The ISIS by Halcrow suite of products has been developed to the highest standards, with the ISIS code first developed in the 1970s. Over the years, experienced users and developers of the software have put the software through extensive testing and have benchmarked the software against similar 1-d hydraulic models.
ISIS has been tried and tested extensively on some of the most complex rivers in the world. These rivers are often highly regulated, with complex flood plains and catchments, which are under continual pressure from development and environmental pressures. Halcrow ensures high quality throughout their software by:
ISO 9001:2000
ISIS is developed using a quality management system which complies with the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 (certificate No. FR 20242). ISO 9001 is the internationally recognised standard for an organisation's internal Quality Management. The term 'quality' refers to all those features of a product or service which are required by the customer. An organisation's 'Quality Management' refers to an organisation's actions to ensure that its products or services satisfy its customers' quality requirements and complies with any regulations applicable to those products or services.
EA Benchmarking
Two benchmarking studies, commissioned by the EA, published in 1997 and 2003, have compared ISIS against similar 1-d hydraulic models and theoretical and observed field and laboratory data. These have shown ISIS to perform well in nearly all tests performed; and in tests in which ISIS performed less well, remedial steps have been taken to address these.
Historic usage
For over 13 years (and almost 30 years, including its predecessor, ONDA), ISIS has been used extensively, both in the UK, and throughout the world on thousands of rivers, including the fluvial Thames, Tidal Thames, Trent, Severn, Medway, Norfolk Broads, Eden, Clyde, Lee (Ireland), Don (Russia), Siret (Romania), Mekong (SE Asia) and Rio Salado (Argentina). Such models rely on calibration against observed data for their acceptance. Its extensive use, and the regression testing performed between successive releases is evidence of the confidence in ISIS as a viable 1-d hydrodynamic modelling tool.
Unit testing (HydraQA)
Each new unit introduced into ISIS undergoes unit testing before a release. This is testing performed on a single unit, independent of other features, to ensure that the results match with either exact solutions, theoretical results or observed data, as is available.
These unit tests are repeated for each release of the software and compared against the benchmarked results to ensure consistency.
NFFS testing
The entire suite of NFFS (The UK Environment Agency's Flood Forecasting System) ISIS flood forecasting models, totalling over 100, are run through ISIS before each release, to ensure consistency between versions.
Beta testing
Each ISIS release candidate is distributed to, and used by, known experienced users of the software for beta testing prior to a full release. This gives added confidence that the software produces consistent results between versions.
Key benefits of ISIS Free
- it’s FREE
- install it on as many computers as you like as its use is not limited
- undertake both steady and unsteady calculations
- use ISIS Mapper to build hydraulic models, analysis results, and visualise model outputs
- use the full range of structure (including logical rules)
- full use of hydrology units (including FEH, ReFH, USSCS)
- model floodplain flows through either 1D or 2D flow simulations
- seamlessly upgrade to ISIS Professional or ISIS 2D as a project grows
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