmetric flow in a single ring of small diameter under negligible head of water. The method is based on the optimization of the sorptivity and saturated conductivity on the one-dimensional vertical cumulative infiltration inferred from axisymmetric flow data. To examine the reliability of the method to determine these parameters, numerical three- and one-dimensional data are generated on soils with known hydrologic properties from the literature. The linearity versus time of the difference of the two types of flow is verified. Several physically based expressions for the vertical cumulative infiltration as a function of time are considered. The optimized values of the sorptivity and saturated conductivity are compared to the their real known values. Despite the large errors on the optimized parameters, namely the saturated conductivity, the error on the vertical predicted cumulative infiltration is limited to 10%. This makes possible the application of this method on a large scale for hydrological modelling purposes. [source]


Fracture Control of Ground Water Flow and Water Chemistry in a Rock Aquitard

GROUND WATER, Issue 5 2007
Timothy T. Eaton
There are few studies on the hydrogeology of sedimentary rock aquitards although they are important controls in regional ground water flow systems. We formulate and test a three-dimensional (3D) conceptual model of ground water flow and hydrochemistry in a fractured sedimentary rock aquitard to show that flow dynamics within the aquitard are more complex than previously believed. Similar conceptual models, based on regional observations and recently emerging principles of mechanical stratigraphy in heterogeneous sedimentary rocks, have previously been applied only to aquifers, but we show that they are potentially applicable to aquitards. The major elements of this conceptual model, which is based on detailed information from two sites in the Maquoketa Formation in southeastern Wisconsin, include orders of magnitude contrast between hydraulic diffusivity (K/Ss) of fractured zones and relatively intact aquitard rock matrix, laterally extensive bedding-plane fracture zones extending over distances of over 10 km, very low vertical hydraulic conductivity of thick shale-rich intervals of the aquitard, and a vertical hydraulic head profile controlled by a lateral boundary at the aquitard subcrop, where numerous surface water bodies dominate the shallow aquifer system. Results from a 3D numerical flow model based on this conceptual model are consistent with field observations, which did not fit the typical conceptual model of strictly vertical flow through an aquitard. The 3D flow through an aquitard has implications for predicting ground water flow and for planning and protecting water supplies. [source]


Multilayer Analytic Element Modeling of Radial Collector Wells

GROUND WATER, Issue 6 2005
Mark Bakker
A new multilayer approach is presented for the modeling of ground water flow to radial collector wells. The approach allows for the inclusion of all aspects of the unique boundary condition along the lateral arms of a collector well, including skin effect and internal friction losses due to flow in the arms. The hydraulic conductivity may differ between horizontal layers within the aquifer, and vertical anisotropy can be taken into account. The approach is based on the multilayer analytic element method, such that regional flow and local three-dimensional detail may be simulated simultaneously and accurately within one regional model. Horizontal flow inside a layer is computed analytically, while vertical flow is approximated with a standard finite-difference scheme. Results obtained with the proposed approach compare well to results obtained with three-dimensional analytic element solutions for flow in unconfined aquifers. The presented approach may be applied to predict the yield of a collector well in a regional setting and to compute the origin and residence time, and thus the quality, of water pumped by the collector well. As an example, the addition of three lateral arms to a collector well that already has three laterals is investigated. The new arms are added at an elevation of 2 m above the existing laterals. The yield increase of the collector well is computed as a function of the lengths of the three new arms. [source]


Revisiting a Classification Scheme for U.S.-Mexico Alluvial Basin-Fill Aquifers

GROUND WATER, Issue 5 2005
Barry J. Hibbs
Intermontane basins in the Trans-Pecos region of westernmost Texas and northern Chihuahua, Mexico, are target areas for disposal of interstate municipal sludge and have been identified as possible disposal sites for low-level radioactive waste. Understanding ground water movement within and between these basins is needed to assess potential contaminant fate and movement. Four associated basin aquifers are evaluated and classified; the Red Light Draw Aquifer, the Northwest Eagle Flat Aquifer, the Southeast Eagle Flat Aquifer, and the El Cuervo Aquifer. Encompassed on all but one side by mountains and local divides, the Red Light Draw Aquifer has the Rio Grande as an outlet for both surface drainage and ground water discharge. The river juxtaposed against its southern edge, the basin is classified as a topographically open, through-flowing basin. The Northwest Eagle Flat Aquifer is classified as a topographically closed and drained basin because surface drainage is to the interior of the basin and ground water discharge occurs by interbasin ground water flow. Mountains and ground water divides encompass this basin aquifer on all sides; yet, depth to ground water in the interior of the basin is commonly >500 feet. Negligible ground water discharge within the basin indicates that ground water discharges from the basin by vertical flow and underflow to a surrounding basin or basins. The most likely mode of discharge is by vertical, cross-formational flow to underlying Permian rocks that are more porous and permeable and subsequent flow along regional flowpaths beneath local ground water divides. The Southeast Eagle Flat Aquifer is classified as a topographically open and drained basin because surface drainage and ground water discharge are to the adjacent Wildhorse Flat area. Opposite the Eagle Flat and Red Light Draw aquifers is the El Cuervo Aquifer of northern Chihuahua, Mexico. The El Cuervo Aquifer has interior drainage to Laguna El Cuervo, which is a phreatic playa that also serves as a focal point of ground water discharge. Our evidence suggests that El Cuervo Aquifer may lose a smaller portion of its discharge by interbasin ground water flow to Indian Hot Springs, near the Rio Grande. Thus, El Cuervo Aquifer is a topographically closed basin that is either partially drained if a component of its ground water discharge reaches Indian Hot Springs or undrained if all its natural ground water discharge is to Laguna El Cuervo. [source]


