Integrating Numerical Models with Data Analysis in Site Assessment

Presented at the Sixth International Conference on Remediation of Contaminated Sediments, Feb 7-10, 2011, New Orleans, LA. Paper A-07. The original document contains color images.

The characterization and assessment of contaminated sites can be made more effective with the interactive use of in situ data, historical records, and results from predictive process-based numerical models. These three components can be difficult to merge because of space and time scales, as well as data formats and availability. We are developing an Application and Programming Interface (API) tool to make this procedure more accessible to a range of interested groups. This tool consists of two components: (1) a GUI-based toolbox of data processing and analysis software and (2) a numerical modeling system for hydrodynamics, sedimentation, and mass transport. The toolkit includes modules to analyze data in four dimensions and merge different data types as well as compute derived variables. The modeling system includes models that calculate waves; circulation due to tides and the wind; entrainment of bottom sediment; and the transport of dissolved and suspended material. The components of the API have been tested on the potential entrainment and transport of contaminants in San Francisco Bay, California, and St. Louis Bay, Mississippi. The models have proven valuable at predicting the movement of dissolved and suspended contaminants both within enclosed bays as well as in estuaries and the inner shelf. The results indicate that integration of the models with available data for planning containment and remediation strategies would reduce the effort required to characterize a contaminated site using field methods alone.