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About Ourselves

1.Who we are

SMHI, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, is a leading provider of expertise, data, systems and consultancy services in the fields of oceanography, meteorology and hydrology.

We recently celebrated our 125th anniversary and since the start in 1879 we have continuously been at the forefront of environmental science and technology. PHOENICS is the engine in our hydroinformatics tools such as Coastal Hydraulics Models, Chemical Dispersion Models and River Dynamics Models.

2.Where we are

Our main office is in Norrköping, Sweden. Please call +46-11-495 8000 or see our web-site

We have been using and developing PHOENICS and applications since the mid-eighties.

2.1 What are our specialities?

Our focus is on environmental engineering. The core-problem is most often to calculate water currents due to wind, air-pressure gradients, tides and river discharge in natural topographies.

Effects typical for geophysical applications, such as the rotation of the earth (Coriolis acceleration) as well as salt and/or temperature variations (stratification) are included in our models.

The simulated currents are subsequently used to investigate, for instance, the dispersion of wastewater from an outlet, the variation of temperature and salinity at an inlet for cooling water, the force on a construction due to current and tide or the effect of the construction on the current pattern.

By including a planned construction in the computational grid, we can simulate the effect that a construction, a bridge for instance, has on the environment.

Through numerical experiments we can suggest changes in the design to minimise the negative environmental impact. We can tell you how to design and were to put an outlet or an inlet to obtain best performance, or how to build a breakwater that will change the main circulation as little as possible.

The movement of buoyant or sinking particles such as sand grains, algae and oil can be traced by means of Seatrack, a PHOENICS interface built by SMHI. Our customers range from major international construction companies to environment agencies of countys and towns.

Among others, we are presently working with:-

Öresundskonsortiet
Modelling of effects on current and salt transport through the Öresund strait as a consequence of the Öresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark.
Mönsterås Bruk
Designing and positioning an outlet for a paper mill.
Räddningsverket
To investigate risk zones and consequences of accidental chemical or oil spill to the lake Hjälmaren and its river system.
Stockholm Energi AB
To investigate suitable reservoirs and withdrawal processes for cooling water and consequences of their utilization.
The county of Oskarshamn
Calculation of sediment erosion and transport due to combination of propeller agitation, wind induced current and rivermouth induced current in a harbour.
Malmö SYSAV
Consequences of land fill on current conditions and dispersion of leaking waste water from a refuse in an ocean bay.
Statens Räddningsverk
Simulation of multicase, wind driven, current fields in stratified water for a very complex archipelago in an oil drift model.

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