JOSM — The Complete Guide: Free OpenStreetMap Editing for Road Networks and Infrastructure
JOSM is an advanced OpenStreetMap desktop editor: roads, junctions, buildings and infrastructure over aerial imagery. Preparing networks for SUMO; licensing.
Guides and Articles
QField — The Complete Guide: Field Data Collection With Your QGIS Project on a Phone or Tablet
QField runs a QGIS project on a phone or tablet, offline: points, forms, photos and measurements in the field, synced back at the office. External GNSS too.
WhiteboxTools — The Complete Guide: Hundreds of Free Tools for Terrain and LiDAR Point Clouds
WhiteboxTools is a geospatial library with hundreds of tools, strong on DEMs and LiDAR: catchments, stream networks, point filtering. Run it from Python, QGIS.
SAGA GIS — The Complete Guide: Free Terrain, Hydrology and Elevation Model Analysis
SAGA GIS was built for analysis, not map making: slope, catchments, flow accumulation, visibility and solar radiation on DEMs. Use it alone or inside QGIS.
OpenDrift — The Complete Guide: Free Drift Forecasting for Oil, Plastic and Objects at Sea
OpenDrift is an open-source Python framework that moves particles through current, wind and wave fields to forecast where oil, plastic or a person drifts.
SRH-2D — The Complete Guide: A 2D Flow and Sediment Model for Rivers, Bridges and Floodplains
SRH-2D from the US Bureau of Reclamation models 2D river flow and sediment at bridges, floodplains and junctions. The model is free; the SMS interface is not.
ModelMuse — The Complete Guide: The Free Graphical Interface for MODFLOW and Groundwater Models
ModelMuse from the USGS turns MODFLOW into a working tool: define layers, conductivity and boundaries over a map, run, and view heads and flow paths. SUTRA too.
MODFLOW 6 — The Complete Guide: Free Groundwater Flow and Solute Transport Modelling
MODFLOW 6 from the USGS is the world standard for groundwater: layered aquifers, pumping, recharge, stream-aquifer exchange and solute transport. How to use it.
SWAT — The Complete Guide: A Free Watershed Model for Runoff, Erosion and Farm Pollutants
SWAT simulates a whole watershed over decades: runoff, baseflow, soil erosion, nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides. Using it with QGIS, and why to calibrate.
TELEMAC-MASCARET — The Complete Guide: Free River, Lake and Coastal Modelling on Unstructured Meshes
TELEMAC-MASCARET is an open-source system for flow, waves, sediment and water quality in rivers, lakes and coasts, on unstructured finite element meshes.
SWASH — The Complete Guide: Free Modelling of Harbour Waves, Overtopping and Coastal Flow
SWASH is an open-source non-hydrostatic model from TU Delft that resolves each wave: harbour penetration, resonance, overtopping and estuary flows.
SWAN — The Complete Guide: A Free Shallow-Water Wave Model for Coastal Structure Design
SWAN from TU Delft computes how waves grow and decay from deep water to the shore: breaking, bottom friction, refraction, currents. Key input for breakwaters.