Aquaveo & Water Resources Engineering News

SMS allows having multiple simulations for the same project with models such as SRH-2D, ADCIRC, and STWAVE. Furthermore, SMS 13.0 lets you run and manage multiple simulations running at the same time using the new Simulation Run Queue dialog.

The Simulation Run Queue is a modeless dialog, meaning you can continue using SMS while simulations are running. Once a model run has started for a simulation, you are free to start building a new simulation, even one using the existing components. Completed runs may be visualized in SMS while additional runs are still in process.

Functionality

The new Simulation Run Queue dialog functions a little differently from the previous Model Wrapper dialog. Some of the changes include:

• You must click Load Solution to load the desired simulation solution into the project. This does not happen automatically when you click Close as it did before.
• If you try to run a simulation already in the queue, you will be prompted to remove the simulation from the run queue before it can be run again.
• If changing an active simulation’s settings, renaming the active simulation, or taking any action that affects a simulation currently in the queue, you will be asked to remove the simulation from the queue prior to making the changes.

Viewing Plots

With the Simulation Run Queue, diagnostic information—such as monitoring plots—can be displayed during model runs. By turn Monitoring Data off or on, you can watch command line results and residual plots.

Options also exist for changing which plots are displayed in the run queue. Selecting a simulation causes the Plot Options button to appear. In the Plot Options dialog, you can choose which plots to view. You can view Residuals, Monitor Points, and Monitor Lines, and change the options associated with each of these.

Now that you know a little more about the Simulation Run Queue dialog in SMS 13.0, try it out today!

Looking for a quick way to delineate a floodplain in your area? WMS provides a way to delineate a floodplain and create a flood impact map quickly, using many different types of data. This blog post will cover how to delineate a floodplain using scatter point data.

Start by opening your scatter point data:

1. Use the Flood | Read Stage File menu command to import your scatter point dataset. This is the recommended method for importing a scatter point set for using in delineating a floodplain.

Delineating the Floodplain

With the scatter point set imported, now delineate the floodplain.

1. Select Flood | Delineate menu command.
2. In the Floodplain Delineation dialog, choose the scatter point set you would like to model from the Select stage scatter point set drop-down menu.
3. Select the specific dataset you would like to delineate from the Select stage data set drop-down menu.
4. Set options for the Search radius, Flow path, and/or Quadrants depending on your individual model.
5. When done with the Floodplain Delineation dialog, the delineation process will begin for the set of water surface elevations selected.

In order to create a flood impact map, it will be necessary to have at least two different delineations using varying datasets. If you wish to go on to create a flood impact map, repeat steps 1-5 with a different dataset to obtain a new floodplain delineation.

Creating a Flood Impact Map

WMS can use two separate floodplain delineations to generate a flood impact coverage. A flood impact coverage shows the difference between two flood depth or water level sets. The differences are divided into ranges or classes. Using the floodplains delineated in the previous steps, we’ll create a flood impact map. This can be used to compare how an area will react to a proposed levee for example.

1. Select Flood | Conversion | Flood → Impact Map menu command.
2. Choose the Original dataset based off your previous delineations.
3. Choose your Modified dataset based off your previous delineations as well.
4. Set the Increase and Decrease sections as desired.

Now that the flood impact map is created, you can use the Select Feature Polygon tool to double click on any of the polygons in the map. This will show you the Flood Extent Attributes dialog, which displays info such as the amount of change between the compared datasets as well as the impact class ID and name.

So this a brief overview of floodplain delineation from a scatter point file using WMS. Try it out in WMS today!

In 2018, USGS released MODFLOW 6. This version of MODFLOW uses object-oriented programming to provide support for multiple models within the same simulation. Like many of you, we at Aquaveo were excited to see this new development and started on working on ways for GMS to interface with this new version of MODFLOW.

Did you know that with GMS 10.4 you can export your MODFLOW project for use with MODFLOW 6? This allows you to convert your older or current GMS projects for use with MODFLOW 6. This is just one of the new features in GMS 10.4.

