SESOIL is a one-dimensional vertical transport screening-level model for the unsaturated (vadose) zone that simulates RNA based on diffusion, adsorption, volatilization, biodegradation, cation exchange and hydrolysis. SESOIL is an acronym for the Seasonal Soil compartment model. It contains three submodels that simultaneously simulate contaminant transport, soil water movement and soil erosion. It is the vadose zone model by which all other vadose zone models are judged. What sets SESOIL apart is its ability to simulate seasonal climatic variations and varying soil properties with depth. Contaminant transport can be simulated:
SESOIL 7.1 now includes a value for the water diffusion coefficient. This parameter is not used by SESOIL and is simply passed on to AT123D. Version 7.1 of SESOIL also includes a modification to the method of reading input files. This means that the user no longer needs to make changes to the config.sys and autoexec.bat files for SESOIL to run.
SESOIL can be used to simulate the fate of residual contaminant levels in soil to establish site-specific cleanup objectives. It can also simulate time-dependent releases from underground storage tanks, landfills and agricultural practices. The public domain version of SESOIL was enhanced to simulate up to 999 years of contaminant transport. SEVIEW links the time-dependent contaminant load to groundwater from SESOIL to the AT123D and BIOSCREEN groundwater models.
SESOIL was developed for US Environmental Protection Agency in 1981 by Bonazountas and Wagner, at Arthur D. Little, Inc. SESOIL has been updated several times. In 1984 Bonazountas and Wagner added a fourth soil. SESOIL was modified extensively by Hetrick et al., at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to enhance its capabilities. The enhanced version of SESOIL included with SEVIEW was modified in 1997 by M. J. Barden then of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to correct for a mass balance error, which was discovered using the SEVIEW mass balance report. In 1997, Mr. Robert Schneiker of ESCI modified SESOIL to run to 1,000 years. SESOIL 7.1 now includes the water diffusion coefficient for use in AT123D.