As part of the PRIMAProgram NEXUSNESS, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna – Institute of Crop Science recently hosted an online course on the FREEWAT-Q3 plugin for QGIS.
Held from May 9 to 17 and led by Rudy Rossetto and Giacomo Vescovo, this course brought together 24 students from universities across Italy to enhance their skills in groundwater resource modeling.
Course Objectives
The primary goals of the course were:
- To enhance the management capabilities of groundwater resources.
- Preparing participants for more complex NEXUS analysis.
Tutorials
As part of the course, three tutorials were conducted to help participants get started with FREEWAT-Q3:
- Introduction Tutorial: This initial tutorial covered the installation of the FREEWAT-Q3 plugin, organizing the project directory, and launching a simple groundwater flow model on a single layer.
- Second Tutorial: Focused on creating a groundwater flow model with three layers, providing a more complex example for participants.
- Third Tutorial: The first part of this exercise involved defining the conceptual model for the investigated hydrodynamic system and setting up the model during the first two Stress Periods. The main goal was to quantify the effects of stresses induced by two pumping wells in the investigated hydrodynamic system.
What is FREEWAT-Q3?
FREEWAT (FREE and open source software tools for WATer resource management) is an integrated QGIS interface designed for planning and managing water resources, with a special focus on groundwater.
The FREEWAT platform combines GIS geoprocessing and post-processing tools with process-based simulation models, making it a powerful tool for handling large spatial datasets, data management, visualization, and the execution of various distributed modeling codes. Some of the key features include support for:
- MODFLOW-2005
- MODPATH
- MT3D-USGS
- SEAWAT
Call for Testers
We are currently looking for testers to participate in the testing phase of the FREEWAT-Q3 plugin. If you are interested, please contact us. We will provide the code and exercises to be performed.
Contact Information
For more information or to participate in the testing phase, please write to:
- Rudy Rossetto: rudy.rossetto@santannapisa.it
For more details, visit FREEWAT.