The CXTFIT Code for Estimating Transport Parameters from Laboratory or Field Tracer Experiments

N. Toride, F. J. Leij, and M. Th. van Genuchten. The CXTFIT Code for Estimating Transport Parameters from Laboratory or Field Tracer Experiments, Version 2.0, Research Report No. 137, U. S. Salinity Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Riverside, CA. Successful predictions of the fate and transport of solutes in the subsurface hinges on the availability of accurate transport parameters. We modified and updated the CXTFIT code of Parker and van Genuchten [1984b] for estimating solute transport parameters using a nonlinear least-squares parameter optimization method. The program may be used to solve the inverse problem by fitting mathematical solutions of theoretical transport models, based upon the convection-dispersion equation (CDE), to experimental results. This approach allows parameters in the transport models to be quantified. The program may also be used to solve the direct or forward problem to determine the concentration as a function of time and/or position. Three different one-dimensional transport models are included: (i) the conventional CDE; (ii) the chemical and physical nonequilibrium CDE; and (iii) a stochastic stream tube model based upon the local-scale CDE with equilibrium or nonequilibrium adsorption. The two independent stochastic parameters in the stream-tube model are the pore-water velocity, v, and either the dispersion coefficient, D, the distribution coefficient, Kd, or the nonequilibrium rate parameter, a. These pairs of stochastic parameters were described with a bivariate lognormal probability density function (pdf). Examples are given on how transport parameters may be determined from laboratory or field tracer experiments for several types of initial and boundary conditions, as well as different zero-order production profiles. A detailed description is provided of the computer program, including the subroutines used to evaluate the analytical solutions for optimizing model parameters. Input and output files for all major problems are included in this manual.