ABSTRACT
Effectiveness of any groundwater remediation strategy in a polluted aquifer depends on the accuracy with which the sources of pollution are characterized, in terms of their numbers, spatial locations, source activity starting times, and pollutant flux release histories. Various methodologies have been developed for identification of these source characteristics, but none of these methods address the need for complete source identification. Out of the four source characteristics, finding the number of sources, their locations and activity initiation times are seldom the main objective of these methodologies. Most of the developed methodologies emphasize estimating the pollutant flux release history from the sources, and are effective only when the number of sources, their actual/potential locations, and activity initiation times are well established. This study presents an in-depth review of various computational models for characterization of unknown groundwater pollution sources in the light of these assumptions and their applicability in different real life field conditions.
