By Nicole Matsen
The Environmental Modeling Research Laboratory on campus is making waves with their hydrologic software.
'All together we estimate that over 8,000 organizations and 100 countries use our software,' said Norman L. Jones, EMRL director. 'The number keeps growing every year.'
The software is used for making water resource decisions.
According to Jones, based on the wide spread adoption of the EMRL software, it is considered one of the best available.
'In the past physical models built out of concrete, costing $100,000 to millions of dollars, were used,' Jones said. 'Well, in the last 10 to 15 years there has been a shift away from physical to computer models.'
The computer software created in the EMRL is superior because the physical models require a lot of time and expense and they can''t test a wide range of possibilities, he said.
'By studying the geographical structure of an area and entering that input along with water amount and resource information, the software can generate a model that aid water resource planning, design and ''what if'' scenarios,' he said.
The EMRL started in the mid ''80s as an engineering computer graphics laboratory, under BYU Civil Engineering Professor Henry N. Christiansen, said E. James Nelson, assistant professor in civil engineering involved in the EMRL.
'From there we took the research in a new direction, looking at water and environmental concerns,' Nelson said. 'The ideas were new and fresh. It was an unplowed field, taking our computer science expertise with visualization and applying it to civil engineering.'
As the EMRL developed, high-tech software was created specializing in watershed modeling, ground water modeling and surface water modeling.
'We were an early player in a niche market,' Nelson said. 'Since it is a small market and we were one of the first to enter it, we have been able to solidify ourselves as a successful leader.'
Nelson said the software is popular because it is an efficient tool for organizations to make quicker and well analyzed decisions concerning water resources.
Along with organizational and corporate use, the EMRL software has been an important aid for international humanitarian efforts.
'We have been to China and Egypt with our software, helping to train their engineers so that they can make the best decisions concerning their water resources,' Nelson said.
Flooding, storing water, constructing bridges, highway planning, erosion and water contamination are all areas that the EMRL software can model, providing a range of solutions.
Katie Doyle, 21, a senior from Sunset majoring in civil engineering, works as a student researcher in the EMRL Watershed Model System department.
'The watershed modeling software is mainly applied to design and projecting predictions,' Doyle said. 'Such as constructing a highway across water. In a flood the software can help answer questions like: where is the water going, how much, how deep is the water, what will be damaged, and how long will the water stay?'
Doyle said the EMRL is constantly working to add new features to the software, make it more user friendly and check the older features in the software program.
'No one is ever without anything to do,' Doyle said. 'The EMRL is constantly hiring new staff members, we are very busy with our software.'