Kyle Fredrick's Research Page

Research Interests

My Research interests involve hydrogeologic modeling, using the Analytic Element Method, to evaluate the use of hydrlogic features within a reagion ground-water model. My goal is to determine optimal feature inclusion, based on the modeled impact of surficial features on ground-water travel time. Currently, my advisor, Dr. Matt Becker, and I are applying the modeling softwares SPLIT(1), ArcAEM(2), and Ostrich(3) to the Northern Highland Lakes Region of Wisconsin. This area presents some unique issues and opportunities to ground-water modelers because of the abundance of lakes. The area represents one of the most concentrated lake terrains in the world. My dissertation is based on the idea that there is a systematic procedure to determine the influential surface features within a model domain, in order to best represent the travel time distribution. By identifying these features, it is possible to minimize the computational costs and the amount of required field data to construct a valid model. The University of Wisconsin at Madison operates a research facility near Minocqua, WI, at Trout Lake. The facility has been host to extensive research for over thirty years, conducted by limnologists, biologists, chemists, and geologists.

Previously, I completed field work and modeling for the Ischua Creek watershed in southern New York State. This work was recently published in the journal Environmental Geology, in the June, 2004 issue.

I am currently supported under an Environmental Protection Agency grant, for the research project entitled A High Performance Analytic Element Model: GIS Interface, Calibration Tools, and Application to the Niagara Falls Region. I work as a geology student with the multidisciplinary UB Groundwater Research Group.

(1)SPLIT; developed by Dr. Igor Jankovic, SUNY at Buffalo, Dept. of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering
(2)ArcAEM: An AEM extension to the ESRI software package, ArcGIS; developed by Warit Silavisesrith, SUNY at Buffalo, Dept. of Geography
(3)Ostrich: An automated parameter estimation software; developed by L. Shawn Matott, SUNY at Buffalo, Dept. of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering

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Last updated: December 22, 2004