Training

Two to three professional PEST courses are normally held each year.

The next course is being offered in Portland, OR over 10th to 13th May, 2010. This will be a "double header" course comprising a two day "Introduction to PEST" course and a subsequent two-day "Advanced Analysis using PEST" course. Click here for more details.

A similar course is being planned in Italy over the period 5th October to 8th October. This will be at CERI (Centro di Ricerca Previsione, Prevenzione e Controllo, dei Rischi Geologici), University di Roma. Contact us for more details.

In-house training is also offered. This can be tailored to your needs. Contact us at pest@sspa.com if you are interested.

Topics covered in a typical PEST course include the following:

• Traditional parameter estimation
• Regularized inversion
• Tikhonov and SVD regularization
• Model calibration using SVD-assist
• Techniques for calibration of ground water models
• Use of pilot points as a parameterization device
• Techniques for calibration of surface water models
• Parameter and predictive uncertainty analysis
• Calibration-constrained Monte Carlo analysis (including null space MC)
• Optimization of data aquisition

Courses include theory and workshops. Participants are provided with a CD whose contents include the following.

• The latest version of PEST
• Copies of all slides shown during lectures
• Files and documentation for all PEST workshops
• Copies of papers and other literature on PEST

Workshops include the following.

• Using PEST with a simple storage model
• Using PEST with MODFLOW (three workshops)
• Using PEST with HSPF
• Using PEST with SEAWAT (two workshops)
• Using pilot points
• Linear and nonlinear uncertainty analysis