One-Dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage (OTIS):
A Solute Transport Model for Streams and Rivers

Search OTIS Web Site

Welcome to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Web page for the OTIS software package. This page provides access to the OTIS software and documentation. These items and additional features may be accessed using the navigational tabs at the top of the page.

OTIS is a mathematical simulation model used to characterize the fate and transport of water-borne solutes in streams and rivers. The governing equation underlying the model is the advection-dispersion equation with additional terms to account for transient storage, lateral inflow, first-order decay, and sorption. This equation and the associated equations describing transient storage and sorption are solved using a Crank-Nicolson finite-difference solution.

OTIS may be used in conjunction with data from field-scale tracer experiments to quantify the hydrologic parameters affecting solute transport. This application typically involves a trial-and-error approach wherein parameter estimates are adjusted to obtain an acceptable match between simulated and observed tracer concentrations. Additional applications include analyses of nonconservative solutes that are subject to sorption processes or first-order decay. OTIS-P, a modified version of OTIS, couples the solution of the governing equation with a nonlinear regression package. OTIS-P determines an optimal set of parameter estimates that minimize the squared differences between the simulated and observed concentrations, thereby automating the parameter estimation process.

The OTIS software and related materials (data and documentation) are made available by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to be used in the public interest and the advancement of science. You may, without any fee or cost, use, copy, modify, or distribute this software, and any derivative works thereof, and its supporting documentation, subject to the USGS software User's Rights Notice.

Funding for software development was provided by the USGS Office of Water Quality and the the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program.

One-Dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage (OTIS): A Solute Transport Model for Streams and Rivers

Search OTIS Web Site

One-Dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage (OTIS):
A Solute Transport Model for Streams and Rivers