Randolf Rausch Book order

In arid and semi-arid regions groundwater is often the only natural resource for water supply. Therefore, stakeholders face great challenges in managing this resource in a responsible way. The problem is further amplified by population growth, increase in agricultural, industrial and municipal water consumption, and the threat of climate change. Therefore, an optimal use and management of the scarce groundwater resources is imperative. A precondition for this is a sound understanding of the particularities of the hydrogeology of arid and semi-arid regions as well as a proper knowledge of the water budget, water resources in storage, and water quality. This book summarizes the results of the conference „Hydrogeology of Arid Environments“, which was held in March 2012 in Hannover (Germany). It gives an overview about current research on this topic with examples from arid and semi-arid areas from all over the world. The book is intended for scientists, engineers, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, and political decision makers interested in the water resources of arid and semi-arid environments.

Transport models have become an essential tool to investigate groundwater quality problems. This book presents the fundamental hydraulic, hydrochemical and nume rical concepts that are required for the sound and efficient application of solute transport models in groundwater studies. Advection, dispersion and diffusion, which are the main physical transport processes, are first introduced, followed by the derivation of the advection-dispersion equation. A separate chapter is dedicated to multispecies reactive transport modelling, presenting both theory and simulation examples. Special methods used to simulate transport in fractured geological material are also presented. The authors, all of them groundwater modelling professionals, focus on the detailed presentation of numerical methods commonly used in transport models, to provide practitioners with a sound theoretical basis for transport model applications. Grid-based methods are presented, including explicit and implicit finite differences, finite elements and finite volume methods. Particle tracking techniques are also covered, among them the method of characteristics and the random-walk method. This professional text addresses academics, scientists, engineers, hydrologists and hydrogeol ogists interested in the application of transport models in hydrogeology, geoecology, hydrology, geography, environmental engineering, hydraulic engineering and water economics.