HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Estimation of groundwater contributions to Athabasca River, Alberta, Canada
This paper evaluates surface water-groundwater interactions within the Athabasca River Basin (ARB). The fully integrated nature of HydroGeoSphere was a key contributor to this study, as these simulations allowed for clear accounting of the interaction between groundwater and surface water, while also incorporating influential hydrologic mechanisms like snowmelt/accumulation and evapotranspiration over a very large area.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Evaluating backward probability model under various hydrogeologic and hydrologic conditions
A new paper uses HydroGeoSphere to evaluate the reliability of a backward-in-time solute transport probability model. HydroGeoSphere was instrumental in the research as it is one of the only modelling platforms that supports 3-dimensional solute transport under variably saturated groundwater flow conditions.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Logjam Characteristics as Drivers of Transient Storage in Headwater Streams
A new paper highlights the impacts that logjams have on the transient storage in streams and rivers. The researchers used a physical flume to test a variety of scenarios and and relied on HydroGeoSphere to elucidate the surface and subsurface flow patterns which contributed to increased transient storage, and changes to hyporheic exchange in areas affected by logjams.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Coastal Topography and Hydrogeology Control Critical Groundwater Gradients and Potential Beach Surface Instability During Storm Surges
This work harnessed HydroGeoSphere to simulate storm surges and their geotechnical impact on coastal environments. The explicit coupling between the surface and subsurface domain revealed a non-trivial correlation between alongshore topography and the distribution of surge-induced critical gradients. It was found that, in contrast with traditional approaches, the lowest areas along a coastline are not necessarily the ones that are most vulnerable.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Geothermal Energy Potential of Active Northern Underground Mines: Designing a System Relying on Mine Water
HydroGeoSphere is a powerful tool for evaluating the potential of geothermal heat pump systems. HGS implicitly simulates thermal energy throughout hydrologic systems (including density driven transport effects), and can model extremely complex geological systems with spatially and temporally varying material properties, with or without the presence of discrete fractures, and with the ability to represent mine infrastructure as discrete features within the model.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Mine rock stockpile reclamation trial, Detour Lake Mine
HydroGeoSphere is a powerful tool for evaluating the hydrology of open pit mining operations. HGS modelling at mine sites is typically at the site scale, and presents a perfect use case for short-term real-time hydrologic forecasting. But HGS can also be a great tool at smaller scales. In this study the authors use 1D column HGS models to evaluate the hydrology of a simple unengineered reclamation cover overlying mine waste rock from the Detour Lake Mine in Northern Ontario. 2D cross sectional HGS models were also constructed to ensure the 1D column models were producing accurate results.
Aquanty Staff Research Highlight – Saturated hydraulic conductivity in northern peats inferred from other measurements
Morris et al. 2022 is a meta-analysis of 2507 peatland soil samples across Northern Canada and parts of Europe, which relates saturated hydraulic conductivity to depth and more commonly measured parameters like bulk density or the Van Post Humification Scale.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Evaluation of baseflow separation methods with real and synthetic streamflow data from a watershed
Stream baseflow is inherently difficult to accurately estimate given the varied sources contributing to baseflow, it’s spatial variability, and the logistical difficulties in making physical baseflow measurements. Thanks to the fully integrated nature of HydroGeoSphere, and the fact that HGS was created with a strong emphasis on physics, HydroGeoSphere represents a very powerful tool for baseflow estimation, especially in lightly studies watersheds!
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Sequential surface and subsurface flow modeling in a tropical aquifer under different rainfall scenarios
This paper demonstrates how HGS is flexible enough to model specific regions/domains of interest (i.e. including discrete fracture networks, but without integrated surface hydrology) and can be used in conjunction with other hydrologic modelling platforms.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Combining experimental and modelling approaches to monitor the transport of an artificial tracer through the hyporheic zone
HGS users at a consortium of French research laboratories makes excellent use of the integrated nature of HydroGeoSphere simulations to investigate hyporheic exchange and mixing processes, relying on both experimental (i.e. tracer tests) and modelling techniques. The authors concluded that the mixed experimental/modelling approach used in this study allowed them to “resolve some of the uncertainties inherent in our understanding of transient storage and hyporheic exchange.”