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Title: AN INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS-BASED USER INTERFACE FOR THE UNSATCHEM MODEL

Author
item SIMUNEK, J - UCR, RIVERSIDE, CA
item Suarez, Donald
item SEJNA, M - UCR, RIVERSIDE, CA

Submitted to: Workshop on Computer Applications in Water Management Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/10/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Users of complex process-based computer models for predicting water and solute movement in and below the rootzone require specialized knowledge in water flow and solution chemistry. Potential users such as irrigation specialists are not able to run such models without user-friendly interfaces. We describe an interactive interface for the UNSATCHEM model. The interface included pre-processors, help menus and a soil hydraulics data base. A past processor provides graphical presentation of results for rapid data interpretation.

Technical Abstract: An interactive graphics-based user interface was developed in support of the computer model UNSATCHEM. UNSATCHEM may be used to simulate one-dimensional water flow, carbon dioxide transport, heat transport, and multicomponent solute transport with major ion equilibrium and kinetic chemistry in variably-saturated soils. The user interface includes data pre-processing and graphical presentation of the output results in a Microsoft Windows 3.1 environment. Data pre-processing involves specification of all necessary parameters to successfully run the UNSATCHEM Fortran code, the discretization of the soil profile into finite elements, as well as definition of the vertical distribution of the parameters characterizing the soil profile. The interface was written in C++ using the Microsoft Visual C/C++ compiler. The GUI consists of two modules, and a dynamic linked library. A small catalog of soil hydraulic parameters based on the soil texture is part of the pre-processing unit. The post-processing unit consists of simple x-y graphics for graphical presentation of soil hydraulic properties, time changes of a particular variable at selected observation points in the profile, and actual or cumulative water, CO2,and solute fluxes across upper and lower boundaries. The water content, pressure head, CO2, temperature, concentration (solution, adsorbed,precipitated) and chemical (SAR, EC, pH, pIAP,..) profiles can be readily obtained.