WMS

Managing File Paths in WMS

By aquaveo on May 21, 2024

When working in the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) the software refers to multiple applications and files in order to operate correctly. The default settings for accessing these files should generally be followed. However, there are times when these file paths need to be altered by you or the paths get changed unintentionally. This post will go over some of the important file paths to pay attention to in WMS.

Typically, WMS will be installed on your C drive or whichever drive you specify on your local machine. When WMS is installed, it will also install multiple other applications that it uses. These are most often the numerical models that WMS uses along with some drivers. WMS will keep everything contained to where it can find these applications.

However, to give you more flexibility, WMS allows you to change the location of these applications. Most path locations can be changed in the Preferences dialog. The Files tab of the Preferences dialog contains the file paths for the numerical models and other applications. The file paths can be changed here to direct to a different location. This can be useful when you are needing to use a different version of a model executable other than the one that comes installed with your version of WMS.

The Preferences dialog also allows you to change the file path for the Temp directory. This is done on the General tab.

It should be noted that WMS retains these file paths once they have been set. Therefore, when you are moving files around, pay attention that WMS will not automatically update to the new location. When a model executable gets moved to another directory, you will need to manually update the file path in WMS in order to avoid potential errors.

The Files tab of the Preferences dialog is also useful for locating specific model executables and files that you suspect may need to be updated. This can help you troubleshoot model executable issues that occur during a model run.

Now that you know more about how WMS manages file paths, make use of them in your WMS projects today!

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Defining Elevation and Storage Capacity of Detention Basins

By aquaveo on January 16, 2024

Did you know that the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) has a calculator that can define the relationship between the elevation and storage capacity of a detention basin? This is a useful tool for any WMS project with detention basins. The detention basins calculator is a simple tool that can quickly get the storage calculations you need for your model.

WMS uses the Hydraulic Toolbox to perform these calculations for the detention basin calculator. To open the detention basin calculator, first you need to make the Hydrologic Modeling Module active and select an outlet. Detention basins… is one of the options under the Calculator menu. After selecting Detention basins… a dialog named Detention Basin Hydrograph Routing will appear. Clicking the Define… button opens the Storage Capacity Input dialog, which is where you can enter the data that is needed for the calculations.

There are four data input options you can use to calculate storage capacity in the Storage Capacity Input dialog. Only one of the four input options is needed in order to perform the calculations. Which one you use will depend on what data is readily available for your model.

It is important to note that regardless of what measurement the general display projection is set to, the detention basin calculator will measure the elevation in feet and the storage volume in acres per foot.

After you exit the Storage Capacity Input dialog, a plot will be automatically generated in the Detention Basin hydrograph Routing dialog. This plot displays the relationship between the elevation and the amount of storage, as well as discharge if there is any. This plot functions the same way as any other plot window in WMS. You can learn more about plot windows by following this link to our wiki.

Head over to WMS to check out the detention basin calculator and see how you can use it to calculate the storage versus elevation for your detention basins today!

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WMS

How to Turn on Hydrographs for GSSHA Outlets

By aquaveo on October 17, 2023

Are you needing to enable hydrographs in your GSSHA model in the Watershed Modeling System (WMS)? Hydrographs are a valuable tool included in WMS for understanding water dynamics in your model. In this blog post, we will learn about the process of enabling them within your GSSHA model.

The Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) model is a two-dimensional finite difference rainfall/runoff model. GSSHA uses a grid to establish the computational domain and parameters for surface runoff. The GSSHA model is fully coupled with hydraulic stream flow/routing models. After building a GSSHA model in WMS, you can create hydrographs to analyze the results.

Select a Sub-Basin Outlet Point within your GSSHA model, and identify one of the points where you want to monitor water flow and drainage closely. When using a GSSHA type coverage, the hydrographs can be turned on or off in the point attributes dialog. To access this dialog:

Select one of the sub-basin outlet points, and right-click it and choose Attributes.
In the Properties dialog that appears, turn on the checkbox labeled Hydrograph Output.
Click out and this will turn on the hydrograph for that particular point.
Next, re-run GSSHA. This is a crucial step because new GSSHA results will be needed to access the hydrograph.

After the new solution is loaded, you should see the hydrograph icon next to that point. From there, you can select and view it. Now, you can read the data and gain valuable insights into water flow dynamics at that location.

It is important to note that if you do not see the hydrograph icon then it is likely that WMS did not register you turning on the hydrograph option for the location. Check the properties for the model to see if the hydrograph output options were correctly saved.

Turning on Hydrographs for different outlets is one of the many options you can use with GSSHA in WMS. Try out turning on Hydrographs for different outlets and other options for GSSHA in WMS today!

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WMS

ASCII Grid Files for GSSHA in WMS

By aquaveo on August 15, 2023

The Watershed Modeling System (WMS) offers powerful tools for managing and analyzing spatial data using ASCII files. In this blog post, we will explore WMS ASCII files, discuss specific file formats like the *.dep (DEPTH) and *.gfl (FLOOD_GRID) outputs as well as the possibility of exporting ASCII gridded files for GSSHA.

WMS utilizes ASCII files to store and exchange spatial data, such as boundaries, elevation data, and model outputs. To extract information from these files, it is helpful to understand their formatting. The WMS ASCII file contains coordinates representing the boundary limits of the data. However, a common question arises regarding whether these coordinates represent the corner or center of the boundary cells. The coordinates provided in a file header can represent the lower left corner of the cells rather than their center. This information is for accurately defining the spatial coverage of the data.

ASCII Gridded Files Format

WMS is capable of outputting files containing spatial information as grid files, such as the DEP and GFL files. These files store multidimensional data (time, x, y) in a single column format. In the DEP and GFL files, as well as other GSSHA files, the data is organized by cell ID. The introductory information in the file provides details such as the type of information, geometry type, number of cells and values, and dataset name. Each time step is indicated by the TS field, followed by the corresponding data. The dataset file concludes with a flag indicating the end of the data.

Exporting ASCII Gridded Files with GSSHA

While discussing GSSHA, it is important to note that it employs cell-centered Cartesian grids. It is also important to note that GSSHA does not offer alternative export formats for gridded files, apart from the ASCII-based output options provided in WMS. These options can be found by doing the following:

Select GSSHA | Job Control command to open the GSSHA Job Control Parameters dialog.
Click the Output Control button to open the GSSHA to Output Options dialog.
In this dialog, make certain that the ASCII option is selected for output.

ASCII gridded files are one of the many options you can use with GSSHA in WMS. Try out ASCII files and other formats in WMS today!

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