GMS

Using Contours to View Contaminant Flow into a Well

By aquaveo on June 20, 2018

You’ve finished creating a model tracking the contaminant flow into a well. Your values look good and you’re certain the model executed successfully. The only problem is that when you look at you model, the visual representation of the contaminant flow is rather lackluster. You can tell there is flow towards the well, but it’s hard to clearly see how much of the contaminant is entering. Knowing this information can sometimes make a significant difference.

The solution to this dilemma is to adjust your contour options. In particular, two options will help you see the contaminant flow more clearly: adjusting the contour interval and adjusting the contour range.

Contour Intervals

When looking at your contaminant flow, it might appear as though the contaminant has not reached your well. This can be misleading if looking at the model zoomed in and with a small contour interval. Smaller amounts of the contaminant might have reached the well, but we wouldn’t know because the interval is too small to show that level of detail.

After turning on contours for the solution set, increase the intervals around the well by doing the following.

Zoom in on the well area.
Make the contaminant dataset active in the Project Explorer.
Click the Contour Options macro.
In the Dataset Contour Options dialog, increase the contour interval value.

Now the contour has been broken up into more intervals, making it easier to see when the contaminant first reaches the well.

Contour Ranges

Another option is to change the contour range so it targets the values near the well. After turning on contours for the solution set, change the range by doing the following.

Zoom in on the well area.
Make the contaminant dataset active in the Project Explorer.
Click the Contour Options macro.
Turn on the Specify a range option.
Enter minimum and maximum range values that focus on those contour values near the well.

Now the contours specifically highlight the contaminant flow into the well.

By experimenting with the different contour options, you can find the one that best shows contaminant flow in your project. Try this today in GMS!

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GMS

Stockholm GMS Training 2018

By aquaveo on June 6, 2018

Aquaveo recently taught a three-day GMS training session hosted by the School of Engineering Science at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. The institute’s Prosun Bhattacharya arranged and coordinated the training session.

From May 15-18, 2018, Alan Lemon and Hoang Tran presented on a wide range of topics, including general groundwater modeling concepts, using MODFLOW in GMS using both grids and conceptual models, incorporating field data (such as scatter point and borehole data) into a GMS project, and calibrating models in GMS. Models demonstrated and discussed include MODFLOW, MODFLOW-USG, MODPATH, MT3DMS, and SEAWAT.

Participants came from several different countries, companies, and governmental and non-governmental organizations, including:

There were also graduate students from Gdańsk University of Technology in Poland, and KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Luleå University of Technology in Sweden.

After the classes, Alan and Tran enjoyed walking around Stockholm and seeing the sights, including the Vasa Museum and the Nobel Museum.

Aquaveo provides custom, on-site training for SMS, GMS, WMS, ArcHydro Groundwater, and any other water resource modeling need you have. Organizations can set up shared trainings such as this one, or arrange for the same training for their own employees. You can learn more about our training offerings by visiting our site.

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GMS

Draping an Image onto a Ground Surface

By aquaveo on May 24, 2018

When looking at your GMS project in oblique view or when using the Rotate tool, you might have noticed that your map image will disappear. This is because GMS only supports viewing map images in plan view. However, there is a way to make the map image visible in these views.

The ability to drape an image in GMS has been around since the early versions. However, you may not have had an opportunity to use it, or you simply missed hearing about it among all the other great things GMS does.

When not in plan view, an image can be draped on the top surface of a TIN, mesh, or grid. When this is done, the map image will remain visible even when rotating the display view. Some relationships between the surface texture and the shape of the terrain can become visible after the image has been draped over the terrain surface.

If you didn’t already know how to drape an image in GMS, or you want a refresher on how to do it, this is what you do:

Turn off Ortho Mode if it is active. Draping an image cannot be done using Ortho Mode.
Select and make active the map image you want to view. You can use any image file type that GMS can import.
Select a dataset under your grid, mesh, or TIN in the Project Explorer and make it active. A draped image is only applied to one dataset at a time.
Open the Display Options dialog.
Select the appropriate grid, mesh, or TIN display tab.
Turn on the Texture map image option.
Use the Rotate tool or any of the view options to see how the image mapped to the top surface of the geometry.

Here’s an example of how it will appear:

If desired, you can adjust the Lighting Options in GMS to make the features smoother or sharper.

Now that we’ve reviewed the steps, try draping images in GMS today using the GMS Community Edition.

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GMS

Exporting Raster and Vector KMZ Files

By aquaveo on April 25, 2018

Need to open your project data in Google Earth? GMS can do that by generating a KMZ file from your project data.

GMS allows creating either a raster KMZ file or a vector KMZ file.

Raster KMZ File

This option saves the project data as an image with georeferencing data. The data is clipped to match the current view in the Graphics Window.

To create the file:

Switch to Plan View.
Check that you are using geographic coordinates, otherwise it may be distorted.
Use the File | Save As command.
Set File of Type to be "Google Earth Raster KMZ File (*.kmz)".
Select the Options button to set the resolution.

When pulled into Google Earth, a raster KMZ will simply display the file data as an image over the georeferenced location.

Vector KMZ File

This option saves the project data as vector information. All visible data in the Graphics Window will be included. Points, lines, and polygons will be saved in the file along with the georeferenced data.

Switch to Plan View.
Use the File | Save As command.
Set File of Type to be "Google Earth Vector KMZ File (*.kmz)".

When imported into Google Earth, a vector KMZ will contain an image over the georeferenced location, along with a layers for any lines, points, or polygons contained in the file. These layers can be toggled on or off.