Last June, several members of the McLane
Environmental/flexAEM team attended and presented at the MODFLOW and More
Conference at the Integrated Groundwater Modeling Center (IGWMC) at the Colorado School of Mines in
Golden, Colorado. Those presentations
included two talks on AEM modeling, which were part of “The Analytic Element
to the Rescue: Developments and Applications” session, chaired by AEM
pioneers Henk Haitjema and Otto Strack. Now,
one of those talks, which illustrated how AEM can be utilized as a stepwise
tool for analyzing flow in fractured bedrock aquifers, can be viewed HERE.
As described in the video, analysis of groundwater flow in
fractured bedrock aquifers may be performed using a spectrum of modeling
approaches that includes (in general order of complexity) analytic solutions;
analytic element method (AEM) models; numerical (FD / FE) models with few
discrete fractures/faults; and discrete fracture network (DFN) models with many
(often stochastically generated) fractures. On that analysis spectrum, AEM models
offer a number of advantages, including allowing the modeler to:
- Build on a selected analytic solution
- Move beyond the analytic solution to create a more useable model framework that incorporates other hydraulic and hydrologic features for site analyses
- Represent any fracture or fault geometry and orientation without problems of cutting across or excessively refining the grid, because there is no grid!
- Examine the flow field on scales from inches (near a fracture or fault) to miles (in the far field)
- Use insight gained to develop a more complex numerical model if required.
To
learn more, check out our Example
Application Page on this topic, or Contact
Us with any questions.
