Vyacheslav G. Rumynin – författare

This book provides essential background knowledge on a wide range of hydrological processes governing contaminant transport from soil to surface water across a range of scales, from hillslope to watershed. The mathematical description of these processes is based on both well-known and unique analytical solutions of different initial and boundary problems (primarily using methods from the kinematic wave theory and the reservoir/lumped-parameter concept), supported by numerical modelling studies. Some research topics, in particular several case studies, are illustrated by monitoring and experimental data analysis to show the importance of the research’s applications in environmental practice and environmental education. Specific results concern the recognition of: (a) the effect of transient rainfall–runoff–infiltration partitioning on the chemical response of drainage areas to excess precipitation under certain field conditions related to the soil, hillslope characteristics, and contaminant properties; (b) soil erosion as a key factor that enhances the potential of adsorbed chemical transport in runoff; and (c) common tendencies in radionuclide behaviour in the near-surface environment contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl (1986), Fukushima (2011) and the less known Kyshtym (1957) accidents, as well as from nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere since 1952.

The book’s goal is to provide a conceptual foundation enabling readers to apply scientific knowledge to solve practical problems in environmental hydrology and radiology. More specifically, the book presents the state-of-the-art approaches thatscientists and natural resources experts need in order to significantly improve the prediction of changes in the soil–water system chemistry due to human activities.

The book addresses the development of the basic knowledge of the subsurface solute transfer with a particular emphasis on field data collection and analysis coupled with modeling (analytical and numerical) tool application. The relevant theoretical developments are concerned mainly with the formulation and solution of deterministic mass-transport equations for a wide range of engineering issues in groundwater quality assessment and forecasting.

The book gives many computational examples and case studies drawn from the conducted field investigations. The analyzed problems are as follows:

One of the most essential topics addressed in the book is the migration and fate of radionuclides. Model development is motivated by field data analysis from a number of radioactively contaminated sites in the Russian Federation: near-surface radioactive waste disposal sites and deep-well radioactive waste injection sites. They play a unique role in the advancement of knowledge of the subsurface behavior and fate ofmany hazardous radionuclides and can be considered as field-scale laboratories.

Thus, the book, along with theoretical findings, contains field information, which will facilitate the understanding of subsurface solute transport and the development of a methodology for practical applications to groundwater hydrology.