How Much Can You Learn From a Home DNA Test?

How much does your DNA determine your future? Our reporter has her DNA analyzed by three different labs, and shares every detail of the results... as well as how she copes with them.

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EMC Washoff in SWMM5

There are four steps to using EMC concentrations in your network:

1. Define your pollutant by adding a pollutant using the Data=>Quality=>Pollutant command:

2. Define the Land Use by using the Data=>Land Uses command or the Land Use Editor:

3. Define Buildup to be None by clicking on the None Tab:

4. Define the EMC Washoff concentration by clicking on the Washoff Tab:

This is where you would add a GW concentration

More: http://www.swmm2000.com/

Hurricane Dennis Tampa 2005

 

 

 

 

Papaya Bugs and Gators

Papaya Bugs and Gators in the Backyard

A bug on our backyard Papaya trees. The papaya trees survived but the frost of January 2008 killed many of the trees. They are growing back, however.

PuddleBlog

PuddleBlog is the image history of one small to large puddle on an American Street:

What is Puddleblog, you ask? Puddleblog chronicles the epic journey of one puddle, bracing for an uncertain future.

It’s a blog. You know, for a puddle. Specifically, the puddle that graces the corner of Jay and Plymouth, a couple blocks east of the Manhattan Bridge. Maybe if this thing catches on we can think about including other qualified puddles.

www.swmm5.info

Note www.swmm5.info now forwards to www.swmm2000.com which forwards to swmm2000.ning.com one of the wonderful Ning social network sites.

SWMM 3,4 to 5 Converter Interface

SWMM 3,4 to 5 Converter Interface
The SWMM 3 and SWMM 4 converter can convert up to two files at one time to SWMM 5. Typically you would convert a Runoff and Transport file to SWMM 5 or a Runoff and Extran File to SWMM 5. If you have a combination of a SWMM 4 Runoff, Transport and Extran network then you will have to convert it in pieces and copy and past the two data sets together to make one SWMM 5 data set.

The x,y coordinate file is only necessary if you do not have existing x, y coordinates on the D1 line of the SWMM 4 Extran input data set.



You can use the command File=>Define Ini File to define the location of the ini file. The ini file will save your conversion project input data files and directories.



You can use the command File=>Define Your Text Editor to define the location of the text editor program. The ini file will save your conversion project editor name.



You can get a copy of the latest SWMM 3,4 to 5 Converter Here..

Hydrology in Ecclesiastes

Hydrology in Ecclesiastes

1:5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

1:6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north;
it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according
to his circuits.

1:7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the
place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

Note: This was a better description than in Aristotle.

Hurricane Ivan in Pittsburgh, 2004

Pittsburgh

 International Airport recorded the highest 24-hour rainfall for Pittsburgh, recording 5.95 in. of rain. NWS Pittsburgh Climate Data, August, 2004." Hourly Climate Data. Pittsburgh, PA. 21 June 2006. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/pbz/hourlyclimate.htm

Spatial Step in SWMM 5

SWMM 3,4,5 uses a spatial step equal to the length of the link. Or, in terms of the 1D St. Venant Equation for the calculation of flow used in SWMM 5:






In which is the length of the conduit.



The program will calculate the cross sectional area, hydraulic radius top width and depth at the upstream, midpoint and downstream sections of the link. The link solution is pivoted on the midpoint cross sectional area in the dominant dynamic wave terms and

and the non-linear term in the dynamic wave equation uses the upstream and downstream link cross sectional areas. In the finite difference equation in SWMM 5 the pipe shown below would have one length but use the cross sectional information from the upstream, midpoint and downstream points of the link.

The bend in the pipe would be modeled using the "other" category of losses

SWMM 5 Tools

In the newest version of EPA SWMM (5.0.1.11), there is a new feature of allowing for Add-ins and third-party tools. One such Add-in, the Microsoft Excel, can be very helpful for input data editing and model calibration.

1. To activate the Add-in
This process is detailed in pp. 141 of the EPA SWMM manual (http://www.epa.gov/ednnrmrl/models/swmm ... manual.pdf). Basically the user needs to go to "Tools->Program Preferences->Configure Tools" on SWMM main menu. Then in the pop-up "Tool Options" menu choose "Add." A "Tool Properties" window will pop-up, and the user can assign a name to the Excel Add-in for the "Name" field. For the "Program" field, the user needs to navigate to the location of the Excel executable file at "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Excel.exe" (the file path may vary). Leave the "Working Directory" field as blank, and choose "INPFILE" macro for the "Parameters" field. Check both "Disable SWMM while executing" and "Update SWMM after closing."

