Models provide the capability to simulate scenarios of possible future conditions and management options to help water-resource professionals with planning decisions. Groundwater models are commonly used to evaluate changes to the water budget of an aquifer resulting from land-use changes, water withdrawals, and climate, and how these changes affect streamflow, lake levels, water quality, and other important variables.
Watershed models are useful for addressing a wide range of water-resource challenges, such as quantifying changes in water availability over time, understanding the effects of development and land-use changes on water resources, quantifying changes in constituent loads and yields over time, and quantifying aquifer recharge temporally and spatially throughout a watershed.
The USGS Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center (OTWSC) uses a variety of modeling techniques to simulate and describe water conditions in Oklahoma and Texas. Visit the links below for more information on our data and science.
MODELING SCIENCE CAPABILITIES
OTWSC has expertise in a wide variety of modeling science applications, including, but not limited to:
- Hydraulic Analysis
- Flood Inundation
- Continuous Regression
- Numerical
- Groundwater Flow
- Saline and Brackish Water
- Flow and Transport
- Integrated Surface-water/Groundwater
- Land Subsidence
- Parameter Estimation/Uncertainty Quantification
- Web-based model viewer
Find out more about OTWSC geophysics science expertise in this printable information sheet.
Groundwater Models
Computer models of groundwater systems simulate the flow of groundwater, including water levels, and the transport of chemical constituents and thermal energy. Groundwater models provide hydrologists with a framework on which to organize their knowledge and understanding of groundwater systems, and they provide insights that water-resources managers need to plan effectively for future water demands.
MODFLOW is the USGS's modular hydrologic model. MODFLOW is considered an international standard for simulating and predicting groundwater conditions and groundwater/surface-water interactions.
CURRENT GROUNDWATER MODELING SCIENCE
Coastal Lowlands Regional Groundwater Availability Study
Coastal Inflow Sediment and Nutrient Monitoring
Edwards Aquifer Groundwater Model Uncertainty Analysis
Estimating Potential Effects on Streamflow from Nearby Wells in the Lower San Antonio River Basin
Hydrogeologic Framework of Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum Counties
National Water-Quality Assessment Project in Texas - Surface Water Activities
National Water-Quality Assessment Project in Texas - Groundwater Activities
Upper Rio Grande Basin Focus Area Study
Hydraulic Models
Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System (HEC–RAS) is a step-backwater model for simulation of water-surface profiles with steady state (gradually varied) or unsteady-state flow computation options. Hydrologic, hydraulic, and other data (such as high resolution Digital Elevation Models and Land Use/Land Cover) can be incorporated into the HEC-RAS model in order to better represent field conditions in the study area. Once calibrated, HEC-RAS models can be used to simulate potential floods of varying flow magnitudes.
CURRENT HYDRAULIC MODELING SCIENCE
Bandera Flood Early Warning Tool
InFRM Flood Inundation Mapping
Hydrologic Trends Analysis for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Projects related to modeling are listed below.
Recent publications related to modeling are listed below. A full listing of modeling publications is available from the USGS Publication Warehouse: Modeling Publications
Data and Tools related to modeling are listed below.
Models provide the capability to simulate scenarios of possible future conditions and management options to help water-resource professionals with planning decisions. Groundwater models are commonly used to evaluate changes to the water budget of an aquifer resulting from land-use changes, water withdrawals, and climate, and how these changes affect streamflow, lake levels, water quality, and other important variables.
Watershed models are useful for addressing a wide range of water-resource challenges, such as quantifying changes in water availability over time, understanding the effects of development and land-use changes on water resources, quantifying changes in constituent loads and yields over time, and quantifying aquifer recharge temporally and spatially throughout a watershed.
The USGS Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center (OTWSC) uses a variety of modeling techniques to simulate and describe water conditions in Oklahoma and Texas. Visit the links below for more information on our data and science.
MODELING SCIENCE CAPABILITIES
OTWSC has expertise in a wide variety of modeling science applications, including, but not limited to:
- Hydraulic Analysis
- Flood Inundation
- Continuous Regression
- Numerical
- Groundwater Flow
- Saline and Brackish Water
- Flow and Transport
- Integrated Surface-water/Groundwater
- Land Subsidence
- Parameter Estimation/Uncertainty Quantification
- Web-based model viewer
Find out more about OTWSC geophysics science expertise in this printable information sheet.
Groundwater Models
Computer models of groundwater systems simulate the flow of groundwater, including water levels, and the transport of chemical constituents and thermal energy. Groundwater models provide hydrologists with a framework on which to organize their knowledge and understanding of groundwater systems, and they provide insights that water-resources managers need to plan effectively for future water demands.
MODFLOW is the USGS's modular hydrologic model. MODFLOW is considered an international standard for simulating and predicting groundwater conditions and groundwater/surface-water interactions.
CURRENT GROUNDWATER MODELING SCIENCE
Coastal Lowlands Regional Groundwater Availability Study
Coastal Inflow Sediment and Nutrient Monitoring
Edwards Aquifer Groundwater Model Uncertainty Analysis
Estimating Potential Effects on Streamflow from Nearby Wells in the Lower San Antonio River Basin
Hydrogeologic Framework of Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum Counties
National Water-Quality Assessment Project in Texas - Surface Water Activities
National Water-Quality Assessment Project in Texas - Groundwater Activities
Upper Rio Grande Basin Focus Area Study
Hydraulic Models
Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System (HEC–RAS) is a step-backwater model for simulation of water-surface profiles with steady state (gradually varied) or unsteady-state flow computation options. Hydrologic, hydraulic, and other data (such as high resolution Digital Elevation Models and Land Use/Land Cover) can be incorporated into the HEC-RAS model in order to better represent field conditions in the study area. Once calibrated, HEC-RAS models can be used to simulate potential floods of varying flow magnitudes.
CURRENT HYDRAULIC MODELING SCIENCE
Bandera Flood Early Warning Tool
InFRM Flood Inundation Mapping
Hydrologic Trends Analysis for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Projects related to modeling are listed below.
Recent publications related to modeling are listed below. A full listing of modeling publications is available from the USGS Publication Warehouse: Modeling Publications
Data and Tools related to modeling are listed below.