HR: 14:25h
AN: H22F-04    [PDF]
TI: Role of the Analytic Element Method in regional-scale GIS-based modeling of groundwater flow and transport
AU: * Jankovic, I
EM: ijankovi@eng.buffalo.edu
AF: University at Buffalo, Jarvis Hall, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Buffalo, NY 14260-4400 United States
AB: The basic principle of the Analytic Element Method (AEM) is the superposition: complex regional-scale flows are simulated by adding the influences of individual analytic elements. Each analytic element contains geographic information and mathematical functions that describe its influence on regional groundwater flow. The main AEM advantage, relevant to GIS-based modeling, is a direct correspondence of analytic elements and hydrologic aquifer features (such as lakes, rivers, water-supply wells). The flow solution (water table elevation and fluxes) is created without discretization by including all relevant elements (or features). Several regional-scale groundwater models have been developed using the AEM include NAGROM (the National Groundwater Model of The Netherlands) and the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Groundwater Model (Metro Model). The one-to-one correspondence of elements to hydrologic features allows for elegant integration of groundwater modeling and GIS software. This simplifies both model development and management. In contrast to finite-difference and finite-element based methods, the AEM does not require any grid-based data; all input data are vector-based. This representational style coincides well with the strengths of Geographic Information Systems. This presentation will focus on both the practical aspects of the AEM relevant to GIS-based modeling and the development of a new GIS-based user interface for AEM modeling. Recent computational advances related to regional-scale modeling using AEM will be discussed and demonstrated. These advances include (1) development of solution algorithms designed for massively parallel supercomputers where the same advantage (one-to-one correspondence of analytic elements and hydrologic features) is responsible for efficient implementation in parallel environments, and (2) algorithm enhancements designed for single-processor machines. Groundwater models with thousands of elements can hence be solved. A public domain GIS graphical user interface has been developed to aid in model construction and output visualization within the ArcGISr software program ArcMap. The ArcGIS platform can handle multiple formats of geographically referenced field data in conjunction with input and output of the numerical model itself. The user interface, using many extensions available in ArcGIS, provides advanced functionality for analysis of model output and simplification of user input. The application is currently being used to develop a regional scale model of the Trout Lake area in northeastern Wisconsin.
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1831 Groundwater quality
DE: 1832 Groundwater transport
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting