Announcing SMS 13.3 Beta

By aquaveo on June 27, 2023

Our developers have been hard at work making improvements and expanding the functionality of SMS. Aquaveo is happy to announce the release of the beta version of SMS 13.3!

To show you some of the things you'll see in this version of SMS, we've compiled a short list of some of the new features included in this release.

Improvements to SRH-2D

In SMS 13.3 beta, we have added support for the use of unstructured grids (UGrids) in SRH-2D modeling and simulations in addition to meshes. SRH-2D also now supports the use of DIP files in its modeling, and we updated the scour calculator. We also updated the model execution to eliminate false positives and SRH-2D will only call HY-8 one time when running multiple simulations which removes the possibility of collisions.

Changes in the Toolbox

If you visit the Toolbox in SMS 13.3 beta, you'll find that it has been reorganized and some of the naming conventions have been changed, as well as an added folder for 2D Mesh tools. If you can't find a tool that you've used in previous versions, don't worry. All the same tools are available to you, it may just be under a slightly different name or in a different folder.

New Tools

There are also several new tool options in the Toolbox. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Polygons from UGrid Boundary: converts the outer boundary of a UGrid to polygons in a new coverage. This tool only functions on UGrids with 2D Cells.
  • Fill Holes in UGrid: fills all voids in a given mesh with new mesh elements. The output is a mesh that can be converted back into a UGrid if needed. This tool also works on meshes.
  • Refine UGrid: create a 2D UGrid that has been refined based on an existing 2D UGrid and one or more elevation rasters.
  • Curvilinear Grid tools: import and export a curvilinear grid in the form of a CH3D or EFDC file.
Example of the Smooth UGrid Tool in SMS

As always, the help button in the tool dialog will direct you to a page on our wiki that will give you a more thorough description of the tool and its function.

The Community Edition of SMS 13.3

One of the major changes in SMS 13.3 beta is that we have made four models available in the free community edition of SMS. New models that are now included in the community editions are:

  • ADCIRC (ADvanced CIRCulation): a hydrodynamic model used for modeling oceans, inlets, rivers, and floodplains.
  • AdH (Adaptive Hydraulics): a model used for groundwater and overland flow.
  • CMS-Flow: used for more local modeling, mainly for inlets, the nearshore, and bays.
  • STWAVE (STeady State Spectral WAVE): models wave refraction, shoaling, breaking, diffraction, wind-driven wave growth, and wave-wave interaction with energy redistribution and dissipation.

These are only a few of the new features offered in SMS 13.3 beta. You can find the list of all new features on this page of our wiki. Try out SMS 13.3 by downloading it today!

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SMS