Use of a Geographic Information System in Site‐Specific Ground‐Water Modelinga

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Abstract
Ground‐water modeling is hindered, in general, by the lack of adequate information about the ground‐water system and hence the need for an interactive and efficient system for data preparation and results analysis. Such a lack of information usually necessitates the use of a tedious iterative methodology within a sensitivity analysis scheme. This study facilitates modeling efforts by using the data‐handling and graphical capabilities of a geographic information system in site‐specific, numerical modeling of ground‐water resources. Data for the island of Oahu, Hawaii, are given to illustrate the approach. The modeling procedure is integrated within the GIS as an item in the main menu. A USGS model, known as MOC, is linked into the system and applied to a case study to illustrate the procedure. The linkage is generic in nature and can be extended to other models as well. The availability of a programming language in the GIS package facilitates pre‐ and post‐processing efforts within custom‐made dialogue boxes and pull‐down menus. On‐line help screens for modeling as well as data handling can also be designed.