Scientists throughout the world are continually developing new packages for MODFLOW to expand the functionality of the code.  In 2010, graduate student Wesley Henson presented his new packages, MODFLOW-PSZ, at several hydrology conferences. In the 2010 Proceedings of the Student World Water Forum, he wrote: “A perched aquifer often develops in the soil zone during…

On May 22nd, Environmental Simulations Incorporated will be holding free seminars called “Introducing MODFLOW-USG for Unstructured Grids in Groundwater Vistas.” The new Groundwater Vistas 6 supports MODFLOW-USG, a code that frees the MODFLOW numerical process from the need for a rectangular grid.  This allows the user to develop complex shapes within the grid, such as…

I have added USGS NED rasters to model output view in Ginger MODFLOW to provide better context for models.

On May 9th, NOAA‘s Mauna Loa Observatory took a history-making atmospheric carbon dioxide measurement: 400 parts per million. Carbon dioxide measurements have been collected at the station since 1958, making it the longest measurement record in the world and the current rate of carbon increase is 100 times greater than expected during interglacial periods. In…

As a non-computer scientist, I used to accept that Fortran was wonky when CS people expressed their dislike of Fortran to me.  Hey, it is old.  It must be wonky, right?  So I was actually somewhat surprised to find that Fortran was just dandy when I finally got around to looking at the actual code. …

Just to let people know, I am working to improve the visuals and user experience of Ginger MODFLOW.  The interface is pretty confusing at the moment (and it doesn’t look great either). So far, I have improved the color display to show groundwater heads in better detail, and will continue to improve the visuals this…

The National Academies will be holding a series of meetings on increasing public assess to federally-supported research data and publication (via EarthCube).  The meetings will be held May 14-15 and May 16-17 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC. The National Groundwater Association will be holding a three-day course called, “Principles of Groundwater:…

Children were especially at risk during the the 2011 East Africa drought.

The nuclear renaissance is going strong, but financial and safety concerns remains a challenge. According to the New York Times, Turkey has signed an agreement to build its second nuclear plant.  The Japanese Itochu Corporation will construct the power plant.  Turkey currently imports 97% of its energy. The French energy company, EDF, has been working…

I have added some FAQs to the About Ginger MODFLOW page: What is the purpose of Ginger MODFLOW? Ginger MODFLOW is an experimental effort.  We are working on improving the program such that it can be useful for environmental professionals.  The purpose of the Ginger MODFLOW is to increase the efficiency of the process of…

The thought of learning FORTRAN can be intimidating.  But hydrologists should not be afraid to learn FORTRAN to build their own MODFLOW packages.  There are a number of online FORTRAN tutorials  including: Shene, C.K. Fortran 90 Tutorial, Department of Computer Science, Michigan Technological University. Learn programming with FORTRAN 90/95 in 7 lessons, from www.fortrantutorial.com I…

I have added an overview of data inputs used in Ginger MODFLOW to the About Ginger MODFLOW Page.  More information will be added soon. From the current draft of the page: DATA INPUTS This article describes the data inputs that were used to construct the GroundwaterGo mapper program. Ground Surface Elevation Ground surface elevations were…

The American Water Works Association will hold its Annual Conference & Exposition, June 9 – 12, in Denver Colorado.  This large conference will include a number of tracks that could be of interest to GroundwaterGo.com readers, including “Communicating the Value of Water,” “Sustainability – Finding a Balance,” and “Water Conservation and Efficiency – Practical Applications.” …

CNN discusses how climate change leads to extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, monster storms, and heat waves.

MODFLOW is an open source code, and thus any developer can modify the code for their own usage.  This flexibility has allowed for innovation and the development of new packages by academics around the world.  In order to interact with the raw MODFLOW files, it is necessary to work in the FORTRAN programming language. Early…

According to the LA Times, the EPA has shut down a mountaintop removal coal mining project after the Army Corps of Engineers had approved it.  The EPA canceled the permit over water-quality concerns. Chemical & Engineering News reports on research about how disease-causing viruses are finding their way to deep water wells.  The likely culprit…