CERC — Environmental Software and Services
- Overview
- Air pollution modelling
- ADMS 6
- ADMS-Roads (Extra)
- ADMS-Urban
- ADMS-Urban RML
- ADMS-Airport
- ADMS-Screen
- Feature comparison
- Emissions management
- EMIT
- Wind energy and airflow
- FLOWSTAR-Energy
- Accidental releases
- GASTAR
- LSMS
- ADMS-Puff
- ADMS-STAR
- Managing model runs
- Run Manager
- Air quality forecasting
- ADMS-Forecast
- Model evaluation
- Model Evaluation Toolkit
- Meteorological data processing
- WRFtoMet
- Related Documentation
- User guides
- Technical specifications
- Model validation
- Newsletters
- Publications
- CERC co-author publications
- CERC software publications
- Presentations
- Other information
- Traffic emissions
- Prices
- Free demo
- Visualisation tools
- Current software versions
- System requirements
System requirements
Quick links:Computer specificationsSupported operating systemsLinks with other softwareMicrosoft Office
Computer specifications
CERC's models are highly CPU-intensive. There are very few hard and fast rules for a PC specification to run CERC models, but the following points may be helpful.
- CPU cores
- Each run will use a single core
- Ensure you have sufficient cores for the number of concurrent runs you anticipate
- The maximum number of concurrent runs is determined by your licence. Please contact us if you want to change this.
- Some users have found it useful to keep the number of concurrent runs less than or equal to the number of physical cores rather than the number of logical cores.
- Fast CPU recommended
- RAM
- 2GB RAM per core used for model runs
- Fast RAM recommended
- Hard disk
- Plenty of free disk space on the working drives. Typically the amount of space required per run will be tens of MBs, but can vary greatly depending on the output requested, from a few MBs to over a TB.
- Keep at least 20% free disk space of the Windows drive for a healthy computer
- Fast hard disk. Generally CPU & RAM speed is more important than hard disk speed.
- Other
- Only run on supported operating systems
- Some products are supplied with a hardware key. The hardware key must be connected to a USB port (standard type A) which is available to the computer where the product is installed.
- Operational considerations
- Avoid running files over a network
- Defragment drives used for model runs, including the Windows drive
- Use a dedicated runs machine, and avoid doing other work at the same time
- Use Run Manager to schedule runs
- Turn off Windows screensaver
- Run the model minimised
Supported operating systems[top]
The latest versions of our software are supported on the following operating systems.
| Software | Operating system1 |
|---|---|
| ADMS 6 | Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| ADMS-Roads | Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| ADMS-Urban | Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| ADMS-Urban RML | Linux |
| ADMS-Airport | Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| ADMS-Screen | Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| EMIT | Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| FLOWSTAR-Energy | Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| GASTAR | Windows 8 |
| ADMS-Puff | Windows 8 |
| ADMS-STAR | Windows 8, Windows 10 |
| Run Manager | Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11 |
| WRFtoMET | Windows 8, Windows 10 |
1 Professional, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions only. Starter and Home editions are not supported. Windows 8 refers to Windows 8.1 only. The version of Windows you are using must be supported by Microsoft. All CERC software released before January 2020 is compatible with Windows 7.
Links with other software[top]
The CERC software listed below can interact directly with other software, which improves productivity.
| Software | Links with other software |
|---|---|
| ADMS 6 | ArcGIS, MapInfo, Surfer |
| ADMS-Roads | ArcGIS, MapInfo, Surfer |
| ADMS-Urban | ArcGIS, MapInfo, Surfer |
| ADMS-Urban RML | ADMS-Urban, Run Manager, WRF, CMAQ, CAMx, CHIMERE, EMEP4UK, WRF-Chem |
| ADMS-Airport | ArcGIS, MapInfo, Surfer |
| ADMS-Screen | ArcGIS, MapInfo, Surfer |
| EMIT | ADMS-Urban, ADMS-Roads, ADMS-Airport |
| FLOWSTAR-Energy | Surfer |
| GASTAR | - |
| LSMS | GASTAR |
| ADMS-Puff | Surfer |
| ADMS-STAR | ArcGIS, Surfer |
| Run Manager | ADMS 6, ADMS-Urban, ADMS-Roads, ADMS-Airport, FLOWSTAR-Energy, ADMS-Puff, GASTAR |
| WRFtoMet | WRF, ADMS, ADMS-Urban, ADMS-Roads, ADMS-Airport, ADMS-EIA, FLOWSTAR-Energy |
Supported versions
| Software | Supported versions2 |
|---|---|
| ArcGIS3 | Versions 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7 |
| Surfer | Versions 10 - 24 |
| MapInfo | Versions 12, 12.5, 15, 15.2, 16, 17, 20194 and 2021 |
2 Use of third party software is only supported on those operating systems for which the manufacturer explicitly supports its use.
3 A patch is available from our user area to support ArcGIS 10.4 onwards. ArcGIS will also need the ESRI Spatial Analyst component to generate contours in ArcGIS.
4 A patch is available from our user area to support MapInfo 2019 onwards.
Microsoft Office[top]
Current versions of CERC software (including the links to ArcGIS and MapInfo Professional) do not require Microsoft Office to be installed with the following exceptions.
Emission inventories
Users of ADMS-Urban, ADMS-Roads or ADMS-Airport who wish to directly edit an emissions inventory database using the Excel templates, as described in the User Guides, will require Microsoft Access and Excel to be installed. These must be versions supplied with or equivalent to Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010.
Access 2007 and 2010 users should note that each time they open an emissions inventory database in Access, they will be asked whether to upgrade it to the latest format. It is important to always answer No. If the database is upgraded to the latest format it cannot be used.
We do not support the direct editing of data in inventory databases using Access 2013 or later.
Surfer Automation and Slideshow Creator Utilities
These utilities are Microsoft Excel templates that use macros, so in order to use them you need to have Excel 2016 or later installed.