Visual MODFLOW 3D-Builder

• View source file, meta data (source units, coordinate system, mapped fields, number of errors/warnings encountered during the import, number of Records ignored)
• View Spreadsheet view of raw data for viewing/editing
• View statistics summary of raw data, for the geometry and attributes. (min, max, range, mean, std dev, variance, sum, count). Features (number of features, number of vertices, number of parts)

Operations

• For river polyline, calculate river stage from a surface (eg DEM)
• Arithmetic operations to an attribute: eg. shift elevation up/down by a value, shift surfaces/horizons up/down
• Simple arithmetic operations: set attribute to a constant value, shift by a constant
• Convert polygons or polylines to points
• Convert well tops to points
• Convert HGA Model Layer XS interpretations to points

Style/Visual Settings

• Set symbol properties for points, polygons, polylines, display labels
• Render by attribute
• Global color templates
• Surface settings (transparency), and show as color shading, colored zones, or contour lines

Export Data/Display

• Export data objects to shapefile or CSV
• Save screen display to image file (bmp) or copy to clipboard

• Within the same project, create multiple 2D/3D views of the same data, and display one or more data layers in these viewers
• Live-update in viewers: make a change in one viewer, and the display in other 2D/3D viewers is simultaneously updated
• Bi-directional Selection: When doing selection or editing, select a feature from the viewer, and the corresponding feature is highlighted in the spreadsheet viewer. Or, from the spreadsheet showing the attribute table, select one or more rows, and see the corresponding data selected on viewers
• Render by zone or attribute in 2D or 3D (assign diff color based on the zone or attribute value)

In Spreadsheet Viewer/Editor

• View/edit the raw imported data (XYZ, with attributes)

In 2D

• edit points, polylines, polygons
• Define new point, polygon, polyline layers, and draw points, polygons and polylines, and define attributes for these new features
• Undo when digitizing line or polygon

In 3D

• View all data object types and define 3D Cut-aways
• Drape sitemaps over a surface
• Edit Surface objects (adjust part of the surface by moving up or down)
• View well paths, well tops, screens, diver and observation point locations

• Define conceptual model area, from polygon that was imported (from SHP or DXF) or digitized with the 2D editor

Horizons

• Define vertical horizons from surfaces, that are either imported, or created by interpolated from raw XYZ points
• The equivalent of a surface, except that a horizon is a surface in a 3D grid and an integrated part of the 3D model
• Horizons extend across the entire conceptual model area, and cannot intersect with one another
• Several horizons types accommodate various geological conditions (pinchouts, discontinuous layers)
• After the horizons are created, you can return and add or remove horizons, or adjust the horizon type to achieve the desired geological representation.

Structural Zones

• Between the horizons, the structural zones are generated. These are 3D Solids/volumes. The structural zones can be populated with properties, as defined below.
• Properties
  • Create property zones from polygon data objects (that you have imported from shapefile or AutoCAD DXF, or digitized)
  • Create property zones from structural zones
  • Wizard allows automatic transformation of structural zones (solids) into Property zones
  • Define values for property zones, using:
    • Constant value
    • map to shapefile attributes
  • Use a distributed property zone from an imported 2D Gridded surface (Surfer GRD, ESRI Grid), or a Surface that you have interpolated from random points
  • Use 3D Gridded Data object (eg, X,Y,Z,Kx)

