@article{fdi:010055940,
  title = {{F}low in the unsaturated zone around a shallow subsurface radioactive waste trench : interpretation of an infiltration-drainage test at the {C}hernobyl {P}ilot {S}ite},
  author = {{V}an {M}eir, {N}. and {G}audet, {J}. {P}. and {P}hrommavanh, {V}. and {L}aurent, {J}. {P}. and {B}ugai, {D}. and {B}iron, {R}omain},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}his article describes an infiltration-drainage test carried out in the unsaturated zone ({UZ}) at the {C}hernobyl {P}ilot {S}ite during {O}ctober 2008; this is an international radioecology study site and is the subject of several papers in this special issue. {T}he test has to be seen in the larger context of radionuclide transport from a waste trench. {T}he conducted experiment consisted of infiltrating a layer of 9.5 cm of water in a circular area of 5.51 m(2) over 5 h. {I}ts main objective was to create a larger range of water content values (and hence suction pressure values), not only at the top of the soil profile but also at greater depths, in this case up to 1.50 m. {O}bservations of water content and suction pressure were carried out continuously at seven different depths during infiltration, drainage and during the return to natural conditions over a period of several months. {T}his allowed deriving {UZ} parameter values with greater confidence than those derived from monitoring small natural water content changes over periods of years. {T}he experiment also shows that a 1{D} model was incapable of correctly reproducing the observed water balance established on the central axis. {A} 2{D} axi-symmetric model was needed showing that lateral boundary effects have to be accounted for. {T}his implies that small scale infiltrometer tests should be analysed in more than one dimension. {I}t further became clear from the drainage curves that soil layering played a significant role and that in the present case hysteresis did not play a major role; i.e. the infiltration and drainage event can be reproduced with the same set of parameters and subsequent natural rain events can be reproduced well enough with two numerical models used for test interpretation, one is module oriented for reactive transfer, and the second with an automatic optimisation procedure. {T}he robustness of the estimated parameter values, of the model discretisation and layer identification was tested over a 2-month period with natural infiltration using a 1{D} model. {T}he results validated the test outcome.},
  keywords = {},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{A}pplied {G}eochemistry},
  volume = {27},
  numero = {7},
  pages = {1297--1303},
  ISSN = {0883-2927},
  year = {2012},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.08.009},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010055940},
}