Water Resources Applications Software Geochemical || Ground Water || Surface Water || Water Quality || General Summary of MODFLW96 NAME modflw96 - Modular three-dimensional finite-difference ground-water flow model ABSTRACT MODFLOW is a three-dimensional finite-difference ground-water flow model. It has a modular structure that allows it to be easily modified to adapt the code for a particular application. Many new capabilities have been added to the original model. OFR 96-485 (complete reference below) documents a general update to MODFLOW, which is called MODFLOW-96 in order to distinguish it from earlier versions. MODFLOW simulates steady and nonsteady flow in an irregularly shaped flow system in which aquifer layers can be confined, unconfined, or a combination of confined and unconfined. Flow from external stresses, such as flow to wells, areal recharge, evapotranspiration, flow to drains, and flow through river beds, can be simulated. Hydraulic conductivities or transmissivities for any layer may differ spatially and be anisotropic (restricted to having the principal direction aligned with the grid axes and the anisotropy ratio between horizontal coordinate directions is fixed in any one layer), and the storage coefficient may be heterogeneous. The model requires input of the ratio of vertical hydraulic conductivity to distance between vertically adjacent block centers. Specified head and specified flux boundaries can be simulated as can a head dependent flux across the model's outer boundary that allows water to be supplied to a boundary block in the modeled area at a rate proportional to the current head difference between a "source" of water outside the modeled area and the boundary block. MODFLOW is currently the most used numerical model in the U.S. Geological Survey for ground-water flow problems. An efficient contouring program is available (Harbaugh, 1990) to visualize heads and drawdowns output by the model. METHOD The ground-water flow equation is solved using the finite-difference approximation. The flow region is considered to be subdivided into blocks in which the medium properties are assumed to be uniform. The plan view rectangular discretization results from a grid of mutually perpendicular lines that may be variably spaced. The vertical direction zones of varying thickness are transformed into a set of parallel "layers". Several solvers are provided for solving the associated matrix problem; the user can choose the best solver for the particular problem. Mass balances are computed for each time step and as a cumulative volume from each source and type of discharge. HISTORY Version 3.2 1998/01/09 - The Flow and Head Boundary Package, Version 1, (FHB1) has been added. This package allows for assignment of transient specified-flow and specified-head boundaries in applications of MODFLOW-96. The FHB1 package is documented in U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-571. Version 3.1 1997/03/11 - Calls to the Horizontal Flow Barrier (HFB) Package have been corrected in the main program. The main program for Version 3.0 incorrectly calls the HFB1RP module where it should call the HFB1FM module. Version 3.0 1996/12/03 - Updated version of overall model, which is called MODFLOW-96. A number of changes were made to make MODFLOW easier to use and easier to enhance. MODFLOW-96 can use existing input data sets, and has the same computational methods. Any package added to the original model (now referred to as MODFLOW-88) will also work with MODFLOW-96. The Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient Package, Version 2 (PCG2) has been updated. This requires a minor change in input data compared to the documentation in U.S. Geological Survey Water- Resources Investigations Report (WRIR) 90-4048 (full reference below). WRIR 90-4048 specifies two lines of input data. All of the data are the same except the seventh value on the 2nd line. This value is named IPCGCD in WRIR-4048, but it has been replaced by a value named DAMP. That is, IPCGCD is no longer part of the input data. DAMP can be used to reduce oscillation when the solver is having difficulty converging due to excessive oscillation. The value of DAMP is multiplied times the head change calculated each iteration at all cells. Thus, if DAMP is 0.5, the head change is cut in half. If DAMP is 1.0, then PCG2 behaves as it did prior to the addition of this capability. DAMP should be set equal to 1.0 except when there is indication of excessive oscillation. If the value of DAMP is specified as 0.0 or less, it is automatically changed to 1.0. Also the sign of the C.B. STORAGE cell-by-cell budget data in the TLK1 Package was changed to match the standard sign convention in MODFLOW. The change to TLK1 does not impact computed heads or the overall volumetric budget; it only affects data written to a cell-by-cell budget file. Version 2.6 1996/09/20 - Added Reservoir package (RES1) as documented in U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-364. Problem fixed for IBS package. Although subsidence is only meant to be active for layers in which IBQ>0, sometimes MODFLOW performed subsidence calculations when IBQ<0. Note that this was a problem only if negative IBQ values were specified. That is, the code has always worked correctly for IBQ=0 and IBQ>0. Version 2.5 1995/06/23 - Added direct solution package (DE45). Version 2.4 1995/06/15 - Added transient leakage package (TLK1). Version 93/08/30 - Release with PCG2, BCF3, STR1, HFB1, ISB1, CHD1, and GFD1 additions. Version 87/07/24 - Fortran 77 version published in U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations 6-A1. Version 83/12/28 - Fortran 66 version published in U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 83-875. DATA REQUIREMENTS In order to use MODFLOW, initial conditions, hydraulic properties, and stresses must be specified for every model cell in the finite- difference grid. OUTPUT OPTIONS Primary output is head, which can be written to the listing file or into a separate file. Other output includes the complete listing of all input data, drawdown, and budget data. Budget data are printed as a summary in the listing file, and detailed budget data for all model cells can be written into a separate file. