Author(s): J. Wolf; V. Rojanschi; R. Barthel; J. Braun
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Danube; Data management; Groundwater flow; Hydrogeological model; Hydraulic conductivity; Interpolation; Nitrogen transport; Upscaling
Abstract: The interdisciplinary research project GLOWA-Danube, financed by the German Federal Government, investigates the long-term changes in the water cycle inside the Upper Danube basin (77.000 km2 up to gauge Passau). Its concrete aim is to build a numerical tool that combines the competence of eleven different institutes in domains covering the whole water cycle from the formation of clouds to the behaviour of water consumers. The present article focuses on the work of the groundwater modelling group, that is on the construction of a very coarse finite-difference groundwater model, capable of reproducing the complicated pattern of the groundwater flow and nitrogen transport. The uncommon size of the catchment requires elaborate strategies for collecting and managing the data required for the groundwater model. Starting from such a large quantity of information erratically distributed across the catchment area, a lot of interpolation methods were tested and used to create a hydrogeological model. Besides this wellknown parametrization problem, serious numerical problems arised due to the coarse geometric data assigned to the model. Trying to model the thin, high permeable systems above the low permeability Molasse in the Forealpine basin on the given grid is is a very challenging task. Procedures aimed at the stabilization and improvement of the results of the groundwater model on the coarse grid are under development.
Year: 2003