Underground Water Flow Prediction Models Improving

Stream flow. (Credit: Missouri University of Science and Technology)

Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are working to improve predictions of underground water flow, according to a release. Their efforts are aimed at making predictions better despite porous terrain or the existence of channels running through an area.

The method is based on the flows of water and waterborne pollutants as they wash through rocks and soil and involves three main steps. Scientists first develop and analyze a mathematical model. From there, a numerical method helps to form a simulation. And then some help from the university’s engineers makes it possible to process porous flow.

Work on the simulations is ongoing. But researchers hope that their efforts will one day yield more precise ways to track underground water flow in operations that depend on it, such as in oil extraction, and broadly in filtration or groundwater systems.

Top image: Stream flow. (Credit: Missouri University of Science and Technology)