The bottom frame of xxx shows the EFDC Restart Option. An explanation of some of terms is provided below, as well how to use each option.
Cold Start
Cold start is the normal start of a model run and EFDC will generate the new output files or overwrite the existing output files.
Restart
The Restart is a previously available feature of EFDC and is applicable when a model has stopped prematurely and not finished. The user can use it to restart from the point at which it terminated or some other point by selecting the appropriate restart file. In this case there is a hard restart from the time selected. EFDC will create a whole new set of output files which the user will then need to merge later.
EFDC Restart Option (Output)
EFDC Restart Options (Output) check box provides options for creation of restart files. If the Use option has been selected then EFDC will create a RESTART.OUT file. If Date Stamp is not checked then one file called RESTART.OUT will be created at the user defined Output Frequency, overwriting the previous file each time. If Date Stamp is checked then a file called RESTART_YYYYMMDD_HH.MM.OUT is created at the Output Frequency for each EFDC sub-module being utilized. Note that if Use is not checked it is not possible to create restart file should the model stop or crash for some reason.
DSI standard practice is to always select Use and set Output Frequency to 1 to be the same as the duration of the reference periods. The user must have this option turned on in order to use restart as this creates the files required for the restart. Date stamp can be left unchecked so that the file is written over each time it outputs.
EFDC Restart Option (Input)
As noted that if Use is not checked for EFDC Restart Option (Output) then EFDC will not create restart files and restart function is not available. If it has been checked then the user should select the Restart radial button in the EFDC Restart Option (Input) frame. The output will be separate from the previous output. In this case EFDC has generated the restart file and EE will copy it for the user. Use the Set files button to select the restart files to hot start. Set files is used to navigate to the folder where the output files are located. EE will automatically copy and rename the EFDC restart files to the current project directory. The user has to select only the RESTART.OUT file and click open then the other restart files (such as, RSTWD.OUT, etc.) will be automatically selected by EE based on the requirement of EFDC model (prior to EE7.2 the user had to select each restart file applicable to that model run in turn). These files will normally be in the #output folder, with file name to be selected shown in the header and bottom left of the open file interface. EE will rename the files automatically and save them to the project directory after each one has been selected.
Some of the restart files that are created include the TEMP.RST and RSTWD.INP files if temperature and wetting & drying are being simulated. The Dye Overwrite is a legacy option. If the checkbox is selected the dye concentrations in the restart file will be overwritten by DYE.INP file. This is useful when restarting a tracer study with a new initial condition.