Groundwater Modeling
Instructor: Dr Laura Toran
Course Goals
This course offers continuing education, graduate, and advanced undergraduate students a chance to construct models using MODFLOW and other practical tools. The course assignments and demos will be available on the web. The weekly lecture is on Wednes. evenings, and includes a computer lab session.
The goals of this course are:
· learn MODFLOW and other tools for groundwater flow modeling
· be able to recognize how to judge models and compare them with reality
· gain computer skills that can be used with a wide variety tools
The textbook for the course is Anderson and Woessner, Applied Groundwater Modeling from Academic Press. The only edition available is 1st edition, copyright 1992.
Grading for this class (and approx weight toward final grade):
· Weekly assignment(approximately 10). These are worked independently, not with a partner or group (40%)
· Class participation, attendance, possibly a few short quizzes (10%)
· Final project: construction and presentation to the class of a groundwater modeling problem. This is also an independent project. Grading of the project is based on intermediate assignments, presentation, and a final report. (50%)
Groundwater Modeling Schedule
Week 1: Jan 22 / Introduction, governing equations for groundwater flow / Preface, Ch 1 & 2
Week 2: Jan 29 / Gridding, MODFLOW arrays / MODFLOW handout,
Ch 3 (skip boxes except Box 3.4); / 1.1, 5-point star, Blackboard, Open programs
Week 3: Feb 5 / Boundary conditions,, Pre-processors / Ch 4, (skip 4.4), GroundwaterVistas Tutorial / 3.1 (first page of table only), grid for 4.1 & 5.1, Run Groundwater Vistas
Week 4: Feb 12 / Source/sink terms, Internal boundaries, MODFLOW / Ch 5, Ch 4.4 / 4.1
Week 5: Feb 19 / Output, Water budget, 3D modeling / Revisit p 44, Box 3.1, MODFLOW documentation / 5.1
Week 6: Feb 26 / Convergence, solvers, Discuss final project / Ch 8: 210-220, Ch 9 & 10 / 5.2, budget for 4.1
Week 7: Mar 5
(no class Mar 12) / Calibration, sensitivity analysis / Ch 8 / 8.2, 8.3b
Week 8: Mar 19 / Profile models / Ch 6 / GWV tutorial,
Final project proposal
Week 9: Mar 26** / Transient models / Ch 7 / 6.1
Week 10: Apr 2 / Particle tracking / Ch 11 / 7.1, example input files for project
Week 11: Apr 9 / Contaminant transport / Article / 11.1
Week 12: Apr 16 / Contaminant transport / Article / Analytic model, Head calibration for project
Week 13: Apr 23 / Special topics: fracture flow, unsaturated flow, multiphase flow / Ch 12 / Final project progress report
Week 14: Apr 30 / Presentations
FINAL: May 7 / Presentations
**Mar 26 meeting subject to date or time change.