Combined

1D and 2D Modeling with HECRAS

Table of Contents
I.

Overview..................................................................................................................................5
A. HECRASTwoDimensionalFlowModelingAdvantages/Capabilities.................................6
B. Currentlimitationsofthe2DmodelingcapabilitiesinHECRAS.......................................10

II. DevelopingaTerrainModelforusein2DModelingandResultsMapping/Visualization...11
A. OpeningRASMapper.........................................................................................................11
B. SettingtheSpatialReferenceProjection...........................................................................12
C.

LoadingTerrainDataandMakingtheTerrainModel....................................................13

D. UsingCrossSectionDatatoModify/ImprovetheTerrainModel.....................................17
1. CreateaTerrainmodeloftheChannel..........................................................................18
2. MakingaCombinechannelandOverbankterrainmodel.............................................19
III.

DevelopmentofaCombined1D/2DGeometricDataModel...........................................22

A. Developmentofthe2DComputationalMesh..................................................................22
1. DrawaPolygonBoundaryforthe2DArea....................................................................22
2. Creatingthe2DComputationalMesh...........................................................................24
3. Edit/ModifytheComputationalMesh...........................................................................30
4. PotentialMeshGenerationProblems............................................................................33
B. CreatingHydraulicPropertyTablesforthe2DCellsandCellFaces..................................37
1. AssociatingaTerrainLayerwithaGeometryFile..........................................................37
2. 2DCellandFaceGeometricPreProcessor...................................................................38
C. Connecting2DFlowAreasto1DHydraulicElements.......................................................45
1. Connectinga2DFlowAreatoa1DRiverReachwithaLateralStructure....................45
2. DirectlyconnectinganUpstreamRiverReachtoaDownstream2DFlowArea...........57
3. DirectlyconnectinganUpstream2DFlowAreatoaDownstreamRiverReach...........60
4. Connectinga2DFlowAreatoaStorageAreausingaHydraulicStructure..................62
5. Connectinga2DFlowAreatoanother2DFlowAreausingaHydraulicStructure.......65
6. Multiple2DFlowAreasinaSingleGeometryFile.........................................................68
7. HydraulicStructuresInsideof2DFlowAreas................................................................69
D. External2DFlowAreaBoundaryConditions.....................................................................73
1. Overview........................................................................................................................73
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2. FlowHydrograph............................................................................................................76
3. StageHydrograph...........................................................................................................76
4. NormalDepth.................................................................................................................76
5. RatingCurve...................................................................................................................77
E. 2DFlowAreaInitialConditions..........................................................................................77
1. DryInitialCondition.......................................................................................................77
2. SingleWaterSurfaceElevation......................................................................................77
3. RestartFileOptionforInitialConditions.......................................................................77
4. Usingthe2DFlowAreaInitialConditionsRampupTimeOption.................................79
IV.

RunningtheCombined1D/2DUnsteadyflowModel......................................................82

A. SelectinganAppropriateGridSizeandComputationalTimeStep...................................82
B. PerformingtheComputations...........................................................................................85
C. 2DComputationOptionsandTolerances..........................................................................87
D. 32bitand64bitComputationalEngines..........................................................................94
V. ViewingCombined1D/2DOutputusingRASMapper.........................................................95
A. OverviewofRASMapperOutputCapabilities...................................................................96
B. AddingResultsMapLayersforVisualization.....................................................................97
C. DynamicMapping..............................................................................................................99
D. CreatingStatic(Stored)Maps..........................................................................................103
E.QueryingRASMapperResults............................................................................................105
F.TimeSeriesOutputPlotsandTables..................................................................................106
G.BackgroundMapLayers.....................................................................................................109
1.WebImagery:..................................................................................................................110
2.OtherMapLayerFormats...............................................................................................112
H.NationalLeveeDatabase..................................................................................................113
VI.

2DOutputFile(HDF5binaryfile)....................................................................................115

Appendices..................................................................................................................................118
A. RASMapperSupportedFileFormats...............................................................................118

Combined 1D and 2D Modeling with HECRAS

Overview

HEChasaddedtheabilitytoperformtwodimensional(2D)hydrodynamicflowrouting
withintheunsteadyflowanalysisportionofHECRAS.Userscannowperformonedimensional
(1D)unsteadyflowmodeling,twodimensional(2D)unsteadyflowmodeling(FullSaintVenant
equationsorDiffusionWaveequations),aswellascombinedonedimensionalandtwo
dimensional(1D/2D)unsteadyflowrouting.ThetwodimensionalflowareasinHECRAScanbe
usedinnumberofways.Thefollowingareexamplesofhowthe2DFlowAreascanbeusedto
supportmodelingwithHECRAS:

Detailed2Dchannelmodeling
Detailed2Dchannelandfloodplainmodeling
Combined1Dchannelswith2DFlowAreasbehindlevees
Combined1Dchannelswith2Dfloodplainareas
Directlyconnect1Dreachesintoandoutof2DFlowAreas.
Directlyconnecta2DFlowAreato1DStorageAreawithahydraulicstructure
Multiple2DFlowAreasinthesamegeometry
Directlyconnectmultiple2DFlowAreaswithhydraulicstructures
SimplifiedtoverydetailedDamBreachanalyses
SimplifiedtoverydetailedLeveeBreachinganalyses
Mixedflowregime.The2Dcapability(aswellasthe1D)canhandlesupercriticaland
subcriticalflow,aswellastheflowtransitionsfromsubcriticaltosupercriticalandsuper
criticaltosubcritical(hydraulicjumps).

Twodimensional(2D)flowmodelingisaccomplishedbyadding2DFlowAreaelementsinto
themodelinthesamemannerasaddingastoragearea.A2DFlowAreaisaddedbydrawinga
2DFlowAreapolygon;developingthe2Dcomputationalmesh;thenlinkingthe2DFlowAreas
to1Dmodelelementsand/ordirectlyconnectingboundaryconditionstothe2Dareas.
Note:ThisdocumentassumesthatyoualreadyknowhowtouseHECRAStoperform1D
UnsteadyFlowmodeling.Thisdocumentfocusesonhowtousethenew2Dmodeling
capabilitiesandthenewRASMapperfeatures.Forassistancewith1Dunsteadyflow
modeling,andhowtousetheUserInterface,pleasereviewtheHECRASUsersmanual.

A. HECRAS TwoDimensional Flow Modeling Advantages/Capabilities

ThetwodimensionalflowroutingcapabilitiesinHECRAShavebeendevelopedtoallow
theusertoperformcombined1D/2Dmodeling.The2DflowmodelingalgorithminHECRAS
hasthefollowingattributes:
1. Canperform1D,2D,andcombined1Dand2DModeling.HECRAScanperform1
Dimensional(1D)modeling,2Dimensional(2D)modeling(no1Delements),and
combined1Dand2Dmodeling.Theabilitytoperformcombined1Dand2D
modelingwithinthesameunsteadyflowmodelwillallowuserstoworkonlarger
riversystems,utilizing1Dmodelingwhereappropriate(forexample:themainriver
system),and2Dmodelinginareasthatrequireahigherlevelofhydrodynamic
fidelity.

2. FullSaintVenantorDiffusionWaveEquationsin2D.Theprogramsolveseither
thefull2DSaintVenantequationsorthe2DDiffusionWaveequations.Thisisuser
selectable,givingmodelersmoreflexibility.Ingeneral,the2DDiffusionWave
equationsallowthesoftwaretorunfaster,andhavegreaterstabilityproperties.
Whilethe2DFullSaintVenantequationsaremoreapplicabletoawiderrangeof
problems.However,manymodelingsituationscanbeaccuratelymodeledwiththe
2DDiffusionWaveequations.Sinceuserscaneasilyswitchbetweenequationsets,
eachcanbetriedforanygivenproblemtoseeiftheuseofthe2DFullSaintVenant
equationsiswarranted.

3. ImplicitFiniteVolumeSolutionAlgorithm.The2Dunsteadyflowequationssolver
usesanImplicitFiniteVolumealgorithm.Theimplicitsolutionalgorithmallowsfor
largercomputationaltimestepsthanexplicitmethods.Thefinitevolumeapproach
providesameasureofimprovedstabilityandrobustnessovertraditionalfinite
differenceandfiniteelementtechniques.Thewettinganddryingof2Delementsis
veryrobustwiththefinitevolumesolutionalgorithminHECRAS.2DFlowAreascan
startcompletelydry,andhandleasuddenrushofwaterintothearea.Additionally,
thealgorithmcanhandlesubcritical,supercritical,andmixedflowregimes(flow
passingthroughcriticaldepth,suchasahydraulicjump).

4. 1Dand2DCoupledSolutionAlgorithm.The1Dand2Dsolutionalgorithmsare
tightlycoupledonatimestepbytimestepbasiswithanoptiontoiteratebetween
1Dand2Dflowtransferswithinatimestep.Thisallowsfordirectfeedbackeach
timestepbetweenthe1Dand2Dflowelements.Forexample,considerariveris
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modeledin1Dwiththeareabehindaleveeismodeledin2D(connected
hydraulicallywithaLateralStructure).Flowoverthelevee(LateralStructure)and/or
throughanyleveebreachiscomputedwithaheadwaterfromthe1Driveranda
tailwaterfromthe2DFlowAreatowhichitisconnected.Theweirequationisused
tocomputeflowovertheleveeandthroughthebreach.Eachtimesteptheweir
equationusesthe1Dandthe2Dresultstocomputetheflowallowingforaccurate
accountingofweirsubmergence,eachtimestep,astheinteriorareafillsup.
Additionally,flowcangobackoutthebreach(fromthe2Dareatothe1Dreach),
oncetheriverstagessubside.

5. UnstructuredorStructuredComputationalMeshes.Thesoftwarewasdesignedto
usestructuredorunstructuredcomputationalmeshes.Thismeansthat
computationalcellscanbetriangles,squares,rectangles,orevenfiveandsixsided
elements(themodelislimitedtoelementswithuptoeightsides).Themeshcanbe
amixtureofcellshapesandsizes.Theouterboundaryofthecomputationalmeshis
definedwithapolygon.Thecomputationalcellsthatformtheouterboundaryof
themeshcanhaveverydetailedmultipointlinesthatrepresenttheouterface(s)of
eachcell.

6. DetailedHydraulicTablePropertiesforComputationalCellsandCellFaces.Within
HECRAS,computationalcellsdonothavetohaveaflatbottom,andCellFacesdo
nothavetobestraightline,withasingleelevation.Instead,eachComputational
CellandCellFaceisbasedonthedetailsoftheunderlyingterrain.Eachcell,and
cellface,ofthecomputationalmeshispreprocessedinordertodevelopdetailed
hydraulicpropertytablesbasedontheunderlyingterrainusedinthemodeling
process.Foranexample,consideramodelbuiltfromadetailedterrainmodel(2ft
gridcellresolution)withacomputationcellsizeof200x200ft.The2Dmeshpre
processorcomputesanelevationvolumerelationship,basedonthedetailedterrain
data(2ftgrid),withineachcell.Therefore,acellcanbepartiallywetwiththe
correctwatervolumeforthegivenWSELbasedonthe2ftgriddata.Additionally,
eachcomputationalcellfaceisevaluatedsimilartoacrosssectionandispre
processedintodetailedhydraulicpropertytables(elevationversuswetted
perimeter,area,roughness,etc).Theflowmovingacrosstheface(betweencells)
isbasedonthisdetaileddata.Thisallowsthemodelertouselargercomputational
cells,withoutlosingtoomuchofthedetailsoftheunderlyingterrainthatgovernthe
movementoftheflow.Additionally,theplacementofcellfacesalongthetopof
controllingterrainfeatures(roads,highground,walls,etc)canfurtherimprovethe
hydrauliccalculationsusingfewercellsoverall.Theneteffectoflargercellsisless
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computations,whichmeansmuchfasterruntimes.Anexamplecomputational
meshwithdetailedterrainbelowisillustratedinFigure1.

Figure1.Unstructuredcomputationalmeshwithdetailedsubgridterraindata.

ShowninFigure1,isanexamplecomputationalmeshoverterraindatadepicted
withblueshadedcontourdata.Thecomputationalcellsarerepresentedbythethick
blacklines.Thecellcomputationalcentersarerepresentedbytheblacknodesandare
thelocationswherethewatersurfaceelevationiscomputedforeachcell.The
elevationvolumerelationshipforeachcellisbasedonthedetailsoftheunderlying
terrain.Eachcellfaceisadetailedcrosssectionbasedontheunderlyingterrainbelow
thelinethatrepresentsthecellface.Thisprocessallowsforwatertomovebetween
cellsbasedonthedetailsoftheunderlyingterrain,asitisrepresentedbythecellfaces
andthevolumecontainedwithinthatcell.Therefore,asmallchannelthatcutsthrough
acell,andismuchsmallerthanthecellsize,isstillrepresentedbythecellselevation
volumerelationship,andthehydraulicpropertiesofthecellfaces.Thismeanswater
canrunthroughlargercells,butstillberepresentedwithitsnormalchannelproperties.
AnexampleofasmallchannelrunningthroughmuchlargergridcellsisshowninFigure
2.TheexampleshowninFigure2hasseveralcanalsthataremuchsmallerthanthe
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averagecellsizeusedtomodelthearea(cellsizewas500X500ft,wherethecanalsare
lessthan100ftwide).However,asshowninFigure2,flowisabletotravelthroughthe
smallercanalsbasedonthecanalshydraulicproperties.Flowremainsinthecanals
untilthestageishigherthanthebankelevationofthecanal,thenitspillsoutintothe
overbankareas.

Figure2.Exampleshowingthebenefitsofusingthedetailedsubterrainforthecellandface
hydraulicproperties.

7. DetailedFloodMappingandFloodAnimations.Mappingoftheinundatedarea,as
wellasanimationsofthefloodingcanbedonerightinsideofRASusingtheRAS
Mapperfeatures.Themappingofthe2DFlowAreasisbasedonthedetailed
underlyingterrain.Thismeansthatthewettedareawillbebasedonthedetailsof
theunderlyingterrain,andnotthecomputationalmeshcellsize.Computationally,
cellscanbepartiallywet/dry(thisishowtheyarecomputedinthecomputational
algorithm).Mappingwillreflectthosedetails,ratherthanbeinglimitedtoshowing
acomputationalcellaseitherallwetoralldry.
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8. MultiProcessorBasedSolutionAlgorithm.The2DFlowAreacomputational
solutionhasbeenprogrammedtotakeadvantageofmultiprocessorsona
computer(referredtoasparallelization).Thissolutionalgorithmrunsfasterthan
nonparallelizedcode.Computersthathavemoreprocessorswillbeabletoperform
2Dflowmodelingfasterthansingleprocessorcomputers.

