Uncertainty analysis of seawater intrusion forecasting

Abstract

In order to describe the importance of uncertainty analysis in seawater intrusion forecasting and identify the main factors that might cause great differences in prediction results, we analyzed the influence of sea level rise, tidal effect, the seasonal variance of influx, and the annual variance of the pumping rate, as well as combinations of different parameters. The results show that the most important factors that might cause great differences in seawater intrusion distance are the variance of pumping rate and combinations of different parameters. The influence of sea level rise can be neglected in a short-time simulation (ten years, for instance). Retardation of seawater intrusion caused by tidal effects is obviously important in aquifers near the coastline, but the influence decreases with distance away from the coastline and depth away from the seabed. The intrusion distance can reach a dynamic equilibrium with the application of the sine function for seasonal effects of influx. As a conclusion, we suggest that uncertainty analysis should be considered in seawater intrusion forecasting, if possible.