Modeling flow and transport in porous media requires the management of complexities related both to physical processes and to subsurface heterogeneity. A thorough approach needs a great number of spatially-distributed phenomenological parameters, which are seldom measured in the field. For instance, modeling a phreatic aquifer under high water extraction rates is very challenging, because it requires the simulation of variably-saturated flow. 3D steady groundwater flow is modeled with YAGMod (yet another groundwater flow model), a model based on a finite-difference conservative scheme and implemented in a computer code developed in Fortran90. YAGMod simulates also the presence of partially-saturated or dry cells. The proposed algorithm and other alternative methods developed to manage dry cells in the case of depleted aquifers are analyzed and compared to a simple test. Different approaches yield different solutions, among which, it is not possible to select the best one on the basis of physical arguments. A possible advantage of YAGMod is that no additional non-physical parameter is needed to overcome the numerical difficulties arising to handle drained cells. YAGMod also includes a module that allows one to identify the conductivity field for a phreatic aquifer by solving an inverse problem with the comparison model method.

Modeling groundwater flow in heterogeneous porous media with YAGMod / L. Cattaneo, A. Comunian, G. de Filippis, M. Giudici, C. Vassena. - In: COMPUTATION. - ISSN 2079-3197. - 4:1(2016), pp. 2.1-2.19. [10.3390/computation4010002]

Modeling groundwater flow in heterogeneous porous media with YAGMod

L. Cattaneo
Primo
;
A. Comunian
Secondo
;
G. de Filippis;M. Giudici
Penultimo
;
C. Vassena
Ultimo
2016

Abstract

Modeling flow and transport in porous media requires the management of complexities related both to physical processes and to subsurface heterogeneity. A thorough approach needs a great number of spatially-distributed phenomenological parameters, which are seldom measured in the field. For instance, modeling a phreatic aquifer under high water extraction rates is very challenging, because it requires the simulation of variably-saturated flow. 3D steady groundwater flow is modeled with YAGMod (yet another groundwater flow model), a model based on a finite-difference conservative scheme and implemented in a computer code developed in Fortran90. YAGMod simulates also the presence of partially-saturated or dry cells. The proposed algorithm and other alternative methods developed to manage dry cells in the case of depleted aquifers are analyzed and compared to a simple test. Different approaches yield different solutions, among which, it is not possible to select the best one on the basis of physical arguments. A possible advantage of YAGMod is that no additional non-physical parameter is needed to overcome the numerical difficulties arising to handle drained cells. YAGMod also includes a module that allows one to identify the conductivity field for a phreatic aquifer by solving an inverse problem with the comparison model method.
groundwater; forward problem; inverse problem
Settore GEO/12 - Oceanografia e Fisica dell'Atmosfera
2016
29-dic-2015
Article (author)
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/388203
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