9. 64Bitand32BitComputationalEngines.HECRASnowcomeswithboth64bitand
32bitcomputationalengines.Thesoftwarewillusethe64bitcomputational
enginesautomaticallyifinstalledona64bitoperatingsystem.The64bit
computationalenginesrunfasterthanthe32bitandcanhandlemuchlargerdata
sets.

B. Current limitations of the 2D modeling capabilities in HECRAS

ThefollowingisalistofthecurrentlimitationsoftheHECRAStwodimensionalflow
modelingsoftware.Alloftheselimitationswillbeaddressedbeforeafinalpublicreleaseofthe
software.
I.

II.

Each2DFlowAreacanonlyhaveoneManningsnvaluetorepresenttheterrain
surface.Inthefirstofficialrelease(NonBetaversion)horizontalvariationsof
ManningsnvalueswillbeavailablebysettingupManningsnvaluepolygons,
whichwillbeintersectedwiththecomputationalmeshinordertocomputethe
roughnesscoefficientsofthecomputationalcells/faces.Futureversionswillalso
allowforverticalvariationofroughnesswithdepth.
Notenoughautomatedtoolsforgeneratingadetailed2Dcomputationalmesh.
WhiletherearecurrentlytoolsinHECRASthatallowtheusertoedit/modifythe2D
computationalmesh,inordertomakeitmoreorlessdetailedinspecificareas,
therearemanytoolsthatstillneedtobeaddedtoHECRAStoautomatethis
process.

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II. Developing a Terrain Model for use in 2D Modeling and Results

ItisnecessarytocreateaterrainmodelinRASMapperbeforeyoucanperformany
modelcomputationsthatcontaina2DFlowArea,orbeforetheusercanvisualizeany1D,2D,
orcombine1D/2Dmodelresults.Thissectionofthedocumentdescribeshowtocreatea
terrainmodelinRASMapper.Theusercandeveloponeormoreterrainmodels,thatcanthen
beassociatedwithaspecificgeometryinputfile,oraspecificresultsoutputfile.

A.

Opening RAS Mapper

ThefirststepindevelopingaterraindatasetistoopenRASMapper.Thisisaccomplishedby
selectingGISToolsfromthemainHECRASmainwindow,thenselectingRASMapper,orby
pressingtheRASMapperbutton
onthemainHECRASwindow.Whenthisisdone,the
windowshowninFigure3willappear.

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Figure3.RASMapperwithnoterrainorothermaplayersloaded.

B.

Setting the Spatial Reference Projection

OnceRASMapperisopen,ifthedataisinaspecificspatialcoordinateprojection,that
projectionshouldbesetinRASMapper.Settingaspatialcoordinatesystemisnotrequired(i.e.
maybetheuserisjustdoingsometestingofhypotheticaldata),butusingonehasmany
advantagesinHECRASandRASMapper.Tosetthespatialreferencesystemfortheproject,
selecttheTools|SetProjectionforProjectmenuitemfromtheRASMappermenubar.When
theSetProjectionoptionisselectedthewindowshownbelowwillappear(Figure4).

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Figure4.EditortosettheRASprojectsspatialreferencesystem.

Tosetthespatialreferencesystem(coordinatesystem),browseandselectanexisting
.prjfile(ESRIprojectionfile)thatcontainsthecorrectcoordinatesystem.IfArcGISVersion
10.0orearlier)isinstalledonthecomputer,theusercanbrowsetotheArcGISdirectorythat
containsalistingofalltheavailablecoordinatesystemsandselecttheappropriateone(ArcGIS
version10.0.Otherwise,findanArcGISprojectionfilewithinoneoftheGISprojectdirectories
(lookforashapefilethathasaprojectionfiledefined).Unfortunatelythedirectoryof
coordinatesystemswasremovedatArcGISversion10.1andnewer.Souserswillhaveto
createonewithArcGISorsearchontheinternetforanArcGISprojectionfile.Forthis
example,NAD1983StatePlaneIndianaEast.prjwasselected.

C.

Loading Terrain Data and Making the Terrain Model

Thenextstepistoloadtheterraindatathatwillbeusedincreatingtheterrainmodel.
Todevelopanewterraindataset(terrainmodel),selecttheTools|NewTerrainmenuitem
fromtheRASMappermainmenubar.TheNewTerrainLayerdialogwillappear(Figure5).This
dialogallowstheusertoprovideanameforthenewTerrainLayer(TerrainNamefield,the
defaultnameisTerrain);selectadirectoryforstoringtheterrain(TerrainFolderfield);define
theelevationprecisionofthenewterraindatalayer(Rounding(Precision)field,1/32isthe
defaultforEnglishunits);andselectthefilestobeusedinbuildingthenewterrainlayer(Add
Filesbutton).Atthistime,RASMappercaningestterraindatathatisinthefloatingpointgrid
format(FLTtheyhavea*.fltfileextension,itwillalsohavea*.hdrfile,andpossiblya*.prjfile
13

thatgoesalongwithit);GeoTiff(*.tif)format;esrigridfiles(*.adffileextensions.Note:there
areseveral*.adffilesthatmakeupandesrigrid.Pickanyoneofthemanditprocessesallof
themasneeded.);andseveralotherformats(forexampleaUSGSDEMfile).UsetheAddFiles
buttontogetafilechooser,thenselectthefloatingpointterraingridorgrids(morethanone
gridcanbeusedsimultaneouslytoformatiledterrainmodel),thenselecttheOpenbuttonto
usetheselectedfiles.

Figure5.ExampleNewTerrainLayerdialog.

Ifmorethanonegridfileisloaded,usethearrowbuttonstotheleftofthetabletoset
thepriorityofthegridlayers.Ifonegridhasmoredetail(finerresolution)thansomeothers,
youwillwanttogiveitahigherpriorityforcreatingthecombinedTerrainLayer.Ifthereisonly
oneTerrainlayer,whichwillbethecaseformanystudies,leavethenameasTerrain,
otherwisegiveitthenameofyourchoice.
Oncethegridfilesareselected,andplacedintheappropriatepriorityorder,pressthe
MakeTerrainbuttontocreatethenewTerrainLayer.OncetheMakeTerrainbuttonis
pressed,RASMapperwillconvertthegridsintotheGeoTiff(*.tif)fileformat.TheGeoTifffile
structuresupportstiledandpyramideddata.Tileddatauseslessareaoftheterrainremoving
NoDatavalues,whilepyramideddatastoresmultipleterrainlayersofvaryingresolutions.
Additionally,theGeoTifffilesareautomaticallystoredinacompressedform(usingthezip
format),whichmakesthefilestoragemuchsmaller.Ingeneral,theGeoTifffileswillbe2to20
timessmallerthantheoriginalFLToresrigridfiles.TheGeoTifffileformatallowsforsmaller
storagespace,fastercomputationalspeed(ingeneratingfloodmaps),aswellasdynamic
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mappingoftheresults(depthgridsthatarecreatedontheflyinmemory,asyouzoomin,pan,
oranimatethefloodmaps).OncetheGeoTifffilesarecreated,RASMapperalsocreatesa
*.hdffileanda*.vrtfile.The*.hdf(HierarchicalDataFormat)filecontainsinformationonhow
themultipleGeoTifffilesarestitchedtogether.The*.vrt(VirtualRasterTranslator)fileisan
XMLfilethatcontainsinformationaboutalloftherasterfiles(*.tif).Theusercandragand
dropthe*.vrtfileontoanArcGISprojectanditwillthenknowaboutalloftherasterfilesthat
makeuptheterrainlayer.Additionally,theywillhavethesamescaleandcolorrampwhen
theyareplotted.OnceRASMapperhascompletedtheconversionofthefilestoGeoTiff,and
thencreatedtheHDFandVRTfile,thenewterrainlayerwillbevisibleinthewindow.Seethe
exampleshownbelowinFigure6.

Figure6.RASMapperwithaTerrainDataLayeradded.

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Oncetheterrainmodeliscreatedtheusercanenhancethelookoftheterraindataby
rightclickingontheterrainlayerandselectingLayerProperties.TheLayerPropertieswindow
(Figure7)allowsyouto:selectandcontroltheSurfaceColorStyle;CreateandplotContour
Lines;andshadetheterrainusingaHillShadingalgorithm(Thisoptionmakesthevisualofthe
terrainmuchmorerealisticandsemi3D).

Figure7.LayerPropertiesWindowfortheTerrainDataLayer.

AnexampleoftheMuncieTerraindatawithsomeofthelayerpropertiesenhancements
(HillShadingonContourLines)turnedonisshowninFigure8.

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Figure8.TerrainDatawithHillShadingandContourLinesTurnedOn.

D.

Using Cross Section Data to Modify/Improve the Terrain Model

Oneofthemajorproblemsinhydraulicmodelingisthatterraindatadoesnotoften
includetheactualterrainunderneaththewatersurfaceinthechannelregion.RASMappercan
nowbeusedtocreateaterrainmodelofthechannelregionfromtheHECRAScrosssections
andthecrosssectionInterpolationsurface.Thisterrainmodelcanthenbecombinedwiththe
generalsurfaceterrainmodel(thatdoesnotaccuratelydepicttheterrainbelowthewater
surface)tocreateanimprovedterrainmodelforhydraulicmodelingandmapping.

ThestepstoincludeachannelinaterrainmodelusingHECRAScrosssectionsarethe
following:

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1.

Create a Terrain model of the Channel

FromHECRASMapper,turnontheGeometryLayerforthegeometrydatatobeusedin
creatingthechannelterrainmodel.Alsoturnonthefollowingsublayers:River;BankLine;XS
(crosssections);andXSInterpolationSurface.Reviewthestreamcenterline(River);BankLines,
XS(CrossSections);andtheXSInterpolationsurfacetoensuretheyarecorrect,andwhatyou
wantforanewchannelterrainmodel(Thisistheinformationthatisusedtocreatethechannel
model).SeeanexampleinFigure9below:

Figure9.RASMapperwithbaseterrainandGeometryLayersDisplayed.

Ifallthegeometrylayerslookgood,thencreatingthechannelterrainmodelisaccomplishedby
rightclickingontheGeometryLayerandselectingExportLayer,thenCreateTerrainGeoTiff
fromXSs(ChannelOnly).Alternativelytheusercanmakeaterrainmodeloutoftheentire
crosssectionregion(Channelandoverbankarea),butifyoubaseterrainmodelhasgood
overbankterraininformation,youwillnotwanttodothat.OncetheExportoptionisselected,
afileselectorwillappear,inwhichtheuserwillneedtogivethenewterrainmodelaname,
andchooseadirectorytoputitin.SeeFigure10below:

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Figure10.TerrainExportFileChooseshownwithExampleNameandDirectory.

Onceadirectoryischosenandafilenameisentered,presstheSavebuttontocreate
thechannelterrainmodel.Theprogramwillthenasktheuserfortherastercellsizetousefor
thisnewterrainmodel.Forexampleifyouenter5.0,thenthenewterrainmodelwillofgrids
thatare5ftby5ft.Theterrainmodeliscreatedbytakingtheelevationdatafromthecross
sectionsandusingtheinterpolationsurfacetointerpolateanelevationforeachgridcell
betweentwocrosssections.Thisnewsurfaceisclippedatthemainchannelbankstations(if
theuserselectedtomakeaterrainofthechannelonly),andthenwrittenasaterraingridin
theGeotifffileformat.

2.

Making a Combine channel and Overbank terrain model

Onceyouhavemadeaterrainmodelfromthechanneldata,youcannowmakeanew
combineterrainmodelfromthebaseterrainmodel(theterrainwiththeoverbank/floodplain
data)andyournewlycreatedchannelonlyterrainmodel.Tomakethenewcombineterrain
model,selecttheToolsmenufromRASMapper,andthenselectNewTerrain.Thisstepisthe
sameaspreviouslydescribedforcreatingaterrainmodelinRASMapper,however,thefiles
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usedtocreatethisterrainmodelwillbethepreviouslycreatedGeoTiffoftheBaseTerraindata,
andthenewlycreatedGeotiffofthechannelonlydata.OncetheNewTerrainoptionis
selected,thewindowtomakeanewterrainlayerwillappear(Figure5).EnteranewNamefor
thenewterrainmodel(TerrainWithChannelwasusedinthisexample).Selectthefolderforthe
newterrainmodeltobewrittento.Selecttheprecisionofthenewterrainmodel(however,
theprecisionshouldnotbefinerthantheterrainfilesusedtocreatethisnewterrainmodel).
ThenselecttheAddFilesbuttonandselectthebaseterrainmodelsGeotifffile,andthecross
sectiononlyterrainmodelsGeotifffile.Makesurethatthenewchannelterrainmodelhasa
higherprioritythanthebaseterrainmodel(i.e.makesureitisfirstinthelistoftheadded
terrainfiles).ThenpressMakeTerrainandanewcombinedterrainmodelwillbecreatedand
addedtotheRASMapperproject.Seetheoriginal(Terrainmodelwithoutcrosssectiondata
included)andthenew(terrainmodelwithcrosssectiondataincluded)terrainmodelsinFigure
11below:

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Figure11.OriginalTerrainmodel(Top)andNewTerrainmodel(Bottom)withChannelData.

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III.

