Comparison of meshless MFS and CVBEM computational methods in analysis of groundwater flow pathways
Authors:
Saleem Ali1, Sebastian Neumann1, T. V. Hromadka, II2, B. Wilkins3 Cadet, Dept Mathematical Sciences, USMA, West Point, NY1 Distinguished Professor, USMA, West Point, NY2 Columbia University3
Introduction and Methodology
Computational methods to solve groundwater contamination problems continue to be of high interest to engineers and planners, among others. An important problem is identifying the source of contamination within a cluster of candidate sources. A key question is which candidate source(s) are the actual point source of the subject contamination.
Saleem Ali is a mathematical sciences major at the United States Military Academy, who is majoring in mathematical sciences. His research experience includes the computational modeling of ideal fluid flow and studying the effects of time dilation in balloon satellite flight.
Professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
Charles V. Theis Award for Groundwater:
Dr. Ken Howard – PHG, PGeo, FGC, CGeol FGS, PhD.
Professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences
Ray K. Linsley Award for Surface Water:
Dr. Jeff McDonnell – P.H., FRSC, Ph.D.
Professor at the University of Saskatchewan in the School of Environment and Sustainability, and Associate Director at the Global Institute for Water Security.
I am honored to serve the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) in my new role as President-Elect. What a rewarding journey it has been! I have learned so much in these last three years while serving as Treasurer (2020), Director of Institute Development (2021-2022), and now as President-Elect.
As a Professional Hydrologist since 2018, I am proud to be part of our AIH community. I carry that pride in my work at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. A science geek, I am especially interested in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling to protect against flooding, promote better infrastructure designs that maintain natural systems stability, and evaluate best management practices in our watersheds.
It is no secret that the challenges we face today are formidable. The work we do protects communities from flooding, addresses natural system degradation, navigates pollution and cleanup, and expertly manages our dwindling resources. We now have a moral obligation to confront these challenges. Because of this, I am committed to achieving our goals: establishing high standards and transparent procedures to certify hydrologists, maintaining ethical standards to protect our natural resources, and providing education, advice, and training to the public. We will continue to reach out to our professional community to certify hydrologists and welcome you to our organization. We are especially pleased to congratulate our newest member, Rewati Niraula, who successfully completed the certification requirements as a professional hydrologist in the area of surface water.
I am fortunate to collaborate with a wonderful Board of Directors – incredible people who work tirelessly to advance our mission despite having full-time jobs and family commitments. We recently welcomed Dr. Luciana Kindl Da Cunha as our new Director of Institute Development. Dr. Cunha presented an outstanding webinar in March, titled “The Next Generation Water Resources Modeling Framework: What it is, a Proof of Concept, and How to Get Involved.” As chair of the webinar committee, Dr. Cunha will be moderating our next webinar on May 25, featuring AIH co-founder Dr. Roman Kanivetsky, on “Water Resources Sustainability: Toward a New Paradigm.” Our team is actively working to streamline and improve our processes related to membership renewal, exams, recertification, and communication. We anticipate a fruitful year ahead as we collaborate with sister organizations and participate in conferences such as the upcoming SEDHYD conference in St. Louis, Mo and the Annual AWRA Conference in Raleigh, NC.
Your engagement propels the mission of our organization. Please consider contributing to the AIH Bulletin. We ask that you contact admin@aihydrology.org to submit an article for a future issue. You can find additional information about article submissions in the email sent out on March 31 or on the AIH website.
If you are interested in contributing, please send articles or other items of interest via the link provided by April 14, 2023.
The next issue of the AIH Bulletin is scheduled to be published in the Spring of 2023, for which the editorial team invites contributions from members. Original articles on any aspect of hydrology (e.g., administrative, technical, socioeconomic) will be considered for publication. It is not required that the article be based on academic or scientific work; however, it should not be published elsewhere. Book reviews may also be submitted under this category.
Please provide an unformatted word document of your story without embedded images. You can signify where you’d like a submitted image using brackets.
Images you wish to be included with your article must not be embedded in the Word document; send them separately and labeled with names corresponding to where you’d like them used in the Word document.
Articles must have a brief title and a byline.
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Article length must be between 500 – 1000 words.
Please include an “About the Author” post script, to provide our audience with the context of your perspectives.
Include how you would like your name and title to be presented. Avoid using too many bulleted lists, diagrams or graphs in your article.
Beside original articles, members may also submit leads to items of interest to the hydrologists’ community.
Such items may include news related to the field of hydrology, conferences, new publications, etc.
