DICEA - UNIPD
Participant description
The Numerical Modelling research group of the Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Architectural
Engineering (DICEA) - University of Padova - is the leading group of the previous Dept. of
Mathematical Methods and Models for Scientific Applications (DMMMSA). The research field
deals with the formulation, development, implementation and validation of robust, accurate and
efficient numerical methods and models for the solution to diffusion/dispersion, convection and
deformation problems in heterogeneous, anisotropic, continuous and faulted porous media
subject to fluid withdrawal or injection (oil, gas, water, sea water, CO 2). Different and qualified
scientific competences are integrated allowing to address modeling problems with reference to
the formulation and the development of new mathematical models, the development and the
experimentation of novel solution numerical methods, and the application to real problems with
an important engineering and environmental impact. In fact, the research group combines
efficiently engineers and computer science experts with mathematicians. The research topics in
the numerical-computational field cover almost completely all the aspects related to the
numerical solution of mathematical models for the prediction of fluido-dynamics and
geomechanics in porous media: analysis, development and experimentation of novel discretization
methods, solution of linear algebra problems with a large size as they result from the
corresponding PDE discretization, numerical algorithms for non-linear and optimization problems,
parallel computing in linear algebra, applications to important real cases.
The group is actually located in Torre Archimede, 3rd floor, Via Trieste 63, 35121 Padova, Italy
Torre Archimede
Involved researchers
prof. Giuseppe Gambolati (giuseppe.gambolati@unipd.it) - GROUP leader
Giuseppe Gambolati received his doctoral degree with honors in Mechanical Engineering in 1968
from the Technical University of Turin. After graduating he joined the Department of Applied
Mechanics of the Technical University of Turin as an Assistant Professor. In 1969 he joined the IBM
Scientific Center of Venice with the specific commitment of developing the mathematical model of
anthropogenic land subsidence of Venice. Dr. Gambolati's scientific career at IBM spanned the
period from 1969 to 1980: scientist (1972), advisory scientist (1974), head of the hydrology
program (1976), senior scientist (1980). In 1980 Dr. Gambolati was appointed Professor of
Numerical Methods at the School of Engineering of the University of Padua. In 1987 he became
Director of the Institute of Applied Mathematics where he promoted the founding of the
Department of Mathematical Methods and Models for Scientific Applications (DMMMSA), which
he chaired until December 1991. He is the author of over 250 scientific papers in internationally
refereed journals, books, and proceedings concerning modeling groundwater flow, and subsurface
contaminant transport, and the validation and application of the corresponding numerical models
to real world problems. He was Chairman of the VIII International Conference on "Computational
Methods in Water Resources". He is currently a member of the IAHS/UNESCO-IHP Working Group
on "Land Subsidence". He was the recipient of the 2008 IACMAG (International Association for
Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics) award for “significant contributions in
research, academic activities and professional service in different regions of the globe”. He has
been recently nominated 2011 AGU fellow.
ing. Pietro Teatini (pietro.teatini@unipd.it) - WARBO coordinator
He received the Civil Engineering degree with honors in 1991 at the University of Padova, Italy.
From 1992 he works in the numerical modeling group at the Department of Mathematical
Methods and Models for Scientific Applications of the University of Padova (Italy). His research
interests concern with studies of natural and anthropogenic land subsidence, groundwater flow,
and subsurface contaminant transport, the development of numerical models for their simulation,
the model application to real world problems, the execution of field experiments and the
management of survey networks to monitor these processes. In 1994 he received the
International Award ``Paolo Gatto’’, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Italy, for the modeling of the
aquifer system underlying the Venice Lagoon. He is associated researcher of the Institute of
Marine Science - CNR in Venice. He has participated to a number of projects concerning land
subsidence and subsurface flow/transport funded by different institutions such as EU (within the
Environmental Programme), European Space Agency, Italian Ministry of Environment, Eni E&P (the
Italian national oil company), Venice Water Authority. He has published more than 150 articles in
books, international journals and international conference proceedings.
