Research for Industries (RFI) Lecture Series: Steven K. Frey

Physics-based groundwater – surface water modeling at continental scale

Aquanty, which is a research spin off from the University of Waterloo, is at the forefront of developing state-of-the-art fully-integrated hydrologic models to better understand and predict water resource behavior and availability under both near term weather, and long term climate change scenarios. Aquanty’s flagship software platform, HydroGeoSphere (HGS), is a state-of-the-art fully-integrated GW-SW simulator that can couple with both weather forecasts and future climate scenarios in order to derive predictive insight on water resources. As part of the continental scale Canada 1 Water (C1W) project, HGS models are being built for all of Canada. C1W is a collaborative and multi-disciplinary project involving scientists who are working to assemble the requisite datasets and construct the models. As part of C1W phase 1, the HGS models will be coupled to regional climate modeling and used to produce national scale climate change risk indices pertaining to surface water, groundwater, and soil moisture resources. In this presentation we will: (i) review the concept and science behind fully-integrated GW-SW simulation, (ii) discuss the parallel scientific advancements that have paved the way for large-scale hyper resolution modeling, (iii) introduce the C1W project methodology and objectives, and (iv) discuss the integration of sensor data with hydrologic models to improve predictive capabilities.

Speaker Details

Dr. Frey is the Director of Research Services at Aquanty and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Waterloo, where he completed his PhD in 2011. His postdoctoral research was conducted at Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, where he studied the impact of agricultural practices on surface water and groundwater quality and quantity. At Aquanty, his research focuses on the application of advanced, structurally complex, HGS models towards societally relevant water resources challenges under present day and future conditions.