EARTH 456 - Numerical Methods in Hydrogeology

An introduction to the theory and practice of groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling. Topics related to variably-saturated flow will focus on derivation of Richard's equation, a control volume finite difference discretization, assembly and solution of the flow equation, material balance error, truncation error analysis, stability and monotonicity. Topics related to contaminant transport will focus on derivation of the contaminant transport equation, a control volume finite difference discretization along with various spatial and temporal weighting schemes and their associated accuracy, monotonicity, and material balance error. Hands-on experience is provided using software applied to industry-standard variably-saturated flow and transport problems, with an emphasis on visualization and interpretation of results.