Development of a Combined 1D/2D Geometric Data Model

A. Development of the 2D Computational Mesh

TheHECRAS2DmodelingcapabilityusesaFiniteVolumesolutionscheme.This
algorithmwasdevelopedtoallowfortheuseofastructuredorunstructuredcomputational
mesh.Thismeansthatthecomputationalmeshcanbeamixtureof3sided,4sided,5sided,
etccomputationalcells(HECRAShasamaximumof8sidesinacomputationalcell).
However,theuserwillmostlikelyselectanominalgridresolutiontouse(e.g.200X200ft
cells),andtheautomatedtoolswithinHECRASwillbuildthecomputationalmesh.Afterthe
initialmeshisbuilt,theusercanrefinethegridwiththemesheditingtools.A2D
computationalmeshisdevelopedinHECRASbydoingthefollowing:

1. Draw a Polygon Boundary for the 2D Area

Theusermustadda2DFlowAreapolygontorepresenttheboundaryofthe2Darea
usingthe2DFlowAreadrawingtoolintheGeometricDataEditor(justasyouwould
createaStorageArea).ThebestwaytodothisinHECRASistofirstbringina
backgroundimageofeithertheunderlyingterrain,and/oranaerialimage.Additionally,
youmaywanttobringinashapefilethatrepresentstheprotectedarea,ifyouare
workingwithaleveedsystem.Thebackgroundimageswillassisttheuserinfiguringout
wheretodrawthe2DFlowAreaboundariesinordertocapturethetopsoflevees,
floodwalls,andanyhighgroundthatwillactasabarriertoflow.
NOTE:Theboundarybetweena1Driverreachanda2DFlowAreashouldbehigh
groundthatseparatesthetwo.Forleveesandroadwaysthisisobviouslythecenterline
oftheleveeandtheroadway.However,whenusingalateralstructuretoconnecta
mainrivertothefloodplain(whenthereisnoactuallevee),trytofindthehighground
thatseparatesthemainriverfromthefloodplain.Usethishighgroundasaguidefor
drawingthe2Dboundary,aswellasdefiningtheLateralStructureStationElevation
data.
Tocreatethe2DFlowArea,usethe2DFlowAreatool(thebuttonontheGeometric
EditorToolsBarlabeled2DFlowArea,highlightedinredonFigure12).Beginbyleft
clickingtodropapointalongthe2DFlowAreapolygonboundary.Thencontinuetouse
theleftmousebuttontodroppointsinthe2DFlowAreaboundary.Asyourunoutof
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screenrealestate,rightclicktorecenterthescreen.Doubleclicktheleftmouse
buttontofinishcreatingthepolygon.Onceyouhavefinisheddrawingthe2Darea
polygonbydoubleclicking,theinterfacewillaskyouforaNametoidentifythe2DFlow
Area.ShowninFigure12isanexample2DFlowAreapolygonforanareathatis
protectedbyalevee.Thenamegiventothe2DFlowAreainthisexampleis:2D
InteriorArea.

Figure12.Example2DFlowAreapolygon.

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2. Creating the 2D Computational Mesh

Selectthe2DFlowAreaeditorbuttonontheleftpaneloftheGeometricDataeditor
(UndertheEditorssetofbuttonsontheleft)tobringupthe2DFlowAreaeditor
window:

Figure13.2DFlowAreaMeshGenerationEditor.

The2DFlowAreaeditorallowstheusertoselectanominalgridsizefortheinitial
generationofthe2DFlowAreacomputationalmesh.TheusermustalsoenteraManningsn
valueforthe2DFlowArea(rightnow,HECRASislimitedtoasinglenvalueforthe2DFlow
Area,however,thiswillbechangedforthefirstofficialrelease).Tousethiseditor,firstselect
thebuttonlabeledGenerateComputationalpointsonregularInterval.Thiswillopena
popupwindowthatwillallowyoutoenteranominalgridsize.Theeditorrequiresyoutoenter
aComputationalPointSpacingintermsofDXandDY(SeeFigure14).Thepointsitisreferring
toarethecomputationalgridcellcenters.Forexample,ifyouenterDX=50,andDY=50,you
willgetacomputationalmeshthathasgridsthatare50X50everywhere,exceptaroundthe
outerboundary.Sincetheusercanenteranirregularboundaryfortheextentsofthe2DFlow
Area,themeshgenerationtoolswillautomaticallygeneratecellsaroundtheboundarythatare
closetotheareaofthenominalgridcellsizeyouselected,buttheywillbeirregularinshape.
Thepopupeditorhasanoptiontoenterwhereyouwouldlikethecellcenterstostart,interms
ofanupperleftXandanupperleftYcoordinate.TheseStartingPointOffsetfieldsarenot
required.Bydefaultitwillusetheupperleftcornerofthepolygonboundarythatrepresents
24

the2DFlowArea.Useofthestationoffset(i.e.startingPointOffset),allowsyoutoshiftthe
originofthegrid,andthereforethelocationofthepoints.

Figure14.2DComputationalPointSpacingEditor.

AftertheComputationalPointSpacing(DXandDY)hasbeenentered,pressthe
GeneratePointsin2DFlowAreabutton.Pressingthisbuttonwillcausethesoftwareto
computeaseriesofXandYcoordinatesforthecellcenters.Theusercanviewthesepointsby
pressingtheView/Editcomputationalpointsoption,whichbringsthepointsupinatable.
Theusercancutandpastetheseintoaspreadsheet,oreditthemdirectlyiftheydesire(itis
notenvisionedthatanyonewilleditthepointsinthistableorExcel,buttheoptionisavailable).

Therearefouradditionalfieldsonthe2DFlowAreaseditor(Figure13)thatareused
duringthe2Dpreprocessing.Thesefieldsare:
CellVolumeFilterTol:Thistoleranceisusedtoreducethenumberofpointsinthe2Dcell
elevationvolumecurvesthatgetdevelopedinthe2DPreprocessor.Fewerpointsinthecurve
willspeedupthecomputations,butreducetheaccuracyoftheelevationvolumerelationship.
Thedefaulttoleranceforfilteringthesepointsis0.01ft.
FaceProfileFilterTol:Thisfiltertoleranceisusedtoreducethenumberofpointsthatget
extractedfromthedetailedterrainforeachfaceofa2Dcell.Thedefaultis0.01ft.
FaceAreaElevFilterTol:Thisfiltertoleranceisusedtoreducethenumberofpointsinthecell
facehydraulicpropertytables.Fewerpointsinthecurveswillspeedupthecomputations,but
reducetheaccuracyofthefacehydraulicpropertyrelationships.Thedefaultis0.01ft.

25

FaceConveyanceTolRatio: Thistoleranceisusedtofigureoutifmoreorlesspointsare
requiredatthelowerendofthefacepropertytables.Itfirstcomputesconveyanceatallofthe
elevationsinthefacepropertytables.Itthencomputestheconveyanceatanelevationhalf
waybetweenthepointsandcomparesthisvaluetothatobtainedbyusinglinearinterpolation
(basedontheoriginalpoints).Ifthecomputedvalueproducesaconveyancethatiswithin2%
(0.02)ofthelinearinterpolationvalue,thennofurtherpointsareneededbetweenthosetwo
values.Iflinearinterpolationwouldproduceavalueofconveyancethatismorethan2%from
thecomputedvalueatthatelevation,thenanewpointisaddedtothattable.Thisreducesthe
errorincomputinghydraulicproperties,andthereforeconveyanceduetolinearinterpolation
ofthecurves.Ahighertolerancewillresultsinfewerpointsinthehydraulicpropertytablesof
thecellfaces,butlesshydraulicaccuracyfortheflowmovementacrossthefaces.Thedefault
valueis0.02,whichrepresentsa2%change.

Onceanominalgridsizehasbeenselected,andaManningsnvaluehasbeenentered,
theusershouldpresstheOKbuttontoacceptthedataandclosetheeditor.WhentheOK
buttonisselectedthesoftwareautomaticallycreatesthecomputationalmeshanddisplaysitin
theGeometricDataEditorgraphicswindow(SeeFigure15).

26


Figure15.Example2Dcomputationalmeshforaninteriorofaleveeprotectedarea.

Asmentionedpreviously,cellsaroundthe2DFlowAreaboundarywillbeirregularin
shape,inordertoconformtotheuserenteredpolygon.Themeshgenerationtoolsutilizethe
irregularboundary,aswellastrytoensurethatnocellissmallerinareathanthenominalcell
size.Thecellsaroundtheboundarywillbeequaltoorlargerthanthenominalcellsize;
therefore,ifaboundarycellisgoingtobesmallerthanthenominalcellsizeitgetscombined
withaneighborcell.Theresultofcombiningcellsalongtheboundaryisillustratedbythe
zoomedinviewofthe2DFlowAreacomputationalmeshinFigure16.

27


Figure16.Zoomedinviewofthe2DFlowAreacomputationalmesh.

TheHECRASterminologyfordescribingthecomputationalmeshfor2Dmodeling
beginswiththe2DFlowArea.The2DFlowAreadefinestheboundaryforwhich2D
computationswilloccur.Acomputationalmesh(orcomputationalgrid)iscreatedwithinthe
2DFlowArea.Eachcellwithinthecomputationalmeshhasthefollowingthreeproperties
(Figure17):

28

CellCenter:

Thecomputationalcenterofthecell.Thisiswherethewater
surfaceelevationiscomputedforthecell.

CellFaces:

Thesearethecellboundaryfaces.Facesaregenerallystraight
lines,exceptalongtheouterboundaryofthe2DFlowArea,in
whichcaseacellfacecanbeamultipointline.

CellFacePoints:

ThecellFacePoints(FP)aretheendsofthecellfaces.TheFace
Point(FP)numbersfortheouterboundaryofthe2DFlowArea
areusedtohookthe2DFlowAreatoaLateralStructure.

Figure17.DescriptionofHECRAS2Dmodelingcomputationalmeshterminology.

29

3. Edit/Modify the Computational Mesh.

Thecomputationalmeshwillcontrolthemovementofwaterthroughthe2DFlowArea.
Specifically,onewatersurfaceelevationiscalculatedforeachgridcellcenterateach
timestep.Thecomputationalcellfacescontroltheflowmovementfromcelltocell.
WithinHECRAS,theunderlyingterrainandthecomputationalmesharepreprocessed
inordertodevelopdetailedelevationvolumerelationshipsforeachcell,andalso
detailedhydraulicpropertycurvesforeachcellface(elevationvs.wettedperimeter,
area,androughness).Bycreatinghydraulicparametertablesfromtheunderlying
terrain,theneteffectisthatthedetailsoftheunderlyingterrainarestilltakeninto
account,regardlessofthecomputationalcellsize.However,therearestilllimitsto
whatcellsizeyoushoulduse,andimportantconsiderationsforwhereyoushouldhave
smallerdetailedcellsverseslargecells.
Ingeneral,thecellsizeshouldbebasedontheslopeofthewatersurfaceinagiven
area,aswellasbarrierstoflowwithintheterrain.Wherethewatersurfaceslopeisflat
andnotchangingrapidly,largergridcellsizesareappropriate.Steeperslopes,and
localizedareaswherethewatersurfaceelevationandslopechangemorerapidlywill
requiresmallergridcellstocapturethosechanges.Sinceflowmovementiscontrolled
bythecomputationalcellfaces,smallercellsarerequiredtodefinesignificantchanges
togeometryandbarrierstoflowsuchashighground,roads,smallerinteriorlevees,
etc
InthecurrentversionofHECRAS,themeshEditing/Modifyingtoolsarelimitedtothree
options.Theyare:movingpoints;addingpoints,anddeletingpoints.Allofthesemesh
manipulationtoolsareavailableundertheEditmenuoftheHECRASGeometricEditor.
IftheuserselectsEditthenMovePoints/Object,youcangrabandmoveanycell
center,orpointsintheboundingpolygon.Ifacellcenterismoved,allofthe
neighboringcellswillautomaticallychangeduetothismovement.Iftheuserselects
EditthenAddPoints,thenwhereveryouleftclickwithinthe2DFlowArea,anew
cellcenterwillbeadded,andtheneighboringcellswillbechanged(OncetheMeshis
updated).Themeshonlyupdatesonceyouhaveturnedofftheeditingfeature.Thisis
doneonpurposeinordertosavecomputationaltimeforlargemeshes.Iftheuser
selectsEditthenDeletePoints,thenanyclicknearacellcenterwillremovethat
cellspoint,andalltheneighboringcellswillbecomelargertoaccountfortheremoved
cell(oncethemeshisregenerated).HECRASmakesthecomputationalmeshby
followingtheDelaunayTriangulationtechnique,andthenconstructingaVoronoi

30

diagram(SeeFigure18below,takenfromtheWikimediaCommons,afreelylicensed
mediafilerepository):

Figure18.DelaunayVoronoidiagramexample.

Thetriangles(black)showninFigure18aremadebyusingtheDelaunayTriangulation
technique(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaunay_triangulation).Thecells(red)arethen
madebybisectingallofthetriangleedges(Blackedges),andthenconnectingtheintersection
oftheredlines(VoronoiDiagram).ThisisanalogoustotheThiessenPolygonmethodfor
attributingbasinareatoaspecificraingage.
Youmaywanttoaddpointsandmovepointsinareaswhereyouneedmoredetail.Youmay
alsowanttoremovepointsinareaswhereyouknowyouneedlessdetail.Becausecellsand
cellfacesarepreprocessedintodetailedhydraulicpropertytables,theyrepresentthefull
detailsoftheunderlyingterrain.Ingeneral,youshouldbeabletogetawaywithlargergridcell
sizesthanwhatyouwouldbeabletowithamodelthatdoesnotdothispreprocessingofthe
cellsandthecellfacesusingtheunderlyingterrain.Many2Dmodelssimplyuseasingleflat
31

elevationfortheentirecell,andasingleflatelevationforeachcellface.Thesetypesof2D
modelsgenerallyrequireverysmallcomputationalcellsizesinordertomodelthedetailsofthe
terrain.

RightnowtheComputationalmeshgenerationtoolsinHECRASarefew,andsomewhat
limiting.Therearemanyenhancementsthatcouldbemadetothemeshgenerationtools.For
example,weplantohaveatoolinwhichtheusercandrawaninternallinealonglinear
featuresthatcontrolsflowmovement,suchasthehighgroundofaflowbarrier.Afterthisline
indrawn,themeshgenerationtoolswillautomaticallymatchthecellfacesalongthatline,such
thatthosecellfacespickupthehighgroundelevationsofthatterrainbarrier,thusmakinga
muchmoredetailedmodelinthatarea,butwithouthavingtohaveverysmallcells.Wealso
haveideasforotherautomatedmeshgenerationtoolsthatwouldbebasedonmaking
contoursoftheterrainfirst,thenusingthosecontourstoautomaticallygeneratethe
computationalcells.Anyideasforimprovingthemeshgenerationtoolsshouldbesenttothe
HECRASteam.

32

4. Potential Mesh Generation Problems

TheAutomatedmeshgenerationtoolinHECRASworksextremelywell,however,nothingis
perfect.Onoccasionabadcellwillbecreatedduetothecombinationoftheuserdefine
polygonboundaryandtheselectednominalcellsize.Hereisalistofsomeproblemsthat
arepossible,andhowtofixthemwiththemesheditingtoolsdescribedabove:

MorethanOneCellCenterinaSingleCell:Sometimesontheouterboundarycells,the
automaticmeshgeneratorwillcreateacellwithmorethan1cellcenterpointinsidethe
cell(seeFigure19below).Computationallythisisnotallowed.Tofixit,gotothe
GeometricEditorEditmenuandselecttheRemovePointsOption.Thenjustclick
onthepointsyouwanttoremoveinthecellthathasmorethanonecellcenter.

