Analysis of Groundwater with Simulation Model MODFLOW: A Critical Review

Abstract

Groundwater modeling is an essential tool in hydrology for the management and protection of groundwater resources. MODFLOW, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), is the most widely used groundwater flow simulation model. This paper reviews the development, applications, capabilities, and future perspectives of MODFLOW. We analyze various MODFLOW versions, its integration with other software, and its applicability in diverse hydrogeological contexts. Visual MODFLOW is a Graphical User Interface for the USGS MODFLOW and is commercially available. It is favored by Hydrogeologist for its user-friendly design. The software primarily facilitates the modeling of groundwater flow and contaminant transport under various conditions. This article aims to review the breadth of its applications in groundwater modeling over the past 22 years. Visual MODFLOW has been applied in diverse areas including agriculture, airfields, constructed wetlands, climate change, drought studies, environmental impact assessments, landfills, mining operations, river and floodplain monitoring, saltwater intrusion, soil profile surveys, and watershed analyses, among others. This review will elucidate the software’s scope and effectiveness in groundwater modeling and research to date. Groundwater modeling is crucial for predicting changes in groundwater systems and environmental conditions. This study focuses on simulating the groundwater level of the Pawana Watershed, India using three different models: MODFLOW, Extreme Learning Machine (ELM), and Wavelet-Extreme Learning Machine (WA-ELM). Initially, the simulation is conducted using MODFLOW, achieving reasonable accuracy with a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.917 and a scatter index (SI) of 0.0004.