Research Projects

This project will build a mathematical and computational model for investigating growth and transport of micro-organisms in unsaturated soil described by the nonlinear Richards' equation with source terms. These source terms contribute to change the saturation function, or the microbial population density, in addition to the nonlinear diffusion.

Movement of micro-organisms in and with the liquid phase is controlled by the flow of water, which results in advective transport and hydrodynamic dispersion, as well as Brownian diffusion. Mechanisms such as growth, decay, adsorption, straining and motility also influence the fate and transport of micro-organisms. The consumption and transport of growth-limiting substrates occur simultaneously with the transport of micro-organisms. All of the factors will be taken into account in this project.