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MODFLOW-96 is written in Fortran 77 with the following extension: use of variable names longer than 6 characters. By default, the software is dimensioned for use with models having up to 90,000 cells. MODFLOW-96 requires that file names needed for the simulation be defined prior to execution. A Name File is used for this purpose. Each record of the Name File specifies a file type, unit number, and file name for each file used in the MODFLOW simulation. The format of this file is described in the documentation. Generally, the program is easily installed on most computer systems. The code has been used on UNIX-based computers and DOS-based 386 or greater computers having a math coprocessor and 4 mb of memory. PACKAGES This version of MODFLOW includes the following packages: BAS5 -- Basic Package BCF5 -- Version 3 of Block-Centered Flow Package RIV5 -- River Package DRN5 -- Drain Package WEL5 -- Well Package GHB5 -- General Head Boundary Package RCH5 -- Recharge Package EVT5 -- Evapotranspiration Package SIP5 -- Strongly Implicit Procedure Package SOR5 -- Slice Successive Over-Relaxation Package UTL5 -- Utility Package PCG2 -- Version 2 of Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient Package STR1 -- Stream Package IBS1 -- Interbed-Storage Package CHD1 -- Time-Variant Specified-Head Package GFD1 -- General Finite Difference Flow Package HFB1 -- Horizontal Flow Barrier Package TLK1 -- Transient Leakage Package DE45 -- Direct solver RES1 -- Reservoir Package FHB1 -- Flow and Head Boundary Package The user must specify the file type for each file in the name file. File types for packages not in the original model are: TLK -- Transient leakage DE4 -- D4 Direct solver PCG -- Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient solver GFD -- General Finite-Difference Package HFB -- Horizontal-Flow Barrier Package STR -- Stream Package IBS -- Interbed Storage Package CHD -- Time-Variant Specified-Head Package RES -- Reservoir Package FHB -- Flow and Head Boundary Package DEPENDENCIES AMONG PACKAGES As documented in Open-File Report (OFR) 94-59, the Transient Leakage (TLK) Package does not simulate flow through a confining unit at any horizontal grid location at which a cell on either side of the confining unit is dry. When this situation occurs as a result of initial conditions, the user can determine if this is appropriate before making a simulation. However, a cell can go dry at any time during a simulation when using the water-table or convertible layer options in the Block-Centered Flow (BCF) Package. When a cell goes dry on either side of a confining unit, the transient leakage through the confining unit immediately becomes zero at that horizontal location. Users should check simulations to see if cells on either side of a confining unit are going dry at any time during a simulation and determine if it is acceptable for the transient leakage to switch to zero. Further complications can result when using the wetting capabilities of version 2 of the BCF Package. If dry cells convert to wet so that cells on both sides of a confining unit are wet, then transient leakage calculations will be started; however, the equations will not be properly formulated to simulate the previous conditions, so the transient flow will not be correct. Thus, the wetting capability should not be used for any model layers that connect to a confining unit that is being simulated with the TLK Package. The Time-Variant Specified-Head (CHD) Package can potentially cause the TLK Package to operate incorrectly if the CHD Package is being used to specify constant heads at cells on either side of a confining unit. The TLK Package relies on initial head as defined by the Basic Package to setup initial parameters. If the data for the CHD Package define initial heads (i.e., head for the first time step of the simulation) on either side of a confining unit to be different than defined by the Basic Package, the transient leakage calculations will be incorrect. To avoid this conflict, do not use the CHD Package to define constant head cells on either side of a confining unit, or be sure that the initial head in the Basic Package exactly matches the initial head defined by the CHD Package. DOCUMENTATION The basic documentation is contained in the following three reports: Harbaugh, A.W., and McDonald, M.G., 1996, User's documentation for MODFLOW-96, an update to the U.S. Geological Survey modular finite-difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-485, 56 p. Harbaugh, A.W., and McDonald, M.G., 1996, Programmer's documentation for MODFLOW-96, an update to the U.S. Geological Survey modular finite-difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-486, 220 p. McDonald, M.G., and Harbaugh, A.W., 1988, A modular three- dimensional finite-difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 6, chap. A1, 586 p. The BCF5 code is documented in several places. It includes the capabilities of BCF1, BCF2, and BCF3 Packages. The primary documentation is in the basic model documentation (TWRI 6-A1, OFR 96-485, and OFR 96-486). BCF2 documentation describes the addition of the capability to convert dry cells to wet: McDonald, M.G., Harbaugh, A.W., Orr, B.R., and Ackerman, D.J., 1992, A method of converting no-flow cells to variable-head cells for the U.S. Geological Survey modular finite-difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 91-536, 99 p. BCF3 documentation describes the addition of alternate interblock transmissivities. Goode, D.J., and Appel, C.E., 1992, Finite-difference interblock transmissivity for unconfined aquifers and for aquifers having smoothly varying