MODFLOW-NWT model used to evaluate effects of complexity on head and flow calibration in the Fox-Wolf-Peshtigo watersheds, Wisconsin: U.S. Geological Survey data release.

This data release contains three groundwater-flow models of northeastern Wisconsin, USA, that were developed with differing levels of complexity to provide a framework for subsequent evaluations of the effects of process-based model complexity on estimates of groundwater age distributions for withdrawal wells and streams. Preliminary assessments, which focused on the effects of model complexity on simulated water levels in the glacial aquifer system, illustrate that simulation of vertical gradients using multiple model layers improves simulated heads more in relatively low-permeability units than in high-permeability units. Moreover, simulation of heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity fields in both coarse-grained and some fine-grained [...]