Identification of the diffusion coefficient for a semi-linear hyperbolic-parabolic problem with discontinuous nonlinear terms

Numerical computations concerning geochemical processes in porous media require a knowledge of the values of the macroscopic parameters. In the context of the interpretation of leaching tests one such parameter is the apparent macroscopic diffusivity. In this paper, a mathematical model for dissolution in the presence of diffusion is considered. It is shown that the constant diffusion coefficient can be identifiable when the time integral of the flux is known. Moreover, a practical algorithm for computing the diffusion coefficient is proposed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.