2020 Volume 76 Issue 2 Pages I_45-I_56
The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of upscaling on spatial distribution characteristic of hydraulic conductivity and solute dispersion for a stratified porous model. A geostatistical analysis allowed quantification of spatial characteristic for the upscaled models. As a result, the smoothing of spatial distribution due to upscaling reduced the heterogeneity, whereas the spatial correlation scale was preserved. In order to identify the relationship between the degrees of solute dispersion and upscaling, a combined experimental and numerical investigation is conducted. The data from the experiment are utilized to validate a numerical model that is then used to estimate the strength of the dispersion processes (i.e., longitudinal and transverse macrodispersivities) in the upscaled models. It is shown that upscaling does not affect the transverse macrodispersivity, while the longitudinal macrodispersivity is underestimated due to the decrease of heterogeneity during the upscaling process. Moreover, the result suggested that the mass transfer between layers be altered by increase in the layer thickness due to upscaling, leading to the plume spreading in the longitudinal direction.
