Residence time vs influence time

The residence time measures the influence of a hypothetical point discharge on a control domain. In environmental studies, it provides a measure of the effectiveness of hydrodynamic processes at helping a semi-enclosed basin to recover from a local pollution event. The influence time quantifies the local influence of a tracer that would be uniformly distributed in the control domain at the initial time. It is therefore a relevant diagnostic tool in impact studies focusing on the local persistence of a pollution problem initially affecting a large domain.