SMS

Using a Shapefile with the Fast Flood Tool

By aquaveo on August 4, 2021

Do you have a shapefile with water surface elevation data you would like to use towards quickly generating floodplain data? WMS can help you with this. The Map Flood tool, sometimes called the Fast Flood tool, has a new feature we have developed that will allow you to use shapefiles as part of the process of generating floodplain data. This post will review how to use shapefiles for fast flood mapping in WMS.

Using a shapefile with the Map Flood tool can be done by using the following workflow:

  1. Use any of the methods to open files to import your shapefiles into your WMS project. If your shapefile coordinates are geographic, WMS may ask you to convert them to a planimetric coordinate system for computational use, in which case, click OK to accept this.
  2. The shapefile should now be visible under GIS Data. Click on the Map Flood macro to open the Floodplain Mapping Options dialog.
  3. Under the Water Surface Elevations section of the dialog, click on Use FEMA Floodplain Boundary and select your shapefile from its associated drop-down and after making any other changes, click OK to close the dialog.
    4. Example of using a shapefile with the Map Flood tool
  4. The Virtual Earth Map Locator may appear if there is not a set projection. Use it to navigate to the location of your shapefile then click OK after making any other changes. Navigation can either be done by inputting latitude and longitude or typing in the location you wish to observe.
  5. A message may appear saying that the feature requires a global projection. Click OK on this to bring up the Display Projection dialog.
  6. Review the projection to make certain it is correct, click OK to close the Display Projection dialog and run the floodplain delineation.
  7. After the Map Flood tool finishes, you will have all the necessary data downloaded, and the floodplain will have been generated.

Importing a shapefile into the project will have allowed it to be used with the Map Flood tool instead of needing to download the shapefile. This can save you time and provide consistency when generating multiple floodplains using the Map Flood tool. This also allows you to use a shapefile generated from the first use of Map Flood tool for additional floodplain generation in the same area.

Try out using shapefiles for fast flood mapping in WMS 11.1 today!

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SMS

Using SRH-2D Monitor Plots and Structure Plots

By aquaveo on July 7, 2021

With the release of SMS 13.1, we have added the ability to generate monitor plots and structure plots from the solution of a successful SRH-2D model run. This post will offer a brief rundown of these new features and a brief explanation of how to use them.

SMS now has the ability to generate solution plots at monitoring locations or structure locations, using solution datasets generated during the model run. If you make any edits to the coverage after running SRH-2D, make sure to rerun SRH-2D with the updated coverage to keep the plots consistent with the SRH-2D outputs.

For both plots, they will be displayed in an SRH-2D Solution Plots dialog, and they will have similar options in both cases. These options include:

  • Simulations: contains a list of all available simulations where the monitor or boundary conditions coverages were included during the simulation run. Select which solution set to use for the plot.
  • Plots: contains a list of all available solution datasets from the model run. Datasets you select will appear in the plot.
  • Specify time range: specify the time range for the plot to display. The possible range will be from 0 to the length of the entire simulation.

To use the monitor plots:

  1. Make sure you are in the monitor coverage and select a monitoring point or line.
  2. Right-click to select the Monitor Points Plot or Monitor Lines plot command.

This will open the SRH-2D Solution Plots dialog. Note, you need to make sure the monitor coverage was included in the simulation run, and that only one point or line is selected.

To use the structure plots:

  1. Make sure you are in the boundary conditions coverage and select a structure arc.
  2. Right-click to select the Structure Output Plots command.

This will open the SRH-2D Solution Plots dialog. Note that you need to make sure the boundary conditions coverage was included in the simulation run, and that only one structure arc is selected, even for structures that require two arcs.

Structure plot example

Try using monitor plots and structure plots in SMS 13.1 today!

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SMS

How to Troubleshoot Graphics Card Issues and Display Issues

By aquaveo on June 23, 2021

Out of all the potential issues that can come up, display issues can be some of the most annoying. Display issues can come from individualized hardware configurations, display settings, operating system and software versions which makes solving these issues not as simple as a one-size-fits-all approach. This post will review general best practices for troubleshooting these kinds of issues with your graphics card or display.

Some of the most common display issues that can arise with XMS are problems with one or more of the following:

  • Transparency
  • Functional surface
  • Texture mapping
  • Film loops
  • Contours

The causes behind display issues can be divided into the following categories:

  1. Issue related to remote desktop or virtual machine
  2. Integrated graphics used instead of discrete graphics
  3. Bug in graphics drivers
  4. Limitation of integrated graphics
  5. Bug in XMS affecting all hardware configurations
  6. Bug in XMS affecting specific hardware configurations

Since hardware configurations vary and operating systems change over time, the information here is a general workflow used for troubleshooting.

