Numerical flow and transport modelling in karst aquifers

The objectives of this course are:
• To understand the different goals numerical modelling might help to reach.
• To obtain an overview of the different modelling approaches used in karst hydrogeology.
• To select and use the most adapted approach depending on the modelling purpose, on the potential modelling effort and on the hydrogeological data available.
• To evaluate critically the results delivered by the model and the limits of the chosen approach in light of the real hydrogeological context at the field site.

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Karst aquifers provide drinking water to 25% of the world population. Their flow and transport properties are hard to predict due to their extreme heterogeneity, which makes karst groundwater resources particularly hard to protect. In addition, water scarcity might occur under low-water periods, while high-water periods might lead to catastrophic floods. Numerical flow and transport modelling has been widely applied to karst aquifers since the early 2000s. This method is used as an additional tool to classical hydrogeological methods, and is very useful in many situations such as forecasting extreme hydrological events, understanding contaminant propagation, or working on water management issues. This course aims to introduce the diversity of numerical modelling in karst aquifers to the students, and provide them sufficient knowledge to work independently on this topic.

Ob koncu tega predmeta mora biti študent sposoben samostojno rešiti problem modeliranja v razumnem času. To pomeni:
• Znati poenostaviti problem v numerično rešljiv koncept.
• Določiti primerno geometrijo, strukturo, robne in začetne pogoje.
• Kritično oceniti uporabljene vhodne podatke.
• Izvesti analizo občutljivost na vhodne parameter.
• Prilagoditi rezultate meritvam na terenu in uporabiti mere natančnosti modela.
• Razumeti in predvideti princip “ekvifinalnosti”.

• Anderson, M.P., Woessner, W.W., Hunt, R.J., 2015. Applied Groundwater Modeling. Simulation of Flow and Advective Transport, second ed. Academic Press. E-version
• Gabrovšek, F., Peric, B., Kaufmann, G., 2018. Hydraulics of epiphreatic flow of a karst aquifer. Journal of Hydrology 560, 56-74. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.03.019. E-version
• Hartmann, A., Goldscheider, N., Wagener, T., Lange, J., Weiler, M., 2014. Karst water resources in a changing world: review of hydrological modeling approaches. Rev. Geophys. 52 (3), 218–242. doi: 10.1002/2013RG000443. E-version
• Jeannin, P.Y., et al. 2021. Karst modelling challenge 1: Results of hydrological modelling. Journal of Hydrology 600, 126508. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126508. E-version
• Jourde, H., Wang, X., 2023. Advances, challenges and perspective in modelling the functioning of karst systems: a review. Environmental Earth Sciences 82 (17), 396. doi: 10.1007/s12665-023-11034-7. E-version
• Langevin, C.D., Hughes, J.D., Banta, E.R., Niswonger, R.G., Panday, Sorab, and Provost, A.M., 2017. Documentation for the MODFLOW 6 Groundwater Flow Model: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 6, chap. A55, 197 p. doi: 10.3133/tm6A55. E-version
• Oehlmann, S., Geyer, T., Licha, T., Sauter, M., 2015. Reducing the ambiguity of karst aquifer models by pattern matching of flow and transport on catchment scale. Hydrolology and Earth System Sciences 19, 893-912. doi:10.5194/hess-19-893-2015. E-version
• Shoemaker, W.B., Kuniansky, E.L., Birk, S., Bauer, S., Swain, E.D., 2008a. Documentation of a Conduit Flow Process (CFP) for MODFLOW-2005. U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods Book 6, Chapter A24. Reston, Virginia: USGS. E-version
• Worthington, S.R.H., 2009. Diagnostic hydrogeologic characteristics of a karst aquifer (Kentucky, USA). Hydrogeology Journal 17, no. 7:1665-1678. doi: 10.1007/s10040-009-0489-0. E-version
• Worthington, S.R.H., Smart, C.C., Ruland, W., 2012. Effective porosity of a carbonate aquifer with bacterial contamination: Walkerton, Ontario, Canada. Journal of Hydrology 464-465, 517-527. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.07.046. E-version

The oral examination is intended for assessing the knowledge acquired by students at lectures and their ability to understand, articulate and present the acquired knowledge.

