Dr Jean-Christophe Comte
Hydrogeology, Groundwater modelling, Hydrogeophysics
Reader
- About
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- Email Address
- jc.comte@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272914
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Geosciences
Biography
- 2023-present: Reader in Hydrogeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen
- 2019-2023: Senior Lecturer in Hydrogeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen
- 2014-2019: Lecturer in Hydrogeology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen
- 2014-2016: Visiting researcher, Queen's University Belfast
- 2009-2014: Postdoctoral research fellow in Hydrogeology/Hydrogeophysics, School of Planning Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast
- 2008: PhD in Hydrogeology, Department of Geology, University of Avignon 'Contribution of electrical resistivity tomography to variable-density groundwater flow modelling in coastal aquifers - Application to three contrasted climate settings (Canada, New Caledonia, Senegal)'
- 2003-2009: Hydrogeologist consultant, HYDRIAD, Nimes
- 2002-2003: DESS (MSc2) Hydrogeology, University of Avignon
- 1998-2002: DEUG-Licence-Maitrise IUP (BSc, MSc1) Geological and Environmental Engineering, University Paul Sabatier Toulouse
External Memberships
- Editor, Hydrogeology Journal - Official Journal of the International Association of Hydrogeologists
- Panel member, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) cross-council Interdisciplinary Assessment College
Featured publications
- Olabode, O. F., & Comte, J. C. (2024). Water scarcity in the fast‐growing megacity of Lagos, Nigeria and opportunities for managed aquifer recharge. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water e1733.
- Bachtouli, S., Abidi, M., Comte, J. C., & Zairi, M. (2024). Potential for fresh submarine groundwater occurrence in an arid Mediterranean region: the case of Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia. Hydrogeology Journal 32(2), 359-378.
- Wu, P., Comte, J. C., Li, F., & Chen, H. (2023). Influence of tides on the effectiveness of artificial freshwater injection in mitigating seawater intrusion in an unconfined coastal aquifer. Journal of Hydrology 617, 129043.
- Mezquita González, J. A., Comte, J. C., Legchenko, A., Ofterdinger, U., & Healy, D. (2021). Quantification of groundwater storage heterogeneity in weathered/fractured basement rock aquifers using electrical resistivity tomography: Sensitivity and uncertainty associated with petrophysical modelling. Journal of Hydrology 593, 125637.
- Oiro, S., Comte, J. C., Soulsby, C., MacDonald, A., & Mwakamba, C. (2020). Depletion of groundwater resources under rapid urbanisation in Africa: recent and future trends in the Nairobi Aquifer System, Kenya. Hydrogeology Journal 28, 2635-2656.
- González-Quirós, A., & Comte, J. C. (2020). Relative importance of conceptual and computational errors when delineating saltwater intrusion from resistivity inverse models in heterogeneous coastal aquifers. Advances in Water Resources 144, 103695.
- Comte, J. C., Wilson, C., Ofterdinger, U., & González‐Quirós, A. (2017). Effect of volcanic dykes on coastal groundwater flow and saltwater intrusion: A field‐scale multiphysics approach and parameter evaluation. Water Resources Research 53(3), 2171-2198.
- Comte, J. C., Cassidy, R., Obando, J., Robins, N., Ibrahim, K., Melchioly, S., ... & Davies, J. (2016). Challenges in groundwater resource management in coastal aquifers of East Africa: Investigations and lessons learnt in the Comoros Islands, Kenya and Tanzania. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 5, 179-199.
- Comte, J. C., Join, J. L., Banton, O., & Nicolini, E. (2014). Modelling the response of fresh groundwater to climate and vegetation changes in coral islands. Hydrogeology journal 22(8), 1905.
- Comte, J. C., Cassidy, R., Nitsche, J., Ofterdinger, U., Pilatova, K., & Flynn, R. (2012). The typology of Irish hard-rock aquifers based on an integrated hydrogeological and geophysical approach. Hydrogeology Journal 20(8), 1569.
- Comte, J. C., & Banton, O. (2007). Cross‐validation of geo‐electrical and hydrogeological models to evaluate seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers. Geophysical research letters 34(10).
