SCHISM (Semi-implicit Cross-scale Hydroscience Integrated System Model)

Criterion	Explanation
General Description	The SELFE model (from which SCHISM was derived) was originally developed to meet specific modeling challenges for the Columbia River; it has been extensively tested against standard ocean/coastal benchmarks and applied to a number of bays/estuaries around the world, in the context of general circulation, tsunami and storm-surge inundation, water quality, oil spill, sediment transport, coastal ecology, and wave-current interaction. SCHISM includes many improvements of the original SELFE. The model website is at: http://ccrm.vims.edu/schismweb/
Model Domain	The model domain is flexible and can be specified by the user, and can include coastal, estuarine, lakes and river areas.
Developer	SCHISM is a derivative work from the original SELFE model. SCHISM has been implemented by Dr. Joseph Zhang (Virginia Institute of Marine Science at College of William & Mary) and other developers around the world. SELFE was developed at the Oregon Health Sciences University.
Hardware computing requirements	Window or Linux operating system
Code language	FORTRAN, C, Python, Perl scripts
Original application	The SELFE model (from which SCHISM was derived) was originally developed to meet specific modeling challenges for the Columbia River.
Public/proprietary and cost	The model is open source and available at no cost.
Physically or empirically based	Physically based
Mathematical methods used	The model uses a semi-implicit finite-element/finite-volume method with an Eulerian-Lagrangian method to solve the Navier-Stokes equations
Input data requirements	Input data for the Delta is well-parameterized and readily available. Model developers recommend SMS (commercial product from Aquaveo) for grid generation. Input data includes: Domain (grid parameters, bathymetry) Initial conditions (water level, salinity, water temperature, pollutant and sediment concentrations) Boundary conditions (inflows, outflows, water level, salinity, water temperature, pollutant and sediment concentrations) Physical parameters (describing constants, viscosity, heat flux, sediment, tidal forces) Environmental parameters (precipitation, evaporation, wind speed and direction)
Outputs	Model developers recommend using VisIT (LLNL downloadable, open source product) for visualizing SCHISM output. Model outputs include: Water level, flow volume and direction, salinity, water temperature, water quality (pollutant, sediment) concentrations; Model output is written to binary files, however "station" points can be specified for ASCII time series files to be written for post-processing.
Pre-processing and post-processing tools	There is no graphical user interface (GUI) integrated with the model. Model developers recommend SMS (commercial product from Aquaveo) for grid generation. Model developers recommend using VisIT (LLNL downloadable, open source product) for visualizing SCHISM output.
Representation of uncertainty	Uncertainty is not represented.
Prevalence	The model has been applied to a number of bays/estuaries around the world for general circulation, tsunami and storm-surge inundation, water quality, oil spill, sediment transport, coastal ecology, and wave-current interaction studies. Project locations include the Delta, Great Lakes, Baltic Sea, Chesapeake Bay, Taiwan, and Tagus estuary (Portugal).
Ease of use for public entities	Bay-Delta version of the model is well documented. Building a new model from scratch would be difficult for the average user due to lack of integrated graphical user interface (GUI).
Ease of obtaining information and availability of technical support	Online forum; active academic community; international training
Source code availability	The source code is open source.
Status of model development	The model is available for immediate use; the model development team is active with new modules (tidal marsh, oil spill) currently in development.
Challenges in integration	Because the model is open source, well documented, and has an active user and development community, challenges to integration are few.

References

California Department of Water Resources 2018. Methodology for Flow and Salinity Estimates in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. 39th Annual Progress Report to the State Water Resources Control Board. "Chapter 4. SCHISM Modeling in Support of Franks Tract Restoration Feasibility Study" by Eli Ateljevich, Kijin Nam. Sacramento (CA). California Department of Water Resources. Bay-Delta Office. Available at: https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Library/Modeling-And-Analysis/Files/Modeling-and-Analysis-PDFs/FINAL6BayDelta39thProgress-Report071918.pdf

California Department of Water Resources 2015. Methodology for Flow and Salinity Estimates in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. 36th Annual Progress Report to the State Water Resources Control Board. "Chapter 8. Bay-Delta SCHISM Model Developments and Applications," by Eli Ateljevich, Kijin Nam, Lianwu Liu, Subir Saha, Rueen-fang Wang. Sacramento (CA). California Department of Water Resources. Bay-Delta Office. Available at: http://baydeltaoffice.water.ca.gov/modeling/deltamodeling/AR2015/AR-2015-all.pdf

California Department of Water Resources 2014. Methodology for Flow and Salinity Estimates in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. 35th Annual Progress Report to the State Water Resources Control Board. "Chapter 7. Bay-Delta SELFE calibration overview," by Ateljevich E, Nam K, Zhang Y, Wang R, and Shu Q. Sacramento (CA). California Department of Water Resources. Bay-Delta Office. Available at: http://baydeltaoffice.water.ca.gov/modeling/deltamodeling/AR2014/AR-2014-All.pdf

Chao, Y., Farrara, J.D., Zhang, H., Zhang, Y.J., Ateljevich, E., Chai, F., Davis, C.O., Dugdale, R. and Wilkerson, F., 2017. Development, implementation, and validation of a modeling system for the San Francisco Bay and Estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 194, pp.40-56.

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