If you are interested in contributing, please send articles or other items of interest via the Dropbox link below by April 14, 2023. Please ensure submissions are identified properly (example: TitleofArticle-FirstLastName.doc) and that supporting graphics/images are of the highest possible quality and attached, not embedded in the word document. Be sure to include your contact information within your submission as well.
I am truly energized about my new leadership role these next few years with AIH. As President, I want to make connections, provide synergy, and fully utilize the strong leadership qualities of our Board members and members at large. I am excited about our committees and initiatives – not only for the resulting benefits, but for the process of getting to know each one of you through your involvement. It is critical that all AIH members get involved, whether it’s helping establish the DEI scholarship, expanding our webinar series, or improving our website for AIH members and the public.
Introducing New Board Members!
Salam Murtada, President Elect 2023-2024
Salam brings a wealth of experience to this position from his two-year tenure as Director of Institute Development and one-year as Treasurer. Salam will be transitioning out of his role as Webinar Committee Chair and into the role of President Elect! Salam will be continuing to engage with members and help improve the recertification process.
Luciana Kindl da Cunha, Director of Institute Development
As Director of Institute Development, Luciana will be taking on the role of Chair of the Webinar Committee. We are very excited to see the webinar series continue to expand under the guidance of this important Committee. If you have ideas for upcoming webinars and how to improve webinar outreach, delivery and access, contact Luciana to join the Webinar Committee! Luciana will also be helping the DEI Committee establish and sustain the AIH’s first DEI Scholarship Program.
Certification as a professional hydrologist or hydrologic technician
Membership as a hydrologist-in-training or student member
Free access to our webinar series
Eligibility for annual awards
Peer and employer recognitions of professional competence in hydrology
Opportunity to contribute to AIH Committees and articles in the bulletin
Recertification Process
In addition to membership renewal, AIH members are required to recertify every five years by submitting 60 hours of Professional Development Credits (PDC). Please refer to the information regarding credits, listed in your AIH membership account. And note that AIH webinars count towards accumulating the required PDC credits. Please note that we are currently in the process of streamlining the recertification process in order to make it easier. If you have any questions regarding your ongoing certification status, please contact Kory Adams at kadams@aihydrology.org.
AIH Committees
AIH has a variety of committees and groups you can get involved in, and we are always looking for AIH members to join committees. Contact the Committee Chair/Co-Chair listed below if you’d like to join. Don’t hesitate to renew your membership today, so you can get involved with important committee work!
Committee
Description
Committee Chair
Contact
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee
Committee formed in January 2022. Currently focusing on establishing a DEI scholarship program.
As we know in our daily practice, the profession of hydrology is critical to water management. The prediction, modeling and management of extreme hydrologic events is taking center stage, across the nation and the globe, and our work is more important than ever. Thank you for your continued engagement with the American Institute of Hydrology, and keeping the profession of hydrology elevated through your work!
Greetings! This is my last President’s Message, and it comes soon after our Board of Directors convened for our AIH Annual Meeting. During the meeting, our Board of Directors reflected on accomplishments and challenges from the past year and established specific strategies and tactics to achieve goals for 2023. I’m delighted about the continued achievements of AIH during my tenure as President, and I’m excited about the next steps for the organization.
While our activities and initiatives have attracted many new members to AIH, we experienced significant challenges over the past year in maintaining our previous members through membership renewals. Many members have retired from the hydrology industry, but others either have not updated their member contact information or simply decided not to renew their membership. Critical priorities for 2023 include continued emphasis on promoting the branding of our AIH certifications, and demonstrating the benefits of certification and membership to our members.
As we wrap up 2022, I’m pleased to report that we are nearly complete with a comprehensive update to our database of examination questions for our AIH certification exams. The process established by our team was successful and the approach may be applied for continued updates to our examination questions database. We convened a team of experts during the fall to develop new examination questions. Updates will be completed prior to our next round of examinations.
AIH held two Water New Year events in Sacramento, California and St. Paul, Minnesota, where members of our AIH Board welcomed the season of maximum soil moisture recharge with current and prospective AIH members. My hope is that we continue this ritual and encourage expansion across other geographies.
We also continued to engage with the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) and other affiliate organizations to promote PH certification for hydrologists and HT certification for hydrologic technicians. After a two-year hiatus from in-person attendance, we actively participated in the AWRA 2022 Annual Conference. Our involvement in the conference is detailed in a summary provided by AIH Director for Institute Development, Salam Murtada, in this Bulletin. Additionally, led by AIH Past-President, Dr. John Nieber, AIH collaborated with AWRA to produce a special issue of the AWRA publication Water Resources IMPACT, titled “Hot Topics in Hydrology.” This special issue features articles by AIH members on a handful of current topics and on recent advances in hydrology research and professional practice. We will look to share information on how AIH members can access this great publication at a later point.
