Aquaveo & Water Resources Engineering News

Exploring the Drawing Tools in WMS

By aquaveo on January 10, 2023

When presenting a model in the Watershed Modeling System (WMS), you may need to clearly label locations or structures in your watershed model. For example, you may need a graphic with the names of your watershed branches clearly labeled. The Drawing Tools WMS provides a way to clearly annotate your watershed model. This blog post will cover some of the options and uses for these Drawing Tools.

Example of a drawing objects in WMS

The Drawing Tools contain options to draw objects including lines, rectangles, ovals, and text. When using the object creation tools, WMS provides attributes for changing the drawn object. Using the Select Drawing Object tool, you can double-click on a drawn object to pull-up the attribute options for the object. This includes options to change the line width, color, fill, arrows, and fonts.

It's important to note that drawing objects are layered. The first object you create will be below the next object you create. If you need to change how the objects are layered, the Drawing Tools contain tools for moving the objects forward or backward. To do this, select the object, then use the Move to Back, Move to Front, Shuffle Up, or Shuffle Down options to move the object.

You have the option to set a depth for the objects when creating new drawing objects. This depth is based on the project projection. Using the Drawing Depths command in the Drawing Objects menu, you can set a depth for the object you create. This can help make certain the drawing objects are above the grid, feature objects, or other items in the project.

It is important to note that the drawing objects are attached to the project projections. This means that drawing objects will stay fixed to the location of the model coordinates, not the Graphic Window position. This allows you to pan or zoom around your model and the drawing objects will stay fixed to the model location.

The drawing tools will be included when saving an image of the Main Graphics Window. This allows saving an image with annotations for use in presentation materials. To do this, use the Save As command and select the JPEG Image option for the file output.

The Drawing Tools are one of the options provided by WMS to let you make clear presentations for your watershed models. Try out the Drawing Tools in WMS today!

Blog tags: 
WMS

Working with Functional Surfaces for UGrids in SMS

By aquaveo on January 3, 2023

The functional surface option in SMS allows viewing data above a geometry. It has been an option in the 2D Mesh module. The functional surface option has been added for unstructured grids (UGrids) in the UGrid module starting with SMS 13.2. This post will give some guidance and tips for using functional surfaces with UGrids.

Example of a functional surface on a UGrid

Functional surfaces use any dataset as the elevation value for the surface. One of their most common uses is as a representation of the surface of the water above a UGrid. For example, the ocean’s surface in a CGWAVE model. However, functional surfaces can use any scalar dataset to inform the elevations.

A UGrid functional surface gets created by the New Functional Surface UGrid right-click command in the Project Explorer. Once created, right-click on the newly created functional surface to edit the display options. The Functional Surface Options dialog allows you to fine tune the display of your UGrid functional surface. Furthermore, selecting Other Display Options brings up UGrid-style display options.

Once you've set up your functional surface, you may need to make adjustments. Here are some tips on adjusting your functional surface displays depending on your situation:

  • If your dataset has large numbers, your functional surface might be very tall. To temper that effect, you could set the functional surface Z Magnification between 0 and 1.
  • If your dataset has very small numbers, your functional surface might appear completely flat. To more clearly see the rise and fall of the data values, set the Z Magnification to a value greater than 1.
  • If your functional surface is intersecting the UGrid, and you don't want it to, adjust the Elevation Z Offset.
  • If you want to add contours to your functional surface, click Other Display Options and turn on Face contours. Then click Contours to open the Contour Options.
  • If you still want to be able to see the UGrid through the functional surface, adjust the transparency. If you're using contours for the functional surface, you'll need to adjust the transparency in the Contour Options dialog.
  • If you want the functional surface to reference a specific dataset for its elevation, specify a User defined dataset.

Try out functional surfaces with UGrids in SMS today!

Blog tags: 
SMS

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