Boundary Conditions

• Define boundary condition geometry from polylines or polygons (imported from shapefiles or AutoCAD DXF, or digitized)
• Define the boundary condition parameters using:
  • attributes from shapefile
  • surface (DEM) (for example, river stage calculated from a DEM)
  • time schedule at nodes along the line geometry (for example for lines, define values at start, end, or intermediate nodes along the line)
• Zone based approach for defining boundary conditions; with this workflow, define as much or as little detail for the attributes as you have available. For example, if you have a polyline that represents the river location, and you have more data available along parts of the river, than in other locations. You can define a constant value for river stage (for example, from DEM), width, thickness, etc from shapefile attributes, then, define a local zone, and in this zone, define values according to river gage station data (eg, for each node, define river stage, width, thickness)
• Support for defining the following boundary conditions (available in existing Visual MODFLOW):
  • Pumping wells
  • Constant Head
  • River
  • General Head
  • Drain
  • Recharge
  • Evapotranspiration
• Support for the following new boundary conditions:
  • Lake
  • Specified Flux (using FHB package)
• You can also get boundary conditions from a regional model (eg, imported HDS file from another model)
• You can define boundary conditions to sides, tops/bottoms of the simulation model domain. For example, select the entire west face, from top to bottom, and specify:
  • Constant Head, General Head, Specified Flux, NoFlow
• Or, select parts of the top of the simulation model domain, and specify
  • Recharge, Evapotranspiration, River, Drain, NoFlow

Grid Designer

• Define horizontal grid: (refinement around areas)
• Define Vertical grid: select from one of the following types:
  • Deformed: In a deformed grid, the tops and bottoms of the model layers follow the horizons elevations. You can refine the model layers, by dividing the zones into proportionately thick layers
  • Uniform: In a uniform grid, a number of layers with uniform thickness will be created. At the time of translating the conceptual model to the numerical model, the properties will be assigned to the appropriate grid cells to represent the geological structure. This grid is useful for transport or density-dependent simulations, where it is desirable to have fine vertical discretization
  • Semi-Uniform: In a deformed-uniform grid, the top and bottom of the grid are deformed, following the top-most and bottom-most horizons respectively; in between, a set of uniformly thick layers will be generated. At the time of translating the conceptual model to the numerical model, the properties will be assigned to the appropriate grid cells to represent the geological structure. This grid is useful where you have discontinuous layers.
• For a selected simulation model, define one or more grid types
• During creating of the horizontal discretization, there are tools that allow simple automatic refinement in a user-defined area
• During creating of the vertical discretization, there are options to define vertical refinement (for example, refine by 2 in topmost layer)
• By defining a parent and child simulation model domain, and creating the appropriate grid for each, you can prepare two models for simulation using MODFLOW-2005-LGR (Local Grid Refinement)

Properties

• For properties, the property zones in the conceptual model will be upscaled to the numerical grid
• Translate property input into MODFLOW .BCF, LPF, or HUF packages
• The .SUB package can be created from property zones that have the necessary parameters defined

Boundary Conditions

• The boundary conditions are created as conceptual objects, and can be shared among all the simulation model domains (and grids)
• At the time of conversion, you can select what package should be used to represent the boundary condition (for example, for a river boundary condition, use MODFLOW RIV package, or select to MODFLOW .CHD package)
• Easily change the type of BC package for an object, and re-translate
• Improved management of boundary conditions; specify simulation time, and allow for extending the last stress period for all boundary conditions (no need to edit/update each individual boundary condition)

Simulation and Output Results

Output/Results

• Construct a 3-dimensional realization of confined or unconfined aquifers during landfill site assessments
• Characterize hydrogeologic features that influence groundwater flow and contaminant migration at industrial facilities (Brownsfields)
• Visualize in 2D/3D and interpret shapefiles, CAD files, fence diagrams, surfaces, raster images, wells, and XYZ points
• Generate 3D pinchout and discontinuous geological formations based on well logs, points, or cross-section interpretations
• Design grid-independent boundary conditions for your MODFLOW model, based on GIS and raw data
• Conduct geostatistical Analysis: 2D interpolation and contouring
• Generate complex gridded geologic models that can be easily exported to Visual MODFLOW for simulation.
• Generate deformed/uniform numerical grids, including vertical and horizontal refinement and localized grids, for MODFLOW-2000/2005 and MODFLOW-LGR
• Analyze of MODFLOW or MODPATH results in 2D and 3D
• Conceptualize and simulate localized areas of interest, within your regional-sized model

A powerful new tool in the suite of Visual MODFLOW software, Visual MODFLOW 3D-Builder facilitates a complete conceptual approach to groundwater modeling.