Solution of stochastic groundwater flow by infinite series, and convergence of the one-dimensional expansion (Q1337962)

This paper investigates analytical solutions of stochastic Darcy flow in randomly heterogeneous porous media. We focus on infinite series solutions of the steady-state equations in the case of continuous porous media whose saturated log-conductivity \((\ln K)\) in a Gaussian random field. The standard deviation of \(\ln K\) is denoted `\(\sigma\)'. The solution method is based on a Taylor series expansion in terms of parameter \(\sigma\), around the value \(\sigma=0\), of the hydraulic head \((H)\) and gradient \((J)\). The head solution \(H\) is expressed, for any spatial dimension, as an infinite hierarchy of Green's function integrals, and the hydraulic gradient \(J\) is given by a linear first- order recursion involving a stochastic integral operator. In one dimension, we prove convergence by solving explicit the hierarchical sequence of equations to all orders.