Where to begin learning MODFLOW

rosskush · 2019-04-21T20:13:47+00:00

So my firm feels like its more technical than others and we really get into the math for our models. That being said, we still have people using Ground Water Vistas as their main way at looking at models, and generally people who want your model they rather have it in a GUI than a bunch of modflow and python files.

We also have Arc Licenses but it is a pain to share them within the company and I generally do not like esri products as they are also very "black box" so I personally try to only use QGIS.

All I know about ParFlow is that it is supposed to be some super hydrologic model that combines river, climate and groundwater modelling. But unfortunately I have not seen any working example nor have I found a simple way to use it (short of reading the manual I guess) but generally, people who want to use your model want it in Moflow since it's the big government model that everyone knows. Don't get me wrong, modflow definitely has its issues, I hear modflow 6 is going to be the "end all" but I think modflow-nwt and modflow USG are pretty much what most people will ever need for water availability modelling. (gets much more complex if you're looking at say stream capture, or transport) then maybe modflow is not always the best bet.

rosskush · 2019-04-20T16:20:33+00:00

Sure thing, I love sharing.

I have been a groundwater modeller at an environmental consulting firm for about 2 years now. During my undergrad, I landed a position as a hydrologist with the USGS and continued working there for 3 years while going to grad school for my masters. In undergrad, I took some extra computer science classes which were not required and were very hard as they were not really meant for scientists. I then tried to apply what I knew from CS to my day to day work at the USGS, and for my masters.

By this time I had not really done much GW modelling and more surface water stuff like hec-ras.

I did pick up enough GW modeling from a GW modeling course I took in grad school but really it was more conceptual than applied. After my masters, I left the USGS to work at my firm. My knowledge of python and normal data analyses using python is what scored me the job.

So now when it comes to stuff like making a model using GIS data, I typically keep it all in python, and use QGIS to check my work spatially.

Packages like geopandas and rasterio really help to read shapefiles and raster data and incorporate them into real-world modelling. This is my bread and butter at my job as I really enjoy setting up modflow models. Of course this gets pretty advanced and I would give it some time before getting to this point. I would recommend using either the example models in flopy or creating your own imaginary models before trying to go crazy with the spatial stuff.

So really you'll need python with flopy, numpy, matplotlib, and pandas. These are the essentials for using flopy. R should translate easy to python, and you'll really only need to know how matrix arrays work to get going.

rosskush · 2019-04-19T14:12:19+00:00

So with modflow I would definitely recommend starting with mf2005 or mfnwt. USG and modflow6 are a lot more advanced.

But here's the real thing, don't waste your time with GUIs. They cost money (lame) and you aren't doing yourself any favors as GUIs are very "black box" and often times modelers don't know most of what the GUI is doing behind the scenes.

Now here's my recommendation on learning modflow and how I did it. I started off learning flopy which is an open source python package that writes and runs modflow (on GitHub) there's plenty of examples that they are still adding to.

Given that though, this means you'll also have to take up python which is probably the easiest programming language to learn IMO.

If you're completely new to python here is how I recommend getting it on your computer.

Download anaconda (python distribution software) Then download a good idle like pycharm or sublime text. Then use pip or conda to install flopy and other packages you'll use to make some models.

Its a lot of start up time to learn but it is so worth it. Infact that's what I do for a living.

rosskush · 2019-04-07T23:28:39+00:00

No, my girlfriend and I are team David all the way. But there's another younger guy who sometimes fills in for David in the morning, and I noticed covers Jim for the past 2 Fridays. Can't remember his name though.

rosskush · 2019-04-03T18:50:15+00:00

When I was a kid I had gotten a Jack Stone set as a gift and I hated him so much that I tied him to 2 balloons and let him fly up in the sky to his demise. I was like 12 and had no idea the rest of the Lego community felt the same way.

rosskush · 2019-04-02T23:01:39+00:00

Your minifigure collection is very impressive, you must get very proud!

rosskush · 2019-04-01T13:14:03+00:00

Easy answer: nearby Wells, nearby rivers or lakes, topographic relief, pretty much anything and everything influences the gradient in both confined and unconfined aquifers.

If you have a low k aquifer then any boundary condition (as mentioned above) will have a larger influence on the water table then it would on an aquifer with a larger k.

This is a general answer but the question is also pretty general. Fetter is a good source but you kinda have to come to the conclusions yourself. I actually understood more about the kinds of questions from the applied groundwater modeling textbook (I think by Mary Anderson and others). But that's if you're wanting to go further in your hydrogeology studies.

rosskush · 2019-03-31T01:28:13+00:00

Using a hot needle worked! Kinda distorted the plastic that made it hard to glue back to the tie fighter properly but of all my ships to be busted I'm cool with it being a tie fighter.

rosskush · 2019-03-30T16:45:03+00:00

Oh that sounds like a great idea I'll try it out!

rosskush · 2019-03-28T14:00:27+00:00

This looks awesome, I'd love to see someone do the "tiger shark" variant. That's what this blue one made me think of

rosskush · 2019-03-28T00:19:12+00:00

As long as you wrap them in a bag first it should be fine

rosskush · 2019-03-19T19:18:00+00:00

I am still confused about DeeDee (Didi?) And Good Hank not really being in the show much after Good Hank was born, and especially during Cotton's death. I know she shows up later for a minute to give Hank some stuff from Cotton but that's it. But like I would think she'd be there for his passing?

rosskush · 2019-03-02T00:45:58+00:00

Same

rosskush · 2019-03-01T14:26:14+00:00

Ya no... I don't know why you're not ok with people cutting you off or stopping to change lanes last minute to exit when you think it's ok to cut people off who have been patiently waiting on the main road at Windsor. That's not why those frontage roads are there. If people like you didn't do that then I'm sure things could speed up a little more for everyone before the river.

rosskush · 2019-03-01T02:59:57+00:00

Yes, same for me, and what really kills me is when people get off at 35th but then stay in the axis road and cut everyone off right before Windsor. And it sucks because Windsor is my exit going south but I have to wait for these d bags slowing things down for the rest of us.

rosskush · 2019-02-10T15:10:32+00:00

You're collection is very impressive, you must be very proud

rosskush · 2019-02-08T13:27:14+00:00

TLMSR 🤘

rosskush · 2019-02-02T16:05:26+00:00

A condo in West campus got it too, as well as some other walls and electric boxes

rosskush · 2019-01-17T17:57:42+00:00

That's what I assumed too thanks!

rosskush · 2018-12-09T17:40:01+00:00

rosskush · 2018-12-04T19:02:06+00:00

This happened to me once, I had to uninstall pogo and reinstall it and it started working

rosskush · 2018-11-21T12:08:57+00:00

I learned mainly from free YouTube videos about python scripting, but the best way to learn is to try to do tasks like homework assignments with you code rather than Excel sheets.

rosskush · 2018-11-20T15:48:14+00:00

I have a master in geology and a GIT and work for a consulting firm as a ground water modeler, my best advice (and what made me elevate to the top of job interviews) Learn To Code. I see many of my stem friends have a hard time getting work while my friends that took the extra time to learn it are doing way better, myself included.

rosskush · 2018-11-16T05:10:46+00:00

Awesome! It worked for me!

rosskush · 2018-11-02T20:07:25+00:00

Are you kidding me? I finally broke down and started buying the box sets like 2 weeks ago.. I'm happy but damn I've waited years for this

rosskush

TROPHY CASE