TwoCellCenters
inonecell

Figure19.Exampleofacellwithtwocellcenters.
33

CellhasnoCellCenter:Everycomputationalcellmusthaveoneandoneonlycell
center.Onoccasiontheautomaticmeshgeneratormaycreateacellwithnocellcenter
(Figure20).Tofixthismovethe2Dareaboundarypoints,orcellcenters.

Cellwithnocell
center

Figure20.Exampleofacellwithnocellcenter.

34

CellFaceCrossesoverintoMultipleCells:Onarareoccasion,theautomatedmesh
generatormaycreateacellfacethatextendswaypastthatsinglecell(Figure21).This
onlyoccursforboundarycells,andusuallywheretheboundaryhasaverysharpcorner.
Tofixthisyoucanaddpointstotheboundarypolygonandsmoothouttheboundary.
Youcanalsoaddmorecellcenters,deletecells,ormovesomecellcenters.Usethe
toolsfoundintheGeometriceditorundertheEditMenu.Availabletoolsare(1).Add
Points:toaddpointstothecellboundarypolygon,oradditionalcells;(2).Remove
Points:todeletepointsintheboundarypolygon,ordeletecells;and(3).Move
Points/Objects:tomovetheboundarypointsorthecellcenters.

CellFacethat
extendsacross
multiplecells

Figure21.Exampleofacellfacethatextendswaybeyondthatsinglecell.

35

CellhasmorethanOneOuterBoundaryFace:Ifyouhaveanareathatthe2DPolygon
necksdown,theautomaticmeshgeneratormaycreateacellthathastwoouter
boundaryfaces(Figure22).Currentlythisisnotworkingcomputationally(wewillfix
thisandgetittoworkinafutureversion).Youmustbreakupthatcellintomultiple
cells,suchthateachcellhasonlyoneouterboundaryface.Aboundaryfacecanbe
madeupofmanypoints/sides,butitmustbecontinuous.

Cellwithmorethanone
externalboundaryFace.

Figure22.ExampleofaCellwithtwoOuterBoundaryFaces.

36

TooManyFaces(sides)onaCell:Eachcellislimitedtohaving8Faces(sides).Ifyou
haveacellwithmorethan8sidesyouwillneedtoeditthatcelland/orthecellsthat
boundit.UsethetoolsfoundintheGeometriceditorundertheEditMenu.Available
toolsare(1).AddPoints:toaddpointstothecellboundarypolygon,oradditionalcells;
(2).RemovePoints:todeletepointsintheboundarypolygon,ordeletecells;and(3).
MovePoints/Objects:tomovetheboundarypointsorthecellcenters.

B.

Creating Hydraulic Property Tables for the 2D Cells and Cell Faces

Aspreviouslymentioned,the2DComputationMeshispreprocessedintoanelevation
volumecurveforeachcell,andaseriesofhydraulicpropertycurvesforeachcellface
(elevationvs.wettedperimeter,area,androughness).Theserelationshipsarederivedfrom
thedetailsoftheunderlyingterrainusedforthemodel.Soaterrainmodelisrequiredtouse
2DmodelingwithinHECRAS.Theterraindataisalsorequiredinordertodoanymappingof
thecomputedresults,forboththe1Dandthe2Dareasofthemodel.PleasereviewSectionII
ofthismanualforinstructionsoncreatingaTerrainmodelforusein2Dmodelingandresults
visualization.
Onceaterrainmodeliscreated,anditisgoodenoughforperformingahydraulicmodel
study,thenthefollowingstepsarerequiredtocreatethehydraulicpropertytablesforthe2D
cellsandcellfaces,whichareusedinthe2Dhydrauliccomputations:

1.

Associating a Terrain Layer with a Geometry File

Afteranewterrainlayerisadded,theusermustassociatetheterrainlayerwithanyorallof
thegeometryfileswithintheHECRASproject.ThisisaccomplishedinRASMapperbyright
clickingonanyoftheGeometryfileslistedinthetoplayerlist(onthelefthandsideoftheRAS
Mapperwindow),thenselectingtheAssociateTerrainLayeroptionfromthepopupmenu.
Whenthisisdoneawindowwillappear,asshowninFigure23,inwhichyoucanselectaterrain
layerforeachgeometryfile.Note:RASMapperwillattempttoassociateaterrainmodelwith
theRASGeometrywhentheTerrainLayerisfirstcreated.However,theusershouldverifythe
correctTerrainhasbeenassociated.TheuserwillalsoberequiredtoassociatetheTerrainwith
aGeometry,iftherearemultipleTerrains.

37


Figure23.TerrainAssociationEditor.

Afterassociatingallofthegeometryfileswiththeterrainlayer(s),selecttheRASMapperFile
menuandselecttheSaveoption.Thiswillensurethattheseassociationsaresaved.

2.

2D Cell and Face Geometric PreProcessor

Overview of Cell and Face Properties

Eachcell,andcellface,ofthecomputationalmeshispreprocessedinordertodevelop
detailedhydraulicpropertytablesbasedontheunderlyingterrainusedinthemodeling
process.The2Dmeshpreprocessorcomputesadetailedelevationvolumerelationshipfor
eachcell.Eachfaceofacomputationalcellispreprocessedintodetailedhydraulicproperty
tables(elevationversuswettedperimeter,area,roughness,etc).Thisallowstheusertouse
largercomputationalcells,whilekeepingthedetailsoftheunderlyingterrain.Theneteffectis
thatlargercellsmeanslesscomputations,whichmeansmuchfasterruntimes.Additionally,
HECRASwillproducemoredetailedresultsforagivencellsizethanothermodelsthatusea
singleelevationforeachcellandface.
AnexampleofhowHECRASpreprocessescellsandfacesintodetailedpropertytables
isshowninFigures24through27.ShowninFigure24arethedetailsoftheunderlyingterrain
withinasinglecomputationalcell.
38

Figure24.DetailsofUnderlyingCellTerrainData.

Whenthe2DGeometricPreprocessorrunsadetailedelevationvolumerelationshipis
developedforeachcell.SeeanexampleofthisinFigure25below.

39


Figure25.ElevationVolumerelationshipfora2Dcell.

Inadditiontotheprocessingofthecells,thefacesofthecellsarepreprocessedinto
tablesofelevationversusarea,wettedperimeter,androughness.SeeFigure26below:

40


Figure26.ExampleofhowCellFacesareprocessedintodetailedhydraulictables.

AsshowninFigure26,eachfaceislikeadetailedcrosssection.Sotheflowofwater
into,through,andoutofacelliscontrolledbythedetailsofthesefaceproperties,andthecell
elevationvolumerelationship.Thebenefitsofthisaremuchgreaterhydraulicdetailsatthe
cellleveloverothermodelsthatuseasingleelevationforeachcellandface.WithHECRAS,
userscanhavemuchlargercells,butstillretaingreathydraulicdetailwithinacell.Additionally,
HECRAScellscanbepartiallywet(i.e.waterdoesnothavetocovertheentirecell,andcan
movethroughaportionofthecell).AnexampleofthisisshowninFigure27.

41


Figure27.ExampleofdetailedchannelmovingthroughlargercellsinHECRAS

ShowninFigure27isanexampleofhowthecomputationalcellsinHECRAScontain
enoughhydraulicdetailthatflowcanmovethroughachannel,eventhoughthechannelis
smallerthanthecellsize.Intheaboveexample,thecellsare500ftby500ft.Waterwillmove
thoughthechannelportionofthecells,becausethedetailsofthechannelcrosssectionsare
containedwithinthecellfaces.Additionally,thedetailsoftheelevationvolumerelationshipin
thechanneliscontainedwithinthecellhydraulicpropertiestable.Inthistypeofexample,flow
canmovethroughachannelina1Dtypeofmode,whileflowintheoverbankareaswillbe2D
fromcelltocell.Iftheuserwantsmoredetailwithinthechannel,suchastwodimensional
flowvelocitiesandvaryingwatersurfaceelevations,thenyouwouldneedtouseacellsize
smallerthanthechanneltocapturetwodimensionalfloweffectswithinthechannelitself.
However,ifyouonlyneedtocapturethetwodimensionalflowaffectsonthefloodplain,then
thisisaveryviableoption.
42


The2DflowcapabilitiesinHECRAScanbeusedinmanyways.Youcandevelopamesh
withverysmallcellsizesthatcanbeusedtomodelbothchannelsandfloodplainsingreat
detail.Oryoucanuselargercellsizes,whichwillgiveyoulessdetailsinthechannel,butstill2D
flowhydraulicsinthefloodplain.Thelevelofdetailyouusedependsonwhatyouaretryingto
model,andthepurposeofyourstudy.HECRASprovidesyouthemaximumamountof
flexibilityinhowyoumodelthedetailsofachannelandthefloodplainin2D.Preprocessing
thecellsandfacesintodetailedhydraulicpropertytablesisanadvantageover2Dmodelsthat
useasingleelevationforeachcell(flatcells),andasingleelevationforeachface(flatorlinear
slopingfaces).

Running the 2D Geometric PreProcessor

Afterassociatingthegeometryfileswiththeterrainlayer,theusercanrunthe2DFlow
AreageometricpreprocessorfromwithinRASMapper.Thisstepdoesnothavetobedonein
RASMapper.Ifyoudonotrunthe2DGeometricPreProcessorinRASMapper,itwill
automaticallybedoneasaseparateprocessduringtheunsteadyflowcomputations.
IntheGeometrygrouptherewillbeasublayercalled2DFlowArea.Checkingthe
boxforthislayerwillturnonthemeshforallofthe2DFlowAreascontainedwithinthat
geometryfile.Inthisexample,thereisonlyone2DFlowArea.Rightclickonthesublayer
called2DFlowArea,thenselecttheoptionlabeledCompute2DFlowAreasHydraulicTables
(SeeFigure28).Thisistheoptiontopreprocessthe2DFlowAreacomputationalcellsand
facesintodetailedtablesbasedontheunderlyingterraindata.Iftheuserdoesnotdothisstep
here,theuserinterfacewilldetectthatthepreprocessingstephasnotbeendone,anditwill
doitduringtheunsteadyflowcomputationalprocess(rightbeforeitperformstheexisting1D
preprocessingofthecrosssectionsandhydraulicstructures).Also,iftheuserlaterchanges
anythingaboutthe2Darea(add,move,deletecells,changemanningsnvalues,etc),then
the2Dpreprocessorstepwillbererunduringtheunsteadyflowcomputationalprocess.

43


Figure28.Computing2DFlowAreaHydraulicTablesfromRASMapper.

44

C.

Connecting 2D Flow Areas to 1D Hydraulic Elements

The2DFlowAreaelementscanbeconnectedto1Delementsinseveralways:directlytothe
downstreamendortheupstreamendofariverreach;laterallyto1Driverreachesusinga
LateralStructure(s);and/ordirectlytoanother2DareaorstorageareausingtheSA/2DArea
Connection.Theprocessforhookingupa2DFlowAreatootherhydraulicelementsis
accomplishedintheHECRASGeometriceditor.

1. Connecting a 2D Flow Area to a 1D River Reach with a Lateral Structure.

2DFlowAreascanbeusedtomodelareasbehindleveesoroverbankflowbyconnectinga1D
riverreachtothe2DareausingaLateralStructure(SeeFigure29).

Figure29.RASGeometricEditorwiththe2DFlowAreaboundaryFacePointsdisplayed.
45


Forthisexample,zoomintotheupstreamendoftheriver,whichisontherighthandsideof
theschematic.AtthislocationaddaLateralStructurethatrepresentstheleveeinthatregion.
WhenaLateralStructureisaddedtothe1DRiverReach,theusercanselecttolinkittoanother
1DReach,aStorageArea,ora2DFlowArea.IftheuserselectstolinktheLateralStructuretoa
2DFlowArea,thenthestationingoftheLateralStructurewillbelinkedtothe2DAreasFace
Pointsautomatically(thisisanalogoustotheLateralStructureautomaticallydeterminingthe
locationandintersectionofthe1Dcrosssections).ThelinkedupleveeisshowninFigure30.

Figure30.ExampleofaLateralStructure(levee)hookeduptoa2DFlowArea.

Inthisexample,thisLateralStructure(levee)willbeusedtomodelflowgoingoverthelevee,as
wellasaleveebreachthatwillbeaddedlater.TheprocessofhookingupaLateralStructureto
a2DFlowAreaislistedbelow:

46

1. AddtheLateralStructureasyounormallywouldinHECRAS(i.e.createtheLateral
Structure;definetheupstreamRiverStationofthestructure;enterthe
station/elevationpointsthatrepresentthecenterlineofthetopofthestructure).
2. FortheTailwaterConnectionoptionontheLateralStructureeditor,selectthe
TypeasStorageArea/2DFlowArea.ThenfortheSA/2DFAfield,selectthe
nameofthe2DFlowAreayouaregoingtoconnectthelateralstructuretoo,by
pressingtheSetSA/2DFAbuttonandselectingthe2DFlowAreaname.Inthis
examplethenameofthe2DFlowAreais2DInteriorArea(seeFigure31).

Figure31.LateralStructureEditorwithtailwaterconnectiontoa2DFlowArea.

47

3. Next,selecttheWeir/Embankmentbuttonontheleftsideofthegraphicwindow.
Thiswillbringuptheeditorthatwillallowyoutodefinethetopprofileofthe
embankment,aswellaslinethelateralstructureupwiththe1Drivercrosssections
(theheadwatersideofthestructure),andlinkittothe2DareaFacePoints(the
tailwatersideofthestructure),asshowninFigure32.

