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Join us for an enlightening webinar as we dive into how the interaction between surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) affects the accuracy of regional-scale simulations of water table elevations in Southern Quebec.
Abstract:
Over the last decade, the application of groundwater flow models at regional scale has been facilitated by recent advances in computational techniques and increased data availability to provide regional simulations of hydraulic heads. A wide range of different approaches can be used for the simulation of surface water-groundwater (SW-GW) flow interactions. The most theoretically rigorous approach is to consider a two-way feedback between SW and GW through the use of fully coupled integrated SW-GW flow models. However, such an approach is computationally intensive and may not be the best choice for all regional situations. On the contrary, a drastic simplification of SW-GW interactions is to consider only a one-way interaction between SW and GW. This latter approach is theoretically much more computationally efficient, as surface water flow processes are not considered. Although both approaches can be justified according to the modelling purpose, there is a lack of knowledge about potential consequences of the coupling strategy on the regional simulation of hydraulic heads, which is usually the main model state variable of interest. In this presentation, we therefore propose a quantitative evaluation of the impact of SW-GW interactions for the regional simulation of the south Quebec regional aquifer system. The comparison is based on a single regional scale model, builds from the HydroGeoSphere modelling platform, that has been adjusted to cope with these two extreme conceptualization of SW-GW interactions, thereby limiting potential differences that are not related to the SW-GW interactions. Potential differences are evaluated based on differences in regional scale hydraulic heads but also on the sensitivity of simulated GW levels to the magnitude of the hydraulic conductivity.
Presenter Bios:
Dr. Hugo Delottier is a groundwater hydrologist specializing in modelling flow and transport processes in heterogeneous porous and fractured media. Dr. Delottier earned his PhD in hydrogeology from Université de Bordeaux, France, under the supervision of Prof. Alexandre Pryet, with a focus on model predictive uncertainty quantification and groundwater recharge processes. From 2018 to 2021, Dr. Delottier contributed to a major regional integrated surface and subsurface modelling project in southern Québec, Canada, alongside Prof. René Therrien, investigating the potential impacts of climate change on regional groundwater resources.
Dr. René Therrien is a Professor in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the University of Laval. He received his B.Sc.A in Geological Engineering (1986) and M.Sc in Geology (Hydrogeology) (1988), both from the Laval University, and his PhD in Earth Sciences (1992) from the University of Waterloo. Dr. Therrien was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2017 and Fellow of Engineers Canada in 2020. In 2022 Dr. Therrien received the Robert N. Farvolden Award from the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the disciplines of earth science and engineering which emphasize the role or importance of groundwater. In 2022 Dr. Therrien was appointed the Director of the Quebec Water Management Research Centre (CentrEau) funded by the Quebec Government.