Friday, November 9, 2012

What are the LID Control Flow Source Options in SWMM 5?

What are the LID Control Flow Source Options in SWMM 5?

The SWMM 5 options for Low Impact Development (LID) controls on a Subcatchment are very flexible, exciting, possibly recursive and a completely integrated method to treat both the pervious and impervious flow.  You can send the Subcatchment runoff to either an outlet node, impervious area of the Subcatchment, the pervious area of the Subcatchment or another Subcatchment.   You can have the LID control receive a portion or all of the impervious flow OR as in the EPA SWMM 5 LID example have the LID cover the whole Subcatchment and receive both impervious and pervious flow from one or multiple upstream Subcsatchments.  For example,  Subcatchment Swale4 in Figure 1 is 100 pervious and has upstream runoff from the pervious and impervious areas of Subcatchments S1, S3 and S4 in Figure 1.  The LID can also have either an outlet node or the pervious area of the Subcatchment on which it resides.




Monday, November 5, 2012

Inflow Time Series in InfoSewer

Inflow Time Series in InfoSewer

by dickinsonre
This is how InfoSewer can use a time series of inflow at a specific node:

1.       Use a mean loading of 1 so that the values in the Inflow Time Series stay the same as your inflow units in InfoSewer (Figure 1)

Figure 1.   Load with a Pattern of Inflow will create a loading to the node based on your inflow time series.

2.      Create a PATTERN that is equal to your inflow time series
3.      The pattern has to have the same time steps as your default Run Manager Pattern option, normally this will  be one hour
4.      The factor column is your inflow in cfs, gpm, lps or mgd (Figure 2)
Figure 2.  The Inflow Time Series Pattern is your Flow

5.      The Base Load should equal your Inflow Pattern (Figure 3)

Figure 3.  Base Flow from the Inflow Time Series Pattern




Sunday, November 4, 2012

How are Flooded Time, Surcharged Time and Flooded Volume Calculated in InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM?

How are Flooded Time, Surcharged Time and Flooded Volume Calculated in InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM?

How are Flooded Time, Surcharged Time and Flooded Volume Calculated in InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM?

by dickinsonre
How are Flooded Time, Surcharged Time and Flooded Volume Calculated in InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM?

The time, volume and flooded rate shown in the InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM Report File Node Flooding Summary (Figure 2) are calculated as follows (Figure 1):

For All Nodes NOT Outfalls ( this includes Junctions, Storage Nodes, Dividers)

If the New Volume is greater than the Full Volume of the or there is Overflow then at each time step the Time Flooded is increased

If the New Volume is greater than the Full Volume of the or there is Overflow then at each time step the Volume Flooded is increased by the Overflow *Time Step

If the New Volume is greater than the Full Volume of the or there is Overflow AND Surface Ponding is Used then the Ponded Volume is New Volume – Full Volume

If the Node Depth Plus the Node Invert Elevation is above the Node Crown Elevation then at each time step the time surcharged is increased.   The InfoSWMM andH2OMAP SWMM Map Display variables should be FLOOD_VOLM for the No Surface Ponding option (Figure 3) and PONDED_VOL if you are using the Global Surface Ponding Option (Figure 4).

Figure 1.  Levels of Surcharged and Flooding in SWMM 5.

Figure 2.  SWMM 5 Node Flooding Summary or the InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM HTML Report file.


Figure 3.  The Map Display of the Node Flooding using the No Surface Ponding Option should use the Map Display Variable FLOOD_VOLM

Figure 4.  The Map Display of the Node Flooding using the Surface Ponding Option should use the Map Display Variable PONDED_VOL which shows the Maximum Stored Pond Volume.

How are Flooded Time, Surcharged Time and Flooded Volume Calculated in SWMM 5?

How are Flooded Time, Surcharged Time and Flooded Volume Calculated in SWMM 5?

How are Flooded Time, Surcharged Time and Flooded Volume Calculated in InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM?

by dickinsonre
How are Flooded Time, Surcharged Time and Flooded Volume Calculated in InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM?

The time, volume and flooded rate shown in the InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM Report File Node Flooding Summary (Figure 2) are calculated as follows (Figure 1):

For All Nodes NOT Outfalls ( this includes Junctions, Storage Nodes, Dividers)

If the New Volume is greater than the Full Volume of the or there is Overflow then at each time step the Time Flooded is increased

If the New Volume is greater than the Full Volume of the or there is Overflow then at each time step the Volume Flooded is increased by the Overflow *Time Step

If the New Volume is greater than the Full Volume of the or there is Overflow AND Surface Ponding is Used then the Ponded Volume is New Volume – Full Volume

If the Node Depth Plus the Node Invert Elevation is above the Node Crown Elevation then at each time step the time surcharged is increased.   The InfoSWMM andH2OMAP SWMM Map Display variables should be FLOOD_VOLM for the No Surface Ponding option (Figure 3) and PONDED_VOL if you are using the Global Surface Ponding Option (Figure 4).

Figure 1.  Levels of Surcharged and Flooding in SWMM 5.