- Research
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Research Overview
- Quantitative hydrogeology
- Hydrogeophysical methods for aquifer parameter estimation and calibration of groundwater models
- Groundwater resources in complex hydrogeological environments, including coastal, islands, fractured rocks and volcanic aquifers
- Saltwater intrusion and sustainability of fresh groundwater resources in coastal aquifer systems
- Groundwater and resilience to global changes, incl. urban hydrogeology, floods & droughts, interactions with surface water, managed aquifer recharge
- Hydrogeological properties and processes underpinning sustainable geothermal development
Research Team
Current PhD students (lead supervisor)
- Brady Johnson - Groundwater resilience to drought in Scotland
- Alfred Awuah - Coupled hydrogeophysical modelling of groundwater flow in fractured rocks
- Oluwaseun Olabode - The potential of managed aquifer recharge in Sub-saharan Africa
- Hamish Johnson - Groundwater and nutrient dynamics in heterogeneous agricultural catchments
- Yogendra Kumar - Quantifying fracture flow with the self-potential method
Recently completed PhD students (lead supervisor)
- Joel Blackburn - Understanding stream-aquifer interactions and their influence on flow regimes and fluvial processes in a newly restored ephemeral stream
- Jesus Mezquita - Hydrogeophysical approaches for characterising flow and storage in weathered/fractured aquifers
- Samson Oiro - Impact of climate change and human activities on groundwater resources in the Nairobi and Tiwi aquifers: two strategic Kenyan aquifers under high pressure
Funding and Grants
Ongoing:
- International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) for Official Development Assistance (ODA) Project Grant - A hidden water crisis in the fast-growing coastal megacity of Lagos: is unregulated groundwater abstraction causing aquifer depletion and saltwater intrusion? (2023). PI.
- Centre of Expertise for Waters CREW - Future predictions of water scarcity in Scotland: impacts to distilleries and agricultural abstractors (2023-2024). Co-I.
- Scottish Funding Council Hydronation programme - The role of groundwater in adapting to climate change and increasing resilience to drought in Eastern Scotland (2023-2027). PI.
- Royal Society International Exchange with Jilin University, China on managed aquifer recharge (2023-2025). PI.
- Centre of Expertise for Waters CREW - Understanding the relationship between water scarcity and land use in private water supply catchments (2023-2024). Co-I.
- NERC Exploring the Frontiers research grant [NE/X011593/1] - Hydro-g: Monitoring groundwater resources using low-cost microgravity sensors (2023-2024). Co-I, led by the University of Glasgow.
Completed:
- Department for the Economy/Geological Survey of Northern Ireland - Near-surface geophysical characterisation at the Stormont Estate, Belfast to support its geothermal development (2022). Co-PI, with Queen's University Belfast.
- GCRF/Academy of Medical Sciences/Geological Survey of Ireland - Groundwater-g: Supporting groundwater resources management using low-cost microgravity technology (2020-2022). Co-I, led by Queen's University Belfast.
- GCRF/Scottish Funding Council Covid-19 Response Research Grant - COVID-19 and water security in the world's largest refugee camp: can groundwater development safely meet the increased water demand to fight COVID-19 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh? (2020-2021). PI.
- World Bank/AURECON applied research grant - Groundwater numerical modelling in support of strengthening of water resources planning, monitoring and management in Kenya (2018-2020). PI.
- AHRC/GCRF/University of Nottingham Research Grant - Kisima project: Historical and future groundwater well management on Kilwa Kisiwani island, Tanzania (2019-2020). Co-I, led by the University of Dar Es Salaam.
- Royal Society Newton International Fellowship (Dr Andres Gonzalez Quiros) - Monitoring and coupled hydrogeophysical modelling of saltwater intrusion in heterogeneous coastal aquifers (2019-2021).
- NERC/DFID Research Grant [NE/S005943/1] - SHEAR Programme: Connect4 water resilience: connecting water resources, communities, drought and flood hazards, and governance across 4 countries in the Limpopo basin (2018-2020). PI.
- NERC Urgency Grant [NE/R002568/1] - Extreme rainfall and floods in arid regions (Botswana): replenishment or contamination of water resources? (2017-2018). PI.
- United Utilities Water/Environmental Agency applied research grant - Understanding stream-aquifer interactions and their influence on flow regimes and fluvial processes in a newly restored ephemeral stream (2017-2022). PI.
- Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Environment and Sustainability Research Grant [ESRG3/16] - East African groundwater resources under climatic and human pressure (2016-2017). PI.
- Geological Survey of Ireland Research Grant [2015-SC-003] - Determining fractured bedrock aquifer parameters using Magnetic Resonance Sounding to better constrain numerical groundwater models in support of catchment scale water resource management (2016). Co-I, led by Queen's University Belfast.
- Elphinstone Fund/Water Resources Management Authority of Kenya PhD Scholarship (Mr S. Oiro) - Comparative hydrogeology of the Nairobi volcanic suite aquifer and the Tiwi coastal aquifer (2015-2018).
- NERC/DFID/ESRC Research Grant [NE/L001888/1] - UPGro Programme: Towards Groundwater security in coastal East Africa (2013-2014). PI.
- EuropeAid/African Union Research Grant [EuropeAid/130-741/D/ACT/ACP] - Groundwater resource in basement rocks of Africa (2012-2015). Co-I, led by the Research Institute for Development IRD.
- Department of Employment and Learning Northern Ireland PhD Scholarship (Mr N. Dickson) - Incorporation of multi-scale hydrogeophysical datasets into numerical groundwater models (2012-2015).
