Aquaveo & Water Resources Engineering News

Aquaveo was recently given the opportunity by NASA SERVIR to develop a training course involving the Tethys Platform. NASA SERVIR is a joint venture between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

SERVIR works to provide better informative forecasts regarding the risks of floods as well as an outline of what happens after the devastation of flooding in an area. Thus, it was exciting to participate in furthering their mission to provide state-of-the-art, satellite-based, and Earth monitoring data.

In partnership with NASA SERVIR, Aquaveo led in developing and delivering training courses on app development through the use of the Tethys Platform. The Tethys Platform provides a suite of free software which helps in creating water resource applications. Due to the unique system Tethys uses, less code and written HTML is needed for the development of applications. These are just a couple of things that make the Tethys Platform a useful resource for web developers.

From February 24th to the 28th, twenty-one individuals from Ghana, Senegal, Nepal, Columbia, Peru, USA, and Kenya traveled to the SERVIR Eastern and Southern Africa Hub at the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), located in Naribi, Kenya to attend both a communicative and individualized training.

The Regional Centre For Mapping Resource For Development has been dedicated to promoting sustainability through the use of GEO-information. Their aid in supplying tools and space for Aquaveo to lead a training on the Tethys Platform was another step toward promoting sustainable development world wide. After four days of training, each participant left with even more knowledge on app development and will in turn further the progress in the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development's (RCMRD's) mission.

The majority of the training focused showing how to develop applications using the Tethys Platform. Each contributor also took part in a more individualized training where one of the four training days was entirely dedicated toward working on and receiving help with their own personal projects. Aquaveo enjoyed the time spent working with these amazing participants and can’t wait to do it again.

Two additional training courses will be provided by Aquaveo within the year. We have the opportunity to meet more participants and lead a training in the areas of Kathmandu, Nepal and Huntsville, Alabama.

Experience learning more about Tethys Platform app development and keep an eye out for more details about future training courses!

The Data Calculator in GMS is a powerful tool that allows you to generate new datasets from existing data.

The Data Calculator can be used to to create datasets that show:

• The difference between model runs
• The minimum or maximum of two datasets
• An aquifer's water level
• And many other applications

To help you get the most out of the Data Calculator, here are some tips for using this tool.

Datasets can be added to the expression by either double-clicking the dataset in the Dataset section of the calculator, or selecting the dataset and using the Add to Expression button. Make certain you are selecting the correct dataset before adding it to the expression.

When adding operators to the expression, be careful. Double-clicking the operator buttons will enter the operator into the expression twice. If this happens, be sure to delete the additional operator before computing the dataset.

Review datasets before using them in the Data Calculator. This can be done before starting the Data Calculator by using any of the available tools in GMS. Once in the Data Calculator, you can review datasets by selecting the dataset and clicking the Dataset Info button.

When adding a dataset to the calculation, either specific time steps can be used or all time steps can be used. When using specific time steps, select the desired time steps before adding the dataset to the equation, or enter the dataset number followed by a colon and the number of the time step.

Using a specific time step is the default option. To use all the time steps, select Use all time steps before adding the dataset to the expression, or enter the dataset number followed by a colon and the word "all".

Now that you know a little more about the Data Calculator, try it out with your projects in GMS today!

The Dataset Toolbox in SMS allows viewing your data in many different ways, while also being used to modify and create new datasets from already existing datasets. The different tools in the toolbox each use a specific set of functions to modify selected datasets.

One tool in the Dataset Toolbox that can prove to be helpful is the Filter tool. This tool creates a new dataset based on the selected filtering criteria.

For example, say you are filtering your numeric model output to show depths between the minimum and maximum depth, then you wish to filter the depth data for velocity between minimum and maximum range. This tool could help to show how a fish habitat changes over time or for any other purpose you can think of.

There may be multiple ways to accomplish this task, but one method would be to filter the velocity dataset to the desired range and then map that activity to the depth dataset. Using this example, you could do the following:

1. Open the Dataset Toolbox.
2. Select the Filter tool.
3. Use the tool to filter the Velocity Mag dataset to the desired range and apply NULL outside the range.

The Map Activity tool is another tool that can be helpful. This tool maps the activity from one dataset to a second dataset. It helps show only the values of interest on a particular dataset. To continue the previous example:

1. Select the Map Activity tool in the Dataset Toolbox.
2. Using the dataset created in the previous steps, map the activity from the new dataset to the depth dataset (Value Dataset).

The new dataset will appear in the Project Explorer, showing the values of interest. If the dataset is a transient then a film loop could be made, showing how it changes over time.

The Filter and Map Activity tools are only two of many tools available in SMS’s Dataset Toolbox. Try out these tools and others in SMS today!

Are you needing to capture a screenshot of your WMS model? Fortunately, there are multiple ways to get a screenshot from WMS. This blog article will discuss four methods for using screen capture in WMS; two that use built-in Microsoft Windows capabilities and two that make use of the innate capacity of WMS.

Windows Methods

Microsoft Windows has a couple of innate methods for making a screen capture. One way is to use the Print Screen command found on the keyboard. This command will copy an image of the WMS screen into the computer's memory where the image can later be pasted into another program. Holding down the Alt key while using the Print Screen command method will limit the image to just the WMS interface if it is in the active window. This method, however, has one disadvantage considering that the captured image often needs editing.

Another method is to use the Snip tool. This tool initiates dragging a rectangle around the WMS interface. Like the Print Screen key, this saves the image in your computer’s memory which later needs to be pasted into a seperate program. This method has the advantage of allowing you to get a cropped version of the image.

Neither of the screen capture methods using the native Windows tools directly results in a usable image file.

WMS Methods

Using the WMS screen capture methods, a usable image file can be easily obtained. The Save As command and the Screen Capture command both create an image file that contains exactly what is displayed in the Graphics Window at the time the file is saved. This can help avoid having to copy and edit the image in a graphics software program.

To use the Save as command, go to File | Save As. In the Save As dialog, change the file type to be "JPEG Image File (*.jpg, *.jpeg)".

To use the Screen Capture command, make the GIS module active. Use the Image | Screen Capture command. In the save dialog that appears, save out the screen capture as a bitmap image.

Try out the screen capture capabilities of WMS today!