Standard Guide for Calibrating a Groundwater Flow Model Application

Importancia y uso:

5.1 Most site-specific groundwater flow models must be calibrated prior to use in predictions. In these cases, calibration is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition which must be obtained to have confidence in the model's predictions.

5.2 Often, during calibration, it becomes apparent that there are no realistic values of the hydraulic properties of the soil or rock which will allow the model to reproduce the calibration targets. In these cases the conceptual model of the site may need to be revisited or the construction of the model may need to be revised. In addition, the source and quality of the data used to establish the calibration targets may need to be reexamined. For example, the modeling process can sometimes identify a previously undetected surveying error, which would results in inaccurate hydraulic head targets.

5.3 This guide is not meant to be an inflexible description of techniques for calibrating a groundwater flow model; other techniques may be applied as appropriate and, after due consideration, some of the techniques herein may be omitted, altered, or enhanced.

Note 1: Users of the inverse method should be aware that the method may have several solutions, all equally well calibrated. (1)4

Subcomité:

D18.21

Volúmen:

04.09

Número ICS:

13.060.10 (Water of natural resources)

Palabras clave:

calibration; groundwater; inverse methods; modeling; residual; trial-and-error; uniqueness; verification;