Sunday, December 21, 2008

SWMM5 Normal Flow

Option "Define Supercritical Flow By" does inside the SWMM 5 engine. The options are called Slope, Froude and Bothin the GUI and in the engine of SWMM 5. A few other variable definitions you need to know to understand this explanation are: (1) Y1 for the upstream link depth, (2) Y2 for the downstream link depth, (3) Q for the flow in the link, (4)Qfull for the full Manning's equation flow or normal flow for the link based on the bed slope, (5) Froude1 and Froude2 for the Froude Number respectively of the upstream and downstream ends of the link, (6) n for Manning's roughness, (7) Yfull for the maximum depth of the link and (8) Qnormal for the Normal Flow equation flow based on the upstream area of the link (A1) and the upstream hydraulic radius (R1).

In the SWMM 5 engine these options are used after the dynamic wave equation flow is estimated using the St. Venant equation. The option that you choose is only active for those links that have a flow greater than 0, links with negative flow use the dynamic wave equation flow exclusively. It the flow is positive and the link is an open channel and full then the minimum of the dynamic wave flow or Qfull is used as the new flow in the link. If the flow is positive and the depth at the upstream end of the link or Y1 is less than Yfull then the engine will compare Qnormal to Q using the routines in Check Normal Flow.


If the link gets to the Check Normal Flow routines then it uses the following logic:

  • If the Slope or Both option is used or either the upstream node or the downstream node of the link is an outfall AND Y1 is less than Y2 then the minimum of Q from the dynamic wave equation or Q from the Normal Flow equation is used as the current iteration flow in link, or

  • If the Froude or Both option AND either the upstream Froude Number or the downstream Froude number is greater than 1 then the minimum of Q from the dynamic wave equation or Q from the Normal Flow equation is used as the current iteration flow in link. This condition is never used if either of the connecting nodes of the link are outfalls.



How does this work in the actual flow that SWMM 5 estimates for a link? Consider this example in which the link flow in blue is plotted with the Qnormal flow in red and the Q dynamic wave equation flow in purple:



Qnormal is







Qnormal is only calculated when the link is not full so in the plot a Qnormal of 0 means that the pipe was full. At other times the flow in the link was equal to Qnormal as the minimum of the dynamic equation flow or the Qnormal flow is used at each iteration in the solution process. The flow is normally bounded by the Qnormal flow in SWMM 5.0.013. Your choice of the options Slope, Froude andBoth really only impact the conditions under which this comparison is true. If you use Froude or Both then Supercritical flow at either end of the link will trigger this comparison will be the dynamic wave equation flow and the Froude number at each end of the link.



Smaller Storms Drop Larger Overall Rainfall In Hurricane Season

Smaller Storms Drop Larger Overall Rainfall In Hurricane Season

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2007) — Researchers have found that when residents of the U.S. southeastern states look skyward for rain to alleviate a long-term drought, they should be hoping for a tropical storm over a hurricane for more reasons than one. According to a new study using NASA satellite data, smaller tropical storms do more to alleviate droughts than hurricanes do over the course of a season by bringing greater cumulative rainfall.

A new study that provides insight into what kind of storms are best at tackling drought in the southeastern United States. The study focuses on a decade of first-ever daily rainfall measurements by a NASA satellite carrying a weather radar in space. The study's authors believe the same insights can be applied by meteorologists and public officials to other regions where daily satellite rainfall data and storm tracking data are available.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, meteorologist Marshall Shepherd, an associate professor of geography and atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia, Athens, and colleagues delved into the ongoing debate about whether global warming is leading to an increase in rainfall intensity. The researchers wanted to determine how much rainfall each type of cyclone, from tropical depressions to category five hurricanes, contributes to overall rainfall. They focused the study on the Southeast in the hope that results could be harnessed to improve drought relief information for the region. Their findings were published today in the American Geophysical Union's Geophysical Research Letters.

