ProfessorAdrianButler

Published research is primarily associated with work on measuring, analysing and modelling subsurface flow and transport processes and their associated environmental impact. Particular areas within this context are:

• Migration of radionuclides through soil and uptake by vegetation
• Application of stochastic contaminant transport modelling to groundwater protection;
• Development of new modelling techniques for environmental risk assessment;
• Development of analytical/modelling tools for flow and transport in fractured rock;
• Development of techniques for modelling nitrate behaviour in Chalk catchments.

Major contributions include: 

• Development of new methods for investigating and modelling flow and transport (particularly nitrates) in permeable (fractured) catchments, in particular the Chalk of southern and eastern England;
• Experimental and modelling investigations into recharge processes in the Chalk and their representation in catchment models;
• Use of stochastic modelling techniques to represent the effects of uncertainty, arising from spatial heterogeneity, in groundwater protection;
• Development of new techniques for modelling landfill biodegradation processes and their environmental impact;
• Development of models for soil-to-plant transfer of radionuclides in connection with safety assessment for radioactive waste disposal.