Features of DESERT

The main purpose of this package is to provide a convenient, highly integrated tool for decision support for water quality management on a river basin scale. The following features can be found in DESERT:

• Integration of most important stages of decision support, namely:
  • data management
  • model calibration
  • simulation
  • optimization
  • plotting results of simulation
• Friendly user environment based upon Microsoft Windows interface
• Unified data formats and data processing
• Flexible structure of water quality model
• Object oriented programming (C++), easily extended
• Several variants of hydraulics
• Possibility for on-line linkage to OLE servers, like Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, etc

Hardware and software requirements

DESERT can operate on relatively inexpensive and widely available hardware and software. We recommend the following configuration:

• IBM PC 386/486 or higher, math coprocessor is strongly recommended
• 20 mb of free disk space
• 4 mb of RAM, 8 or even more recommended
• Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later
• Any spreadsheet supporting Microsoft Windows OLE protocol (preferably Microsoft Excel 4.0-5.0 or above)

How to get it

DESERT is available for free for academic/research purposes; otherwise, a written permission from the authors is necessary.

If you would like to obtain the DESERT software, just click here

A hard copy of the DESERT User's Manual can be obtained free of charge from:

Alternatively the manual can be downloaded and printed together with the software.

Acknowledgements

DESERT is a result of joint efforts of Water Resources Project of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis IIASA and the Institute for Water and Environmental Problems of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (for more information on IWEP mail iwep@iwep.altai.su).

Here is a list of the DESERT core development team:

• Prof. László Somlyódy (somlyody@iiasa.ac.at or somlyody@vcst.bme.hu)
• Pavel Ivanov (ivanov@iiasa.ac.at or paul@iwep.altai.su)
• Ilia Masliev (masliev@iiasa.ac.at)
• Maddhumage Kularathna
• Carlo De Marchi (demarchi@iiasa.ac.at)
• Andrej Kuzmin (kaa@iwep.altai.su)

Also, many thanks to the following contributors:

• Prof. Oleg Vasiliev (vasiliev@iwep.altai.su)
• Arkadij Atavin (atavin@iwep.altai.su)

Disclaimer

Those acquiring DESERT and its associated draft user's manual from the World Wide Web (WWW) should note the following: DESERT is still under development. The manual is currently undergoing extensive editing and revision.

IIASA will officially release DESERT in May, 1996. Until it is officially released, the Water Resources Project is making DESERT available over the WWW for testing and review by experienced programmers and modelers. We would appreciate your feedback on the software and the draft user's manual which will help us improve both DESERT and its documentation. We are also interested in learning how you are using DESERT.