October 2020

waterRIDE Webinar - Sharing flooding information without transferring any data - waterRIDE CLOUD in the world of distributed working

If you missed our recent webinar, you can watch a recording of the event here.

The webinar, presented by Cameron Druery, explored ways in which flooding information can be shared and communicated via the cloud without any transfer of datasets.

As flooding datasets are incredibly large (massive), they are cumbersome to transfer and share via downloads, hard drives, USB sticks and the like. When sharing via these traditional methids, the receiver still needs to know what to do with the datasets they have been sent.

Using waterRIDE CLOUD, Cameron demonstrated how such large flooding datasets can be rapidly accessed, interrogated and, most importanly, understood without the actual transfer of any data, thereby maintining data providence whilst maximising its usability and speed.

The primary message of the webinar was that the transfer of understanding is key, rather than the transfer of information.

Working With TUFLOW Results - What if I don't have the full model outputs?

TUFLOW users may have noticed that recent releases of waterRIDE has expanded the options available for importing TUFLOW results.

Many of these additional options have been included as a direct result of some project work we have been carrying out for clients in cases where some datasets are missing, unavailable, or were never actually delivered.

Usually, TUFLOW outputs are provided as a full time series at a suitable timestep to ensure that the flood hydrograph is accurately represented. A suitable timestep may be 5 minutes for a flashy catchment, or perhaps 30 mins for a slow moving inland river. 

The figure below shows a time series plot using a suitable timestep (blue), as well as a timestep that is too coarse (red). You can clearly see the peak of the flood has been "missed" on the red plot.

Sometimes model outputs may only contain a few timesteps or, worse, contain no time series data at all.

Worse still, the model results may be unavailable with only peak ASCII grids available.

Some of the new options allow you to get usable waterRIDE surfaces from such datasets. We've listed the options available and provided some examples as to when you may want to apply them:

  • Conversion of Time Series (Most Common) - This option will import the time series of raw TUFLOW results (terrain, level, X-velocity and Y-velocity),with all other parameters derived by waterRIDE (depth, hazard, VxD, bed shear etc). The peaks that are displayed in waterRIDE are the peaks of this time series. In this approach, you are free to change the hazard categories without re-running the model. This approach assumes the results were saved at a suitable timestep. This approach is almost always run when the raw results are available.
  • Conversion of TUFLOW Peaks (Common) - TUFLOW results also store the peaks calculated at every timestep of the model run at the time it was executed. waterRIDE can read and import these peak values. However, you are limited to the results that were exported by the modeller (usually terrain, depth, level, velocity (vector), VxD and hazard. This also means you cannot change the hazard categories without re-running the model. This approach is often used to confirm the time series is adequate.
  • Conversion of TUFLOW GIS Outputs (Occasionally) - When TUFLOW is run, the outputs are often processed into peak ASCII grids. Frequently, these grids are only the "key" parameters: terrain, level, depth and velocity. VxD and Hazard are occasionally available. If raw results are unavailable, you may find converting these ASCII grids is your only option. In this case, you should use the "Max Grids" page of the TUFLOW conversion form. waterRIDE will automatically detect filenames of available files once you have provided the water level ASCII.In this approach, you can only convert the grids that are available, although there is an option to create VxD and hazard grids using peak D and peak V values (a conservative approach) if they were not provided. As velocity ASCII's are normally scalar, you also lose velocity vectors, and you cannot change hazard categories without re-running the model. This approach is usually only used when raw model results are not available.

Despite the above tools, it is important to ensure that model deliverables are provided at a suitable timestep, as the rich time series dataset provides valuable insights into flood behaviour that static "peaks only" datasets simply cannot.

waterRIDE Group Training (Virtual)
24th to 26th September, 2020

The next waterRIDE training sessions will be held virtually over the 24th to 26th November, 2020.

Sessions are as follows:
    - Essentials (24th)
    - Advanced (25th)
    - Automated Flood Certificates Masterclass (26th)

To ensure wholly interactive sessions, places are limited.

Bookings and pricing/session details are available on the Training page.

The sessions will be facilitated Trent Laves.

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