Water
Water Resources Assessment through Mathematical Groundwater Modelling
An applied course in groundwater modelling: assessing the response of a multi-aquifer system to different pumping conditions, forecasting groundwater levels under development scenarios, and setting consumption scenarios for ten years or more, using mathematical models as a tool for sustainable management.
Overview
About the programme
An applied course in groundwater modelling: assessing the response of a multi-aquifer system to different pumping conditions, forecasting groundwater levels under development scenarios, and setting consumption scenarios for ten years or more, using mathematical models as a tool for sustainable management.
Duration
5 days
Training hours
25 hours
Delivery
Training hall · Virtual · At your premises
Language
Arabic or English
Objectives
What trainees will gain
- Understand the methodology of hydraulic flow and solute transport in groundwater.
- Build a conceptual model using GIS.
- Understand the characteristics of two- and three-dimensional water flow, and the fundamentals of building a 3D model with finite elements and finite differences.
- Apply finite elements to the unsaturated zone and density-dependent flow, and understand the performance differences between finite element and finite difference models.
- Calibrate flow and solute transport models and estimate parameters.
- Prepare the outputs of modelling projects.
Content
What the programme covers
Day 1: Groundwater modelling concepts
- Developing the conceptual model, selecting boundary conditions, 2D versus 3D, steady-state versus transient models, choosing the software, and calibration and prediction.
- Starting a modelling project: coordinate system, units, base map and image import, and building the conceptual model, its components and data layers.
- Analytic element models and an introduction to MODFLOW: benefits, limitations and model creation.
Day 2: Geostatistics and site characterisation
- Two- and three-dimensional geostatistics, borehole data and cross-section definition.
- MODFLOW Part 1: basic packages, recharge, wells, drains and solvers, grid pre-processing, the model checker, and running and post-processing.
- MODFLOW Part 2: aquifer–river interaction, general-head and variable-head boundaries, and horizontal flow barriers.
Day 3: Layer and spatial data interpolation
- Interpolating layer elevations from scattered points, assigning site properties across zones and converting them to solids, and the conceptual model approach in MODFLOW.
- Importing GIS data and files, applying solute transport modelling, and creating inputs and output options.
Day 4: Calibration and parameter estimation
- Calibration fundamentals, importing observation well data, point and flux observations, and plotting calibration statistics.
- Parameter estimation: introduction to inverse modelling, zonation using key values, the pilot points method, and regularisation.
Day 5: Solute transport modelling
- Transport concepts: advection, dispersion, diffusion, sorption and decay; packages, solvers and stress periods; sources, sinks and degradation.
Who for
Target audience
Engineers, hydrogeologists and geologists working in groundwater who wish to advance their knowledge of modelling and its applications in various software packages, and to build more complex and realistic models.
Method
How it is delivered
Application-led hands-on training on modelling software, through a series of tutorials that build a numerical model from a GIS-based conceptual model.
A programme tailored to your organisation
The duration and topics of the programme are adjusted to the organisation's needs, and it is delivered at its site, in a training hall arranged by the Center, or virtually.