Simulation of Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Confined Aquifer Using a Point Collocation Method Based Meshfree Model

Abstract

Seawater intrusion caused by groundwater over-exploitation from coastal aquifers poses a severe problem in many regions. Formulation of proper pumping strategy using a simulation model can assure sustainable supply of fresh water from the coastal aquifers. The focus of the present study is on the development of a numerical model based on Meshfree (MFree) method to study the seawater intrusion problem. For the simulation of seawater intrusion problem, widely used models are based on Finite Difference (FDM) and Finite Element (FEM) Methods, which demand well defined grids/meshes and considerable pre-processing efforts. Here, MFree Point Collocation Method (PCM) based on the Radial Basis Function (RBF) is proposed for the simulation. Diffusive interface approach with density-dependent dispersion and solution of flow and solute transport is adopted. These equations are solved using PCM with appropriate boundary conditions. The developed model has been verified with Henry’s problem, and found to be satisfactory. Further the model has been applied to another established problem and an attempt is made to examine the influence of important system parameters including pumping and recharge on the seawater intrusion. The PCM based MFree model is found computationally efficient as preprocessing is avoided when compared to other numerical methods.