Evaluation of the Rackwitz‐Fiessler Uncertainty Analysis Method for environmental fate and transport models

Abstract

The use of contaminant transport modeling has become an integral component of the regulatory and decision process for the disposal and cleanup of hazardous wastes. Because many of the input parameters to these models are uncertain, analysis of this uncertainty and its impact on the decision process has become increasingly important. Many contaminant transport models are computationally intensive and require run times that make traditional Monte Carlo analysis impractical. This paper therefore evaluates and tests an approximate technique, the Rackwitz‐Fiessler method, that can be used when computation time prohibits the use of Monte Carlo simulation. The accuracy and efficiency of the method is assessed and compared to Monté Carlo simulation for three contaminant transport models.