A requisite for taking the examination is a written product (5-15 pages), where the student will choose a modelling software of her/his choice, and discusses a specific narrower topic from the course via a concrete modelling example.

Oral examination 60%.

Writen examination 40%.

full prof. in Karstology

Bibliography:

KNEZ, Martin, SLABE, Tadej, TORAB, Magdy, FAYAD, Noura Hamdy. Karst rock relief of Qara and White desert (Western desert of Egypt) = Kraški skalni relief v Qari in Beli puščavi (Zahodna puščava v Egiptu). Acta carsologica. [Tiskana izd.]. 2023, [vol.] 52, [no.] 2/3, str. 197-217, ilustr., zvd. ISSN 0583-6050. https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/carsologica/article/view/12796/11894, DOI: 10.3986/ac.v52i2-3.12796. [COBISS.SI-ID 178797315]
KNEZ, Martin, LIU, Hong, SLABE, Tadej. Clustered stone forest in Pu Dou Chun (Yunnan, China) = Gručasti kamniti gozd v Fižolji vasi (Pu Dou Chun, Junan, Kitajska). Acta carsologica. [Tiskana izd.]. 2022, vol. 51, no. 1, str. 47-63, ilustr. ISSN 0583-6050. https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/carsologica/article/view/10688/10597, http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:doc-Y41SNY09, DOI: 10.3986/ac.v51i1.10688. [COBISS.SI-ID 133496323]
SLABE, Tadej, KNEZ, Martin, DRAME, Leon. Development model of rock relief on thick horizontal and gently sloping rock strata exposed to rain = Razvojni model skalnega reliefa debelega vodoravnega in malo nagnjenega sklada kamnine, ki je izpostavljena dežju. Acta carsologica. [Tiskana izd.]. 2021, vol. 50, no. 2/3, str. 209-230, ilustr. ISSN 0583-6050. https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/carsologica/article/view/9308/9659, http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:doc-W7VPJ05Q, DOI: 10.3986/ac.v50i2-3.9308. [COBISS.SI-ID 90835971]
BLATNIK, Matej, CULVER, David C., GABROVŠEK, Franci, KNEZ, Martin, KOGOVŠEK, Blaž, KOGOVŠEK, Janja, LIU, Hong, MAYAUD, Cyril, MIHEVC, Andrej, MULEC, Janez, ALJANČIČ, Magdalena, OTONIČAR, Bojan, PETRIČ, Metka, PIPAN, Tanja, PRELOVŠEK, Mitja, RAVBAR, Nataša, SHAW, Trevor R., SLABE, Tadej, ŠEBELA, Stanka, ZUPAN HAJNA, Nadja, KNEZ, Martin (urednik), OTONIČAR, Bojan (urednik), PETRIČ, Metka (urednik), PIPAN, Tanja (urednik), SLABE, Tadej (urednik). Karstology in the classical karst. Cham: Springer, cop. 2020. XII, 222 str., ilustr., zvd., graf. prikazi. Advances in karst science. ISBN 978-3-030-26826-8. ISSN 2511-2066. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-26827-5. [COBISS.SI-ID 17912067]
KNEZ, Martin, SLABE, Tadej, GABROVŠEK, Franci, KOGOVŠEK, Janja, KRANJC, Andrej, MIHEVC, Andrej, MULEC, Janez, OTONIČAR, Bojan, PERNE, Matija, PETRIČ, Metka, PIPAN, Tanja, PRELOVŠEK, Mitja, RAVBAR, Nataša, ŠEBELA, Stanka, ZUPAN HAJNA, Nadja, BOSÁK, Pavel, PRUNER, Petr, LIU, Hong, KNEZ, Martin (urednik), SLABE, Tadej (urednik). Cave exploration in Slovenia : discovering over 350 new caves during motorway construction on classical karst. Cham [etc.]: Springer, cop. 2016. XIII, 324 str., ilustr. Cave and karst systems of the world. ISBN 978-3-319-21202-9. ISSN 2364-4591. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-21203-6. [COBISS.SI-ID 38828077]