Random field approach to seawater intrusion in heterogeneous coastal aquifers: unconditional simulations and statistical analysis
Résumé
Seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers is a growing concern in mediterranean regions, due to over-population and over-exploitation of coastal groundwater resources. Under these circumstances, it is essential to model the extent of seawater intrusion and to locate the saltwater-freshwater interface taking into account heterogeneity and parameter uncertainty. There are different ways to couple salt transport and freshwater flow in groundwater models. We choose here the vertically integrated sharp interface approach, with two immiscible fluid regions (freshwater and seawater). We use this model to analyze the effects of aquifer variability on the saltwater wedge in plane view, based on large numerical simulations of 2D seawater intrusion in randomly heterogeneous unconfined aquifers.