ing. Massimiliano Ferronato (massimiliano.ferronato@unipd.it)
After entering the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Padova, graduated in Civil
Engineering, Structural qualification, on July 15th, 1998 with 110 points over 110 cum laude,
defending a thesis entitled: Numerical modeling of rock deformation close to producing reservoirs
with Prof. Giuseppe Gambolati, PE, and Pietro Teatini, PE, as advisors. Became a Professional
Engineer on January 1999. In 1999 attends a Qualifying Master at the University of Padova getting
the specialization in Maritime and Coastal Engineering with a defense of the thesis entitled:
Numerical modeling of the morphological evolution of a littoral: sensitivity analysis to the
concomitance of waves and the "acqua alta" phenomenon with practical application. On March
23rd, 2003, gets his PhD degree with specialization in Numerical Geomechanics at the Technology
University of Delft (The Netherlands). Author and co-author of more than 100 scientific articles
published in international journals and proceedings of international conferences on numerical and
application-oriented issues, has been working since 2003 as researcher at the Department of
Mathematical Methods and Models for Scientific Application (DMMMSA) of the University of
Padova. During the academic year 2004/05 is appointed Contract Professor for the Numerical
Analysis course for Mechanical Engineering (venue of Vicenza). In 2008 is appointed Assistant
Professor in Numerical Analysis. Current teaching activity includes the courses of Numerical
Analysis and Programming for Energy Engineering, Numerical Analysis for Innovation Engineering
(venue of Vicenza), Numerical Methods in Engineering for Civil Engineering and Numerical
Methods for the PhD School in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
ing. Nicola Castelletto (castel@dmsa.unipd.it)
He received the Ph.D in Civil and Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Padova
in 2010. His research interests concern the physics of fluid flow and deformation in porous media,
with specific applications in subsurface hydraulics and petroleum engineering. The main activity is
the development and implementation of non-linear algorithms in Finite Element, Mixed Finite
Element and Finite Volume models to analyze coupled and uncoupled fluid dynamical and
geomechanical processes due to the exploitation and management of subsurface resources.
Significant applications include land subsidence prediction related to water or hydrocarbon
extraction, and fluid injection in the subsurface for underground gas storage, deformation
mitigation or geological carbon sequestration purposes. He is author and co-author of about 20
scientific articles published in international journals and proceedings of international conferences.
Previous projects related to WARBO activities
Project Title
Period
Client
Venice Lagoon System: Development of a 3-D finite element
model for the land subsidence simulation in the Venice area
1992-1994
National Research
Council
CENAS: Study on the coastline evolution of the Eastern Po
Plain due to sea level change caused by climate variation and
to natural and anthropogenic land subsidence
1995-1997
DGXII – European
Community
RaCoS Project (Radionuclide Contamination of Soils and
Groundwater at the Lake Karachai Waste Disposal Site
(Russia) and the Chernobyl Accident Site (Ukraine): field
analysis and modeling study
1997-2000
DGXII – European
Community
ISES: Saltwater intrusion and land subsidence in the Venice
Lagoon catchment
1991-2001
Venice Water Authority
VOSS (Venice Organic Soil Subsidence): Modeling and
experimental study of the organic soil compaction and
prediction of the land subsidence related to climate changes
in the South-Eastern area of the Venice Lagoon catchment
2001-2003
Co.Ri.La. Venice
Groundwater discharge in the Lagoon of Venice derived from
isotopic tracers and electrical tomography
2004-2006
Co.Ri.La. Venice
GHG Programme: Modeling the geomechanical processes due
to geological sequestration of greenhouse gases in depleted
or storage gas reservoirs
2004-2007
SnamProgetti S.p.A.
The Venice Lagoon in the framework of climate changes,
mitigation strategies, adaptation and evolution of land uses.
Mitigation by anthropogenic uplift
2009-2010
Co.Ri.La. Venice an
Venice Water Authority
ZEPT (Zero Emission Porto Tolle): Geomechanical modeling of
CO2 storage
2010-2011
ENEL S.p.A.
