Modeling Fundamentals
It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to
suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
Sherlock Holmes in “Scandal in Bohemia” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
In Chapters 1 and 2, we summarize the modeling process and discuss the modeling
purpose and the conceptual model that forms the basis for the numerical model. Chapter
3 briefly reviews the differential equations and boundary conditions used in groundwater
flow modeling and the methods for solving analytical, analytic element, and numerical
(finite-difference, finite-element, and control volume finite-difference) models. We
also discuss code selection and execution and the computed water budget.