SMS

Working with Functional Surfaces for UGrids in SMS

By aquaveo on January 3, 2023

The functional surface option in SMS allows viewing data above a geometry. It has been an option in the 2D Mesh module. The functional surface option has been added for unstructured grids (UGrids) in the UGrid module starting with SMS 13.2. This post will give some guidance and tips for using functional surfaces with UGrids.

Example of a functional surface on a UGrid

Functional surfaces use any dataset as the elevation value for the surface. One of their most common uses is as a representation of the surface of the water above a UGrid. For example, the ocean’s surface in a CGWAVE model. However, functional surfaces can use any scalar dataset to inform the elevations.

A UGrid functional surface gets created by the New Functional Surface UGrid right-click command in the Project Explorer. Once created, right-click on the newly created functional surface to edit the display options. The Functional Surface Options dialog allows you to fine tune the display of your UGrid functional surface. Furthermore, selecting Other Display Options brings up UGrid-style display options.

Once you've set up your functional surface, you may need to make adjustments. Here are some tips on adjusting your functional surface displays depending on your situation:

If your dataset has large numbers, your functional surface might be very tall. To temper that effect, you could set the functional surface Z Magnification between 0 and 1.
If your dataset has very small numbers, your functional surface might appear completely flat. To more clearly see the rise and fall of the data values, set the Z Magnification to a value greater than 1.
If your functional surface is intersecting the UGrid, and you don't want it to, adjust the Elevation Z Offset.
If you want to add contours to your functional surface, click Other Display Options and turn on Face contours. Then click Contours to open the Contour Options.
If you still want to be able to see the UGrid through the functional surface, adjust the transparency. If you're using contours for the functional surface, you'll need to adjust the transparency in the Contour Options dialog.
If you want the functional surface to reference a specific dataset for its elevation, specify a User defined dataset.

Try out functional surfaces with UGrids in SMS today!

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SMS

Computing a Courant Number for an SRH-2D Model

By aquaveo on December 21, 2022

Sometimes, you might want to calculate a Courant number for your SRH-2D model. In most cases, this isn't necessary because SRH-2D is an implicit model. Unlike explicit models such as HEC-RAS, SRH-2D is not Courant limited. With SRH-2D, it is more important to verify convergence and stability than Courant compliance. However, we know that calculating a Courant number dataset for SRH-2D is occasionally desired. Fortunately, SMS now has the Advective Courant Number tool to compute a Courant number dataset based on velocity.

First, let's be clear about what a Courant number does. A Courant number tells you the number of mesh elements that a given water particle passes through during a time step. If the Courant number is less than one, the given particle of water would not pass through an entire mesh element in a single time step.

In SMS, the Advective Courant Number tool computes a Courant Number dataset including every node at every time step. It uses the following equation:

Courant Number Equation

To use the Advective Courant Number tool, do the following:

Make sure a transient SRH-2D solution file is already loaded.
Open the SMS Toolbox, and under Datasets, find the Advective Courant Number tool.
Set the Velocity dataset, the time step length for the simulation, and the desired name for the output dataset.
Run the tool.

Example of the Advective Courant Number tool

The Advective Courant Number tool might stall depending on the vector dataset for your SRH-2D simulation. Running the SRH-2D simulation again might solve this problem. Before running the simulation again, we recommend saving the project as a new file to preserve the old solution files. Then, in the new SMS project file, run SRH-2D again. Once the new solution is loaded into SMS, run the Advective Courant Number tool again using the new velocity dataset.

To see the results, open the Properties dialog for the Courant number dataset. There, you will find the maximum and minimum for the whole dataset and the current time step.

Calculate the Courant number dataset for your SRH-2D simulation in SMS today!

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SMS

Switching Model Executables

By aquaveo on November 30, 2022

The Groundwater Modeling System, Surface-water Modeling System, and Watershed Modeling System (collectively known as XMS) applications make use of multiple numerical models. XMS is packaged with the executables for each of these numerical models. At times, you may need to switch out which numerical model executable XMS uses.

In general, you will want to use the model executable that comes packaged with the XMS. XMS is coded to work with the specific model executables that are distributed with each version of the software.

