ABSTRACT
The management of hazardous and municipal wastes may have important implications on groundwater quality. The current trend in waste management in the United States involves its disposal and isolation within containment facilities to minimize human and environmental contact. One of the key engineered components in municipal and hazardous waste containment systems is the cover system. The cover system is the surface culmination of a landfill, so it interacts closely with the atmosphere. Cover design and analysis involves concepts from various disciplines such as geotechnical engineering, environmental
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engineering, soil science, agriculture engineering, climatology, biology, and hydrology. Integration of concepts from these various disciplines presents important challenges to researchers, designers, regulators, and stakeholders. This is particularly the case in evapotranspirative covers, the understanding of which relies heavily on the quantification of atmospheric processes at the land surface and of water flow though unsaturated soil.