Figure 2.  SWMM 5 Node Flooding Summary or the InfoSWMM and H2OMAP SWMM HTML Report file.


Figure 3.  The Map Display of the Node Flooding using the No Surface Ponding Option should use the Map Display Variable FLOOD_VOLM

Figure 4.  The Map Display of the Node Flooding using the Surface Ponding Option should use the Map Display Variable PONDED_VOL which shows the Maximum Stored Pond Volume.




Saturday, November 3, 2012

How do V-notch weirs work in SWMM 5?

How do V-notch weirs work in SWMM 5?

How do V-notch weirs work in SWMM 5?

by dickinsonre
How do V-notch weirs work in SWMM 5?

Hi Keith, As you change the Length which is actually the Top Width you change the area and hydraulic radius of the Weir. 

The height of a V-Notch weir is the Height Value in the SWMM 5 Weir Property Dialog (Figure 1) 

The Length in the Dialog for a V-Notch is the Top Width of Triangular Shaped V-Notch Weir. 

The slope of the sides of the V-Notch Weir is Square Root (1 + Top Width / Height / 2 * Top Width / Height / 2)

The full area is the Height * Height * Side Slope

The hydraulic radius is the Height / ( 2 * Height * Side Slope)

The two values Height and Length for a SWMM 5 V-Notch Weir determines the area, hydraulic radius and side slope of the weir.

Figure 1.   Parameters for a V-Notch Weir in SWMM 5


Thursday, November 1, 2012

High and Low Estimates of InfoSWMM/ICM Subcatchment Dimension for SWMM Hydrology

High and Low Estimates of InfoSWMM/ICM Subcatchment Dimension for SWMM Hydrology

These are the estimates for both SWMM 5, InfoSWMM and ICM SWMM Hydrology, the low estimate is 0.2*SQRT(Area in Feet) and the High Estimate is 5*SQRT(Area in Feet), Figure 1.  You can use higher or lower numbers to calibrate to monitored data but these are just guidelines using the InfoSWMM Subcatchment Manager Width Tool (Figure 2).

Table 1.  High and Low Estimates of the ICM Subcatchment Dimension for SWMM Hydrology or the SWMM 5 Subcatchment Width.


Subcatchment Area
 (Acres)
Low Estimate  Width (Feet),
W = 0.2*SQRT(Area)
High Estimate  Width (Feet),
W =5*SQRT(Area)
1
41.74
1,043.55
5
93.34
2,333.45
10
132
3,300.00
25
208.71
5,217.76
50
295.16
7,379.02
100
417.42
10,435.52
200
590.32
14,758.05
300
722.99
18,074.84
400
834.84
20,871.03
500
933.38
23,334.52
600
1022.47
25,561.69
700
1104.39
27,609.78
800
1180.64
29,516.10
900
1252.26
31,306.55
1,000
1320
33,000.00
5,000
2951.61
73,790.24
10,000
4174.21
104,355.16
50,000
9333.81
233,345.24
100,000
13200
330,000.00

Figure 1  InfoSWMM Subcatchment Manager Width Estimator.

Everyone Should Write

Everyone Should Write

Says James Somers:
You should write because when you know that you’re going to write, it changes the way you live. I’m thinking about a book I read called Field Notes on Science & Nature, a collection of essays by scientists about their notes. It’s hard to imagine a more tedious concept — a book of essays about notes? — but in execution it was wonderful. What it teaches you, over and over again, is that the difference between you and a zoologist or you and a botanist is that the botanist, when she looks at a flower, has a question in mind. She’s trying to generate questions. For her the flower is the locus of many mental threads, some nascent, some spanning her career. Her field notebook is not some convenient way to store lifeless data to be presented in lifeless papers so that other scientists can replicate some dull experiment; it’s the site of a collision between a mind and a world.
More interesting insight:
When I have a piece of writing in mind, what I have, in fact, is a mental bucket: an attractor for and generator of thought. It’s like a thematic gravity well, a magnet for what would otherwise be a mess of iron filings. I’ll read books differently and listen differently in conversations. In particular I’ll remember everything better; everything will mean more to me. That’s because everything I perceive will unconsciously engage on its way in with the substance of my preoccupation. A preoccupation, in that sense, is a hell of a useful thing for a mind.

Weekend DWF Patterns in H2OMAP SWMM and InfoSWMM

Dry Weather Flow in InfoSWMM and H2OMap SWMM

Dry Weather Flow in InfoSWMM and H2OMap SWMM

by dickinsonre
Dry Weather Flow in InfoSWMM and H2OMap SWMM
 Dry weather flow can be added to any node in H2OMAP SWMM.  The dry weather flow is computed as the average flow * the monthly pattern * the daily pattern * hourly pattern * the weekend daily pattern to give the Dry Weather Flow at any time step (Figure 1).   Since the four types of patterns (Figure 2) are all multiplied together then for Saturday and Sunday the hourly pattern and the weekend hourly pattern will both be used.   This will have the effect of overestimating the flow if the multipliers are greater than 1 and underestimating theflow if the multipliers are less than one.  You should enter the  Pattern X for the Weekend Hourly Pattern in H2OMAP SWMM  where 
X  = Weekend Hourly Pattern / Hourly Pattern 
So that when the pattern X is multiplied by the Hourly Pattern the program will use the intended Weekend Pattern.