GEO-RISK: Development of numerical models describing the
saltwater intrusion process and the salinization effects on the
productivity of agricultural land
2010-2012
University of Padova
WARBO ACTION 5: Development of mathematical models for the management of the recharge
test projects
Objectives
UNIPD is the leader of Action 5. The objectives of Action 5 are the development of numerical
models for the reliable simulation of the recharge tests. Three-dimensional state-of-the-art
numerical codes implemented by UNIPD using Finite Elements, Finite Volumes and/or Mixed Finite
Elements will be set-up for the selected sites, calibrated on available records of piezometric levels,
groundwater quality, pumping tests and then used to reproduce the fate of the water volumes
injected to recharge the aquifers. Once calibrated/validated, the models will be used to help the
planning and management of the injection projects: the optimal values of injectable water
volumes and rates will be suggested, the short-term flow of the injected waters will computed and
compared on the in-situ monitoring outcome, and long-term fate will be predicted. Various
scenarios related to different well number, well location, injection rates will be investigated.
Steps
5.1 Development of the static model
All the available lithostratigrapic information collected from the literature, previous researches
and databases (e.g., the database and maps developed from the Regional Environmental and
Protection Authorities - ARPA) as well as in boreholes and by geophysical surveys carried out in the
WARBO framework will be used to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) geologic setting of the
project sites. Based on the data available from previous studies, for each (of the two) site the
geologic model will be initially developed at a large ("regional") scale, i.e. a scale much larger than
that directly addressed for by the recharge experiments. In a second phase, when the WARBO
surveys will provide more detailed information in the surrounding of the injection area, the model
will be refined and improved at the local scale, i.e. in the zones of major interest.
The geologic model will be discretized into finite elements (static model). The computational grid
will be particularly refined at the local scale. The 3D grid will be developed using the GEN3D or
TETGEN codes. All the recognized units, lenses, horizons will be carefully reproduced into the 3D
mesh.
Comparison between a vertical lithostratigraphic section and the corresponding FE section in the 3D static
model (after M. Ferronato, G. Gambolati, P. Teatini, M. Gonella, C. Bariani and G. Martelli, Modelling
possible structural instabilities of the Po River embankment, Italy, due to groundwater pumping in the
Ferrara Province. In: MODSIM2007 - Int. Congress on Modelling and Simulation, L. Oxley and D. Kulasiri eds.,
CD-ROM, ISBN: 978-0-9758400-4-7, 1224-1230, 2007).
5.2 Calibration/validation of the "natural" regime
The models will be initially calibrated at the regional scale to reproduce the natural short-,
seasonal, and/or long-term behavior of the aquifer conditions (e.g., water pressure, depth to the
water table, subsurface flow field, saltwater concentration, etc.). The outcome of the monitoring
networks usually managed by the regional ARPA and/or ad hoc pumping and tracer tests carried
out within WARBO will be used for the purpose.
Comparison between measured (gray bars) and simulated (solid lines) pressure head (after M. Camporese,
S. Ferraris, M. Putti, P. Salandin and P. Teatini, Hydrological modeling in swelling/shrinking peat soils, Water
Resources Research, 42, W06420, doi:10.1029/2005WR004495, 2006).
5.3 Modeling the recharge project
The calibrated model calibrated at the regional scale will be used to simulate the recharge
projects. This phase will consists on the detailed calibration at the local scale using all the
geophysical methods and direct measurements that will be implemented to follow the injection
tests. The calibrated model will then be used to manage the injection projects, e.g, predicting the
piezometric head for various and/or variable pumping rates and some useful information
concerning with the location and depth of the injection wells will be provided in advance
depending on the quality of the data available to characterize the hydrogeologic properties of the
subsurface. The simulations will used as initial conditions the outcome provided by the regional
calibration and will extend from the beginning of the recharge to at least 1 month after the
injection closure.
From the conceptual model to the outcome of a numerical model developed to simulate the saltwater
intrusion in a coastal aquifer at the margin of the Venice Lagoon (after P. Teatini, L. Tosi, A. Viezzoli, L.
Baradello, M. Zecchin and S. Silvestri, Understanding the hydrogeology of the Venice Lagoon subsurface
with airborne electromagnetics, J. Hydrol., 411, 342-354, 2011).
5.4 Expected scenarios
The models calibrated at the scale of the recharge experiments could be used to investigate:
 the long-term behavior of the injected water in terms of piezometric level, water content,
salt concentration;
 possible different scenarios of aquifer recharge based on a different number and location
of the injection wells, injection rates and periods, etc.