"As much of the Southeast experiences record drought, our findings indicate that weak tropical systems could significantly contribute to rainfall totals that can bring relief to the region," said Shepherd, lead author of the NASA-funded study. "These types of storms are significant rain producers. The larger hurricanes aren't frequent enough to produce most of the actual rain during the season and therefore are not the primary storm type that relieves drought in the region."

Shepherd created a new measurement method as an efficient way to get a real sense for how much rainfall each type of storm contributes in a given year around the coastal regions of the southeastern U.S. To do so, he had to distinguish an average rainfall day from an extreme rainfall day. Though data from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite could offer daily rainfall amounts, the data could not be used to set apart whether rainfall was average or extreme for any given day.

Shepherd and his team modeled their metric on the "cooling degree day" that energy companies use to relate daily temperature to energy needs for air conditioning. A cooling degree day is found by subtracting 65 degrees from the average daily temperature. Values larger than zero give some indication whether a day was abnormally warm. Shepherd used daily rainfall data from TRMM to determine 28.9 as the base value of average daily rainfall at one of the world's wettest locations, Maui's Mount Wailea in Hawaii.

In the same way as the cooling degree day, the "millimeter day" metric is calculated by subtracting 28.9 millimeters from the average daily rainfall in each of four ocean basins along coastal areas scattered across the south near Houston and New Orleans, east of Miami and south of North Carolina. Values greater than zero indicate a so-called "wet millimeter day" of extreme rainfall.

Using daily rainfall data from the TRMM satellite from 1998-2006, Shepherd's team compared the amount of rain that fell in the basins on extreme rainfall days with the location of tropical storms from the National Hurricane Center's storm tracking database to determine how many extreme rainfall days were associated with a particular type of tropical storm.

The team found that the most extreme rainfall days occurred in September and October, two of the busiest months of the Atlantic hurricane season. They also found that though major hurricanes produced the heaviest rainfall on any given day, the smaller tropical storms and depressions collectively produced the most rainfall over the entire season. Over half of the rainfall during the hurricane season attributed to cyclones of any type came from weaker tropical depressions and storms, compared to 27 percent from category 3-5 hurricanes.

TRMM has transformed the way researchers like Shepherd measure rainfall by providing day-to-day information that did not exist before the satellite's 1997 launch. "Though we've had monthly rainfall data available since 1979 from other sources, it's the daily rainfall data that allows us to see that tropical storm days contributed most significantly to cumulative rainfall for the season due to how frequently that kind of storm occurs," said Shepherd.

"It's important in the future to build a longer record of daily rainfall to establish, with better confidence, whether trends are occurring," said Shepherd. "This study sets the stage for us to understand how much rainfall weak and strong tropical cyclones contribute annually and whether this contribution is trending upward in response to global warming-fueled growth in tropical cyclones."

Shepherd believes advances that will improve study of cyclones and rainfall are "just around the corner" with NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement satellite, scheduled for launch in 2013. An extension of TRMM's capabilities, it will measure precipitation at higher latitudes, the actual size of snow and rain particles, and distinguish between rain and snow.
Adapted from materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Email or share this story:
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
APA

MLA
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (2007, December 11). Smaller Storms Drop Larger Overall Rainfall In Hurricane Season. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 27, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/12/071210104022.htm

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Sunday, November 30, 2008

How to Make an InfoSWMM model from the DBF Files

Follow the following steps to create MY .MXD file.

1) Open an empty InfoSWMM project. Do not initialize it.

2) Save the project as MY .MXD within the folder where you have MY. ISDB

3) Initialize the project.

4) Click the reset Display button

That should create the project for you.  If you want an H2OMAP SWMM project, you can save the InfoSWMM model, and then Import it from H2OMAP SWMM.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Force Main Transition in SWMM 5

Force Main Transition between Partial and Full Flow

1. If the force main is full then the program will use either Hazen-Willams or Darcy-Weisbach to calculate the friction loss (term dq1),

