Applicant
Prof. Dr. habil. Gabriele Chiogna
Professor for Applied Geology and Modeling of Environmental Systems
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Project Summary
This project extends the KONWIHR-funded optimization of the LuKARS hydrological model by integrating it with the PHREEQC geochemical code via the IPhreeqc Python interface. The result is , a flexible modeling framework that simulates reactive solute transport in karst systems by combining flow processes with chemical equilibrium calculations.
Key features include:
- High performance via Numba and HPC compatibility (runtime reduced to milliseconds)
- Fully modular design with user-defined hydrotopes and flow components
- Seamless integration with PHREEQC to model water mixing and solute reactions
Test Case: Kerschbaum Spring (Austria)
LuKARS_REACT was applied to simulate spring water chemistry from October 2018 to October 2019. Despite some underestimations during peak events, the model successfully captured key trends in ion concentrations and electrical conductivity, demonstrating its potential for environmental applications.
Next steps involve parallelizing PHREEQC, enhancing calibration, and simulating incomplete mixing during conservative tracer and contaminant transport.
References
Bittner, D., Narany, T. S., Kohl, B., Disse, M., & Chiogna, G. (2018). Modeling the hydrological impact
of land use change in a dolomite-dominated karst system. Journal of Hydrology, 567, 267-279.
Parkhurst, D. L., & Appelo, C. A. J. (2013). Description of input and examples for PHREEQC version 3-
A computer program for speciation, batch-reaction, one-dimensional transport, and inverse geochemical
calculations. U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 6, chap. A43, 497 p.
Richieri, B., Bittner, D., Sivelle, V., Hartmann, A., Labat, D., and Chiogna, G. (2024). On the value of
hydrochemical data for the interpretation of flow and transport processes in the Baget karst system,
France. Hydrogeology Journal.
Sivelle, V., Jourde, H., Bittner, D., Richieri, B., Labat, D., Hartmann, A., and Chiogna, G. (2022).
Considering land cover and land use (LCLU) in lumped parameter modeling in forest dominated karst
catchments, Journal of Hydrology, 612(C), 128264.