Installing Model Binaries • AEME

Introduction

Since AEME v0.4.0, the package does not bundle model executables with the R package – GLM-AED, GOTM-WET, DYRESM-CAEDYM and Simstrat-AED2 are downloaded separately, once, after installing AEME itself. This vignette covers:

Which models are available on which platform
Installing everything with one call, or one model at a time
Checking what’s installed, and picking a specific version
Where AEME looks for an installed model, if you need to know

If you already have models installed (or are working through vignette("intro-aeme") in an environment where this has been done for you), skip ahead to vignette("intro-aeme").

Platform availability

Not every model builds on every operating system:

Model	Windows	macOS	Linux
DYRESM-CAEDYM	Yes	No	No
GLM-AED	Yes	Yes	Yes
GOTM-WET	Yes	No	No
Simstrat-AED2	Yes	Yes	Yes

install_models() installs whatever is available for the platform it’s run on; asking for a model that doesn’t build there raises an error naming what is available instead of failing silently.

Installing everything

The simplest path – one call installs the latest release of every model available for your platform:

library(AEME)
install_models()

This is safe to re-run: by default, a model already installed at the resolved “latest” version is left untouched (force = FALSE).

Installing one model at a time

Each model also has its own installer, for when you only need one:

install_glm_aed()
install_gotm_wet()
install_dy_cd()
install_simstrat_aed2()

install_models() accepts a model argument if you’d rather filter the all-in-one call instead of calling installers individually:

install_models(model = c("glm_aed", "simstrat_aed2"))

Picking a specific version

By default, every installer resolves to the latest available release. To see what’s available – for example, to pin a version for reproducibility, or to match a model version a collaborator is using – list versions before installing:

list_glm_versions()
list_gotm_wet_versions()
list_dy_cd_versions()
list_simstrat_aed2_versions()
list_simstrat_aed_versions()

list_glm_versions()
#> ⠙ 3 items, page 1 | 3ms
#>   package_release      os glm_version
#> 1          v0.4.0   linux       3.3.5
#> 4          v0.4.0   macos       3.3.5
#> 7          v0.4.0 windows       3.3.5
#> 3          v0.4.0   linux       4.0.0
#> 6          v0.4.0   macos       4.0.0
#> 9          v0.4.0 windows       4.0.0
#> 2          v0.4.0   linux      4.0.0+
#> 5          v0.4.0   macos      4.0.0+
#> 8          v0.4.0 windows      4.0.0+

install_glm_aed(version = "4.0.0")

Checking what’s installed

get_model_version(model = "glm_aed")

list_models() returns every model code AEME knows about, independent of what’s actually installed – useful as the input to functions like install_models(model = ...) that expect the short code ("glm_aed") rather than the display name ("GLM-AED"):

library(AEME)
list_models()
#>   DYRESM-CAEDYM         GLM-AED        GOTM-WET   SIMSTRAT-AED2    SIMSTRAT-AED 
#>         "dy_cd"       "glm_aed"      "gotm_wet" "simstrat_aed2"  "simstrat_aed"

Where installed models live

Installers place binaries under a per-user AEME data directory (not inside the R package library, so a package reinstall doesn’t wipe them). You shouldn’t normally need to know the exact path – run_aeme() and the model-specific run_*() wrappers find it automatically – but if a build step reports a missing executable, get_model_version() and the *_exe_path() family (glm_exe_path(), gotm_wet_exe_path(), dy_cd_exe_path(), simstrat_aed2_exe_path()) resolve exactly which binary, if any, AEME will use.

exe_path <- glm_exe_path()
exe_path
#> [1] "C:\\Users\\runneradmin\\AppData\\Roaming/R/data/R/AEME/windows/4.0.0+/glm.exe"

Which model should I pick?

Well, it depends on what you want to do. The model-specific vignettes cover the differences in detail, but in brief:

GLM-AED is the most widely used and supported, and is the default in AEME. It is suitable for a wide range of lakes and reservoirs, and has a large user community.
Simstrat-AED2/AED is a model that is also suitable for a wide range of lakes, it is particularly well-suited for deep, stratified lakes. It is less widely used than GLM-AED, but has a strong user community and is actively maintained. The Simstrat-AED model is an experimental version of the model, coupled with the recently (Augusu 2026) released AED API. It has only been developed within the Limnotrack branch, but may be of interest to researchers looking to explore new features and capabilities.
GOTM-WET is a more specialized model, suitable for certain types of lakes and reservoirs. It is less widely used than GLM-AED, but may be more appropriate for certain applications.
DYRESM-CAEDYM is a one-dimensional model that is suitable for certain types of lakes and reservoirs. However, it is quite old and is not actively maintained, so it is not recommended for new projects.

Next steps

With a model installed, vignette("intro-aeme") walks through the Aeme object model and builds your first ensemble member.