Subsidence Targets and Other Stuff

We just added a new target type for land subsidence. This is way down the list of target types. Currently, this new target only works with the older IBS (Interbed Storage) Package but we will also be working on hooking it up to the newer SUB Package. Along with the Subsidence target is the ability to estimate elastic and inelastic specific storage in the IBS Package with Pest. Again, this parameter is way down on the list of Pest parameter types in the parameter definition spreadsheet in Vistas.

You will also see another type called "flow direction". That is not hooked up yet but will be shortly. It will be used to calibrate flow directions as an alternative to the "gradient" target in Vistas. The gradient target is defined from three adjacent head targets using the 3-point problem. The "flow direction" target, on the other hand is simply a point where you define the flow direction (with zero degrees being East, 90 is north, etc.). More to follow in this blog once it is finished.

We also improved the animation export in Vistas. In very large or long model runs, the bitmaps sometimes would quit being updated in later time steps. This works better now but is not fool-proof. If you run into this problem, there is a new option in the animation export to start the animation at the current time step. So find out where your bitmaps quit being updated, import the results for that time step and re-export the animation from there. Note that the file naming and numbering will be consistent with the whole run so that when the animation is finally created, it will be one seamless video.

Also, a few other changes:
- Improved color floods for models with extreme grid spacing changes. In the past you could get a white checker-board effect which is now resolved.
- A few MODFLOW2005 issues were fixed (did not like spaces in the path name, STR Package formatting was incorrect in certain instances, and the highest active layer option in ET was not working correctly)
- Plot/File Operations/Extract was confusing CBB with UCN files
- Stream shapefile import for polylines was not working correctly with tributaries
- Importing an existing SFR input file was not working if some stress periods used the -1 option to use the previous stress period's data
- In dual-domain MODFLOW-SURFACT runs, Vistas was importing the concentrations from the immobile domain instead of the mobile domain

First PEST Conference!

On behalf of John Doherty, Matt Tonkin, and myself, please consider joining us at the first-ever PEST conference!

This first-ever PEST Conference will be held in The Stained Glass Hall of the Bolger Center, Potomac, Maryland ( http://bolgercenter.dolce.com/<http://bolgercenter.dolce.com/> ) November 2nd through 4th, 2009. The primary goal of the PEST Conference is to bring together modelers from a wide variety of disciplines who either have experience in, or would like to learn more about, the use of inverse modeling techniques - i.e., parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis - with a particular focus on the PEST suite of programs (www.sspa.com/pest ).

The objective of bringing together modelers from a variety of modeling disciplines is to exchange ideas, discuss applications of the PEST suite of programs, share lessons learned, discuss new and planned developments, and seek guidance from modelers on inverse modeling needs to guide future code development. It is also hoped that this forum will provide an opportunity for modelers to meet and discuss novel approaches that they have taken to solving problems that they have encountered.

The PEST Conference will commence with a message from John Doherty, the developer of the PEST programs. John will provide some history of the development of PEST, discuss wide ranging applications of PEST, outline planned future developments, and doubtless wax lyrical on a great many other topics! The conference will follow with morning and afternoon sessions, each
commencing with a key-note address given by a noted environmental modeler, followed by submitted oral presentations. A poster session will also be held one evening. Oral and poster presentations will be summarized in extended abstracts and/or full papers that will be published in electronic proceedings distributed on thumb drives. The conference will wrap up with a
question-and-answer session during which attendees will be able to ask questions of the organizers and of John Doherty, in particular, and provide suggestions for future development directions.

A one-day Introductory PEST course will be held immediately prior to the conference, and a two-day advanced PEST course will be held immediately following the PEST Conference, with instruction from John Doherty, Jim Rumbaugh, and Matt Tonkin.

Further information about the PEST Conference - including the list of keynote speakers and information on registration, accommodations, and travel, will be posted soon at www.sspa.com/ThePESTConference.

We hope to see you in November 2009!