Figure32.LateralStructureEditorwithstructureStation/Elevationdata,and2DFacePoint
stationing.
AsshowninFigure32,theusergoesaboutthenormalprocessofenteringaLateral
StructureinRASbyenteringthe:weirwidth,weircoefficient,HWDistanceto
UpstreamXS,andtheWeirStationandElevationpoints.Thiswilldefinethetopof
48

thelateralstructure(levee)profile.FortheHeadwater(HW)connectiontothe1D
crosssections,theusercanusethedefault,whichistohaveRAScomputethe
intersectionofthe1DcrosssectionswiththeLateralStructurebasedonthecross
sectionoverbankreachlengths(orchannellengthsifuserselected)andtheLateral
Structureweirprofilestationing(SeeChapter6oftheUsersmanual,Enteringand
EditingLateralStructureDatasection,formoredetaileddiscussion).
4. Thelaststepistolinkthe2DFlowAreaFacePointstothestationingoftheLateral
Structure.ThisisdoneinthetableonthelowerrighthandsideoftheLateralWeir
Embankmenteditor,asshowninFigure32.Bydefault,thesoftwarewillcomeup
withtheTailwaterConnectiontablesettoDefaultcomputedintersections.In
thismode,HECRASwillautomaticallydeterminetheconnectionsbetweenyour
lateralstructureandthe2DFlowArea.ThismeansHECRASwillfindthe2DFlow
AreaFacePointsthatstartattheupstreamendofthestructureandgoalongthe
structuretothedownstreamend.Generally,alateralstructurewillnotstartexactly
ata2DFlowAreaFacePoint.So,HECRASwillpicktheFacePointjustupstreamof
thelateralstructuretostarttheconnection.Thispointwillnormallybegivena
negativeweirstationing,meaningthatitisactuallyupstreamofthelateralstructure
bythatdistance.SothezeroweirstationingisactuallyinbetweentwoFacePoints.
ThesecondFacePointinthetablewillbethenextpointdownstreamanditwill
haveapositiveweirstationing.Thisstationingwillrepresenthowfartheupstream
endofthelateralweirisfromthatFacePoint,alongthelength/stationingofthe
lateralweir.
TheuserhastheoptiontoentertheFacePointsandLateralStructureweirstationingbyhand,
orevenmodifytheHECRAScomputedintersections.ThisisdonebyselectingUserspecified
intersectionsfromthedropdownmenuatthetopofthetable.OnceyouhaveselectedUser
specifiedintersectionsyoucanenter/change/modifythetableasyouseefit.However,
realizethatyoumustnotskipanyFacePointsaspreviouslydiscussed.ToconnectanHECRAS
LateralStructuretoa2DFlowAreacorrectly,youentertheFacePointnumbers,fromupstream
todownstream,thatwillbelinkedtotheLateralStructuresweirprofilestationing.Ifthe
LateralStructuredoesnotbeginataFacePoint,startwiththeFacePointthatisjustupstream
ofthebeginningoftheLateralStructure.Also,continueputtinginFacePointsuntilyouhave
justgonepasttheendofthelateralstructure.TheFacePointnumbersmustbeintheorder
thattheyarelabeledonthe2DFlowAreaboundary,startingupstreamandgoingdownstream.
NOTE:Youcannotskipover(exclude)anyoftheFacePointnumbers.Ifanyfacepointalong
theboundaryisskippedthemodelwillnotrun,anditwillgiveyouanerrormessagesaying
theconnectiontothe2DFlowAreaisbad.
49

Note:Ifyoumakeanychanges(suchasadding,moving,ordeletingcellcenters)thatcause
thecellmeshtoberegenerated,theFacePointnumbersandlocationsmaychangecausing
theuserenteredFacePointintersectionstonolongerbevalid.
Sometimes,thegraphicallengthoftheweirisshownlongerorshorterthanthetruelength.
Thisoccurswhenthelateralstructureisontheoutsideorinsideofabend.Whenthisoccurs,
theHECRASautomatedFacePointconnectionswillbeadjustedsuchthattheLateralStructure
weirstationingwillbeadjustedtomakesurethatthetotallengthoftheweirlinesupwiththe
correctFacePoints.Thisisdonebyfiguringoutthetotallengthalongthe2DFlowArea,from
FacePointtoFacePoint,thenproportioningthoselengthsbasedonthetotalLengthofthe
LateralStructuredividedbythetotallengthalongthe2DFlowAreaFacePoints.Ifyouchoose
toentertheTailwaterconnectionusingUserspecifiedconnections,thenyouhavetofigure
thisoutonyourown.OnewaytodothisistomeasurethelengthsalongtheFacePoints,and
thenuseExceltoreducethelengthstoequalthetruestructurelength,bymultiplyingthe
computedFacePointlengthsbytheratioofthetruestructurelengthdividedbythegraphical
lengthofthestructure(whichcanbemeasuredonthescreen).
OnceyouhaveenteredallofthedatafortheLateralstructure,includingthelinkstothe2D
FlowArea,presstheOKbuttontoclosetheLateralWeirEmbankmenteditor,thenclosethe
LateralStructureeditor(unlessyouneed/wanttoaddgates,culverts,ratingcurves,etcto
furtherdefinethedetailsofthelateralstructure).TheHECRASGeometriceditorwillnow
showathickblacklinealongthe2DAreaFacePoints,toshowyouwheretheLateralStructure
isconnectedtothe2DFlowArea(seeFigure33).Ifthisblacklinedoesnotfollowallofthe
appropriateFacePointsfromthe2DFlowArea,thenthereisamistakeinthe2DFlowArea
connectiontable.SothethickblacklinecanbeusedasaguidetohelpidentifyiftheLateral
Structureisconnectedcorrectlytothe2DFlowArea.

50


Figure33.HECRASGeometricEditorshowingathickblacklinefortheconnectionofa
LateralStructuretothe2DFlowAreaFacePoints.

Forthisexampleabreachlocation/datahasalsobeenaddedfortheanalysisofthisupper
levee.ShowninFigure34istheBreachDataforthisLevee/LateralStructure.

51


Figure34.BreachDataEditor,withbreachdatafortheupstreamlevee.

Forthisspecificexample,asecondadditionallateralstructureatthelowerendofthe2DFlow
Areawillbeadded.ThisLateralStructurewillbeusedtomodelflowthatpondsontheinside
oftheprotectedarea,thenflowsbackoverthetopoftheLevee(LateralStructure)intothe1D
riversystem.SeeFigure35fortheextentsofthisdownstreamLevee.TheLevee(Lateral
Structure)ishighlightedinred.

52


Figure35.HECRASGeometricEditorwithdownstreamLevee(LateralStructure)highlighted
inred.

ThedownstreamLateralStructureinthisexamplestartsatRiverStation7300,andgoesalong
theentiredownstreamboundaryoftheprotectedarea,tyingbackintohighgroundatthe
downstreamend.TheLateralStructureEditorforthisLeveeisshowninFigure36.

53


Figure36.DownstreamLevee(LateralStructure)withatailwaterconnectiontothe2DFlow
Area.

ShowninFigure37,istheWeirEmbankmentEditor,withthedatafortheLateralStructure
stationingandelevations,aswellastheLateralStructurelinkedtothe2DFlowAreaFace
Points.

54


Figure37.LateralWeirEmbankmenteditorwithdataforthedownstreamleveeandlinked
tothe2DFlowAreaFacePoints.

55

Lateral Structure Weir Coefficients

Ingeneral,LateralStructureweircoefficientsshouldbelowerthantypicalvaluesused
forinlineweirs.Additionally,whenalateralstructure(i.e.weirequation)isbeingused
totransferflowfromtheriver(1Dregion)tothefloodplain(2DFlowArea),thenthe
weircoefficientsthatareusedneedtobeverylow,ortoomuchflowwillbe
transferred.BelowisatableofroughguidelinesforLateralweircoefficientsunder
differentconditions:
Table1.LateralWeirCoefficients
Whatisbeingmodeledwith
theLateralStructure
Levee/Roadway3ftor
higherabovenaturalground
Levee/Roadway1to3ft
elevatedaboveground

Description

RangeofWeir
Coefficients
Broadcrestedweirshape,flow
1.5to2.6(2.0default)
overLevee/roadactslikeweirflow SIUnits:0.83to1.43
BroadCrestedweirshape,flow
1.0to2.0
overlevee/roadactslikeweirflow,
SIUnits:0.55to1.1
butbecomessubmergedeasily.
Naturalhighgroundbarrier Doesnotreallyactlikeaweir,but
0.5to1.0
1to3fthigh
watermustflowoverhighground
SIUnits:0.28to0.55
togetinto2Darea.
Nonelevatedoverbank
Overlandflowescapingthemain
0.1to0.5
terrain.LatStructurenot
river.
SIUnits:0.06to0.28
elevatedaboveground

Note:Thenumber1problemHECRASusershavebeenhavingwheninterfacing1Driver
reacheswith2DFlowAreas,isusingtohighofaweircoefficientforthesituationbeing
modeled.Ifthelateralstructureisreallyjustanoverlandflowinterfacebetweenthe1Driver
andthe2Dfloodplain,thenaweircoefficientintherangeof0.1to0.5mustbeusedtogetthe
rightflowtransferandkeepthemodelstable.
Note:Asecondissueisweirsubmergence.Whenalateralstructuregetshighlysubmerged,
HECRASusesaweirsubmergencecurvetocomputetheflowreductionovertheweir.The
curveisverysteep(i.e.theflowreductionchangesdramatically)between95%and100%
submergence.Thiscancauseoscillationsandpossiblemodelstabilityissues.Toreducethese
oscillations,usercanhaveHECRASuseamilderslopingsubmergencecurvebygoingtothe1D
ComputationalOptionsandTolerancesandsettingthefieldlabeledWeirflowsubmergence
decayexponentto3.0.

56

2. Directly connecting an Upstream River Reach to a Downstream 2D Flow

Userscanconnecta1DRiverReachdirectlytoa2DFlowArea.Whenthistypeof
boundaryconditionisused,thelastcrosssectionofthe1DRiverReachmustbelinedup
withtheupstreamboundaryofthe2DFlowArea(i.e.,thelastcrosssectionofthe1D
reachisdirectlylinkedtotheboundaryofthe2Darea,sotheyneedtobeatthesame
exactlocation).SeetheexampleshowninFigure38.

Figure38.Exampleofanupstream1DRiverReachconnectedtoadownstream2DFlow
Area.

57

Forthistypeofboundarycondition,the1Driverreachpassesfloweachtimesteptothe
2DFlowArea,whilethestageinthecrosssectionisbasedonthewatersurface
elevationinthe2Dcellsthatitisconnectedtoo.Flowisdistributedtothe2Dcells
basedontheconveyancedistributioninthecrosssection,andthestationingofhowthe
cellsarelinkedtothecrosssection.Thecomputedstageforthe1Dcrosssectionis
basedoncomputingaconveyanceweightedstagefromtheconnectedboundarycellsin
the2DFlowArea,andthenforcingthatstageonthe1Dcrosssectioneachtimestep.
Thistypeofboundaryconditionshouldonlybeplacedinareaswheretheflowandstage
arehighlyonedimensionalinnature.Iftheflowisnothighlyonedimensional,youmay
needtoturnontheoptiontoallowtheprogramtoiteratebackandforthbetweenthe
1Dandthe2Dcomputationsduringeachtimestep,untilthecomputedflowandstage
attheboundaryconnectionconvergeswithinauserspecifiedtolerance.Iftheflowis
highlyonedimensional,1Dto2Diterationsaregenerallynotnecessaryforthistypeof
boundarycondition.
Toconnecta1Driverreachtoa2DFlowArea,dothefollowing:

Drawthe2Dareapolygonsuchthattheouterboundaryattheupstreamendis
rightontopofthelastcrosssectionofthe1Driverreach.
GototheEditmenuoftheGeometricEditor,andturnontheOptiontoMove
Points/Objects.
Movethelastpointofthestreamcenterlineinsideofthe2DArea.Thesoftware
willaskyouifyouwanttoconnectthe1DRiverReachtothe2DFlowArea.
SelectYes.

Oncethe2Dareaandthe1DRiverReachareconnected,thesoftwarewilldrawablackline
alongthe2DFlowAreacellsouterboundarytoshowyouhowitisconnected.Thatisall
thatneedstobedonefortheconnection.
Note:Whena1DRiverReachisconnectedtoa2Darea,theuserwillneedtodefinethe
initialconditionsforthe1DReachandthe2Darea.Initialconditionsforthe2DAreacan
be:Dry;settoasinglewaterelevation;setusingaRestartfilefromapreviousrun;or
theusercanselecttorunawarmupperiodatthebeginningoftherun,inwhichflowand
stageboundariesconnectedtothe2Dareawillbeappliedslowlyovertime.
The2Dunsteadyflowsolvercanhandlewettinganddryingofcells.However,the1D
unsteadyflowsolver(atthistime)cannothandledrycrosssections.Therefore,awet
watersurfaceatthe1D/2Dboundarymustbeestablishedatthebeginningoftherunand
58

maintainedduringthesimulation.Ifarestartfileisnotused,thenHECRASwillcompute
thestartingwatersurfacesintwodistinctparts.Thefirstpartistheinitialcondition
phase.
Fortheinitialconditionphase,watersurfacesaredeterminedforany2Dareasthatstart
wetandtheinitialbackwaterisdeterminedforall1Dreaches.Every2Dareathathasa
directconnectiontoa1Dreachmusthaveenoughwaterinittoprovideawatersurface
atanyandallofthe1Dboundaryconnections.Theusercanspecifyastarting2Dwater
surfaceand/orusethe2DInitialConditionsRampUpoption(seebelow).
Duringthisphase,theprogrammaycyclebetween2Dareasand1Dreachesinorderto
determinetheflowsandwatersurfacesattheboundaries.Iftheupstreamendofa1D
reachisconnecteddirectlytoa2Dareaandtheuserhasspecifiedaninitialflowforthis
reach,thentheprogramwillusethatflowduringtheinitialconditions.Ifaninitialflowis
notspecified,thentheprogramwillattempttodeterminethisflowautomatically.Ifthe
downstreamendofa1Dreachisconnected,thenthereisnothingfortheusertospecify.
Theprogramwilltrytodeterminethewatersurfaceinthe2Dareafirstwhichwillallow
forastageboundaryforthe1Dreach.Ifthisisnotpossible,acriticaldepthboundary
maybeinitiallyused.
Thesecondpartofdeterminingthestartingwatersurfacesistheoptionalwarmup
period.Thisisthesamewarmupperiodthat1Dhasalwayshadexceptthatitnowalso
includesthe2Dareas.Asexplainedabove,theremustbeavalidwatersurfaceatthe
1D/2Dboundariesbeforethewarmupperiodand/orthemainsimulationstarts.

59

3. Directly connecting an Upstream 2D Flow Area to a Downstream River

Userscandirectlyconnectanupstream2DFlowAreatoadownstream1DRiverReach.
Whenthistypeofboundaryconditionisused,thefirstcrosssectionofthe1DRiver
Reachmustbelinedupwiththedownstreamboundaryofthe2DFlowArea(i.e.,the
firstcrosssectionofthe1Dreachisdirectlylinkedtothedownstreamboundaryofthe
2Darea,sotheyneedtobeatthesameexactlocation).Seetheexampleshownin
Figure39.