  1. Remote and Virtual Machine issues: Check if XMS is being run locally or if a virtual machine/remote desktop is being used to rule out Category A.
  2. Versioning: Go to Help | About to note the XMS version, build date, and graphics library used.
  3. Try to rule out Categories E and F: Run XMS in Software Graphics Mode. If the issue is resolved in Software Graphics Mode, then the issue is related to Categories B - D.
  4. Try to rule out Category B: Go to the Device Manager for the Display Adapter. If the driver information/version for the discrete graphics matches what is shown in Help | About, then XMS is using discrete graphics. If not, go to Step 6 to ensure XMS is using discrete graphics.
    5. Device manager
  5. Update graphics drivers: Whether or not the system has discrete graphics, updating the graphics driver will solve some display problems. If the machine already has nVidia or AMD software installed, drivers can be updated through those programs. Otherwise, click the “Update Driver” button (shown in the dialog in Step 4) or Google “GraphicsCard Driver Download” using the graphics card model you have in place of GraphicsCard. Exercise caution with the links you click on. Be sure to click on official AMD, nVidia, or computer manufacturer websites. Avoid 3rd party utilities that offer to optimize your system or install adware/spyware.
  6. Set system to use discrete graphics: Change settings to ensure XMS always utilizes discrete graphics. Many systems, especially laptops, default to power saving modes where programs utilize integrated graphics even if the machine has discrete graphics. The way to change these settings varies by machine.
  7. Reporting Bugs: If Categories A - D have been ruled out, determine if the issue is machine-specific. If reproducible, report to tech support.

If you continue to experience display issues, contact Aquaveo's technical support team.

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WMS

How to Rebuild a Corrupted Project in SMS

By aquaveo on June 16, 2021

Try as we might, we can’t always make everything go according to plan, and sometimes that can include files failing on us. Occasionally, files used in SMS become corrupted and can no longer function properly.

This can happen for a few reasons. A file may have been blocked from saving correctly by the computer’s system security. The save process may have terminated early. The project files may have been copied incorrectly. The project files may have been stored incorrectly. Or some other unknown error may have occurred.

Project load error

While the corrupted project file itself cannot be restored, the component pieces of the project can be reassembled in SMS and saved out as part of a new project file. Below is a list of the file types you will need to reassemble:

  • [project name].map: These are the Map Module coverages saved to the project. The model-specific boundary conditions will likely need to be entered again.
  • [project name]_meshes.h5: These are the meshes that were in the project for models that use a mesh. Load this before loading any of the datasets saved in the [project name]_datasets folder.
  • [project name]_grds.h5: These are the grids that were in the project for models that use a grid. Load this before loading any of the datasets saved in the [project name]_datasets folder.
  • [project name].h5: This contains scatter sets that were in the project.
  • Any GIS layers, such as rasters or shapefiles, will also need to be loaded again.

For ADCIRC models, use the following files to import the ADCIRC simulations:

  • Use the fort.14 or fort.15 files to import the mesh and create the simulation.
  • Also import solution files such as fort.63, fort.64, maxele.63, and maxvel.63 files.

For CMS-Flow, use the following files to import the CMS-Flow simulations:

  • Use the [project name].cmcards file to import the UGrid and create the CMS-Flow simulation.
  • To load solutions for the CMS-Flow simulation, import the [project name].h5 files.

For SRH-2D models, use the following files to import the SRH-2D simulations:

  • Reload SRH-2D simulations (including the coverages linked to them) by loading the SRHHYDRO file, found under the [project name]\SRH-2D\[simulation name] folder.
  • To load solutions for SRH-2D simulations that were already run, import the XMDF.h5 file from the same directory as the SRHHYDRO file.

For STWAVE models, use the following files to import the SRH-2D simulations:

  • Reload STWAVE simulations (including the coverages linked to them) by loading the [simulation name].sim file, found under the simulation folder.

It is strongly recommended that a thorough review of the project should be completed before you continue working with the rebuilt project.

When your files become corrupted, please contact Aquaveo Technical Support (support@aquaveo.com) to report the issue.

If you have issues with corrupted projects in SMS, try following some of these steps to fix them in SMS 13.1 today!

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