2. If the force main is NOT full then the program will use Manning's Equation.


// --- compute terms of momentum eqn.:
// --- 1. friction slope term
if ( xsect->type == FORCE_MAIN && isFull )
dq1 = dt * forcemain_getFricSlope(j, fabs(v), rMid);
else dq1 = dt * Conduit[k].roughFactor / pow(rWtd, 1.33333) * fabs(v);

double forcemain_getFricSlope(int j, double v, double hrad)
//
// Input: j = link index
// v = flow velocity (ft/sec)
// hrad = hydraulic radius (ft)
// Output: returns a force main pipe's friction slope
// Purpose: computes the headloss per unit length used in dynamic wave
// flow routing for a pressurized force main using either the
// Hazen-Williams or Darcy-Weisbach flow equations.
// Note: the pipe's roughness factor was saved in xsect.sBot in
// conduit_validate() in LINK.C.
//
{
double re, f;
TXsect xsect = Link[j].xsect;
switch ( ForceMainEqn )
{
case H_W:
return xsect.sBot * pow(v, 0.852) / pow(hrad, 1.1667); //(5.0.012 - LR)
case D_W:
re = forcemain_getReynolds(v, hrad);
f = forcemain_getFricFactor(xsect.rBot, hrad, re);
return f * xsect.sBot * v / hrad;
}
return 0.0;
}

Friday, October 10, 2008

SCS Rainfall Distributions and Design Storms

SCS Rainfall Distributions for H20MAP and InfoSWMM

The base file has a 24 hyetograph for SCS Type 1A and SCS Type 2 distrubutions. The total of the rainfall is 1 inch and to make a 25 year or 50 year storm you follow these steps:

1. Clone the rainfall time series and

2. Use the Field Calculator in DB Edit to change the total rainfall by using the operand in the Field Calculator dialog. For example, the picture shown below will make a 10 inch 24 hour rainfall in the new time series.

You will end up with two series: (1) the base 1 inch hyetograph and (2) the new design storm of 10 inches.








Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Saturday, September 20, 2008

H2OMAP and InfoSWMM Sediment Transport Modeling


H2OMAP SWMM and InfoSWMM Sediment Transport Modeling

Sanitary and combined sewer systems can carry substantial loads of suspended solids (waste solids) which can accumulate and cause blockages thereby impairing the hydraulic capacity of the sewer pipes (by restricting their flow area and increasing the bed friction resistance). H2OMAP SWMM and InfoSWMM can simulate the transport and gravitational settling of (total suspended solids including grit) over time throughout the sewer collection system under varying hydraulic conditions. As long as flow velocity exceeds the critical/terminal velocity, H2OMAP SWMM and InfoSWMM assumes that the sewage flow has the capacity to transport all incoming . Deposited  particles are also assumed to be scoured and transported downstream when velocity of the sewage flow exceeds the terminal velocity. Settling starts when flow velocity falls below the critical velocity. In the model, transport of thet particles is governed by advection implying that the particles are transported at local flow velocity. 

The sediment transport modeling using H2OMAP SWMM and InfoSWMM  requires only few inputs, namely limiting flow velocity, particle settling velocity, and source node(s) and initial concentrations (in mg/l) at the source nodes. 

In order to specify the first two inputs (i.e., limiting flow velocity and particle settling velocity), the user should first select from the quality tab which in turn activates the editing tabs for particle settling velocity and limiting flow velocity. Specification of source node(s) and its/their initial concentration is similar to the method described above in relation to pollutant transport. The default values used by the model for limiting flow velocity and particle settling velocity are 2 ft/s and 0.1 ft/s, respectively.  User specified values over rid these default figures .
H2OMAP SWMM and InfoSWMM  deposition (in kg)  in pipes and  concentration (in mg/l) at manholes,  wet wells, and outlets are the outputs reported following successful simulation of  transport for a collection system.