Figure39.Exampleofanupstream2DFlowAreaconnectedtoadownstream1DRiver
Reach.
60


Forthistypeofboundarycondition,the2DFlowAreapassesfloweachtimesteptothe
1Driverreach,whilethestageinthe2DFlowAreaisbasedontheStagesinthe1D
crosssectionthatitisconnectedtoo.Flowispassedtothe1Dsectionbyaddingallof
theflowsleavingthe2Dcellsattheboundaryforeachtimestep.Thestageforthe2D
FlowAreadownstreamboundaryissettothecomputedstageofthe1Dcrosssection
eachtimestep.
Thistypeofboundaryconditionshouldonlybeplacedinareaswheretheflowandstage
arehighlyonedimensionalinnature.Iftheflowisnothighlyonedimensional,youwill
needtoturnontheoptiontoallowtheprogramtoiteratebackandforthbetweenthe
1Dandthe2Dcomputationsduringeachtimestep,untilthecomputedflowandstage
attheboundaryconnectiondoesnotchangewithinauserspecifiedtolerance.Evenif
theflowishighlyonedimensional,1Dto2Diterationsmaybenecessaryforthistypeof
boundarycondition,dependingonhowquicklytheflowandstagearechanging,
comparedtotheuserselectedcomputationinterval.
Toconnectanupstream2DFlowAreadirectlytoadownstream1Driverreach,dothe
following:

Drawthe2Dareapolygonsuchthattheouterboundaryatthedownstreamend
isrightontopofthefirstcrosssectionofthe1Driverreach.
GototheEditmenuoftheGeometricEditor,andturnontheOptiontoMove
Points/Objects.
Movethefirstpointofthestreamcenterlineinsideofthe2DFlowArea.The
softwarewillaskyouifyouwanttoconnectthe1DRiverReachtothe2DFlow
Area.SelectYes.

Oncetheconnectionbetweenthe2Dareaandthe1DRiverReachismade,thesoftware
willdrawablacklinealongthe2DFlowAreacellsouterboundarytoshowyouhowitis
connected.Thatsallthatneedstobedonefortheconnection.
Note:Whena2Dareaisconnectedtoa1DRiverReach,theuserwillneedtodefinethe
initialconditionsofthe1DReachand2Darea.Initialconditionsforanupstream2DFlow
Areacannotbedry.Theinitialconditionsforanupstream2Dareacanbe:settoasingle
waterelevation;setwithaRestartfilefromapreviousrun;ortheusercanselecttoruna
warmupperiodatthebeginningoftherun,inwhichflowandstageboundariesconnectedto
the2Dareawillbeappliedslowlyovertime.
61

4. Connecting a 2D Flow Area to a Storage Area using a Hydraulic Structure

A2DFlowAreacanbedirectlyconnectedtoStorageAreabyusingahydraulicstructure
calledaStorageArea/2DFlowAreaHydraulicConnector(SA/2DAreaConn).Seethe
examplebelowinFigure40below.

Figure40.ExampleofaStorageAreaconnectedtoa2DFlowArea.

IntheexampleshowninFigure40,theStorageAreaisupstreamofthe2DFlowArea,sothe
positiveflowdirectionisfromthestorageareatothe2DFlowArea.Therefore,whendefining
thehydraulicstructurethatconnectsthetwoareas,theStorageAreawillbeconsideredthe
62

Headwaterside,andthe2DFlowAreawillbeconsideredtheTailwaterside.Thiscanalsobe
donetheotherway,inwhichthe2DFlowAreaisontheupstreamside(Headwater)andthe
StorageAreaisonthedownstreamside(Tailwater).FortheexampleshowninFigure35,a
StorageAreaisbeingusedtorepresentareservoirpool.Thehydraulicconnectionbetweenthe
StorageAreaandthe2DFlowAreaisadam(InlineStructure)inthisexample.The2DFlow
Areaisbeingusedtomodelthehydraulicsoftheflowdownstreamofthedam.
TohydraulicallyconnectaStorageAreatoa2DFlowArea,dothefollowing:

Drawthestorageareapolygonrightuptotheedgeofthehydraulicstructure.Thiscan
beasclosetothehydraulicstructureasyouwantformappingpurposes.
Drawtheouterboundaryofthe2DFlowArearightuptotheothersideofthehydraulic
structure.Thiscanalsobeveryclosetothehydraulicstructure.However,keepinmind
thatthecomputedwatersurfaceelevationsoftheboundarycellsofthe2Dareawillbe
usedinthehydrauliccalculationsover/throughthestructure(dontputverysmallcells
downthefaceofasteepembankment).Generally,thewatersurfacecomputedforthe
2Dcellsshouldrepresentwhatyouwantforthewatersurfaceinthehydraulic
calculationsofflowoverandthroughthehydraulicstructure.Thatis,dontputvery
smallcellsdownthefaceofasteepembankmentbecausethesmallboundarycellsmay
endupwithatransitionalwatersurfacethatisbetweentheheadwaterandthe
tailwatersurfaces.Ifthishappens,theaccuracyofthehydrauliccomputationsacross
thestructuremaybereduced.Note:Foranyculvertsand/orgates,theminimum
elevationoftheculvert/gatemustnotbebelowtheminimumelevationofthecellitis
connectedtoo.Thisisanotherreasontousecellsthatarelargeenoughtospanat
leasttothebottomoftheembankment.
SelecttheDrawingtoolatthetopoftheGeometriceditorlabeledSA/2DAreaConn.
Thendrawalinedirectlydownthecenterofthehydraulicstructurethatwillbeusedto
connectthetwoflowareas.Theinterfacewillaskyouforalabeltodefinethehydraulic
structure.SeetheredlineshowninFigure40.
Next,selecttheStorageArea/2DFlowAreaHydraulicConnection(SA/2DAreaConn)
editorontheleftpaneloftheGeometricdataeditor.Thiswillbringuptheeditor
showninFigure41.

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Figure41.SA/2DAreaHydraulicConnectioneditor.

OntheSA/2DAreaConneditorsettheFromandTobyselectingthebuttons
labeledSetSA/2DArea.Forthisexample,theStorageArealabeledReservoir
PoolistheFromelement,andthe2DFlowArealabeledBaldEagleCristhe
Toelement.
Enterallthehydraulicstructureinformationfortheconnection.Thiswillconsist
ofaWeir/Embankmentprofile,andanyadditionalhydraulicoutlets,suchas
culverts,gates,etcIntheexampleshowninFigure41,thereisan
embankmentwithanemergencyspillwaydefined,andtherearealsolowflow
gatesdefined.

Thisisallthatisneededforthistypeofhydraulicconnection.HECRASautomaticallycomputes
thestationingalongthecenterlinedrawnforthehydraulicstructure,andthenlinesitupwith
theouterboundaryofthe2DFlowAreabasedontheirspatiallocation.Theconnectiontothe
64

StorageAreaisverysimple,sinceitcanonlyhaveasinglewatersurfaceelevationinsidethe
storageareaeachtimestep.

5. Connecting a 2D Flow Area to another 2D Flow Area using a Hydraulic

2DFlowAreascanbedirectlyconnectedtoother2DFlowAreasbyusingahydraulic
structurecalledaStorageArea/2DFlowAreaHydraulicConnector(SA/2DAreaConn).See
theexamplebelowinFigure42.

Figure42.Exampleofconnectingone2DFlowAreatoanotherwithaHydraulicStructure.
65


IntheexampleshowninFigure42,thereisa2DFlowAreaupstreamofanother2DFlowArea,
sothepositiveflowdirectionisfromtheupstream2DFlowAreatothedownstream2DFlow
Area.Whendefiningthehydraulicstructurethatconnectsthetwoareas,theupstream2D
FlowAreawillbeconsideredtheHeadwaterside,andthedownstream2DFlowAreawillbe
consideredtheTailwaterside.IntheexampleshowninFigure42,a2DFlowAreaisbeingused
torepresentareservoirpool.Thehydraulicconnectionbetweenthetwo2DFlowAreasisa
daminthisexample.Thedownstream2DFlowAreaisbeingusedtomodelthehydraulicsof
theflowdownstreamofthedam.
Tohydraulicallyconnectone2DFlowAreatoanother2DFlowArea,dothefollowing:

Drawtheupstream2DFlowAreapolygonrightuptotheedgeofthehydraulic
structure.Thisshouldberelativelyclosetothehydraulicstructureformapping
purposes.
Drawtheouterboundaryofthedownstream2DFlowArearightuptotheothersideof
thehydraulicstructure.Thiscanalsobeveryclosetothehydraulicstructure,however,
keepinmindthatthecomputedwatersurfaceelevationsoftheboundarycellsofthe
2Dareawillbeusedinthehydrauliccalculationsover/throughthestructure(i.e.,dont
putverysmallcellsdownthefaceofasteepembankment).Generally,the2Dcells
computedwatersurfacesshouldrepresentwhatyouwanttobeusedforthewater
surfaceinthehydrauliccalculationsofflowoverandthroughthehydraulicstructure.
SelecttheDrawingtoolatthetopoftheGeometriceditorlabeledSA/2DAreaConn.
Thendrawalinedirectlydownthecenterofthehydraulicstructurethatwillbeusedto
connectthetwoflowareas.Theinterfacewillaskyouforalabeltodefinethehydraulic
structure.SeetheredlineshowninFigure42.
Next,selecttheStorageArea/2DFlowAreaHydraulicConnection(SA/2DAreaConn)
editorontheleftpaneloftheGeometricdataeditor.Thiswillbringuptheeditor
showninFigure43.

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Figure43.SA/2DAreaHydraulicConnectioneditor.

OntheSA/2DAreaConneditorsettheFromandTobyselectingthebuttons
labeledSetSA/2DArea.Inthisexampletheupstream2DFlowArealabeled
Upper2DAreaistheFromelement,andthe2DFlowArealabeled
BaldEagleCristheToelement.
Enterallthehydraulicstructureinformationfortheconnection.Thiswillconsist
ofaWeir/Embankmentprofile,andanyadditionalhydraulicoutlets,suchas
culverts,gates,etcIntheexampleshowninFigure43,thereisan
embankmentwithanemergencyspillwaydefined,andtherearealsolowflow
gatesdefined.
67

Thisisallthatisneededforthistypeofhydraulicconnection.HECRASautomaticallyfigures
outthestationingalongthecenterlinedrawnforthehydraulicstructure,andthenlinesitup
withtheouterboundaryoftheupstreamanddownstream2DFlowAreasbasedontheirspatial
location.

6.

Multiple 2D Flow Areas in a Single Geometry File

HECRAShastheabilitytohaveanynumber(withinyourcomputersmemory
limitations)ofseparate2DFlowAreaswithinthesamegeometryfile.Multiple2DFlowAreas
canbeaddedinthesamewayasstorageareas.Hydraulicconnectionscanbemadefrom2D
FlowAreasto1Delements,aswellasbetween2DFlowAreas.SeetheexampleinFigure44.

Figure44.Multiple2DFlowAreasinasinglegeometryfile.
68

7.

Hydraulic Structures Inside of 2D Flow Areas

HECRAShastheabilitytoaddhydraulicstructuresinsideof2DFlowAreas.Thisis
accomplishedbyusingtheSA/2DAreaConnoptiontomakeahydraulicstructureinthe
middleofasingle2DFlowArea.ThehydraulicstructuremustbelaidoutalongtheFacesofthe
2DCells(2DCellFacescontrolflowmovement).SeeFigure45.

Figure45.Examplehydraulicstructureinsideofa2DFlowArea.

69

Toaddahydraulicstructureinsideofa2DFlowAreadothefollowing:

Firstmodifythe2DFlowAreameshsothatthefacesofthecellsgoalongthecenterline
ofthetopofthehydraulicstructure.Forexample,asshowninFigure45,aleveeis
beingmodeledinsideofasingle2DFlowArea.The2DFlowAreameshwasmodified
(cellcenterpointswereaddedandmoved)tohavecellsonbothsidesofthelevee,such
thatthefacesbetweentheleveelinedupontopofthelevee.Thisrequiresadding
enoughcellstogetthecorrectdetail,aswellasplacingcellcentersatequaldistances
apartoneachsideofthestructure.[Note:currentlythisistediouswiththeHECRAS
mesheditingtools.However,futureversionsofHECRASwillallowyoutodrawabreak
lineontopofthelevee(orhydraulicstructure)anditwillautomaticallymodifythe
meshtoalignthecellfaceswiththestructure].
Next,selecttheDrawingtoolatthetopoftheGeometriceditorlabeledSA/2DArea
Conn.Thendrawalinedirectlydownthecenterofthehydraulicstructurealongthe
cellfacesthatrepresentthestructure(thislineshouldbedrawnfromlefttoright,while
lookingfromwhatisconsideredtobeupstreamtodownstream.Thisishowthe
programfiguresoutwhatisconsideredtobetheheadwatersideandthetailwater
side.).Thislinewillbethehydraulicstructurethatwillbeusedtoconnectthe2DFlow
Areascellsononesideofittotheothersideofit.Theinterfacewillaskyouforalabel
todefinethenameofthehydraulicstructure.SeetheblacklineinFigure40.
Next,selecttheStorageArea/2DFlowAreaHydraulicConnection(SA/2DAreaConn)
editorontheleftpaneloftheGeometricdataeditor.Thiswillbringuptheeditor
showninFigure46.

70


Figure46.ExampleofusingSA/2DAreaConntoputahydraulicstructureinsidea2DFlow
Area.

Theusercandefinestationelevationdataforthestructurethatisthesameorhigherthanthe
naturalgroundusingtheWeir/Embankmenteditor.Additionally,culvertsandgated
openingscanbeaddedintothehydraulicstructure(Theuserenteredweirlineisnotallowedto
belowerthanthenaturalground.However,abreachlinecangolower,seebelow).Theuser
hastheoptionforflowgoingoverthetopofthestructure(OverflowComputationMethod)to
becomputedbyeithertheWeirEquationortheNormal2DEquationDomain.IfWeir
Equationischosen,allflowoverthetopofthehydraulicstructureiscomputedwiththeweir
equation.IfNormal2DEquationDomainisselected,theflowoverthetopofthestructureis
computedasnormal2DFlowbetweencells.Ineithercase,theflowthroughtheculvertsand
gatesiscomputedseparatelyandlinkedbetweenthecellsoneachsideoftheculvertorgate.
71

Forahighlysubmergedstructure,wheretheflowisnotbehavinglikeweirflow,the2D
equationwillgenerallygivebetterresults,butthe2Dequationisnotasappropriateforweir
flow.
Warning:theNormal2DEquationDomainoptionshouldNOTbeusediftheheightofthe
structureishigh,suchthatthewaterflowingoverthestructurewillgointofreefall(likea
waterfall).The2Dequationscannotbesolvedinastablesolutionthroughawaterfall.For
thissituationyouwillneedtousetheWeirEquationoption.Weplantoinvestigatehaving
theprogramautomaticallyswitchbetweentheweirequationandthe2Dequationbasedon
theflowcondition.

