Dr Jean-Christophe Comte

Dr Jean-Christophe Comte
Dr Jean-Christophe Comte
Dr Jean-Christophe Comte

Hydrogeology, Groundwater modelling, Hydrogeophysics

Senior Lecturer

About
Email Address
jc.comte@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 272914
Office Address
124 St. Mary's Building
Old Aberdeen Campus
Elphinstone Road
AB24 3UF

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School/Department
School of Geosciences

Biography

  • 2019-present: 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

Research

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

Teaching Responsibilities

  • MSc Geophysics Programme Director
  • GL5059 Near surface and Environmental Geophysics (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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  • Effect of volcanic dykes on coastal groundwater flow and saltwater intrusion: a field-scale multiphysics approach and parameter evaluation

    Comte, J., Wilson, C., Ofterdinger, U., Quiros, A. G.
    Water Resources Research, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 2171-2198
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Mapping a waste disposal site using Tellus airborne geophysical data

    Ofterdinger, U., Wilson, C., Robinson, M., Comte, J., Cassidy, R., Beamish, D., Ruffell, A.
    Unearthed: impacts of the Tellus surveys of the north of Ireland. Young, M. (ed.). Royal Irish Academy: Science Series, pp. 374-389, 15 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • The use of aero-magnetics to enhance a numerical groundwater model of the Lagan Valley aquifer, Northern Ireland

    Dickson, N., Comte, J., McKinley, J., Ofterdinger, U.
    Unearthed: impacts of the Tellus surveys of the north of Ireland. Young, M. (ed.). Royal Irish Academy: Science Series, pp. 361-371, 11 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Challenges in groundwater resource management in coastal aquifers of East Africa: Investigations and lessons learnt in the Comoros Islands, Kenya and Tanzania

    Comte, J., Cassidy, R., Obando, J., Robins, N., Ibrahim, K., Melchioly, S., Mjemah, I., Shauri, H., Bourhane, A., Mohamed, I., Noe, C., Mwega, B., Makokha, M., Join, J., Banton, O., Davies, J.
    Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, vol. 5, pp. 179-199
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Groundwater Resources on Active Basaltic Volcanoes: Conceptual Models from La RĂ©union Island and Grande Comore

    Join, J., Folio, J., Bourhane, A., Comte, J.
    Active Volcanoes of the Southwest Indian Ocean: Piton de la Fournaise and Karthala. Bachelery, P., Lenat, J., Di Muro, A., Michon, L. (eds.). Springer, pp. 61-70, 10 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Groundwater prospection in Grande Comore Island - Joint contribution of geophysical methods, hydrogeological time-series analysis and groundwater modelling

    Bourhane, A., Comte, J., Join, J., Ibrahim, K.
    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 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Integrating aerial geophysical data in multiple-point statistics simulations to assist groundwater flow models

    Dickson, N. E., Comte, J., Renard, P., Straubhaar, J. A., McKinley, J. M., Ofterdinger, U.
    Hydrogeology Journal, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 883-900
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • 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

    Caulfield, J., Chelliah, M., Comte, J., Cassidy, R., Flynn, R.
    Science of the Total Environment, vol. 500-501, pp. 224-234
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Modelling the response of fresh groundwater to climate and vegetation changes in coral islands

    Comte, J., Join, J., Banton, O., Nicolini, E.
    Hydrogeology Journal, vol. 22, no. 8, pp. 1905-1920
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • 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

    Dickson, N. E. M., Comte, J., McKinley, J., Ofterdinger, U.
    Water Resources Research, vol. 50, no. 10, pp. 7894-8001
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
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