EFDC Restart Options are shown in Restart Options. An explanation of the terms used, as well as how to use each option, is provided below.
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Figure 1. Model Restart Options
1.Output Options for Restart Files
EFDC Restart Options (Output) checkbox provides options for the 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.
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.
2. Input Options for Restart Files
- 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.
As noted that if Use is not checked for Output Options for Restart Files then EFDC will not create restart files. The restart function is still available but the user needs to load their own restart file.
If the user selects the checkbox Use, EFDC will automatically generate the restart file ( RESTART.OUT) which is separated from the previous output.
In order to restart the model, the user can use Set files button to navigate to the folder where the output files are located. 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 . 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.
- Continuation Run
A new option is Continuation, whereby when restarting a model, EFDC+ can now move to the correct location in the EE linkage files and begin writing from the time the model stopped or from the time selected for restart in case of using date stamp. The settings for this restart option are shown in Restart Options.
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The model will run from the continuation time and automatically merge with the prior output. This removes the necessity of the user having to merge runs as was required in earlier versions of EE. This option is different to the Append feature as it is now possible to restart a model at various user-defined times.
Note: Whenever a new cold start is run the user should save the model in a new folder. This will prevent restart files from prior runs being available, in which case the Last Date may correspond to that prior run.
EFDC Restart Option (Output)
EFDC Restart Options (Output) checkbox 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.
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