Groundwater modelling

The course provides an overview on the principles of groundwater modeling using numerical tools. The overall goal of the course is to reach a sufficient degree of knowledge to be able to (1) translate a real-life hydrogeological problem into a conceptual model first and (2) to know how to solve it numerically. At the end of the course, the student will be able to perform independently simple groundwater simulations and to understand how to recognize a well-built model from an incorrect one. The course involves the installation of the software Processing Modflow and MODELMUSE, freely downloadable from Internet, which can be installed on individual laptops or workstations and usable even after the end of the course.

The participant will learn (1) why models are needed in groundwater management, (2) what a numerical model is and what a software contains behind the graphical user interface, (3) how a real-life hydrogeological problem can be conceptualized and approximated by a numerical model, and (4) how to solve for the problem using standard numerical codes (MODFLOW, MODPATH, MT3D). The practices provide examples from applications from Italian and international case studies, with real-life (i.e. not idealized) datasets. The participants will be ready to apply these concepts in practical applications beyond the academia. Typical problems associated with the usually-difficult step "from theory to practice" are analyzed and discussed.