Janmaizatulriah Jani

Janmaizatulriah Jani previously is one of PhD students in the Catchment Science Centre and based in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering. Janmaizatulriah graduated in 1999 from the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia with a degree in Civil Engineering. Then, she continued her Master by research and her previous research studies are in rainfall –runoff modelling, erosion and flood occurrence.

She’s finished her PhD in 2012 and now has return back to Malaysia working as a lecturer in Faculty of Civil Engineering, UiTM Malaysia. Her principle research interests are on the modelling of groundwater using GIS based method.

A GIS-based Method for Groundwater Modelling

Groundwater is important and precious freshwater found under the earth’s surface. Groundwater is used for human consumption: for drinking, farming and for maintaining surface water system (rivers) especially during low flow periods. For effective groundwater management, quantitative and qualitative status of groundwater is usually assessed using various groundwater models. These models (for example numerical models) are capable of modelling complex and heterogeneous groundwater conditions. However, due to the requirement of extensive and detailed groundwater data, these models are not suitable to be applied in all groundwater systems (major and minor aquifers). Therefore, scientific studies in areas of insignificant groundwater resource (minor aquifers) have been underplayed.

However, since all groundwater bodies are significantly important, a new groundwater model was developed in this study. GIS functionality was explored and a GIS-based groundwater model was developed using minimal and accessible input data. GIS was used to represent the subsurface geology particularly the aquifer system and to model groundwater flow. The first model, a GIS based geological model was tested by reconstructing the geology map for the Slea catchment, in the United Kingdom and thickness of the Lincolnshire Limestone aquifer was predicted. The advantage of this model is its capability in predicting an aquifer’s thickness without referring to point data like those obtained from boreholes. Then, the second model that is based on topographical and groundwater resistance analysis was used to model natural groundwater discharge. Although there is discrepancy between estimated and measured spring discharge, the model has confirmed the usefulness of using GIS tool in modelling groundwater exploring minimal input data and basic modelling procedures. The developed models were not a replacement for numerical groundwater models. However, they would be useful to screen groundwater status especially in areas that lack groundwater data.

Contact Details

email : janmaizatulriah@salam.uitm.edu.my or j_jan2000@yahoo.com

contact no (mobile) : + 0060126468224
landline: +0060355435270