Ph.D. University of Kentucky, 2001

M.S. Washington State University, 1989
B.S. The Pennsylvania State University, 1982

Ground Water, Solute Transport, Unsaturated Zone, and Multiphase Fluids Modeling

Research Interests

Research is focused on computational fluid dynamics in cavernous, fractured, and porous media.  Solute transport in these complex media and its simulation, including inverse modeling, are key interests. This research is done at pore to aquifer scales using both traditional ground water models and lattice Boltzmann models. Single and multi-phase lattice Boltzmann models figure prominently in research aimed at better methods for solute transport in karst aquifers, and for water and nonaqueous fluid behavior in fractured and porous media – especially unsaturated media. Dr. Sukop maintains ongoing interests in fractals, multifractals, cellular automata, percolation phenomena, geostatistics, and surface chemistry and their applications.

Selected Publications

Sukop, M.C. and D.T. Thorne, Jr., 2006 (second printing 2007). Lattice Boltzmann Modeling: An Introduction for Geoscientists and Engineers. Springer, Heidelberg, Berlin, New York 172 p.

Cunningham, K.J., M.C. Sukop, H. Huang, P.F. Alvarez, H. A. Curran, J.F. Dixon, and R.A. Renken. Prominence of ichnologically-influenced macroporosity in the karst Biscayne aquifer: stratiform "super-K" zones (accepted for publication in Geological Society of America Bulletin)

Anwar, S. and M.C. Sukop, 2008. Regional scale transient groundwater flow modeling using lattice Boltzmann methods (accepted for publication in Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics)

Anwar, S., A. Cortis, and M.C. Sukop, 2008. Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Solute Transport in Heterogeneous Porous Media with Conduits to Estimate Macroscopic Continuous Time Random Walk Model Parameters, Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics 8:1-2, 213 - 221. doi: 10.1504/PCFD.2008.018092

Cihan, A., M.C. Sukop, J.S. Tyner, E. Perfect, and H. Huang, Analytical predictions and lattice Boltzmann simulations of intrinsic permeability for mass fractal porous media (under review by Vadoze Zone Journal)

Sukop, M.C., H. Huang, C.L. Lin, M.D. Deo, K. Oh, and J.D. Miller, 2008. Distribution of multiphase fluids in porous media: Comparison between lattice Boltzmann modeling and micro-x-ray tomography, Phys. Rev. E 77, 026710. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.77.026710>

Huang, H., D.T. Thorne, M.G. Schaap, and M.C. Sukop, 2007. Proposed approximation for contact angles in Shan-and-Chen-type multicomponent multiphase lattice Boltzmann models, Phys. Rev. E 76, 066701

Thorne, Jr., D.T., C.D. Langevin, and M.C. Sukop, 2006. Addition of Simultaneous Heat and Solute Transport and Variable Fluid Viscosity to SEAWAT. Computers and Geosciences 32, 1758–1768. doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2006.04.005

Perfect, E., R.W. Gentry, M.C. Sukop, and J.E. Lawson, 2006. Multifractal Sierpinski Carpets: theory and application to modeling reservoir heterogeneity. Geoderma 134, 240-252. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2006.03.001

Chau, J.F., D. Or, and M.C. Sukop, 2005. Simulation of Gaseous Diffusion in Partially Saturated Porous Media Under Variable Gravity with Lattice Boltzmann Methods. Water Resources Research 41, W08410, doi:10.1029/2004WR003821

Sukop, M.C. and D. Or, 2005. Lattice Boltzmann method for homogeneous and heterogeneous cavitation. Physical Review E, 71, 046703.

Sukop, M.C. and E. Perfect, 2004. Solute Transport. In D. Hillel, C. Rosenzweig, D. Powlson, K. Scow, M. Singer and D.L. Sparks, Eds. Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment, Elsevier Ltd., Oxford, U.K.

Sukop, M.C. and D. Or, 2004. Lattice Boltzmann method for modeling liquid-vapor interface configurations in porous media, Water Resources Research, 40, W01509, doi:10.1029/2003WR002333.

Sukop, M.C. and D. Or, 2003. Invasion percolation of single component, multiphase fluids with lattice Boltzmann models. Physica B 338, 298-303.

Sukop, M.C., G-J. van Dijk, E. Perfect, and W.K.P. van Loon, 2002. Percolation thresholds in 2-dimensional prefractal models of porous media. Transport in Porous Media 48, 187-208.

Perfect, E., M.C. Sukop, and G.R. Haszler, 2002. Prediction of dispersivity for undisturbed soil columns from water retention parameters. Soil Science Society of America Journal 66, No. 3, 696-701.

Sukop, M.C. 2001. Dispersion in VLEACH and similar models. Ground Water 39, No. 6, 953- 954.

Sukop, M.C., E. Perfect, and N.R.A. Bird, 2001. Impact of homogeneous and heterogeneous algorithms on water retention in simulated prefractal porous media. Water Resources Research 37, 2631-2636.

Perfect, E. and M.C. Sukop, 2001. Models relating solute dispersion to pore space geometry: a review. In Physical and Chemical Processes of Water and Solute Transport/Retention in Soils. D. Sparks and M. Selim. Eds. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Special Pub. 56, 77-146.

Sukop, M.C. 2000. Estimation of vertical concentration profiles from existing wells. Ground Water, 38, No. 6, 836-841.

Sukop, M. and C.G. Cogger, 1992. Adsorption of Carbofuran, Metalaxyl, and Simazine: Koc evaluation and relation to soil transport. J. Environ. Sci. Health B27(5) 565-590.