Yu-Feng Lin, a hydrogeologist at the Illinois State Water Survey, is on a mission to tackle a top national research priority using Mathematica. In this video, Lin details why this project could only be done in Mathematica.

Because of the importance of groundwater recharge and discharge in the hydrological cycle, the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) deems research on them to be of critical priority. However, their rates and patterns are so complex that it takes years of study to estimate them.

With a team of colleagues, Lin is developing a suite of Mathematica interactive manipulations that utilize advanced matrix-computing and image-processing algorithms. It has several user interfaces, and offers the flexibility to apply expert-level knowledge to extract spatial patterns. It also provides a generic pattern-recognition approach that supports virtually any spatial decision support system (SDSS) used to assist in management applications such as water resources, land use, and agricultural development.

More details and other applications are on the Mathematica Solution for Geosciences page. You can find more on Lin’s work and other cutting-edge uses of Mathematica in our Portraits of Success pages.