Support has also been added to run MODFLOW 6 from GMS and read the head and flow outputs which may be contoured.

The general workflow process for saving, running, and importing the MODFLOW 6 files is as follows:

1. After building your MODFLOW model, open the MODFLOW Global/Basic Package dialog.

2. In the dialog, turn on the Save MODFLOW 6 copy option under the MODFLOW Version section.
3. Save your project.
4. Open MODFLOW | Advanced | Run MODFLOW Dialog... to run the MODFLOW 6 files.
5. Use the Custom MODFLOW option to point to the mf6.exe executable in program files (e.g., C:\Program Files\GMS 10.4 64-bit\models\mf6\mf6.exe).
6. Browse to and select the NAM file out of the *_MODFLOW_mf6 folder that will have saved in the same directory as your GMS project. This is not the default, so you will need to browse for it at least the first time.
7. Run MODFLOW.
8. Use MODFLOW | Read Solution to select the MFN file out of the *_MODFLOW_mf6 folder.

The exported files can also be used directly in MODFLOW 6.

In the future, we plan to add more MODFLOW 6 functionality to GMS including a full interface. For now, get ready by converting your projects to MODFLOW 6 using GMS 10.4.

With WMS there is no need to sit and calculate your channel properties by hand, you can use the Channel Calculator to help you obtain the hydraulic data you need. The Channel Calculator, a function of the Hydraulic Toolbox, has the ability to give values for flow, depth, area of flow, wetted perimeter, hydraulic radius, average velocity and so much more. Even better, the Channel Calculator only requires some basic cross-section data including the slope and either the flow or depth of the channel.

This blog post will cover how to compute depths for your channels, which can be used to create floodplain delineation maps, and also how to generate rating curves for your channels, which can be used for things such as predictions. To get started, make sure you have cross-section arcs and river centerlines in your model.

To Compute Depths:

The Channel Calculator is a good tool for approximating channel flows or flow depths. Given a flow rate, the Calculator can compute a flow depth, and vice versa.

1. In the Hydrologic Modeling Module, select Calculators | Channels to open the Channel Calculations dialog.
2. Toggle on the Use Cross-Section Database option to enable the ability to import existing cross-section data.
3. Click the Select Cross Section button to bring up the Assign Cross-Section dialog.
4. Select your cross-section file along with the cross-section you would like to work with.

The cross section displays in the small graphics window of the Channel Calculations dialog. Adjust the Z scale using the drop-down menu to better visualize the cross section. With the cross section selected, set the necessary parameters to perform calculations for depths.

1. Click the Launch Channel Calculator button to open the Channel Analysis dialog.
2. Enter a value for Longitudinal slope. This is an estimate for the ground slope in the vicinity of your cross-section.
3. Enter a value for the Flow or the Depth depending on which values you have and which ones you are trying to find.
4. Select the Calculate button. This will populate the right-side of the dialog with hydraulic values calculated for the cross-section.
5. Select the Create Stage Point button in the Channel Calculations dialog to create a stage point based off the values computed in the channel calculator. This is useful if you are planning to use the depths to delineate a floodplain later on.

To Generate a Rating Curve:

The Channel Calculator can also be used to create different rating curves, to be used to calculate things such as storage potential.

1. Click on the Launch Channel Calculator button to open the Channel Analysis dialog.
2. Select the Compute Curves button to open the Curve Selection dialog.

The default is to create a rating curve for the entered flow vs. depth for the selected cross section, but it’s possible to also create curves for all of the other options listed.

1. When exiting the Curve Selection dialog, the selected rating curves are generated and the plot shouldappear.
2. If you double-click in the rating curve plot window a dialog will appear that presents many different options for how you can use the rating curve, including an option to export the curve in a chosen format.

As you can see, with just a few steps, you can obtain the hydraulic data you need for your channels in WMS. Try it out today!