Staff Research Highlight - Improving precision in regional scale numerical simulations of groundwater flow into underground openings
The study presents a novel numerical framework to improve the accuracy of regional-scale groundwater flow simulations into underground openings, such as tunnels and deep geological repositories. Traditionally, simulating groundwater inflows into engineered underground structures has involved significant simplifications, often treating tunnels as drain features or imposing boundary conditions that fail to fully capture the physical behavior of fluid flow around these voids. This research addresses those limitations by introducing a new numerical boundary condition to simulate groundwater flow into underground openings more accurately.
Research Highlight - Model simplification to simulate groundwater recharge from a perched gravel-bed river
This publication co-authored by Antoine Di Ciacca, Scott Wilson, Patrick Durney, Guglielmo Stecca, and Thomas Wöhling, investigates model simplification strategies to simulate groundwater recharge from perched gravel-bed rivers. This study leverages HydroGeoSphere (HGS) as a fully integrated 3D surface–subsurface model, alongside 2D cross-sectional and 1D analytical models, to address long-standing challenges in representing river–aquifer interactions while reducing computational demands.
Research Highlight - Is the Water Balance of Your Waste Rock Pile Reliable? A framework for Improving Assessment of Water Inputs and Outputs for a Typical Storage Facility
This research focuses on understanding the dynamics of topography-driven groundwater flow systems using fully-coupled surface–subsurface hydrologic modelling. This study addresses long-standing challenges in representing nested flow systems by simulating interactions between climate, topography, and groundwater without relying on potentially unrealistic, static boundary conditions.
Staff Research Highlight - Quantifying the potential of using Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) soil moisture variability to predict subsurface water dynamics
Aquanty staff investigate the potential for using near-surface soil moisture measurements from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite to predict subsurface soil moisture and groundwater storage dynamics. This research offers valuable insights into how satellite-based soil moisture data can inform large-scale hydrological modelling and support more effective water resource management.
Staff Research Highlight - Understanding topography-driven groundwater flow using fully-coupled surface-water and groundwater modeling
This research focuses on understanding the dynamics of topography-driven groundwater flow systems using fully-coupled surface–subsurface hydrologic modelling. This study addresses long-standing challenges in representing nested flow systems by simulating interactions between climate, topography, and groundwater without relying on potentially unrealistic, static boundary conditions.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Vulnerability of the Saint-Charles drinking water source: portrait of the groundwater resources of the St-Charles River watershed and their links with surface water
We’re pleased to highlight this research effort, which focuses on understanding the vulnerability of the Saint-Charles River drinking water source and characterizing the groundwater resources that support it. Presented through a public-facing ArcGIS Story Map, this project delivers an accessible summary of a detailed hydrogeological study that integrates field measurements, geochemical analyses, and numerical modelling to evaluate the watershed’s current and future ability to provide safe, reliable drinking water for the City of Quebec and its surrounding municipalities.
Staff Research Highlight - Steady-state density-driven flow and transport: Pseudo-transient parameter continuation
Co-authored by Aquanty’s senior scientist, Hyoun-Tae Hwang, this research presents a new numerical approach for efficiently solving steady-state density-driven flow and transport equations— an important challenge in groundwater modelling, particularly for coastal aquifers affected by seawater intrusion. The research introduces a hybrid technique called pseudo-transient parameter continuation (PTPC), which combines the robustness of pseudo-transient continuation (PTC) methods with the computational efficiency of parameter continuation (PC) strategies.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Source Water Protection in Quebec City: Using an integrated 3D hydrological model to investigate surface water-groundwater interactions
The research, presented as a poster by Benjamin Frot at EGU 2025, explores the use of HydroGeoSphere (HGS) to investigate surface water–groundwater interactions in the Saint-Charles River watershed, which supplies drinking water to Quebec City. With a focus on source water protection, the study addresses the challenges posed by increasing urbanization, contamination from septic systems and road salts, and reduced water availability during low-flow periods. The work is part of a larger project aimed at evaluating the vulnerability of Quebec City's main surface water intake.
HGS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT – Exploring the reliability of ²²²Rn as a tracer of groundwater age in alluvial aquifers: Insights from the explicit simulation of variable ²²²Rn production
We’re pleased to highlight this publication which investigates the reliability of using radon-222 (²²²Rn) as a tracer for groundwater age in alluvial aquifers. Accurate estimations of groundwater residence time (GRT)—the time since water infiltrated from the surface—are critical for effective water resource management, especially in systems that rely on bank filtration near rivers for drinking water supply. While ²²²Rn has long been employed as a natural tracer due to its radioactive decay properties and elevated concentrations in groundwater, most traditional models assume spatially uniform ²²²Rn production and purely advective flow— assumptions that rarely hold in real-world aquifers.
Staff Research Highlight - Application of Different Weighting Schemes and Stochastic Simulations to Parameterization Processes Considering Observation Error
In this paper co-authored by Aquanty personnel, researchers explore how different weighting schemes and stochastic simulations can enhance the accuracy of parameter estimation processes, ultimately reducing uncertainty in climate change impact assessments.