Figure 1.  How Dry Weather Flow is Computed in H2OMAP SWMM


Figure 2.  The Four Types of Time Patterns in H2OMAP SWMM, InfoSWMM and SWMM 5 




Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Format of the SWMM 5 Interface File

Note:  Format of the SWMM 5 Interface File

Here is an example and Figure 1 shows the format (from Iface.c in SWMM 5)

SWMM5 Interface File
This is from the 1st line of the SWMM 5 Model in the Title/Notes Section of the Data
900  - reporting time step in sec
1    - number of constituents as listed below:
FLOW CFS
1    - number of nodes as listed below:
10208
Node             Year Mon Day Hr  Min Sec FLOW
10208            2011 02  22  00  00  00  0.000000
10208            2011 02  22  00  15  00  0.000000
10208            2011 02  22  00  30  00  0.000000
10208            2011 02  22  00  45  00  0.000000
10208            2011 02  22  01  00  00  0.000000  

Figure 1.   Graph of the lines in the SWMM 5 Interface File



Sunday, October 28, 2012

Arc Map If Statements for Showing Flooding in InfoSWMM

Arc Map If Statements for Showing Flooding in InfoSWMM

Arc Map If Statements for Showing Flooding in InfoSWMM

by dickinsonre
Arc Map If Statements for Showing Flooding in InfoSWMM

You can use a combination of the Map Display in InfoSWMM and the Arc Map Label Properties to show the Maximum Ponded Volume at a node during amInfoSWMM simulation. 

The label function in VBSCRIPT to show just non zero flooded volumes(Figure 1) is:

Function FindLabel ( [PONDED_VOL] )
If [PONDED_VOL] > 0 THEN
  FindLabel = "" & FormatNumber([PONDED_VOL],2) & ""
END IF
End Function

and the values of Flooded Time,  Maximum Flooded Rate and Maximum Ponded Volume can be found in the Junction Attribute Table(Figure 2)  but not the Junction Summary Table of the InfoSWMM output report manager tables. 

A VBSCRIPT function to show both ponded volume and flooded rate (Figure 3) is:

Function FindLabel ( [PONDED_VOL], [FLOOD_RATE]  )
If [PONDED_VOL] > 0 THEN
  FindLabel = "" & FormatNumber([PONDED_VOL],2) & " / "   & FormatNumber([FLOOD_RATE],1)
END IF
End Function



Figure 1.  InfoSWMM Map Display of Ponded Volume which is the integral of node flooding over the flooded time.

Figure 2.   If you use the Map Display feature in InfoSWMM then the total flooded time, flood rate and maximum ponded volume will be shown in the Junction Attribute Table.


Figure 3.  Labels showing both Maximum Flooded Volume and Maximum Flooded Time on the InfoSWMM Map Display








Saturday, October 27, 2012

1000 Year Simulation with Rainfall in SWMM5

Subject:   1000 Year Simulation with Rainfall in SWMM5

1000 Year Simulation with Rainfall in SWMM5

by dickinsonre
Subject:   1000 Year Simulation with Rainfall 
The attached one Subcatchment SWMM 5 model and associated Rainfall was created using the Random function in Excel on a measured NCD station in Boston.    There is a dry weather flow component of 0.5 cfs with an hourly pattern.  The rainfall averages 54 inches over the 1000 years and the runoff is 20 inches on average over the 1000 years
Figure 1. Combined Flow at the Outfall for the 1000 year Simulation.

Connecting to Others Using Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogs for SWMM5, InfoSWMM and InfoSewer

Connecting to Others Using Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogs for SWMM5, InfoSWMM and InfoSewer

by dickinsonre
Twitter besides being 140 characters of greatness has many third party tools such as Tweet Topic Exploreer which allows you to see visually your Tweets by subject, http://tweettopicexplorer.neoformix.com/#n=rdickinson I found it handy to see the interrelationships of my tweets to each other  and to the industry (Figure 2 and Figure 3).  Here are the Twitter names of myself and Innovyze along with the Innovyze LinkedIn Group:

We want to hear from you – connect with Innovyze!
Twitter: @Innovyze
LinkedIn: Innovyze Group
Twitter: @rdickinson

I try to have easy links between Twitter, LinkedIn,  Blogs and Wikipedia on my Ning Social Network, which you can join and post questions and hopefully gather some information (Figure 1)


Figure 1.  It is important to have a connection between Social Networks, Blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn.


Figure 2.  Tweet topics for RDICKINSON on Twitter.

Figure 3.  Tweet Topics for INNOVYZE on Twitter.






Introduction to Scenarios in ICM

### Introduction to Scenarios in ICM In network modeling software like InfoWorks ICM, scenarios are a powerful feature that allows users to ...