Numerical Modeling – Integrated Hydro Systems, LLC

Integrated Hydro Systems, LLC

Specialization Area - Numerical Modeling

Modeling Specialization

Groundwater Modeling
Surface Water Modeling (Hydrologic/Hydraulic)
Physically-based, Fully Integrated, or Coupled Surface Water-Groundwater Modeling, including:
Snowmelt
Evapotranspiration
Water Quality modeling/Ecological modeling:
Fully Integrated and Groundwater Contaminant Fate/Transport modeling
Multiphase Modeling, or Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (NAPLS) - Lighter and Dense (LNAPLs and DNAPLs)
Density-Dependent Flow Modeling
Geochemical modeling
Heat flow modeling (geothermal)
3D Geological modeling

Groundwater Modeling

IHS has developed numerous fully 3-dimensional groundwater flow models to support mining, oil/gas, agricultural water supply and environmental (including Superfund Sites) projects.

We use codes like GMS-MODFLOW, GWVISTAS-MODFLOW, FEFLOW.

Professor Illangasekare has taught groundwater modeling, including fate/transport and multiphase modeling for many years at CUBoulder and Colorado School of Mines.

Surface Water Modeling

We model continuous and intermittent (ephemeral) flows in small streams to major rivers, typically in 1-d. We also simulate 2-d overland flow coupled with channelized flow, which permits evaluation of flooded areas, infrastructure performance/sizing, wetland dynamics, and reservoir dynamics.

We develop detailed hydraulic networks in codes like MIKE11, MIKEHydro and HEC-RAS.

We also evaluate surface water - wetland areas, influenced by development, climate change, and hydraulic operations.

We evaluated flooding potential within the City of Flagstaff and assessed infrastructure performance from extreme events, post-fire conditions and future development.

Integrated Hydrologic/Hydraulic Modeling

Rapid and dramatic improvements in computer processing, storage and software, combined with demands for more physically-realistic, accurate and detailed answers to increasingly complex hydrologic and environmental problems has shifted technical analysis from individual/isolated fields (i.e., surface water or groundwater) towards using fully-integrated, physically-based, continuous-event driven integrated hydrologic codes.

Read More - MIKESHE Code Verification

Integrated Hydrologic/Hydraulic Modeling

IHS developed an integrated hydrologic/hydraulic MIKESHE model of the Mokolo River Basin (drains to Limpopo River) to support efforts in South Africa to define environmental flows using the DRIFT-ARID ecological method.

Mokolo Modeling Study

We looked at a variety of alternative land uses in the MIKESHE model to evaluate effects on environmental flows.

RIGHT - The lower Mokolo River supports Hippos.

DRIFT-ARID Study

Water Quality Modeling

We simulate fully integrated fate and transport of standard water quality variables such as DO, BOD, Stream Temperature, Suspended Solids, in addition to dissolved phase species like metals and contaminants.

ABOVE - Snake River, Summit County Colorado - Simulated hourly Zinc River Concentrations, downstream from legacy mines and natural Ferricrete Source areas.

BELOW - We also simulated fully integrated stream temperature and copper responses to proposed mining and climate change in the Upper Bristol Bay watershed, southeastern Alaska

Read More on Study

Contaminant Fate and Transport Modeling

We model fate and transport of dissolved phase contaminants in groundwater using industry standard modeling codes like MODFLOW-MT3D and FEFLOW. We have also modeled reactive transport of parent-daughter VOCs using codes like MODFLOW-RT3D.

We can also simulate 3-d geochemical reactions in groundwater using USGS tools like PHAST coupled with PHREEQC, or FEFLOW coupled with PHREEQC.

We also assess model parameter sensitivity and/or model predictive uncertainty (due to uncertain inputs such as conceptualizations, parameters, source areas, release dates, durations and rates etc) manually, or can use tools tools like PEST.

Fate/Transport Sensitivity Simulations

Multiphase Modeling

Professor Illangasekare, an internationally recognized expert in the behavior of Multiphase Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL) processes in porous media, uses NAPL behavior in heterogeneous lab-controlled models to assess field-scale behavior.

He has also also extensively studied dissolved-phase VOC behavior at NAPL source areas.

We utilize a number of multiphase codes, such as PetraSIM- TMVOC/T2VOC, STOMP and UTCHEM to simulate NAPL behavior, and TECPLOT to animate/visualize results.

For a U.S.DOJ/DOD project - IHS constructed 3d conceptual and multiphase models to reproduce decades of historical movement of large refinery releases (>1,000,000 gallons) of NAPLS in complex heterogeneous sites.

Groundwater Modeling

Surface Water Modeling

Integrated Hydrologic/Hydraulic Modeling

Water Quality Modeling

Contaminant Fate/Transport Modeling

LNAPL/DNAPL Multiphase Modeling

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