Stochastic analysis of velocity spatial variability in bounded rectangular heterogeneous aquifers

Transport of inert solutes in two-dimensional bounded heterogeneous porous media is investigated in a stochastic framework. After adopting a first-order approximation of the flow equations, analytical expressions are derived for the velocity covariances. Effects of the boundary conditions and aquifer size upon the statistical moments are analyzed. While the size of the domain is shown to have small influence on the covariances in most cases, the solutions are considerably modified by the boundaries. The results are compared with analytical solutions on infinite domains, and several discrepancies are demonstrated. For example, while the velocity variances on infinite domains are homogeneous, the present results are strongly non-stationary. Finally, the problem is solved numerically by the Monte Carlo simulation method. The results, including the behavior near the boundaries, are shown to be in close agreement with analytical solutions.

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