Moscow Environmental Analysis

The oprocedure for doing a SIBERIA analysis using EAMS is to follow a number of steps.

  1. Input a DEM. This involves either (1) Iimporting a TIN landform elevation dataset from a GIS or CAD package, (2) Importing a gridded landform elevation dataset, (3) using a RST2 file from a previous simulation using EAMS. Refer to Importing Data for more information.
  2. Selection of a parameter dataset for the simulation from the environmental database. Refer to Environmental Database for more information.
  3. Setting run parameter and output data for the current simulation
  4. Running SIBERIA.
The information below is for Points 3 and 4 above.

Setting Run Parameters

After selecting the environmental database and selected the environmental parameter set you wish to use you to need to set some of the parameters for the run.

The environmental database has a set of default parameters for each soil type in the database. This also includes some default values for run parameters you will most likely want to change from run to run (the durection of the run for instance). Detailed explanatinos for the physical parameters (e.g. runoff, erosion, etc) are provided in the SIBERIA manual. We concentrate here on the run parameters. In the PARAMETERS menu click on the item EDIT PARAMETERS. There are a variety of menu items, each corresponding to one group of the parameters. Here we are only intersted in the menu option
RUN PARAMETERS. Selecting this menu item brings up a dialog with three items.
  1. The first item in the list is the duration of the simulation in timesteps. This number should be the number of timesteps you wish to run the model. 
  2. The second item in the list is the timestep. Normally you would not change the number here as the best value is related to the erodibility and grid resolution of the DEM. It is the numerical discretisation of the run and is related to the accuracy of the numerics. If you choose a negative number then automatically sized timesteps are chsoen. This later option is not available for all model modes and you should consult the SIBERIA manual for more details on what modes utimatic timesteps are available.
  3. The third term is the period between diagnostic statistics. If you input, for example, 10, then a table of  simple statistics is output every timesteps and is shown in the the output file. If the number is negative  (i.e. -10) then simple contour plots are also output, as well as the table.

Running SIBERIA

There are two options in the SIBERIA menu for how to run SIBERIA after you have set all the run parameters.
  1. Prepare SIBERIA only: This option creates all the input files for SIBERIA (including the *-START.RST2 file) but does not actually run SIBERIA. This is useful if for instance you need to look at what the starting DEM looks like in VIEWER but you don't want to actually run SIBERIA. However, note that only the DEM in *-START.RST2 is defined. None of the states that are in the RST2 file that SIBERIA outputs are set so that, for instance, you will not be able to look at the drainage network on the landform because that is an output of SIBERIA. If you need SIBERIA states as well as the elevatinos for ther starting landfrom then run SIBERIA for 1 timestep (i.e. Prepare and Run SIBERIA:), request an output RST2 file for time 0. SIBERIA will then output a file *-0000000.RST2, which is the initial file including all of the in SIBERIA states for the starting landform.
  2. Prepare and Run SIBERIA: This option prepares and runs the SIBERIA simulation. Depending on how long and big a run you have specified you might want to take a coffee (maybe even a meal, sleep or holiday) break at this stage. While all the menus is Moscow are active during this run, do not be tempted to, for instance, prepare another run at this stage while yoou are waiting. Firstly it will slow down the existing SIBERIA run, though on multiprocessor and multi-core processors this may not be significant. More importantly, MOSCOW is not completely thread safe and it is possible to crash the SIBERIA run when doing other things in MOSCOW. We will be working on a threadsafe interface for SIBERIA to replace MOSCOW in the near future.


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