We had a wonderful year – and the next will surely be awesome under the leadership of Julé Rizzardo. Look for continued initiatives by our Board to connect our AIH community and advance AIH through promoting the benefits of certification.
Lastly, I will close through reiterating important points you have seen before:
A call to all AIH certified members, as ambassadors of AIH, to take pride and flaunt your AIH acronym. Be HIT-, HT-, and PH-proud.
Member participation is vital to AIH’s success. We are eager to engage more members in AIH activities. Please reach out to our Secretary/Membership Liaison, Jolyne Lea, at membership@aihydrology.org, to get involved.
AIH’s Board of Directors (BOD) recently held its Annual Meeting virtually on December 2 and 3, 2022. The BOD reflected on accomplishments from 2022, and established goals, strategies, and tactics for 2023. Keep an eye out for some exciting items in the coming year with plenty of opportunities for active member engagement in various activities!
The American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) played an important role at the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Annual Conference that took place in Seattle, Washington, November 7-9, 2022. Salam Murtada (Director, Institute Development) and Dr. Zhong Zhang (Director, Academic Affairs) attended the conference and represented AIH.
On the first day of the conference, AIH facilitated a climate change contest during a 30-minute engagement break. The game involved grouping participants for brainstorming ideas on select climate change-related topics. An appointed spokesperson from each group then presented their team’s ideas. The level of engagement and dedication was remarkable; they were all winners!
During a technical session, Salam provided a presentation titled Certifying the Practice of Hydrology. Salam’s presentation was an overview of AIH – its mission, purpose, structure, membership, and process for certification of hydrologists.
Salam also participated as one of the panelists for the Student and Early Career Professional Development Luncheon to advise students and professionals about their careers in hydrology and benefits of certification for hydrologists.
To promote our AIH membership and certification, AIH partnered with AWRA to offer 2022 Annual Conference attendees 50% off the membership application and examination fees. The collaboration also involved other benefits, such as featuring AIH information and items in conference materials, and e-mail blasts about AIH to all conference attendees.
As Gold Level Sponsors of the conference, AIH was able to present the 2022 AIH Awards during the conference Awards Luncheon. The Charles V. Theis Award for Groundwater, Ray K. Linsley Award of Surface Water, and Robert G. Wetzel Award for Water Quality were issued to Dr. Todd Halihan, Dr. Bruce Wilson and Dr. Vijay P. Singh, respectively, for their outstanding contributions to the field of hydrology. Dr. Halihan and Dr. Wilson accepted their awards in-person. Dr. Singh accepted the award in absentia due to his residency overseas. The awardees offered important remarks during their acceptance speeches.
Dr. Todd Halihan, recipient of the Charles V. Theis Award for Groundwater, is a professor and Sun Company Clyde Wheeler Chair in Hydrogeology at Oklahoma State University, as well as Chief Technical Officer for Aestas, LLC. Dr. Halihan’s professional interests center in subsurface characterization using electrical hydrogeology and water supply sustainability. He has been an associate editor for Groundwater and has served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the U.S. Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. He served as the Chair of the Hydrogeology Division and the South-Central Section of the Geological Society of America. He was also the National Ground Water Association’s 2018 McEllhiney Lecturer.
“This award,” remarked Dr. Halihan, “is named after C.V. Theis who had some serious negative feedback by establishing quantitative analysis for transient well hydraulics. In my work, I have tried to advance an approach similar to the energy industry of scanning, then drilling our groundwater sites to have a more comprehensive conceptual model. The negative feedback was surprising, but I found inspiration in the way Theis managed his detractors. The lesson I learned is to find guidance from supporters who want to see the science advance and change, which inspires me far more than those detractors that seem to like the status quo.”
Dr. Bruce Wilson, recipient of the Ray K. Linsley Award for Surface Water, is a professor in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Wilson’s research is focused on improving our understanding of hydrologic and water quality processes and erosion mechanics. Dr. Wilson has received awards from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Center for Transportation Studies, and the Erosion Control Association. Professor Wilson is also a recipient of the Distinguished Graduate and the Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Awards, and the Charles E. Bowers Teaching Award. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
“Our survival,” remarked Dr. Wilson, “the survival of human civilization – is dependent on the wise use of our water resources. We should be proud – pat ourselves on our back – that our work is critically important. But we should also be sober because our system is so complex – complex physical, chemical, biological components, and complex interactions among them.” Dr. Wilson acknowledged his colleagues, Dr. John Nieber (AIH Past-President) and Dr. Curt Larson, his graduate school advisor who happened to be Professor Ray Linsley’s PhD student.
