USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

A Data Input Program (MFI) for the U.S. Geological Survey Modular Finite-Difference Ground-Water Flow Model
U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-468

Running MODFLOW and MODPATH

MODPATH obtains information about the files that it will use from the MODPATH name file. MFI creates the MODPATH name file, and its name is the dataset name followed by ".mpn".

Although MFI creates datasets of the proper form for MODFLOW and MODPATH, it is possible for incorrect data to be entered using MFI. MFI does a lot of data checking in order to reduce the chance for errors, but the checking is not exhaustive. Further, no amount of checking can detect data entry errors in which a reasonable, but incorrect, value is mistakenly entered. Some errors will cause MODFLOW or MODPATH to stop before completion while others will result in what might first appear to be normal execution, but the results are wrong. Thus, the output files from MODFLOW and MODPATH should always be examined to make sure that data have been defined as intended.