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MODFLOW-NWT groundwater model demonstrating groundwater model calibration with repeat microgravity measurements

Metadata Updated: January 22, 2026

A numerical model was developed using MODFLOW-NWT and FloPy to simulate groundwater flow and demonstrate a practical method for incorporating repeat microgravity observations (i.e., small changes in the acceleration due to Earth’s gravity) as a new type of calibration target for groundwater-flow models. The single-layer, 250-m cell size model was kept relatively simple to focus on the value of repeat microgravity data in the East Mesa area of the Imperial Valley, in the vicinity of the All American Canal, southeast California, USA. The method is demonstrated with repeat microgravity data collected over a 10-year period following the lining of the All American Canal with concrete. This lining of the canal resulted in the removal of a large source of seepage (recharge) causing groundwater levels, groundwater storage, and gravity all to declined considerably. The study area and field data are used to demonstrate a novel forward gravity modeling application linked to MODFLOW input and output files. The analysis demonstrates that including gravity data, compared to drawdown data alone, improves model parameter identifiability and reduces uncertainty in parameter estimates. This USGS data release contains all of the input and output files for the simulations described in the associated journal article (https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13167).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date January 11, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 22, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 11, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 22, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_79e2e22d-b0cb-4b3b-a9a5-d9f32f679d22
Data Last Modified 2022-01-05T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Datagov Dedupe Retained 20260122045119
Harvest Object Id 1807a837-de20-4656-9957-47a671f1fb40
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
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Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash dbad8761dabdafb6b9f872731e61b987e0a4e5e7f9b1c94cc12e672e46d3d13e
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -115.3400, 32.5700, -115.3400, 33.0823, -114.6039, 33.0823, -114.6039, 32.5700, -115.3400, 32.5700}

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