Forensic Hydrogeology

Fact Sheet

Project Information

FORENSHYD Funded under

H2020-EU.1.3.2.
Grant agreement ID: 895526
Overall budget
Start date End date € 160 932,48
11 January 2021 10 January 2023
EU contribution
€ 160 932,48

Coordinated by
UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE
VALENCIA
  Spain

Project description

Innovative method to detect groundwater contamination

The stability and resilience of soil and groundwater are affected by contamination
events. To improve the EU’s risk-reduction management capabilities, it is essential to
identify the time, location and quantities of contaminant spills. This involves forensic
hydrogeology, a growing discipline that applies scientific knowledge in legal
resolutions. The EU-funded FORENSHYD project will develop an innovative, flexible
and reliable ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) data assimilation method to optimally
identify contamination sources and the occurrence of reactive pollutants in near-
actual conditions. EnKF is considered an excellent optimisation instrument for
simultaneous identification of the spatial variability of pollution, location and release
potential of polluting sources.
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Objective
Contaminant events disrupt stability and resilience of increasingly vulnerable soil and
groundwater. Identifying where, when and how much contaminant spill is released
into aquifers is critical for strengthening the competitiveness of EU in risk-reduction
management, and Forensic Hydrogeology, a growing discipline that applies scientific
knowledge in legal resolutions. Existing model solutions estimate the origin and
affected area, but numerical challenges impose too restrictive assumptions to
properly account for multiple sources or suitable aquifer characterization. The
scientific goal of FORENSHYD is to develop a novel, flexible and reliable ensemble
Kalman filter data assimilation method (EnKF) for the optimal identification of
contaminant sources and occurrence of reactive pollutants in near-actual conditions.
Latest assessed developments of Dr. Gómez-Hernández set EnKF as an excellent
optimization tool for the simultaneous identification of the spatial variability of
conductivities, the location, and the release function of polluting sources. A step
toward coupling the algorithm with machine learning techniques may overcome ill-
posed solutions, stemmed from nonlinearities between parameters and variables in
the state equation, to solve kinetic-controlled reactive transport problems and to
optimize data collection in groundwater observation network systems, a topic of
renewal interest in administration and industrial sector. We test spurious effects of
aquifer heterogeneity, reactive parameters, and initial/boundary conditions in
synthetic scenarios, sandbox experiments and two demonstration sites. Transfer of
this novel technology in well-reported, practical and universal open source packages
will reinforce the leadership and employability in the global market of intersectorial
and interdisciplinary European stakeholders. The societal value of FORENSHYD is
to improve mitigation strategies, and clarify environmental liability, in liaises with
Horizon 2020.

Fields of science

natural sciences  earth and related environmental sciences  hydrology  hydrogeology

Programme(s)

H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility

Topic(s)

MSCA-IF-2019 - Individual Fellowships

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Call for proposal

H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

Coordinator

UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE VALENCIA

Address Activity type EU contribution

Camino De Vera Sn Edificio Higher or Secondary € 160 932,48
3A Education Establishments
46022 Valencia
  Spain

Contact the organisation 

Website 

Last update: 24 April 2021

Record number: 230483

Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/895526

© European Union, 2022

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