Traditionally, scientific modeling software development has been siloed to the model developers. However, experienced modelers often want to contribute to the development of these tools without the bother of coordinating with the developers. This problem has now been addressed with available online collaboration tools (e.g. Git, SVN, etc.). To support the scientific community and encourage research and development in hydrodynamic and water quality modeling, DSI offers an open-source version of EFDC+. This refers to EFDC+8.5, which is available free on GitHub. Interested users may download the files, review the code and make changes and/or suggest changes. Active EEMS license holders can also receive the source code of the latest version of EFDC+ (10 and higher) upon request.

Until recently, however, compiling Fortran-based code required users to purchase the Intel Fortran compiler. Fortunately, Intel has now moved its Fortran compilers and tools under the Intel oneAPI HPC Toolkit. This toolkit is available free of charge and can be used to compile the EFDC+ source code. This oneAPI toolkit along with Git and Visual Studio tools will make it easier for the scientific community to collaborate on scientific software development.

If you want to compile the EFDC+ source code on your computer, follow the steps below.

• • Download and install the oneAPI Base Toolkit and HPC Toolkit. Be sure to enable the option for Visual Studio integration.
  • Clone the repository.
  • Open the EFDCPlus_085_OMP.sln solution file in the repository with Visual Studio.
  • Select your desired build configuration (e.g., ReleaseSP64) and the platform (x64 or x86).
  • Select “Build Solution” in the build menu or press F6.
  • By default, the build output is found in a subdirectory matching the build configuration (for example, “C:/code/EFDCPlus_085/EFDC/ReleaseSP64”).
  • You can go here to find more information on getting started with the oneAPI HPC Toolkit.

We believe that the availability of a free Fortran compiler with provided oneAPI solution files will encourage engineers to modify and improve the EFDC+ (and other Fortran-based scientific software) and contribute to its future growth. The EFDC+ source code is provided as-is, and we do not offer any support for issues arising from it. We do, however, welcome ideas or suggestions from our users. We are also keen to foster academic partnerships with those interested in enhancing the code and develop training materials to get started with the code.

Try out the newly available oneAPI HPC Toolkit together with EFDC+’s open-source code and let us know what you think.