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Model Calibration and Prediction
abstract
The final project is an exercise in model calibration and prediction. The problem is very loosely based on a field example from the Basin and Range Province in the Western U.S. documented in USGS Professional Paper 1409-E. The project has four steps: model calibration, drawdown prediction, particle tracking, and presentation of results.

Your first task is to calibrate a steady-state model. You will work in groups; each group is asked to work independently. When we compare results we will see that each group will have a different, though equally valid, calibrated model and thereby we will demonstrate that the calibration process yields non-unique solutions.

After calibration, the next step is to introduce pumping wells into the calibrated model and predict heads and drawdowns. Then you will use the particle tracking code, ModPath to check for possible contamination of the wells. When we compare results, we will see that results of the prediction phase of the modeling are different for each group.