72

D.

External 2D Flow Area Boundary Conditions

1.
Overview
Inadditiontoconnectinga2DFlowAreato1DRiverReachesandStorageAreas,thereare
fourtypesofexternalboundaryconditionsthatcanbelinkeddirectlytothe2DFlowArea.
Theseboundaryconditiontypesare:

FlowHydrograph
StageHydrograph
NormalDepth
RatingCurve

TheNormalDepthandRatingCurveboundaryconditionscanonlybeusedatlocations
whereflowwillleavethe2DFlowArea.Theflowandstagehydrographboundary
conditionscanbeusedforputtingflowintoortakingflowoutofa2DFlowArea.ForaFlow
Hydrograph,positiveflowvalueswillsendflowintoa2DFlowArea,andnegativeflow
valueswilltakeflowoutofa2Darea.FortheStageHydrograph,stageshigherthanthe
ground/watersurfaceina2DFlowAreawillsendflowin,andstageslowerthanthewater
surfaceinthe2DFlowAreawillsendflowout.Ifacellisdryandthestageboundary
conditionislowerthanthe2DFlowAreacellminimumelevation,thennoflowwilltransfer.
Toaddexternalboundaryconditionstoa2DFlowArea,gototheGeometryDataEditor
andselectthetool(button)calledSA/2DAreaBCLines(seeFigure47).Oncethebutton
calledSA/2DAreaBCLinesisselected,theusercandrawalinealongtheouterboundaryof
the2DAreatoestablishthelocationoftheboundarycondition.Todrawtheexternal
boundarycondition,clicktheleftmousebuttononetimeatthelocationalongtheoutside
perimeterofthe2DAreawhereyouwanttheboundaryconditiontostart.Nextyoucan
addpointsbysingleclickingalongtheperimeter,thendoubleclicktoendtheboundary
conditionlineatthelocationwhereyouwantittoend.Onceyoudoubleclicktoendthe
boundaryconditionline,theinterfacewillpopupawindowandasktheusertoentera
nameforthisboundarycondition.IntheexampleshowninFigure47,two2DFlowArea
boundaryconditionlineswereenteredattherighthandsideofthe2DFlowArea.These
boundaryconditionlocationsweregiventhenameDSNormalDepthandDS2NormalD,
however,youcanuseanynameyouwant.
Theusercanaddanynumberofexternalboundaryconditionstoa2DFlowArea.For
example,HECRASallowsoneormorelocationswhereaFlowHydrographboundary
condition(orothertypes)canbeconnectedtoasingle2DFlowArea.Youcanalsohave
oneormorestagehydrographslinkedtothesame2DFlowArea.AndyoucanhaveRating
73

curvesandNormalDepthboundaryconditionshookupatmultiplelocationstoallowflow
toleavethe2Darea.

Figure47.ExampleofaddinganExternal2DFlowAreaboundaryconditionlocation.

Onceallofthe2DFlowAreaboundaryconditionshavebeenidentified(drawnwiththe
SA/2DAreaBCLinestool),theboundaryconditiontypeandtheboundaryconditiondataare
enteredwithintheUnsteadyFlowDataeditor.TheUnsteadyFlowDataeditoriswherethe
userselectsthetypeofboundaryconditionandentersthatboundaryconditionsdata(See
Figure48).

74


Figure48.Exampleofaddingexternalboundaryconditionsdirectlytoa2DFlowArea.

AsshowninFigure48,thelowertableontheBoundaryConditionstabwillcontainany
ofthe2DFlowAreaBoundaryConditionlocationsthatwereenteredintheGeometricData
editor.Toentera2DFlowAreaboundarycondition,selecttheopenfieldforaparticular
location,thenselecttheboundaryconditiontypefromtheactiveboundaryconditionstypesat
thetopofthewindow.Whena2DFlowAreaisselected,thereareonlyfourtypesofboundary
conditionsavailable:StageHydrograph;FlowHydrograph;RatingCurve;andNormalDepth.
FortheexampleshowninFigure47,twoboundaryconditionlineswereestablishedforthe2D
FlowArea.Thesetwoboundaryconditionslinesarebeingusedtoallowflowtoleavethe2D
75

FlowAreausingtheNormalDepth(Manningsequation)boundaryconditionmethod.
Boundaryconditionlinescanalsobeplacedalongotherpartsofthe2DFlowAreatoallowflow
tocomein.Inthiscase,theFlowHydrograph(tobringflowdirectlyintothe2DArea),orthe
StageHydrographboundaryconditiontypecanbeused.
Thefollowingshowswhatinformationisrequiredforeachboundaryconditiontypeconnected
directlytoa2DFlowArea.
2.
Flow Hydrograph
Aflowhydrographisgenerallyusedtobringflowintoa2DFlowArea,however,itcanalsobe
usedtotakeflowout(negativeflowvalues).Therequireddataforthisboundarycondition
typeis:
1. Flowhydrograph(Qvstime)
2. EnergySlope(forcomputingNormalDepth)
TheEnergySlopeisusedtocomputeNormalDepthfromthegivenflowrateandthecross
sectiondataalongtheBoundaryConditionLine.ThisdepthisthenputintotheboundaryLine
crosssection,andusedfordistributingtheflowintothecellsthatfallundertheboundary
conditionline.Aflowdistributioninthecrosssectioniscomputed(basedonthenormaldepth
watersurfaceandtheconveyanceinthecrosssection)andthisflowdistributionisusedto
appropriatelydistributetheflowtoeachcell.
3.
Stage Hydrograph
AStageHydrographcanbeusedastobringflowintoortakeflowoutofa2DFlowArea.Ifthe
watersurfaceelevationintheStagehydrographishigherthanthecellwatersurfaceelevation
(ordryelevation),flowwillgointothe2DCells.WhenthewatersurfaceelevationoftheStage
Hydrographislowerthanthewatersurfaceinthe2DFlowArea,flowwillgooutofthe2Darea.
Ifacellisdryandthestageboundaryconditionislowerthanthe2DFlowAreacellminimum
elevation,thennoflowwilltransfer.Theflowiscomputedonapercellbasis.Forinstance,If
theStageHydrographwatersurfaceishigherthanthewatersurfaceofsomeofthe2D
boundarycellsandlowerthanthatofother2Dboundarycells,waterwillsimultaneouslyenter
andexittheStageHydrographboundary.

4.
Normal Depth
TheNormalDepthboundaryconditioncanonlybeusedtotakeflowoutofa2DFlowArea.
WhenusingtheNormalDepthboundarycondition,theuserisrequiredtoenterafrictionslope
forthatarea,justliketheywoulddofora1Dcrosssectionlocation.Thefrictionslopeshould
bebasedonthelandslopeinthevicinityofthe2DFlowAreaboundaryconditionline.The
76

FrictionSlopeisusedinManningsequationtocomputeaNormalDepthforeachgiveflow,
basedonthecrosssectionunderneaththe2DBoundaryConditionline.JustliketheStage
Hydrographboundary,theNormalDepthboundaryiscomputedonapercellbasis.
5.
Rating Curve
TheRatingCurveoptioncanonlybeusedtotakeflowoutofa2DFlowArea.Theuseris
requiredtoenteraStage(WaterSurfaceElevation)versusflowrelationshipforthisoption.The
ratingcurveisalsoappliedonapercellbasis.

E.

2D Flow Area Initial Conditions

Initialconditionsfor2DFlowAreascanbeaccomplishedinseveralways.2DFlowAreas
can:startcompletelydry;besettoasinglewatersurfaceelevation;setbyusingaRestartFile
fromapreviousrun;ortheycanbeestablishedusingtheInitialConditionsRampupTime
optionatthebeginningoftherun.

1.
Dry Initial Condition

Nothingneedstobedonetostarta2DFlowAreainadrycondition,thisisthedefault
option.Thenameofthe2DFlowAreawillshowupundertheInitialConditionsTabofthe
UnsteadyFlowDataeditor(SeeFigure49).Justleavetheinitialconditionelevationcolumn
blank,andthistellsthesoftwaretostartthe2DFlowAreadry.Note:a2Dareaconnected
directlytotheupstreamendorthedownstreamendof1Dreach,cannotstartdry(see
previousdiscussion).

2.
Single Water Surface Elevation

Whenthesinglewatersurfaceelevationoptionisused,everycellthathasalower
terrainelevationthantheuserestablishedwatersurfacewillbewet(withawatersurfaceat
thatelevation),andcellswithaterrainelevationthatishigherthanthatwatersurfacewillbe
dry.Tousethisoption,justputinthewatersurfaceelevationdesiredintheInitialElevation
columnoftheUnsteadyFlowDataeditor/InitialConditionstab,andintherowforthe2DFlow
Area(SeeFigure49).Moresophisticatedstartingwatersurfacesisanotheritemplannedfor
futureversions.

3.
Restart File Option for Initial Conditions

ARestartFilecanbeusedtoestablishinitialconditionsforanentireHECRASmodel.
ThisisawelldocumentedoptionundertheUnsteadyFlowDataeditordocumentationinthe
77

HECRASUsersManual.Ifapreviousrunhasbeenmade,andtheoptiontowriteouta
RestartFilewasused,thenaRestartFilecanbeusedastheinitialconditionsfora
subsequentrun.TheRestartFileoptionhasbeenmodifiedtoallowforrestarting2DFlow
Areasinadditiontoallofthe1DflowelementsinHECRAS.For2Dmodeling,theRestartFile
willcontainawatersurfaceelevationforeverycellinthemodel.Additionally,restartfilescan
begeneratedusingeitherofthe2Dequationsets(fullSaintVenantorDiffusionWave),anduse
tostartamodelwithadifferentequationset(i.e.youcanruntheoriginalrunwiththe
DiffusionWaveoptionandcreateaRestartFile,thenstartupamodelthatusestheFullSaint
Venantequationsfromthatrestartfile).SeethesectiononInitialConditionsinChapter8of
theHECRASUsersManualformoreinformationonhowtousetheRestartFileoption.

78


Figure49.UnsteadyFlowDataEditorwith2DFlowAreainitialconditions.

4.
Using the 2D Flow Area Initial Conditions Ramp up Time Option.

TheunsteadyflowcapabilityinHECRAShasalwayshadanoptiontorunamodelwarm
upperiod.Themodelstartswiththeinitialconditions,itthenholdsalloftheboundary
conditionsconstant,basedontheirvalueatthebeginningofthesimulation,andthenitrunsa
seriesoftimestepswiththeconstantinflow.Thisallowsthemodeltosettledowntowater
79

surfaceelevationsandflowsthatareconsistentwiththeunsteadyflowequationsbeing
applied.Ifthereareanylateralstructuresthathaveflow(basedontheinitialconditions)this
flowisallowedtotransitionduringthefirstpartofthewarmupperiod.Thiscanreduceshocks
tothesystem,especially1Driverreaches.
2DFlowAreashaveanadditionaloptioncalledInitialConditionRampupTime.Ifa2Darea
hasexternalboundaryconditions(flowhydrographsorstagehydrographs)orlinksto1D
elements,inwhichflowwillbegoingintooroutofthe2Darearightfromthestartofthe
simulation,thenthe2DFlowAreaInitialConditionRampupTimecanbeturnedontoget
flowthroughthe2Dareainordertoestablishitsinitialconditionsbeforethestartofthe
simulation(orevenbeforethestartoftheoverallmodelwarmuptime).The2DFlowArea
InitialConditionRampupTimeisaseparateoptionforthe2DFlowAreas(Separatefromthe
1Dwarmupoption).Tousethisoption,selecttheOptionsmenufromtheUnsteadyFlow
Analysiswindow,thenselectCalculationOptionsandTolerances.Thewindowshownin
Figure50willappear.Selectthe2DFlowOptionstab.Theuserentersatotalrampuptime
intheInitialConditionsRampUpTime(hrs)field.Additionally,theusermustenterwhat
fractionofthattimeisusedforrampingthe2Dboundaryconditionsupfromzerototheirfirst
value(i.e.astageoraflowcomingin).Thisisaccomplishedbyenterthefractioninthecolumn
labeledBoundaryConditionRampUpFraction(0to1).Thedefaultvaluefortherampup
fractionis0.5(50%oftherampuptime).

Figure50.2DFlowAreaComputationalOptions.
80

Say,forinstance,thata2Dareahasanupstreamflowboundaryandadownstreamstage
boundaryandtheuserhasenteredatwohourInitialConditionsRampUpTimewiththe
BoundaryFractionat0.5(50%).Assumethatthefirstflowontheflowboundaryis1000cfsand
thefirststageofthedownstreamboundaryhasanelevationthatcorrespondsto10feetof
depthabovetheinvertofthestageboundary(theinvertisthelowestpointalonganypartof
thefacesthatmakeuptheboundary).Forthefirsthouroftheinitialconditions,theflowwill
transitionfrom0cfsupto1000cfs.Thedownstreamstageboundarywilltransitionfroma
depthof0feetuptoadepthof10feet(andeventhoughthisisadownstreamboundary,if
the2Dareastartedoutdry,thenflowwillinitiallycomeintothe2Darea).Forthesecondhour,
theflowwillheldat1000cfsandthedepthat10feet.
Theinitialconditions,ifany,arecomputedseparatelyforeach2Darea(inastandalone
mode).Theflowandstagesfromanyboundaryconditionshookeddirectlyintothe2Dareaare
takenintoaccount.Theflowand/orstagefromany1Driverreach(thatisdirectlyconnected)
istakenintoaccounttotheextentpossible.Flowfromanylateralstructuresorstoragearea
connectorsisnottakenintoaccountduringthispartofthecomputations.(Flowcrossinga
hydraulicstructurethatisinternaltothe2Dareaiscomputednormally.)Iftheuserhas
enteredastartingwatersurfaceforthegiven2Darea,thatisused.Otherwisethe2Darea
startsoutdry.

81

IV.

