MT3D-USGS
Gov-Public
Multi-species solute transport for MODFLOW — advection, dispersion, sorption and reactions in aquifers.
MODFLOW 6
DHS VerifiedActiveThe USGS groundwater model — the world standard for aquifer simulation, rebuilt as a modular multi-model framework.
by US Geological Survey
- Pricing
- Gov-Public
- License
- US Government (public domain / CC0)
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Ecosystem
- Fortran, Python (FloPy)
- Platform
- Windows, macOS, Linux
About MODFLOW 6
MODFLOW 6 is the current core of the USGS's modular hydrologic model, in continuous development since 1984 and the reference against which groundwater software is judged. The 6.x framework couples multiple models in one simulation: structured or unstructured-grid flow (GWF), solute transport (GWT), energy transport (GWE), particle tracking (PRT), with advanced packages for streams, lakes, multi-aquifer wells and land subsidence.
It is public domain, rigorously documented and versioned, and virtually every regulator, court and reviewer on earth accepts it. Combined with FloPy for scripted model building, it forms the least-risk groundwater modelling stack available at any price.
Where it fits in the workflow
TerrainCatchmentRainfallRunoffRoutingHydraulicsMappingReporting
Appears in collections
- The Modern MODFLOW Stack
Groundwater modelling entirely on free software — MODFLOW 6, FloPy, PEST++ and friends.
Alternatives to MODFLOW 6
Ranked by the topics, categories and workflow stages they share with MODFLOW 6.
MODPATH
Gov-Public
USGS particle tracking for MODFLOW — pathlines, travel times and capture zones from flow solutions.
Visual MODFLOW Flex
Commercial
3D groundwater flow and transport modeling environment for MODFLOW, SEAWAT, and PEST calibration workflows.
FEFLOW
Commercial
DHI's finite-element groundwater platform — unstructured meshes, density-driven flow, heat and mine dewatering.
FloPy
Open SourceVerified
The Python interface to MODFLOW — build, run and post-process groundwater models entirely in code.
Groundwater Vistas
Commercial
Veteran commercial MODFLOW GUI with deep PEST integration — a consultant favourite for calibration-heavy work.