Requirements

Model limits and recommendation

The limitations of the model lie in its mathematical representation of physical phenomena.

SMODERP2D is an episodic model; therefore, it does not account for water redistribution in the soil. The model assumes continuous rainfall, which begins at the start of the calculation and ends a few minutes (or hours) before the conclusion. Although rainfall with varying intensity can be input, it must still be continuous. Gaps in the rainfall data would result in a misrepresentation of runoff and erosion.

A reasonable spatial resolution is necessary for the model run properly. Each cell in the model represents a piece of land where a small brook could form or a rill could be created. Therefore, cells smaller than the width of a brook or rill would lead to a misrepresentation of hydraulic in such features. Conversely, cells that are too large would result in oversized brooks or rills, as only a single watercourse or rill can be represented in each cell. Thus, a cell size of 2 to 20 meters is recommended. It's important to note that the cell size may affect the time step and, consequently, the duration of the calculations. Therefore, it is recommended not to unnecessarily reduce the cell size.

The SMODERP2D model is designed for catchment-scale applications and is not suitable for computing large continental-scale hydrological events. It is recommended for use in areas with a single outlet point and an area ranging from tens to tens of thousands of square meters.

At its current state, the model does not allow water in the watercourse to overflow back to the surrounding land. However, the model can provide users with an estimation of how deep a watercourse must be to prevent overflow.

Data requirements

The model operates with geographical data using common GIS software (Geographical Information System). Therefore, typical input data for the model are in the form of rasters and vectors. Rainfall data is provided as a plain text file. Similarly, the model outputs are stored in open-source raster and vector formats, as well as plain text files.

Hardware requirements

The model can run on standard laptops, PCs, or server hardware. However, workstations tend to expedite calculations due to their high-end CPUs. RAM and storage recommendations vary depending on the size of the modeled area and spatial resolution.