Sunday, November 18, 2012

How to Use Two Control Curves in SWMM 5 to Simulate a Head Difference Rule

Subject:  How to Use Two Control Curves in SWMM 5 to Simulate a Head Difference Rule

How to Use Two Control Curves in SWMM 5 to Simulate a Head Difference Rule

by dickinsonre
Subject:  How to Use Two Control Curves in SWMM 5 to Simulate a Head Difference Rule 
The SWMM 5 control rules for Real Time Control (RTC) do not allow the rule to be governed by the head across the orifice but does allow rules based on the depth, head and inflow at any node.  If you have an Orifice in which you want the Orifice to be open when the head difference across the Orifice is either less than or greater than zero then and closed when the head difference is close to zero then you can use two Orifices (Figure 1) and two rules (Figure 2) to control the orifice setting for Orifice1 and Orifice2.  In attached file the two rules have the settings set to two control curves.  Orifice1 will start open and close gradually as the depth at Node UPNode increases, Orifice2 will start closed and gradually open when depth in Node DNode increases.  Possible variations are to control Orifice1 based on the DNode and node UPNode to control Orifice2. 
RULE Orifice1
IF  NODE UPNode  Depth >= 0
THEN ORIFICE ORIFICE1 SETTING = Curve RuleOrf1
PRIORITY 10

RULE Orifice2
IF  NODE DNode  Depth >= 0
THEN ORIFICE ORIFICE2 SETTING = Curve RuleOrf2
PRIORITY 10
Figure 1.  Two Orifice Solution
Figure 2. Two Orifice solution to have control over the Orifice(s) at both the upstream and downstream nodes. 

NASA computed Maps of Earth

NASA computed Maps of Earth

Die NASA hat sich ‘nen neuen Supercomputer angeschafft und simuliert mit dem die Erde, heraus kommen zum Beispiel so schicke Karten wie das Ding oben, und das Teil ist keinFoto, sondern ‘ne berechnete Grafik. Whoa!
This is not a photo of the Earth from some far-flung satellite. This is the output of a computer that has been programmed to take those laws of physics and apply them to the Earth. It has data about sunlight hitting the Earth (which includes variations for season); it knows about the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere and how the air’s temperature changes with latitude, longitude, and height; it can calculate how much water evaporates and where it rains or snows out; it accounts for fires, dust, the Earth’s rotation, the local geography, and even humanity’s effect on the environment.
And when it’s done, it can show us what the Earth looks like under various conditions. In this case, the blue swirls over the oceans trace sea salt; green is smoke from forest fires, white is sulfate particles (emitted from volcanoes and the burning of fossil fuels), and reddish-orange is dust blown about.  Slate Link

Saturday, November 10, 2012

How to Use the Map Display for the Maximum Adjusted d/D or Maximum q/Q in an EPS InfoSewer Simulation

How to Use the Map Display for the Maximum Adjusted d/D  or Maximum q/Q in an EPS InfoSewer Simulation

How to Use the Map Display for the Maximum Adjusted d/D or Maximum q/Q in an EPS InfoSewer Simulation

by dickinsonre
How to Use the Map Display for the Maximum Adjusted d/D  or Maximum q/Q in an EPS InfoSewer Simulation

You can do a Map Display of the adjusted d/D values (Figure 1)  from the Gravity Main Range Report (Figure 2) to show those pipes that are full thematically.  For example, the links in red in Figure 1 show the effect of the pump blockage and the links in green are those NOT full due to the pump blockage.  You will need to copy the adjusted d/D or the maximum q/Q values from the Range report to the Link Information Table to have some values to Map (Figure 3 and 4).   The maximum adjusted d/D or the Maximum q/Q can be mapped using the new link information (Figure 5).

Figure 1  Map Display of the Maximum Adjusted d/D from the Gravity Range Report.


Figure 2.   Maximum Adjusted d/D or Maximum q/Q can be copied from the EPS Range Gravity Main Report.

Figure 3.  Create a new variable In the Link Information Table.

Figure 4.  New variables for the Map Display from the Range Report in the Pipe Information Tables for Each Link.


Figure 5.  Link Information new Parameters of Variables can be used to Display the maximum d/D or q/Q during the EPS simulation.















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



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...