There are some reasons you might want to change which model executable it used. It might fix a bug with the model executable. It might get you access to features in an older or newer version of the model executable. It might also help you test issues with the numerical model. Replacing the model executable isn't guaranteed to help with any of these, but it is one option for troubleshooting with all of them.

For all XMS applications, the numerical model executables to be used are selected in the Preferences dialog. If you already know where the model executable is, you can copy and paste the executable into the preferences dialog. To do so, use the following workflow:

Copy the executable file path. If using Windows 11, right-click on the desired model executable and select "Copy as Path."
If using Windows 10, open the Properties dialog from the right-click menu. Copy and paste the location path into a text document. Then, make sure to grab the file name ending in ".exe" as well. The executable path will be incomplete without that file name.
In your XMS software, open the Preferences dialog from the Edit menu.
Find the model executable that you want to change and click on the file path next to the name or the Browse button.
In SMS or WMS, this will bring up an Open dialog. In the File name box, paste in the new executable path. If you are using Windows 11, make sure to delete the quotation marks at the beginning and end. Selecting Open saves the new model executable.
In GMS, the model executable is editable without bringing up the Open dialog. Simply erase the former executable path and paste in the new one. As long as the path is a valid path and the path ends in ".exe", GMS will save it. Again, for Windows 11, delete the quotation marks.
Finalize the model executable by clicking OK to exit the Preferences dialog. Otherwise, the executable will not save.

Example of model executables in the Preferences dialog

Now, there are some issues to keep in mind. As mentioned earlier, changing out a numerical model executable is not guaranteed to fix a particular issue or even improve the situation. Older or newer versions of the model executable may not always be compatible with your version of XMS. Sometimes the model executable is not compatible with a particular project. The new executable might even worsen the situation. If any of these things happen, you can reintroduce the original executable.

Check out the available model executables in XMS today!

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Exploring Display Themes in SMS

By aquaveo on November 23, 2022

SMS has an expansive suite of display options that allows you to visualize your results with style and clarity. What’s more, SMS has tools that can streamline how you adjust display options. Have you ever wanted to be able to adjust display options in SMS without actually opening the Display Options dialog? Have you contoured a dataset to your liking and now want to save those particular contour settings to return to them quickly? Display themes make these things possible. Today we discuss the uses of display themes as well as considerations to keep in mind while using them.

Display themes have several uses. Imagine a project where you want to quickly navigate between two different parts of the project. Display themes can be used to save view options, so you can jump back and forth between opposite ends of the project by clicking on the display theme in the Project Explorer.

Display themes also allow you to develop a unique set of contours for each dataset. You can build a display theme that automatically comes on every time a certain dataset is activated. If you save only contours in that display theme, then you have essentially tailored specific contours to turn on when the dataset is active. This allows each dataset to have unique contours.

Finally, if you get a shot of the project that you want to return to easily, you can set up a display theme to save almost all the display options. Display themes can save everything from the angle of the Graphics Window to the visibility of different items. However, even a display theme that saves all possible options does not guarantee producing the same view every time.

For example, the active dataset selected in the Project Explorer will affect the visuals. Selecting a display theme does not adjust the active dataset even if selecting certain datasets activates certain display themes. Furthermore, the display themes will not display any data that has been deleted in the Project Explorer. Please be aware of the various settings and actions besides the specified display options that can affect your graphics.

Depending on how you set up your display themes, selecting one can cause an unexpected change in what appears when looking at another display theme. Therefore, the order in which you select display themes can change the view you end up with, depending on what you have saved in each display theme.

How can you optimize your use of Display Themes? You might start by keeping them organized in folders in the Project Explorer. You can also label them with names that help you remember what display options got saved in each display theme. For examples of how this might be done, refer to the tutorials relating to display themes.

Assigning one group of display options to save with each display theme can make display themes more useful and precise. Display themes with one group of settings saved allow you to make quick, specific changes to the display. In this way, display themes become like shortcuts for adjusting the display options. To make sure that the display theme is only saving the desired display options, uncheck all the checkboxes except the desired checkbox in the Display Theme Properties dialog.

Getting the right display options can help you communicate your results more effectively, and display themes can make your display options more agile. Check out display themes in SMS today!

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