Modified Basket Handle Cross Section Warnings

There is a rule in SWMM 5 that the depth cannot be less than half the bottom width for a modified basket handle(see below).  You always have to have a maximum depth less than 50 percent or 1/1 of the bottom width,  If you do not meet this criterion then the program will generate an invalid number warning.  This is the code from xsect.c that checks the validity of the cross section data:

    case MOD_BASKET:
        if ( p[1] <= 0.0 || p[0] <>
        xsect->yFull = p[0]/ucf;
        xsect->wMax  = p[1]/ucf;

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Wave Of Sewage Flows Toward Tampa Bay

Wave Of Sewage Flows Toward Bay

Tribune photo by CANDACE C. MUNDY
Workers with Spectrum Underground Inc. work to repair a 20-inch sewage pipeline which broke in Town 'N Country this afternoon.
Published: September 13, 2008
TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Approximately 200,000 gallons of untreated sewage spilled into Sweetwater Creek on Friday afternoon, prompting a warning to residents along the creek to avoid the water, Hillsborough County officials said.
The spill occurred along Comanche Avenue just east of Hanley Road when a 20-inch sewage pipeline ruptured. The break was at a connection point to a section that had been replaced about eight weeks ago, officials said.
Because the work had been done so recently, it was under warranty, and the original contractor returned to fix the break, said Bill Bozeman, project manager for the county's water resource services. Bozeman did not know what caused it.
The fracture, reported by a passer-by at about 12:45 p.m., caused sewage to spill onto Hanley Road and ooze down Comanche toward the creek. The flow was contained two hours later. After five hours, a cloud of sewage still fogged the water along one of the creek's banks.
The section of Comanche where the spill occurred is home to a couple of businesses and a small strip of offices under construction. A narrow bridge over Sweetwater Creek leads to a neighborhood and to Sweetwater Organic Community Farm.
The farm does not rely on the creek for irrigation and the creek in that section is too shallow and choked with overgrowth in places for kayaking or swimming. County workers posted signs in English and Spanish notifying visitors of high bacterial levels and a health risk, telling them not to swim, wade or fish in the water.
Residents along the creek, which flows south to the Courtney Campbell Parkway area, are urged not to have any contact with the water for the next several days in the creek or the area where it flows into Tampa Bay.
While the contractor worked to repair the pipe, the county diverted the flow from nearby lift stations that serve the areas into tanker trucks.
The spill did not affect home use of water, Bozeman said.
The Water Resource Services staff will notify local and state environmental agencies, take samples and monitor the area where the spill occurred.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Manual de SWMM 5 en espanol

SWMM 5 View Variables


SWMM 5 View Variables


There are four types of graphical variables in SWMM 5: (1) Subcatchements, (2) System, (3) Nodes and (4) Links.  The SWMM 5 Hydrology binary graphics file consists of 21 view variables for each subcatcment simulation in SWMM 5.  The variables are:
    
