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
- 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)
- Belay Sisay - Sustainable management of fresh groundwater resources in coastal East Africa
- 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
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 in Geophysics Programme Director (2021-2024)
MSc teaching
- GL5059 Near surface & Environmental Geophysics (MSc in Geophysics) - course coordinator and core teaching
- GG5080 Integrated Water Resources Management | Groundwater management (MSc in Sustainable Water Management)
- GG5079 Water in the Environment | Global groundwater and river baseflow (MSc in Sustainable Water Management)
Undergraduate teaching
- 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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Groundwater prospection in Grande Comore Island - Joint contribution of geophysical methods, hydrogeological time-series analysis and groundwater modelling
Active Volcanoes of the Southwest Indian Ocean: Piton de la Fournaise and Karthala. Bachelery, P., Lenat, J., Di Muro, A., Michon, L. (eds.). Springer Verlag, pp. 385-401, 17 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31395-0_24
Integrating aerial geophysical data in multiple-point statistics simulations to assist groundwater flow models
Hydrogeology Journal, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 883-900Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-015-1258-x
Integrating petrography, mineralogy and hydrochemistry to constrain the influence and distribution of groundwater contributions to baseflow in poorly productive aquifers: Insights from Gortinlieve catchment, Co. Donegal, NW Ireland
Science of the Total Environment, vol. 500-501, pp. 224-234Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.08.105
Modelling the response of fresh groundwater to climate and vegetation changes in coral islands
Hydrogeology Journal, vol. 22, no. 8, pp. 1905-1920Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-014-1160-y
Coupling ground and airborne geophysical data with upscaling techniques for regional groundwater modelling of heterogeneous aquifers: case study of a sedimentary aquifer intruded by volcanic dykes in Northern Ireland
Water Resources Research, vol. 50, no. 10, pp. 7894-8001Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR015320
Combining multi-scale geophysical techniques for robust hydro-structural characterisation in catchments underlain by hard rock in post-glacial regions
Journal of Hydrology, vol. 517, pp. 715-731Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.06.004
The typology of Irish hard-rock aquifers based on an integrated hydrogeological and geophysical approach
Hydrogeology Journal, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 1569-1588Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-012-0884-9
Expertise hydrogéologique pour la gestion durable de la lentille d'eau douce et des captages AEP de l'île d'Uvéa, Territoire de Wallis et Futuna: Rapport final, document No 1 - Synthese hydrogéologique et modélisation de la lentille
Commissioned by Service Territorial de l'Environnement de Wallis et Futuna. 61 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsExpertise hydrogéologique pour la gestion durable de la lentille d'eau douce et des captages AEP de l'île d'Uvéa, Territoire de Wallis et Futuna: Rapport final, document No 2 - Résumé des résultats et recommandations
Commissioned by Service Territorial de l'Environnement de Wallis et Futuna. 13 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsAssessing spatio-temporal patterns of groundwater salinity in small coral islands in the Western Indian Ocean
Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science, vol. 10, no. 1, 1-12Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEvaluation of effective groundwater recharge of freshwater lens in small islands by the combined modeling of geoelectrical data and water heads
Water Resources Research, vol. 46, no. 6, W06601Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2009WR008058
Chapitre Hydrogéologie
Notice explicative de la cartographie multi-couches à 1/50 000 et 1/20 000 de la zone d’activité du Cap-Vert, Sénégal. Roger, J., Banton, O., Barusseau, J., Castaigne, P., Comte, J., Duvail, C., Nehlig, P., Noel, B., Serrano, O., Travi, Y. (eds.). Ministère des Mines, de l’Industrie et des PME, Direction des Mines et de la Géologie, DakarChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)Notice explicative de la cartographie multi-couches à 1/50,000 et 1/20,000 de la zone d’activité du Cap-Vert, Sénégal
Commissioned by Ministère des Mines, de l’Industrie et des PME, Direction des Mines et de la Géologie, Dakar. 245 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsCross-validation of geo-electrical and hydrogeological models to evaluate seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers
Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 34, no. 10, L10402Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL029981
Evaluation de l'efficacité de différentes stratégies de restauration de la qualité des eaux souterraines par modélisation du transfert des nitrates: Cas des formations alluviales du Val de Saône du secteur de Tournus (Saône-et-Loire)
Ingénieries, vol. 45, pp. 15-28Contributions to Journals: Articles