INTEGRATION OF THEORY, FIELDWORK AND COMPUTER APPLICATION IN A GROUNDWATER FLOW MODELING EXERCISE

Computer-based problem-solving techniques have become critical hydrologic skills. Recent advances in computer modeling of groundwater systems have made the learning of modeling essential for students in hydrology. An innovative ground water flow modeling exercise has been developed and taught at SUNY New Paltz. This exercise integrates the theory of ground water flow, field data collection, and data processing into the modeling process. The hydrologic field site at the Institute of Ecosystem studies in Millbrook, New York was used for the modeling location. Students gained experience in collecting data, selecting boundary conditions, the model calibration, and comparing the predicted potentiometric surface with the potentiometric surface data collected in the field. Students performed pump and slug tests to collect hydraulic parameters of the modeled aquifers. Unlike using textbook or previously collected data, students used their own real world data collected in the field. This experience provided our students with a very useful understanding of how actual flow systems are simulated by computer models, and the limitation of computer simulation in real world situations. This approach helps the students understand the difficulties in building a model from scratch, as opposed to textbook simulations where running the model never leads to unexpected outcomes.