A two-dimensional model of hydraulic performance ofstormwa ter infiltration systems

Abstract

Stormwater infiltration systems are a popular method for urban stormwater control. They are often designed using an assumptionof one-dimensional saturated outflow, although this is not very accurate for many typical designs where two-dimensional (2D)flows into unsaturated soils occur. Available 2D variably saturated flow models are not commonly used for design because oftheir complexity and difficulties with the required boundary conditions. A purpose-built stormwater infiltration system modelwas thus developed for the simulation of 2D flow from a porous storage. The model combines a soil moisture–based model forunsaturated soils with a ponded storage model and uses a wetting front-tracking approach for saturated flows. The modelrepresents the main physical processes while minimizing input data requirements. The model was calibrated and validated usingdata from laboratory 2D stormwater infiltration trench experiments. Calibrations were undertaken using five different combinationsof calibration data to examine calibration data requirements. It was found that storage water levels could be satisfactorily predictedusing parameters calibrated with either data from laboratory soils tests or observed water level data, whereas the prediction of soilmoistures was improved through the addition of observed soil moisture data to the calibration data set.

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