After the above is set up, click OK and the Excel Add-in is registered in SWMM5. The Add-in tool is under the "Tools" menu. One important thing now is to go to "Tools->Program Preferences," and in the pop-up window check "Tab Delimited Project File."

2. Use the Excel Add-in
The SWMM5 input file by default is a tab-delimited .txt file. The user can view the file using Wordpad, but the editing is not very convenient, especially when it comes to calibration for a watershed with large number of subbasins. The Excel Add-in provides great relief for such operations.

Create a simple watershed model in SWMM, and then go to "Tools->Excel Editor (or whatever the user names the Add-in)." The input file for the watershed model is then displayed in tab-delimited format in Excel. In this environment, the user can edit the input data much easier (as compared to double-click each model component and key in the values in the Graphic User Interface). This becomes more apparent when the number of subbasins increases. When the editing is finished, close the Excel program, and then click "YES" or "OK" to all the pop-up windows. After that, the SWMM model interface pops back and the input parameters are updated.

So with this knowledge the model setup process can be much easier. In the initial model setup, the user may not bother to input any parameter values (i.e. subbasin area, width, slope, etc.). Instead, the model can be delineated and all components represented. Then the user can open the "Excel Editor" and copy/paste the model parameter values from another table of pre-created input parameter values (which is always the case). This process will totally by-pass the manually key-in of parameter values.

The second case of this feature applies is the model calibration. In a traditional way, suppose the user needs to change the value of depression storage for the impervious area. That means for a 30-subbasin watershed, the user needs to roam around the watershed and double-click 30 times to finish that single parameter change. Imagine if it takes five times to find the best value for that single parameter. With this feature, the user can open up the input file, set a depression storage value for the first subbasin, and then drag down for all the other 29 subbasins. Close Excel and go back to SWMM, and the updated model can be ran immediately.

Source: http://ceeforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=256&p=582#p582

Global Rainfall

QA/QC Version of SWMM 5

This is my explanation of the comments on on the blog http://hhwq.blogspot.com about the CDM version of SWMM 5. It was purely a QA/QC testing program used in the code and data set migration of SWMM 4 to SWMM 5 during the years 2004 to 2007.

CDM version of SWMM5

CDM makes available their version version of SWMM5 for download and use. There's a few more options and the GUI element edit boxes have a lot more variable options. Otherwise, it looks, feels, and acts like the EPA version (from what I've have discerned).

http://groups.google.com/group/swmm5

4 comments:

Robert said...

This version is a QA/QC version of SWMM 5 that was used to more closely compare the SWMM 4 to SWMM 5 results using extra data variables.

April 19, 2008 8:35 PM

Robert said...

It should not be used for modeling. You should use the EPA SWMM Web site to download the latest EPA SWMM version:

http://www.epa.gov/ednnrmrl/models/swmm/index.htm

April 19, 2008 8:36 PM

EPA SWMM 5 Calibration Files

The EPA SWMM 5 calibration file is only for comparing the following 12 internal variables graphically to either SWMM 4 results, monitored data or some other model results:

1. 

1. Subcatchment Runoff
2. Subcatchment Washoff
3. Node Water Depth
4. Link Flow Rate
5. Node Water Quality
6. Node Lateral Inflow
7. Node Flooding
8. Groundwater Flow
9. Groundwater Elevation
10. Snow Pack Depth
11. Link Flow Depth
12. Link Flow Velocity

The graph on your SWMM 5 screen can be saved either to the clipboard or an external file for further manipulation of the computed and observed (calibration file data) by using the commands

Edit->Copy To=>Clipboard=>Text or

Edit->Copy To=>File=>Text

Just remember that the computed variable value comes first in the text followed by the observed variable value. For example:

Link 1030 Flow
Series Elapsed Time (hours) Flow CFS
Computed 0.1667 0.0000
.
.
Observed 0.0167 0.0000

