The Nile River is vital for life in the vast Nile basin area. It is a source of life but is also a source to disputes and insecurity. The available water resources are under constant pressure due to rapidly growing populations and demand for water. Historically water scarcity has led and leads to conflicts. The Nile Basin Initiative, which purpose is to secure a sustainable and equitable way to manage the available water resources in the region, has signed a contract with DHI for the development and deployment of the Nile Basin Decision Support System. This system will enable the Nile Basin Initiative member countries to monitor and manage water in a transparent and regionally accepted way.

The decision support system is based on a computer model of the river system. Somewhat 6-7000 km of the Nile will be modelled. This „water spine model‟ will act as the backbone for the decision support system, which essentially is a water allocation and budget model. If water is withdrawn one place then the effect other places can be quantified, hence allowing, member countries to undertake comparative water use assessments and select preferred strategies for implementation.

For further information please contact Dr. Kim Wium Olesen at kwo@dhigroup.com or see the full article here.

During the last decade there has been a growing interest in multipurpose reefs as a solution to provide coastal protection while also creating favourable surfing conditions at the same time. Assessing the surfing quality of a submerged reef requires highly detailed information of the wave breaking characteristics such as the shape of the overturning wave and the propagation velocity of the moving breakpoint. In addition the powerful and highly non-uniform wave breaking conditions across the reef induces strong return currents and areas of high local velocities both of which strongly affects the wave breaking characteristics and represents crucial reef design parameters, when assessing structural stability, induced erosion issues and adjacent beach safety.

Recent advances in CFD modelling and the utilization of code parallelization (allowing running simulations across multiple workstations) have now made it possible to carry out detailed studies of the complex and highly non-linear wave transformation and current interaction processes occurring over a submerged reef structure.

For further information including please contact Simon Brandi Mortensen at sbm@dhigroup.com or see the full article here.

DHI, in collaboration with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has successfully developed a new state-of-the-art real-time hydrologic modelling system. This system provides real-time monitoring and modelling information for the western urban area of the Big Cypress Basin, Florida, to the District’s water managers for making critical operational decisions. This region has a unique hydrological regime with alternating floods and droughts, close interaction between surface water and ground water, and a complex managed drainage network with many control structures. What makes this real-time modelling system unique is that it combines real-time information from the SFWMD SCADA system with integrated surface water-groundwater modelling in an operational environment. This system has the potential to predict the future behaviour of both the surface water and groundwater flows and levels when forecasted rainfall is available.

For further information please contact Dr. Michael Butts at mib@dhigroup.com or see the full article here.

DHI has been awarded a Certificate of Qualification from Achilles Joint Qualification System for suppliers to the oil industry in Norway and Denmark.

Achilles is a database used by procurement departments in the oil industry to find and select potential suppliers. Through Achilles JQS, DHI will automatically be pre-qualified as a supplier for companies as Energinet.dk, DONG Energy, Noreco, Hess, Statoil, Hydro and Shell as well as a number of other oil and gas companies in Denmark and Norway.

For further information please contact Mette Tjener Andersson at mta@dhigroup.com or see the full article here.

"The fact that offshore structures are out of sight does not mean that environmental problems are of minor importance". Any offshore activity affects the environment, but the significance and extent are entirely dependent on the size and nature of the activity, the environment and especially if environment, including its species, is sensitive to that particular activity. At present, oil production by far dominates offshore activities, but wind farms are increasingly playing a larger role. Also, but in a longer perspective the growing business of aquaculture will probably be a significant offshore player when suitable coastal sites have been occupied.

See the full article included the in April 2009 issue of ON / OFF News published by Offshore Centre Danmark here.

For further information please contact Mads Madsen at mm@dhigroup.com

Advanced computational modelling is well established in professional fields such as oceanography, meteorology, and other sciences and has been so for many years. In comparison, advanced computational modelling is not being used as widely in the pharmaceutical industry, which generates large amounts of experimental and clinical data for drug development. Nevertheless, the decision to move a candidate drug to human clinical trials is probably the most important decision in the development of a new drug. At the same time there is a great demand for alternatives to animal testing.

So how can knowledge of computational modelling of for instance sewers or floods possibly be connected to drug development? Actually, it is DHI’s extensive expertise in water and computational modelling tools which is the root of a new modelling programme in which new drug candidates are tested in virtual test organs before the decision is taken to proceed to clinical trials in humans.

For further information please contact Anders Erichsen at aer@dhigroup.com or see the full article here.

DHI hosts and participates in a wide range of events worldwide. A list is available here

Training, capacity and institution building – DHI courses around the globe
For a number of years DHI have offered a variety of courses worldwide. The courses range from short and intensive standard software and vocational training courses to dedicated, specialised training matching individual clients' specific needs and requests.

For further information on courses and training activities please contact DHI International Course Secretariat (courses@dhigroup.com) or consult our websites.

• Vocational training
• Software training

DHI has offices around the global. For contact details please see here