Groundwater is an important component in many environmental, geologic and ecosystem processes.  It makes up over 30% of the global freshwater resources.  The objective of this course is to give students the opportunity to explore how groundwater moves and transports solutes.  In addition, students will learn how groundwater interacts with surface hydrology.   Through field exercises students will learn practical skills necessary to quantify groundwater flow and characterize aquifer properties.  Among the many field activities planned for the class, students will log a well during drilling, develop wells and measure aquifer properties.  We will use single and multiple well methods to measure hydraulic conductivity and storativity.  Students will gain experience using state-of-the-art bore-hole geophysical instruments to study the interaction between wells in fractured bedrock.  These instruments include caliper, gamma, fluid resistivity, fluid temperature, heat-pulse flow meters and an acoustical imaging system.   In another study the class will look at the effects of tile drainage on hydrogeology.  The class will use the well field at Altona Flat Rock and agricultural fields at Miner Institute.

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Email course professor Dr. Romanowicz at: romanoea@plattsburgh.edu

For more information, contact Dr. Robert Fuller