Subcatchment Variables Description
      SUBCATCH_RAINFALL  rainfall intensity
      SUBCATCH_SNOWFALL snowfall intensity
      SUBCATCH_RUNOFF total runoff flow rate
      SUBCATCH_RUNOFF_IMPZero runoff flow rate from zero imp area feb 2007
      SUBCATCH_RUNOFF_IMP runoff flow rate from imp area feb 2007
      SUBCATCH_RUNOFF_Pervious runoff flow rate from pervious area feb 2007
      SUBCATCH_LOSSES total losses (infil)
      SUBCATCH_EVAP watershed evaporation loss
      SUBCATCH_DEPTH watershed depth
      SUBCATCH_GW_FLOW groundwater flow rate to node
      SUBCATCH_GW_FLOW_A1 groundwater flow rate to node
      SUBCATCH_GW_FLOW_A2 groundwater flow rate to node
      SUBCATCH_GW_FLOW_A3  groundwater flow rate to node
      SUBCATCH_GW_ELEV elevation of saturated gw table
      SUBCATCH_GW_THETA soil moisture
      SUBCATCH_GW_PERCOLATION aquifer deep percolation
      SUBCATCH_SNOWMELT watershed snow melt
      SUBCATCH_SNOWDEPTH watershed snow depth
      SUBCATCH_FREEWATER watershed snow depth
      SUBCATCH_COLD watershed cold content
      SUBCATCH_SNOWAREA watershed snow coverage
      SUBCATCH_UL soil thickness
      SUBCATCH_FTOT infiltration during an event
      SUBCATCH_FU current value of F
      SUBCATCH_FUMAX maximum value of F
      SUBCATCH_MOISTURE current soil mositure (less than porosity)
      SUBCATCH_IMD current IMD (Porisity - Moisture)
      SUBCATCH_IMDbyEvent IMD at the beginning of an event
      SUBCATCH_SAT  Flag for saturation (1 is saturated)
      SUBCATCH_INFIL_TIME GA infiltration time
      SUBCATCH_WLMAX current infiltration RATE
      SUBCATCH_NETPRECIP rainfall intensity
      SUBCATCH_BUILDUP pollutant buildup concentration
      SUBCATCH_WASHOFF pollutant washoff concentration
The SWMM 5 system binary graphics file consists of 25 variables on one line for each system variable simulated in SWMM 5.  The variables are:
System Variables Description
SYS_TEMPERATURE air temperature                   
SYS_WINDSPEED wind speed                        
SYS_RAINFALL rainfall intensity                
SYS_SNOWFALL snow depth                        
SYS_RUNOFF runoff flow                       
SYS_LOSSES evap + infil                      
SYS_EVAP evap                              
SYS_DWFLOW dry weather inflow                
SYS_GWFLOW ground water inflow               
SYS_IIFLOW RDII inflow                       
SYS_EXFLOW external inflow                   
SYS_INFLOW total lateral inflow              
SYS_FLOODING flooding outflow                  
SYS_OUTFLOW outfall outflow                   
SYS_STORAGE storage volume                    
SYS_CE continuity error for the basin    
SYS_ITERATIONS average iterations over the basin 
SYS_SNOWDEPTH snow depth                        
SYS_COLD cold storage for the basin        
SYS_SNOWMELT snowmelt for the basin            
SYS_RAINMELT rainmelt for the basin            
SYS_TS time steps during the simulation  
SYS_DWFLoad total K3 line DWF load            
SYS_WWFLoad total K3 line WWF load            
SYS_WWFLoadExtra agency extra WWF Load             


The SWMM 5 Node graphics binary file consists of 20 variables on one line for each junction/storage/outfall/divider  simulated in SWMM 5.  The variables are:
Node Variables Description
NODE_DEPTH water depth above invert                          
NODE_HEAD hydraulic head                                    
NODE_VOLUME volume stored & ponded                            
NODE_LATFLOW lateral inflow rate                               
NODE_IIFLOW total rdii inflow rate                            
NODE_UH1 total rdii inflow rate from UH 1
NODE_UH2 total rdii inflow rate from UH 2
NODE_UH3 total rdii inflow rate from UH 3
NODE_DWFFLOW total DWF inflow rate                             
NODE_INFLOW total inflow rate                                 
NODE_OUTFLOW total outflow rate                                
NODE_OVERFLOW overflow rate                                     
NODE_CE node ce                        
NODE_AREA node surface area              
NODE_DQDH node surcharge dqdh            
NODE_DENOM node surcharge dqdh            
NODE_ITERATIONS node iterations to this time step  
NODE_TIMESTEP node iterations to this time step  
NODE_CONVERGENCE node iterations to this time step  
NODE_QUAL         concentration of each pollutant                   

Link Variables

Thursday, August 21, 2008

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.

read more | digg story

Friday, July 18, 2008

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
Zemanta Pixie


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

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Hurricane Dennis Tampa 2005

 

 

 

 
Posted by Picasa

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.




Posted by Picasa

Friday, July 11, 2008

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.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

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.
Zemanta Pixie

Saturday, July 5, 2008

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..
Zemanta Pixie

Friday, July 4, 2008

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.
Zemanta Pixie

Thursday, July 3, 2008

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

Posted by Picasa
Zemanta Pixie

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

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





Zemanta Pixie

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

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
Zemanta Pixie

Global Rainfall






AI Rivers of Wisdom about ICM SWMM

Here's the text "Rivers of Wisdom" formatted with one sentence per line: [Verse 1] 🌊 Beneath the ancient oak, where shadows p...