USGS Monthly Groundwater News and Highlights: July 2, 2019

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Feature: Groundwater Modeling Tools You Can Use

As part of USGS groundwater science activities, USGS scientists develop state-of-the-science software tools to support our science. USGS's modular hydrologic model, MODFLOW, is considered an international standard for simulating and predicting groundwater conditions and groundwater/surface-water interactions. The USGS releases multiple versions of MODFLOW and related utilities, including:

• MODFLOW 6, the current core version of MODFLOW;
• MT3D-USGS, a groundwater solute transport simulator for MODFLOW, recently updated to work with native MODFLOW 6 output;
• FloPy, a Python package for creating, running, and post-processing MODFLOW-based models;
• ModelMuse, a and graphical user interfaces (GUI) for multiple USGS groundwater software packages, now including MODFLOW 6;
• Model Viewer, a program for 3D visualization of groundwater-model results; and
• Many other MODFLOW variants and related programs.

MODFLOW and related programs are released as open source in the public domain. These software packages can be downloaded freely from the USGS web site for use by scientists, resource managers, students, and any member of the public.

USGS Groundwater-Related Publications

Water resources of East Carroll Parish, Louisiana (06/27/19)

Groundwater movement and interaction with surface water near the confluence of the Platte and Elkhorn rivers, Nebraska, 2016-18 (06/27/19)

Water resources of Jackson Parish, Louisiana (06/27/19)

Groundwater-level change for the periods 2002-8, 2008-12, and 2008-16 in the Santa Fe Group aquifer system in the Albuquerque area, central New Mexico (06/27/19)

Aquifer storage change and storage properties, 2010-2017, in the Big Chino Subbasin, Yavapai County, Arizona (06/25/19)

ModelMuse Version 4: A graphical user interface for MODFLOW 6 (06/25/19)

Water resources of Richland Parish, Louisiana (06/21/19)

Geostatistical estimation of the bottom altitude and thickness of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (06/20/19)

Response of water chemistry and young-of-year brook trout to channel and watershed liming in streams showing lagging recovery from acidic deposition (06/21/19)

Summary of climatic, geographic, geologic, and available hydrologic data and identification of data gaps for the Black Bear Creek watershed of the Pawnee Nation Tribal Jurisdictional Area, Oklahoma (06/18/19)

Methods for installation, removal, and downloading data from the temperature profiling probe (TROD) (06/17/19)

Water resources of Tensas Parish, Louisiana (06/14/19)

Interpretation of dye tracing data collected November 13-December 2, 2017, at the Savoy Experimental Watershed as part of the Advanced Groundwater Field Techniques in Karst Terrains course, Savoy, Arkansas (06/11/19)

Water Resources of West Carroll Parish, Louisiana (06/18/19)

Water resources of Morehouse Parish, Louisiana (06/18/19)

Evaluation of land subsidence and ground failures at Bicycle Basin, Fort Irwin National Training Center, California, 1992-2017 (06/26/19)

Geological and geophysical data for a three-dimensional view-Inside the San Juan and Silverton Calderas, Southern Rocky Mountains Volcanic Field, Silverton, Colorado (06/05/19)

Methane and nitrous oxide temporal and spatial variability in two midwestern USA streams containing high nitrate concentrations (06/11/19)

Return flows from beaver ponds enhance floodplain-to-river metals exchange in alluvial mountain catchments (06/20/19)

Explosive summit collapse of Kīlauea Volcano in 1924 preceded by a decade of crustal contamination and anomalous Pb isotope ratios (06/10/19)

 

USGS Groundwater Flow and Transport Model Data Releases

MODFLOW-2005 and MODPATH models used to simulate hydraulic tomography pumping tests and identify a fracture network, former Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, NJ

Field Photo

USGS scientists develop tools to help us better observe and monitor groundwater conditions in the field. These photos show a temperature profiling probe developed by scientists in the USGS Nevada Water Science Center. The TROD (for temperature rod) can be installed into stream sediment to measure temperature in sediment and (or) surface water. USGS scientists study water temperature for many reasons. For example, water temperature can be an important factor in the suitability of fisheries habitat, and streambed temperature data are useful for understanding the interactions between surface water and groundwater. However, measuring vertical temperatures at the streambed interface poses practical challenges. USGS designed the TROD to address some of these challenges: the TROD does not need to be moved to retrieve data from the sensors, and its low-profile design allows it to be used for continuous monitoring even in harsh environments with rapidly moving debris or sediment. More information about the TROD is available online.

In the top photo, a USGS scientist is holding a TROD during installation. The yellow cable is a communications cable for connecting with the sensors and downloading data. The bottom photo is a close-up image of the stick-up height of the TROD after installation in a dry streambed.

Archive of Past Highlights:

Past monthly summaries are available online.