Data requirements
Action 5 will require a large dataset to be developed. In particular, the information necessary to
build up the models and perform the simulations can be divided into the following main groups:
 geological and litho-stratigraphic information: geologic maps, well logs, seismic sections
and ERT tomographies are required to develop the 3D static models at the regional and
local scale;
 hydrological parameters of the various lithotypes: saturated hydraulic conductivity,
retention curves, porosity, elastic storage, specific yield, transversal and longitudinal
dispersivities;
 interpretation of pumping, slug, and injection tests;
 seasonal and long-term behaviors of the piezometric levels and groundwater quality (e.g.,
salt concentration) at some monitoring wells; maps/sections of piezometric levels and
groundwater quality at some dates;
 detailed data related with the injection tests: injection rates, injection periods, behavior
versus time of the piezometric head, water content, salt concentration provided by direct
measurements using borehole pressure/multi-parametric sensors and by time-lapse
geophysical surveys.
Tools
Various codes will be used by UNIPD depending on the specific problems/sites:
 FLOW3D is an efficient and flexible finite element code for the three-dimensional ground
water flow model. The model is developed for the case of variably saturated porous media,
applicable to both the unsaturated (soil) zone and the saturated (groundwater) zone.
Typical areas of applications are the following:
-
unconfined and confined layered aquifer;
-
effects of multi-layered wells in 3D;
-
definition of the influence of pumping (and/or recharge) rates on base-flow aquifer
regime;
-
evaluation of water residence time.
 TRAN3D is a finite element transport model simulating advection, dispersion, radioactive
and biodegradation decay, LEA and non-LEA sorption. TRAN3D uses as input data the flow
field computed by FLOW3D and the same 3D grid. Typical areas of applications are the
following:
-
aquifer contamination by pollutants;
-
aquifer remediation.
 CODESA (COupled variable DEnsity and SAturation 3-Dimesional) is a three-dimensional
Eulerian finite element model that treats density-dependent variable saturated flow and
miscible (dispersive) solute transport on unstrucured domains. CODESA implements a
standard finite element Galerking scheme, with tetrahedral elements and linear basis
functions, and uses weighted differences for the time integration. Typical areas of
applications are the following:
-
saltwater intrusion;
-
aquifer contamination by pollutants;
-
aquifer remediation.
 CATHY (CATchment HYdrology) is a physically based distributed catchment-scale model for
the simulation of coupled surface runoff and subsurface flow. CATHY is based on coupling
Richards' equation for variably saturated porous media and a diffusion wave
approximation for surface water dynamics. The numerical scheme uses a finite element
Richards' equation solver, FLOW3D, and a surface DEM-based finite difference module,
SURF_ROUTE. Retardation and storage effects due to lakes or depressions are also
implemented, to give a complete description of the catchment flow dynamics. Typical
areas of applications are the following:
-
conjunctive use of water;
-
surface water and groundwater interaction;
-
water resources management;
-
irrigation management;
-
wetland protection;
-
determination of well capture zones.
 PART3D is a code using a "random walk particle tracking" method to simulate the advective
transport. The main outcomes are represented by flow lines and resident times.
Output from the codes includes:
 mirroring of all the input data, as well as information about the three-dimensional mesh
which has been generated;
 information at each time step about the convergence behavior of the linear solver and
nonlinear iterative scheme;
 information at each time step about the mass balance errors;
 pressure head, water saturation, relative conductivity, velocity, concentration values at
user-selected nodes at each time step and for each grid nodes at user-selected time steps.
All the codes are characterized by the following numerical features:
 FE, Finite Volume, or Mixed Finite Element integration in space (triangles, tetrahedra);
 Finite Difference integration in time;
 temporally and spatially variable boundary conditions;
 heterogeneous materials (saturated conductivity, porosity, specific storage, distribution
coefficients, mass transfer coefficients, decay constants);
 state of the art numerical schemes (Picard or Newton linearization, preconditioned
conjugate gradient-like solvers, dynamic time step control, back stepping) allowing the
efficient implementation on parallel supercomputers;
 realistic representations of complex geologic settings.