1.1 About MIKE BASIN
The rationale of undertaking water resources studies on a basin scale instead of on a project by project basis is based on the recognition that the water and land resources of a basin forms a unity and hence must be treated as such if future conflicts over water utilization are to be avoided.
For addressing water allocation, conjunctive water use, reservoir operation, or water quality issues, MIKE BASIN couples the power of ArcGIS with comprehensive hydrologic modelling to provide basin-scale solutions.
The MIKE BASIN philosophy is to keep modelling simple and intuitive, yet provide in-depth insight for planning and management.
Being an ArcGIS extension, MIKE BASIN allows for some integration between model input/output and existing GIS data. Moreover, MIKE BASIN embeds another DHI GIS Extension, Temporal Analyst, which
implies that an abundance of tools for spatial associations, analysis and presentation of time series data are available.
Moreover, the MIKE BASIN code is open-ended, and through the extensive COM/.NET interface all input, output and allocation rules can be accessed and manipulated, allowing for extensive customization and even allowing for full integration of MIKE BASIN in external modelling systems.
Examples are economic or ecologic models, customized pre- and postprocessors and tailor made decision support systems.

1.2 About this Manual
The MIKE BASIN includes the full documentation as part of the on-line help system, which can be accessed from the MIKE BASIN toolbar. By pressing the F1 key in the dialogs, the documentation is also accessed. The online help for Temporal Analyst can be accessed from the Temporal Analyst
toolbar.
The purpose of the overview section, ref. MIKE BASIN overview (p. 13) is to provide just enough information for the user to get started. It is also recommended to read the time series section , ref. Time series in MIKE BASIN (p. 35) before you start setting up a model.
Additional resources are continually updated on the MIKE BASIN web
site, www.mikebasin.com.