Dr. Vijay P. Singh (AIH Past President), recipient of the Robert G. Wetzel Award for Water Quality, is a University Distinguished Professor, a Regents Professor, and Caroline and William N. Lehrer Distinguished Chair in Water Engineering at Texas A&M University. Dr. Singh has published extensively in the areas of hydrology, groundwater, water quality, irrigation engineering, hydraulics, and water resources (more than 1470 journal articles; 35 textbooks; 85 edited reference books; 121 book chapters; and 330 conference papers). He has received more than 107 national and international awards, and three honorary doctorates. He has served as President of AIH, Chair of Watershed Council of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and President of American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE). He has served as editor-in-chief of three journals and two book series and serves on editorial boards of more than 25 journals and three book series. Dr. Singh is an Honorary diplomat of ASCE-AAWRE, a distinguished member of ASCE, a Distinguished Fellow of AGGS, a Distinguished Honorary Member of IWRA, and an Honorary Member of AWRA.
“I am deeply humbled to receive the award for two reasons,” remarked Dr. Singh. “First, Dr. Wetzel was a giant in the water quality field, and it is a rare honor for me to have my name associated with Dr. Wetzel. Second, I have long been associated with the American Institute of Hydrology, almost since its beginning years. AIH is like my home institute inception and to be recognized by it is very special to me.” Dr. Singh acknowledged the support of his family, especially his late wife Anita, students and colleagues, among others.
The award ceremony concluded after honoring outstanding hydrologists and giving tribute to the leaders of the past, who paved the way for them to continue their important work.
Thanks to its leaders and organizers, AWRA delivered a very successful Annual Conference in 2022!
Dr. Miguel A. Medina, Jr., PH, F.ASCE (Professor Emeritus, Duke University)
Dr. Mustafa Aral, PH, F.ASCE (Professor Emeritus, Georgia Tech University)
The Republic of Türkiye changed its official name from The Republic of Turkey on 26 May 2022, in a request submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General by the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. It was indeedunique that two former American Institute of Hydrology presidents, Dr. Miguel Medina Jr (2009-2010) and Dr. Mustafa Aral (2015-2016) presented keynote addresses in a country far away from the USA! The events unfolded at the International Water Association (IWA) 4thRegional Conference on Diffuse Pollution and Eutrophication (IWA DIPCON 2022) in Istanbul, Türkiye, held at the Istanbul University main campus, from October 24-28, 2022.
Istanbul University, founded 1453.
Dr. Medina illustrating interconnected surface and subsurface hydrologic processes.
Dr. Aral reviewing design concepts and mathematical simulations.
Drs. Aral and Medina enjoying a traditional Turkish meal.
The Bosphorus Straight.
Lunches for conference speakers, organizers and participants were held at the historic and ornate Istanbul University faculty dining room.
A conference welcoming cruise along the Bosphorus proved to be one of the highlights of the conference social activities. The Bosphorus Strait is an internationally significant waterway. It forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe. However, there are now three bridges and a tunnel connecting the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side. A brand-new cruise ship terminal (Galataport) is illustrated below. The Bosphorus allows shipping from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and vice versa. A field trip to dams and aqueducts providing water to European Istanbul was organized on the last day of the conference, October 28th.
About the author
Founder’s Award:
I am honored to serve the American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) in my new role as President-Elect. What a rewarding journey it has been! I have learned so much in these last three years while serving as Treasurer (2020), Director of Institute Development (2021-2022), and now as President-Elect.
I am truly energized about my new leadership role these next few years with AIH. As President, I want to make connections, provide synergy, and fully utilize the strong leadership qualities of our Board members and members at large. I am excited about our committees and initiatives – not only for the resulting benefits, but for the process of getting to know each one of you through your involvement. It is critical that all AIH members get involved, whether it’s helping establish the DEI scholarship, expanding our webinar series, or improving our website for AIH members and the public.
s! This is my last President’s Message, and it comes soon after our Board of Directors convened for our AIH Annual Meeting. During the meeting, our Board of Directors reflected on accomplishments and challenges from the past year and established specific strategies and tactics to achieve goals for 2023. I’m delighted about the continued achievements of AIH during my tenure as President, and I’m excited about the next steps for the organization.