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
- MSc Geophysics Programme Director (2021-2024)
- GL5059 Near surface and Environmental Geophysics (MSc Geophysics) - course coordinator
- GL5573 Field geophysical data acquisition and subsurface digital mapping (MSc Geophysics) - course coordinator
- GL4535 Geoscience and the UN Sustainable Development Goals | Groundwater resources (BSc year 4)
- GG4071 Environmental Hydrology | Groundwater hydrology (BSc year 4)
- GG2510 Mapping and Monitoring the Environment | Environmental geophysics (BSc year 2)
- GG2013 Physical Environments | Groundwater: An introduction (BSc year 2)
- Publications
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Page 1 of 3 Results 1 to 25 of 63
Collective vision-making practice: A long-run dynamic process model for geothermal market transitioning
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 207, 114909Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWater scarcity in the fast-growing megacity of Lagos, Nigeria and opportunities for managed aquifer recharge
WIREs Water, vol. 11, no. 5, e1733Contributions to Journals: ArticlesClimate change, coastal heritage digitization, and local community engagement at the Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani World Heritage Site, Tanzania
Journal of Field ArchaeologyContributions to Journals: ArticlesFuture predictions of water scarcity in Scotland: impact on distilleries and agricultural abstractors.
CREW - Scotland's Centre of Expertise for Waters. 113 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsRelationship between hyporheic and groundwater flow beneath a riverbed with variable topography under gaining and losing river conditions in meandering stream
Journal of Hydrology, vol. 637, 131319Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131319
Prolonged drought periods over the last four decades increase flood intensity in Southern Africa
Science of the Total Environment, vol. 924, 171489Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPotential for fresh submarine groundwater occurrence in an arid Mediterranean region: the case of Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia
Hydrogeology Journal, vol. 32, pp. 359–378Contributions to Journals: ArticlesDeveloping a conceptual model of groundwater – surface water interactions in a drought sensitive lowland catchment using multi-proxy data
Journal of Hydrology, vol. 628, 130550Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130550
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Scaling of groundwater flow subject to managed aquifer recharge using injection boreholes: physical experiments and upscaled numerical models
Urban Climate, vol. 51, 101651Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101651
Evaluating Groundwater Nitrate Status across the River Ythan Catchment (Scotland) following Two Decades of Nitrate Vulnerable Zone Designation
Environments, vol. 10, no. 4, 67Contributions to Journals: ArticlesQuantifying heterogeneity in ecohydrological partitioning in urban green spaces through the integration of empirical and modelling approaches
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, vol. 195, no. 4, 468Contributions to Journals: ArticlesLong-term geomorphic adjustments following the recoupling of a tributary to its main-stem river
Geomorphology, vol. 108561, 108561Contributions to Journals: ArticlesNear-surface geophysical characterisation at the Stormont Estate, Belfast to support its geothermal development
Commissioned by Northern Ireland Department for the Economy. 46 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsInfluence of tides on the effectiveness of artificial freshwater injection in mitigating seawater intrusion in an unconfined coastal aquifer
Journal of Hydrology, vol. 617, no. Part B, 129043Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.129043
Modelling of groundwater recharge in the megacity of Lagos, Nigeria: preliminary results using WetSpass-M
Advances in Geosciences (ADGEO), vol. 59, pp. 53-57Contributions to Journals: ArticlesOccurrence of methane oxidizing bacteria and methanogenic archaea in Earth’s cave systems: a metagenomic analysis
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 909865Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSurface water-groundwater interactions and local land use control water quality impacts of extreme rainfall and flooding in a vulnerable semi-arid region of Sub-Saharan Africa
Journal of Hydrology, vol. 609, 127834Contributions to Journals: ArticlesLaboratory measurements of zeta potential in fractured Lewisian gneiss: implications for the characterization of flow in fractured crystalline bedrock
Applied Sciences, vol. 12, no. 1, 180Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCool deltas: Sedimentological, geomorphological and geophysical characterization of ice-contact deltas and implications for their reservoir properties (Salpausselkä, Finland)
Sedimentology, vol. 68, no. 7, pp. 3057-3101Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEffect of surface water level fluctuations on the performance of near-bank managed aquifer recharge from injection wells
Water , vol. 13, no. 21, 3013Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHydrogeophysical model calibration and uncertainty analysis via full integration of PEST/PEST++ and COMSOL
Environmental Modelling and Software, vol. 145, 105183Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA framework for parameter estimation using sharp-interface seawater intrusion models
Journal of Hydrology, vol. 600, 126509Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe effect of typical geological heterogeneities on the performance of managed aquifer recharge: physical experiments and numerical simulations
Hydrogeology Journal, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 2107–2125Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-021-02375-3
A numerical assessment of electrical imaging for seawater intrusion monitoring in heterogeneous coastal aquifers
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.202120106
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Mapping fracture flow anisotropy using the Self Potential method: field and laboratory experiments
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.202120126
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus