NECoM (Numerically Enhanced COnceptual Modelling) of two small Maltese Aquifers: Mizieb and Pwales

• Main Authors: Francesca Lotti, Iacopo Borsi, Enrico Guastaldi, Alessio Barbagli, Paolo Basile, Lorenzo Favaro, Adrian Mallia, Rachel Xuereb, Michael Schembri, Julian Alexander Mamo, Francesco Demichele, Manuel Sapiano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PAGEPress Publications 2021-03-01
• Series: Acque Sotterranee
• Subjects: NECoM; Data Gap; Groundwater Management; Archive research
• Online Access: https://www.acquesotterranee.net/index.php/acque/article/view/496
• ISSN: 1828-454X; 2280-6458

Two small Maltese aquifers, Mizieb and Pwales, were numerically analyzed to test the existing hydrogeological conceptual model and suggest optimized groundwater monitoring strategies in support of the forthcoming monitoring network coordinated by the Government of Malta through the Energy and Water Agency. The model will undergo further revision of the concepts on which it is based as soon as new data is available, considering the conceptual and numerical model development as parallel activities, rather than as sequential. The model structure and parameter estimation made use of qualitative information and data acquired by archive research; during model calibration information/assumptions were introduced as “prior information” while the available measurements were introduced as classical “observations” with proper associated weight. The information content of both qualitative and quantitative data could be assimilated along the calibration process, highlighting the uncertainties and open questions that remain because of data insufficiency.