RmaSutra: Run PEST

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After making all the changes to the model, you have to run the model from ModelMuse one more time. Select File|Export|SUTRA Input Files. ModelMuse will start a command line window that will run the model and some additional operations and then the SUTRA listing file will be opened in a text editor. The other operations consist of creating a kriging factors file and a PEST instruction file. PLPROC is used to create the kriging factors file and SutraObsExtractor is used to create the instruction file. These files will be used when PEST runs the model.

In addition to creating the input files for MODFLOW, ModelMuse also created the PEST control file when it ran MODFLOW along with two batch files named RunPestChek.bat and RunPest.bat. PESTCHEK is a PEST utility program that checks the PEST input for errors. It is recommended to always run PESTCHEK before attempting to run PEST. You can run PESTCHEK by double clicking on the RunPestChek.bat file in Windows Explorer. It is normal for some warnings to be present with control files generated by ModelMuse. However, if it reports errors, you will need to fix them. If something is wrong with your parameters, observations, pilot points, or delimiters, you may need to run the model again after fixing them. Otherwise, you will probably just need to export the PEST control file again after fixing the problem in the PEST Properties dialog box. To export the PEST control file again, select “File|Export|PEST|Export PEST Control File.” The Save File dialog box will have options to run PESTCHEK, PEST, or not run anything. Choose the option you prefer. When PESTCHECK does not report any errors, you are ready to run PEST. Go ahead and run PEST. For this problem run on a standard desktop, PEST may take more than twenty minutes to finish but can be much faster depending on the characteristics of the computer and on how many other programs are running.  It is good practice to monitor PEST performance during the parameter estimation by opening and inspecting the PEST run record (.rec) file.

When PEST has finished running, you may wish to back up your model input and output files, so you do not accidentally overwrite them later if you run ModelMuse again.