Using Arrays in GoldSim

Posted by Ryan Roper

Monthly cumulative flow results (see webinar 'Introduction to Arrays')

One of the most powerful features of GoldSim is its support for vector and matrix data types, or arrays. Whether you are modeling different age cohorts in a population dynamics model or you need to calculate monthly and/or yearly flow totals in a water resource model, the use of arrays can reduce complexity in your model and help you calculate useful results. If you are developing a contaminant transport model, using arrays is unavoidable since species properties are stored in vectors.

Proficiency with arrays in GoldSim is essential for many applications. Gaining a rudimentary understanding will require that you at least know how to create and use array label sets (named and indexed) and how to reference values in an array. I would definitely encourage you, though, to go beyond a basic proficiency and take advantage of the advanced capabilities that GoldSim provides. This blog post will point you to resources to help you get familiar with and start using arrays in GoldSim. I will highlight some example applications that range from very basic usage of arrays to sophisticated applications involving the use of array constructors.

Modeling Runoff from Multiple Catchments using a Vector Splitter

Posted by Jason Lillywhite

If you have some flow of material or a transaction and need to divide it up or allocate it, likely you will use the Allocator or Splitter element in GoldSim. While these elements are very powerful and make the job a lot easier, there is one condition for which it was not specifically built: handling an array of input amounts. To address this, we have added some nice examples to our library that allow you to simulate allocations and splits on arrays of data. These examples provide an easy way to build powerful models that might have otherwise been quite difficult to build and maintain. I tested the array splitter example model using a real-world example that simulates rainfall runoff in a new stormwater management system, and this is described in this post.

Using Period-Based Results in Model Calculations

Posted by Ryan Roper

We've had a number of support inquiries where users need some way of calculating period-based summary data (such as monthly or annual averages or cumulative amounts) for use in other calculations within the same model (e.g. post-processing). GoldSim's reporting periods feature is great for generating this sort of summary data with little effort on the part of the user, but these results are only intended to be viewed and not used for other subsequent calculations. If you do need to use these results for other calculations in the same model, our model library contains a number of examples that illustrate how to calculate such results manually. This blog post briefly describes some of these examples and points you to where you can find them in our library to see them in more detail.