The Joys Of Non-Driving

Andrew Sullivan - SWMM 2008 - Stormwater Management Model

The Joys Of Non-Driving

22 Jun 2008 09:33 pm

It proves I'm not an American, I guess, but I still don't know how to drive, don't have a license and have managed to get to the age of 44 without missing one. Yes, the husband has to drive us all the way to Ptown each summer, but once I get here, even more than when I'm in DC, this sentiment by C.S. Lewis rings all the more true:

I number it among my blessings that my father had no car, while yet most of my friends had, and sometimes took me for a drive. This meant that all these distant objects could be visited just enough to clothe them with memories and not impossible desires, while yet they remained ordinarily as inaccessible as the Moon. The deadly power of rushing about wherever I pleased had not been given me. I measured distance by the standard of man, man walking on his two feet, not by the standard of the internal combustion engine. I had not been allowed to deflower the very idea of distance; in return I possessed "infinite riches" in what would have been to motorists "a little room."

The truest and most horrible claim made for modern transport is that it "annihilates space." It does. It annihilates one of the most glorious gifts we have been given. It is a vile inflation which lowers the value of distance, so that a modern boy travels a hundred miles with less sense of liberation and pilgrimage and adventure than his grandfather got from traveling ten. Of course if a man hates space and wants it to be annihilated, that is another matter. Why not creep into his coffin at once? There is little enough space there.

$4 gas? Maybe it will be good for us.

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Data Set Backwards Compatibility

The SWMM 5 data input files are not backwards compatible with previous versions of SWMM - you cannot open a file created in v13 with a v11 GUI without getting messages about Options or features present in v13 but not present in v11. Not everyone looks at the C code but the new options are listed in the file enums.h with a version notation:

SKIP_STEADY_STATE, TEMPDIR, IGNORE_RAINFALL, //(5.0.010 - LR)
FORCE_MAIN_EQN, LINK_OFFSETS, //(5.0.012 - LR)

The good feature about this message is that it tells you what MAY be different between the two SWMM versions. For example, if you used Link Offsets in v13 then you will not have a valid model in SWMM 5.0.011. However, if you are not using a new option in SWMM 5.0.013 then you will have a valid backwards compatible SWMM 5.0.011 input data set.

SWMM 5 GUI Compile Options

These are the Delphi 7 options that should be used to prevent the integer overflow problem from occurring when using the Zoom command. Overflow checking and any Debugging options seem to be the cause of the integer overflow problem.

A charming little rain garden shines on Mt. Washington

Source: http://www.popcitymedia.com/timnews/raingarden0521.aspx

May 21, 2008

A charming little rain garden shines on Mt. Washington

A lovely little rain garden has showered a once blighted corner on Mt. Washington, a splash of green that its creators’ hope may become a catalyst for sprinkling similar projects around Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh’s Burt Hill dreamed up the idea pro bono as a way to expand the firm’s professional knowledge and investigate emerging environmental technologies for urban water runoff, explains Evaine Sing, graduate landscape architect. The project has become a labor of love on a 2,000 square foot parklet on the corner of Shiloh Street and Virginia Avenue.
Mt. Washington Community Development Corp., URA Mainstreets Pittsburgh Fund and Pittsburgh Public Works have assisted along the way and $10,000, labor and material donations were contributed by community members and local businesses including Shemin Nurseries and KMA/Landscape Forms.
“We wanted a project of our own that would work as a test kitchen for other projects and be a living example for our clients,” explains Sing. “We choose this site across from the CDC because we saw the potential for educating passersby on these sustainable methods.”
The park was subdivided into small ecosystems and plants were selected for their ability to absorb water and pollutants during rainstorms. Bioretention beds and vegetated swales will allow the garden to drain within 2 days, helping to absorb and prevent storm water runoff, explains Sing.
Other touches will include lighting, a plaza space, benches, stepping stones made from the recycled pavers, an electrical outlet for future concerts and a mural that will be created by Cory Bonnet.
“We’d love to see this kind of space happen more often in Pittsburgh, like 10,000 Rain Gardens in Kansas City, which has had an amazing impact on water quality and flooding,” adds Sing. “We hope the idea will spread.”
Writer: Debra Smit
Source: Evaine Sing, Burt Hill; Greg Panza, MWCDC

Image courtesy Burt Hill

SWMM History