transmissivity: U.S. Geological Survey Water- Resources Investigations Report 92-4124, 79 p. Version 2 of Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient Package is documented in: Hill, M.C., 1990, Preconditioned conjugate-gradient 2 (PCG2), a computer program for solving ground-water flow equations: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 90-4048, 43 p. The Stream Package is documented in: Prudic, D.E., 1989, Documentation of a computer program to simulate stream-aquifer relations using a modular, finite-difference, ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-729, 113 p. The Interbed-Storage and Time-Variant Specified-Head Packages are documented in: Leake, S.A., and Prudic, D.E., 1991, Documentation of a computer program to simulate aquifer-system compaction using the modular finite-difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 6, chap. A2, 68 p. The General Finite Difference Flow Package is documented in: Harbaugh, A.W., 1992, A generalized finite-difference formulation for the U.S. Geological Survey modular three-dimensional finite- difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Open- File Report 91-494, 60 p. The HFB1 Package is documented in: Hsieh, P.A., and Freckleton, J.R., 1993, Documentation of a computer program to simulate horizontal-flow barriers using the U.S. Geological Survey modular three-dimensional finite-difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 92-477, 32 p. The Transient-Leakage Package (TLK1) is documented in: Leake, S.A., Leahy, P.P., and Navoy, A.S., 1994, Documentation of a computer program to simulate transient leakage from confining units using the modular finite-difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-59, 70 p. The DE45 Package is documented in: Harbaugh, A.W., 1995, Direct solution package based on alternating diagonal ordering for the U.S. Geological Survey modular finite- difference ground-water flow model: U.S. Geological Survey Open- File Report 95-288, 46 p. The RES1 Package is documented in: Fenske, J.P., Leake, S.A., and Prudic, D.E., 1996, Documentation of a computer program (RES1) to simulate leakage from reservoirs using the modular finite-difference ground-water flow model (MODFLOW): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-364, 51 p. The FHB1 Package is documented in: Leake, S.A., and Lilly, M.R., 1997, Documentation of a computer program (FHB1) for assignment of transient specified-flow and specified-head boundaries in applications of the modular finite- difference ground-water flow model (MODFLOW): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-571, 50 p. RELATED DOCUMENTATION Harbaugh, A.W., 1990, A simple contouring program for gridded data: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-144, 37 p. REFERENCES MODFLOW is widely used in the USGS and throughout the world. Belitz, K., and Phillips, S.P., 1993, Numerical simulation of ground-water flow in the central part of the western San Joaquin Valley, California: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2396, 69 p. Prince, K.R., Franke, O.L., and Reilly, T.E., 1988, Quantitative assessment of the shallow ground-water flow system associated with Connetquot Brook, Long Island, New York: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2309, 28 p. TRAINING Modeling of Ground-Water Flow Using Finite-Difference Methods (GW2096TC), offered annually at the USGS National Training Center. Advanced Finite-Difference Modeling of Ground-Water Flow (GW3099TC), offered annually at the USGS National Training Center. CONTACTS Operation: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground Water Arlen Harbaugh 411 National Center Reston, VA 20192 harbaugh@usgs.gov Distribution: U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Analysis Software Support Program 437 National Center Reston, VA 20192 h2osoft@usgs.gov Official versions of U.S. Geological Survey water-resources analysis software are available for electronic retrieval via the World Wide Web (WWW) at: http://water.usgs.gov/software/ and via anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP) from: water.usgs.gov (path: /pub/software). The WWW page and anonymous FTP directory from which the MODFLOW software can be retrieved are, respectively: http://water.usgs.gov/software/modflow.html --and-- /pub/software/ground_water/modflow The WWW page from which the USGS MODFLOW fact sheet (a short description of the MODFLOW model) can be retrieved is: http://water.usgs.gov/public/pubs/FS/FS-121-97/ If you would like to obtain the price of and (or) order paper copies of USGS reports, contact the USGS Branch of Information Services at: U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Information Services Denver Federal Center, Box 25286 Denver CO 80225-0286 To inquire about Open-File Reports or Water-Resources Investigations Reports: Tel: 303-202-4210; Fax 303-202-4695 To inquire about other USGS reports: Tel: 303-202-4700; Fax 303-202-4693 SEE ALSO contour - A contouring program for gridded data mmsp - Modular Model Statistical Processor moc - Two-dimensional method-of-characteristics ground-water flow and transport model moc3d - Three-dimensional method-of-characteristics ground-water flow and transport model modfe - Modular finite-element model for areal and axisymmetric ground-water flow problems Modflowp - Parameter-estimation version of the modular model modpath - Particle-tracking postprocessor program for the modular three-dimensional finite-difference ground-water flow model sutra - Saturated and (or) unsaturated, constant or variable-density fluid flow, and solute or energy transport (2-dimensional finite-element code) vs2dt - Model for simulating water flow and solute transport in variably saturated porous media The URL for this page is http://water.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/man_wrdapp?modflw96 If you have any questions or comments about this page, contact Page created: 02/15/2000