Infiltration pattern in a regolith,fractured bedrock profile: field observation of a dye stain pattern

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 2 2006
Jae Gon Kim
Abstract We examined the infiltration pattern of water in a regolith,bedrock profile consisting of two overburdens (OB1 and OB2), a buried rice paddy soil (PS), two texturally distinctive weathered materials (WM1 and WM2) and a fractured sedimentary rock (BR), using a Brilliant Blue FCF dye tracer. A black-coloured coating in conducting fractures in WM1, WM2 and BR was analysed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The dye tracer penetrated to greater than 2 m depth in the profile. The macropore flow and saturated interflow were the major infiltration patterns in the profile. Macropore flow and saturated interflow were observed along fractures in WM1, WM2 and BR and at the dipping interfaces of PS,WM1, PS,WM2 and PS,BR respectively. Heterogeneous matrix flow occurred in upper overburden (OB1) and PS. Compared with OB1, the coarser textured OB2 acted as a physical barrier for vertical flow of water. The PS with low bulk density and many fine roots was another major conducting route of water in the profile. Manganese oxide and iron oxide were positively identified in the black coating material and had low crystallinity and high surface area, indicating their high reactivity with conducting contaminants. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Is the sky falling?

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2008
RAVE surveys, Searching for stellar streams in the local Milky Way disc in the CORAVEL
ABSTRACT We have searched for in-falling stellar streams on to the local Milky Way disc in the CORrelation RAdial VELocities (CORAVEL) and RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) surveys. The CORAVEL survey consists of local dwarf stars (Nördstrom et al. Geneva,Copenhagen survey) and local Famaey et al. giant stars. We select RAVE stars with radial velocities that are sensitive to the Galactic vertical space velocity (Galactic latitude b < ,45°). Kuiper statistics have been employed to test the symmetry of the Galactic vertical velocity distribution functions in these samples for evidence of a net vertical flow that could be associated with a (tidal?) stream of stars with vertically coherent kinematics. In contrast to the ,Field of Streams' found in the outer halo, we find that the local volumes of the solar neighbourhood sampled by the CORAVEL dwarfs (complete within ,3 × 10,4 kpc3), CORAVEL giants (complete within ,5 × 10,2 kpc3) and RAVE (5,15 per cent complete within ,8 kpc3) are devoid of any vertically coherent streams containing hundreds of stars. This is sufficiently sensitive to allow our RAVE sample to rule out the passing of the tidal stream of the disrupting Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy through the solar neighbourhood. This agrees with the most-recent determinations of its orbit and dissociates it from the Helmi et al. halo stream. Our constraints on the absence of the Sgr stream near the Sun could prove a useful tool for discriminating between Galactic potential models. The lack of a net vertical flow through the solar neighbourhood in the CORAVEL giants and RAVE samples argues against the Virgo overdensity crossing the disc near the Sun. There are no vertical streams in the CORAVEL giants and RAVE samples with stellar densities ,1.6 × 104 and 1.5 × 103 stars kpc,3, respectively, and therefore no evidence for locally enhanced dark matter. [source]


Limitations of a linear model for the hurricane boundary layer

THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, Issue 641 2009
Stefanie Vogl
Abstract The linear model for the steady boundary layer of a rapidly rotating axisymmetric vortex is derived from a detailed scale analysis of the full equations of motion. The previously known analytic solution is re-appraised for vortices of hurricane scale and strength. The internal consistency of the linear approximation is investigated for such a vortex by calculating from the solution the magnitude of the nonlinear terms that are neglected in the approximation compared with the terms retained. It is shown that the nonlinear terms are not negligibly small in a large region of the vortex, a feature that is consistent with the scale analysis. We argue that the boundary-layer problem is well-posed only at outer radii where there is subsidence into the layer. At inner radii, where there is ascent, only the radial pressure gradient may be prescribed and not the wind components at the top of the boundary layer, but the linear problem cannot be solved in these circumstances. We examine the radius at which the vertical flow at the top of the boundary layer changes sign for different tangential wind profiles relevant to hurricanes and show that this is several hundred kilometres from the vortex centre. This feature represents a further limitation of the linear model applied to hurricanes. While the present analysis assumes axial symmetry, the same limitations presumably apply to non-axisymmetric extensions to the linear model. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source]


Holdup and Pressure Drop in Vertical and Near-Vertical Three-Phase Up-Flow: A Collection of Flow Regimes

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1-2 2002
P.L. Spedding
Three-phase oil, water and air data are reported for vertical and near vertical +86 5° upflow in a 0 026 m i d pipe In general, the liquid holdup for near vertical flow was greater than for the corresponding vertical upflow, the exception being at low liquid and superficial velocities under 0 6 m/s and high superficial gas velocities over 20 m/s Here the liquid holdup varied being sometimes below and other times above the corresponding vertical value These variations of liquid holdup were shown to depend on the fine structure of the flow patterns present The total pressure drop and its component parts showed significantly different patterns of behaviour depending on whether the superficial gas velocity was above or below the rise velocity of a Taylor bubble The total pressure drop generally was greater for near vertical flow compared to the vertical upflow case but reflected changes in the fine structure of the flow patterns A comprehensive collection of flow regimes is included in this paper [source]