Running the Combined 1D/2D Unsteadyflow Model

Runningacombined1D/2DunsteadyflowmodelinHECRASisnodifferentthanrunninga
standalone1Dunsteadyflowmodel.The2Dunsteadycomputationalmoduleisbuiltdirectly
intotheHECRASunsteadyflowcomputationalengineitisnotaseparateprogram.Sothe1D
andthe2Dcomputationsaredirectlycoupledonatimestepbytimestepbasis(thereisalsoan
iterationoptionforconnectionsbetween1Dand2Delements),andtheyaresolvedtogether
iteratively.Thisallowsdirectfeedbackfrom1Dto2Delementsandfrom2Dto1Delementsfor
eachtimestep.Thismakesthelinkingofthe1Dand2Dveryaccuratewhenitcomesto
sendingflowthroughabreach(usingalateralstructure),oranyothertypeofhydrauliclink
between1Dand2Delements.Thisdirectfeedbackallowsthesoftwaretomoreaccurately
calculateheadwater,tailwater,flow,andanysubmergencethatisoccurringatahydraulic
structureonatimestepbytimestepbasis.

A. Selecting an Appropriate Grid Size and Computational Time Step

Pickinganappropriatemeshcellsize(orsizes)andcomputationaltimestep(T)isvery
importanttogettingaccurateanswerswith2DFlowAreas.Thefirststepistodevelopa
computationalmeshthathascellsizesthatareappropriateformodelingboththeterrainas
wellasthewatersurfaceflowingovertheterrain.Many2Dflowmodelsusasingleelevation
foreachcellandcellface(normalstructuredgridbasedmodels).Modelsthatusetriangles
(commonlyFiniteElementmodels)usethreeelevationsandaplanarsurfacetorepresenteach
triangle,whileeachfacehastwoelevationsandastraightlinebetweenthem.Itisvery
importanttounderstandthewaythecomputationalmeshisrepresentingtheunderlying
terraininordertomakeagooddecisiononhowmanycells,andofwhatsize,willbenecessary
tomodeltheterrainandtheeventaccurately.
HECRAStakesaverydifferentapproachthanthetwopreviouslymentionedmodeling
techniques.CellsinHECRAScanhavethree,four,fiveuptoeightsides.Eachcellisnota
simpleplane,butadetailedelevationvolume/arearelationshipthatrepresentsthedetailsof
theunderlyingterrain.TheHECRAScellfacesaredetailedcrosssections,whichgetprocessed
intodetailedelevationversesarea,wettedperimeter,androughness.Thisapproachallowsthe
modelertouselargercellsizeswithHECRAS,andstillaccuratelyrepresenttheunderlying
terrain.ThekeytomakingagoodcomputationalmeshinHECRAS,isensuringthatthefacesof
thecellscapturethehighpointofbarrierstotheflow.Additionally,onemustconsiderthe
watersurfaceslope.Asinglewatersurfaceelevationiscomputedinthecenterofeachcell.So
82

thelargerthecellsize,thefurtherapartarethecomputedvaluesofthewatersurface,andthus
theslopeofthewatersurfaceisaveragedoverlongerdistances(intwodimensions).Thisis
acceptableforsomeareas,butnotappropriateforothers.Ifthewatersurfaceslopewillvary
rapidly,smallercellsizesmustbeusedinthatareatocapturethechangingwatersurfaceand
itsslope.HECRASallowstheusertovarythecellsizeandshapeatalllocationsinthemodel.
Socomputationalmeshescanbedevelopedwithsmallercellswheretheyneedtobeandlarger
cellswheretheterrainandwatersurfaceslopearenotchangingrapidly.
SomekeyfactorsfordevelopingagoodcomputationalmeshwithHECRASarethe
following:
1.
Makesurethecellsizes,shapes,andorientationsadequatelydescribethe
terrain.Specifically,sincethecellfacescontrolthemovementofwater,theremustbeenough
ofthem,orientedcorrectlytodescribethekeyfeaturesoftheterrainthatwillcontrolwater
movement.Thisincludesbarrierstoflow,suchasroads,levees,andnaturalhighgroundareas,
thatwillpreventflowfromgoingfromoneareatoanother,untilthewatersurfaceelevationis
higherthanthebarrier.
2.
Thecellsizemustbeadequatetodescribethewatersurfaceslopeandchanges
inthewatersurfaceslope.Ifthewatersurfaceslopedoesnotchangerapidly,largercellsizes
canbeusedtoaccuratelycomputethewatersurfaceelevationandslope.Ifthewatersurface
slopechangesrapidly,thensmallercellsizesneedtobeusedtohaveenoughcomputation
pointstodescribethechangingwatersurface,aswellascomputetheforce/energylossesthat
areoccurringinthatarea.Whilecellsizes(andshapes)canvary,transitioningfromlargerto
smallercellsizesshouldbedonegraduallytoimprovecomputationalaccuracy.
Onceagoodcomputationalmeshisdeveloped,thentheusermustpickanappropriate
computationaltimestepthatworkswellwiththemeshandtheeventbeingmodeled.Picking
anadequatetimestepisafunctionofthecellsizeandthevelocityoftheflowmovingthough
thosecells.HECRAShastwoequationsetsthatcanbeusedtosolvefortheflowmovingover
thecomputationalmesh,theDiffusionWaveequationsandthefullSaintVenantequations.In
general,theDiffusionWaveequationsaremoreforgivingnumericallythanthefullSaintVenant
equations.ThismeansthatlargertimestepscanbeusedwiththeDiffusionWaveequations
(thancanbewiththeFullSaintVenantequations),andstillgetnumericallystableandaccurate
solutions.ThefollowingareguidelinesforpickingacomputationintervalforthefullSaint
VenantequationsandtheDiffusionWaveequations:

83


FullSaintVenantEquations:

1.0

max

3.0

Where:

CourantNumber

VelocityoftheFloodWave(ft/s)

ComputationalTimeStep(seconds)

TheaverageCellsize(ft)

DiffusionWaveEquations:

2.0

max

5.0

Thewaytousetheseguidelineequations,istofindthearea(s)whereyouhavehigh
velocitiesandrapidchangesinwatersurfaceandvelocity.Taketheaveragecellsizeinthat
areaforX.PutinthehighervelocitiesinthatareaforV.ThenselectaT,suchthatthe
CourantNumber(C)islessthanthesuggestedvalue(i.e.1.0forFullEquationsand2.0for
DiffusionWave).However,youmaybeabletogetawaywithaCourantnumberashighas3.0
forthefullequationsand5.0fortheDiffusionWaveequations,andstillgetstableandaccurate
results.

Note:Theusershouldalwaystestdifferentcellsizes(X)forthecomputationalmesh,and
alsodifferentcomputationaltimesteps(T)foreachcomputationalmesh.Thiswillallowthe
usertoseeandunderstandhowthecellsizeandcomputationaltimewillaffecttheresultsof
yourmodel.TheselectionofXandTisabalancebetweenachievinggoodnumerical
accuracywhileminimizingcomputationaltime.

84

B. Performing the Computations

Torunthemodel,opentheUnsteadyFlowAnalysisWindow.MakeaPlanbyselecting
thegeometrythatcontainsthecombined1Dand2Ddata,selectanunsteadyflowfileforthe
eventtorun,andgivethePlanaTitleandaShortID.Setthefollowingitems:whichPrograms
toRun;theSimulationTimeWindow;andalloftheComputationalSettings.Thenpressthe
Computebuttontobegintherun.(ThewindowshouldlooksimilartoFigure51).Ifyouhave
notpreviouslyrunthe2DFlowAreapreprocessor(fromRASMapper)itwillautomaticallybe
donefirstatthebeginningoftheunsteadyflowprocess.

UndertheProgramstoRunarea,thereisanewcheckboxforFloodplainMapping.
IfyouhavesetupRASMappercorrectly,bybringinginaterraindatasetandassociatingthat
terrainwithyourgeometryfiles,thenthisoptionwillwork.Ifyouturnthisoptionon,afterthe
programhascompletedtheunsteadyflowcomputationsandthepostprocessing,thelastthing
itwilldoisrunaseparateprocesscalledComputeFloodMaps.exeinordertogeneratea
depthgrid(storedtodisk)ofthemaximuminundationthatoccurredatalllocationsinthe
model.Thisoptionisnotrequiredforfloodmapping.Itisreallyonlynecessaryofyouwant
theprocessofcomputingaStoredFloodmaptobedoneautomaticallyattheendofthe
unsteadyflowcomputations.TheFloodplainMappingoptionisoffbydefaultbecausethe
usercanperformDynamicFloodMappingandcreateStaticFloodMaps(StoredDepthGrids)
fromRASMapper,afterthecomputationshavebeencompleted(thisisthesuggestedwork
flow).Themainpurposeofthisoption,isforautomatingtheprocessofcomputingan
inundationmap(Depthgrid),foruseinCWMSorHECWAT.Ingeneral,thisoptionwillmost
likelynotbeusedwhenrunningHECRASinstandalonemode.

Thepostprocessoroptionprovidesadditional(anddetailed)outputfor1Dareasandit
isonlyapplicablefor1Ddatasetsandmixed1D/2Ddatasets.The2Doutputisgenerated
duringtheunsteadyflowrun.

UndertheComputationalSettingsarea,thereisanewfeaturecalledMapping
OutputInterval.ThisfeatureallowsyoutosetamappingintervalthatwillbeusedinRAS
MapperforcreatingDynamicMaps(computedontheflyinmemory,andnotstoredtodisk),as
wellasforperforminganimationsofthefloodmaps.Whenyouselectaspecificinterval(e.g.1
hr),alimitedsetofhydraulicoutputvariablesarewrittentoabinary(HDF5)outputfileforall
CrossSections,StorageAreas,and2DFlowAreas.Additionallythemaximumandminimum
valuesthatoccurredatalllocationsduringtherunarealsowrittentothisfile.Thisfileisthen
usedbyRASMappertoperformdynamicmappingoftheresults.Therearesomeadditional
MappingOutput/HDF5optionsundertheOptionsmenu.SelectOutputOptions,thenselect
HDF5WriteParameters.
85


Figure51.UnsteadyflowAnalysisWindowwiththenewFloodplainMappingfeature.

OnceyoupresstheComputebutton,theunsteadyflowcomputationalengineswill
begintorun.Thisprocessconsistsofrunningthe:2DGeometryPreProcessor(onlyif
necessary);1DGeometryPreProcessor;UnsteadyFlowcomputations(combined1D/2D);the
1DPostProcessor;andfinallytheFloodplainMappingprocess(ifitwasturnedon).

Ingeneral,youdonotneedtoruntheFloodplainMappingprocess,unlessyouare
tryingtoautomatetheprocessofrunninganunsteadyflowplan,mapping,andprovidingthe
resultstoanotherprocess(likeHECFIA).TheDynamicMappingwithinRASMapperwillquickly
becomethemainwayyouwanttolookatresults.Onceyoufeelthatyouhaveagoodresult,
youcanmakeastaticdepthgrid(storedtodisk)fromwithinRASMapperinordertosendto
HECFIA(FloodImpactAnalysis)oraGISprogramfordisplayandanalysis.
86

C. 2D Computation Options and Tolerances

Optionsforcontrollingthe2Dcomputationsduringtherunareavailablefromthesame
editorthatcontainsthe1DComputationalOptionsandSettings.SelecttheOptions|
CalculationOptionsandTolerancesthemenuitemtoinvokethewindowshowninFigure52.
Thiseditornowhasthreetabs.ThefirstTab,labeledGeneral(1DOptions),istheoriginal1D
Unsteadyflowcalculationoptions.ThesecondTab,labeled2DFlowOptions,containsthe
calculationoptionsandtolerancesforthe2Dcomputationalmodule.ThethirdTab,labeled
1D/2DOptionscontainsoptionsforcontrollingiterationsbetween1Dand2Dhydraulic
connections.

Figure52.2DFlowAreaCalculationOptionsandTolerances.

AsshowninFigure52,thereareseveralcomputationaloptionsandtolerancesthatcan
besetforthe2Dmodule.TheseOptionsarediscussedbelow.

UseCoriolisEffects:

OnlyusedintheFullMomentumEquation

ThisoptionallowstheusertoturnontheeffectsoftheEarthsrotationonthesolution
(CoriolisEffect).Whenthisoptionisturnedon,theusermustenterthelatitudeofthecenter
ofthe2DFlowAreaindegrees(thisisthefieldlabeledLatitudeforCoriolisinthetable).A
latitudewithavaluegreaterthanzeroisconsideredinthenorthernhemisphere,andavalue
lessthanzeroisconsideredinthesouthernhemisphere.
87

NumberofCorestouseincomputations:

AllAvailable(Default)

TheHECRAStwodimensionalcomputationalmodulewasdevelopedfromtheground
upwithparallelprocessinginmind.TheHECRAS2DcomputationswilluseasmanyCPUcores
asthereareavailableonyourmachine(whichisthedefaultmodeforrunning).However,HEC
RASprovidestheoptiontosetthenumberofcorestouseforthe2Dcomputations.Ingeneral,
itisrecommendedtousethedefaultofAllAvailable.However,youmaywanttoexperiment
withthisforaspecificdatasettoseeifitwilleitherspeeduporslowdowncomputations
basedonaspecificnumberofcores.Theidealnumberofcoresforagivenproblemissizeand
shapedependent(shapeofthe2DFlowArea).Asyouusemorecores,theproblemissplitinto
smallerpieces,butthereisoverheadinthecommunicationsbetweenthepieces.So,itisnot
necessarilytruethatagivenproblemwillalwaysrunfasterwithmorecores.Smallerdatasets
(2Dareaswithfewercells)mayactuallyrunfasterwithfewercores.Largedatasets(2DAreas
withlotsofcells)willalmostalwaysrunfasterwithmorecores,souseallthatisavailable.

Shownbelowaretheresultsoftestingafewdatasetsbyrunningthemwithdifferent
numbersofCores.Eachmodelwasrunseveraltimeswiththenumberofcoressetto:1,2,4,8,
and16.Asyoucanseefourofthedatasetshadspeedimprovementsupto8cores,but
actuallyranslowerwith16cores.Thesearesmallerdatasetsrangingfrom10,000to80,000
cells.However,onedatasetshadspeedimprovementsallthewayupto16cores.Thiswasthe
largestdataset,with250,000cells.

Speedup
6
5.5
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
1core

2core
StPaul

4core
EU5

EU4

8core
OhMiss

16core

400sqmi

88

Theta(0.61.0):

1.0(default)

Thisistheimplicitweightingfactorthatisusedtoweightspatialderivativesbetween
thecurrentsolutiontimelineandthepreviouslysolvedsolutiontimeline.Thetaof1.0
(Default),usesonlythecurrentlysolvedtimelineforthespatialderivatives.Thisprovidesfor
themoststablesolution,butpossiblyatthelossofsomeaccuracy.Thetaof0.6,providesfor
themostaccuratesolutionoftheequations,buttendstobelessstable.Ingeneralithasbeen
foundthatinapplicationofmostrealworldfloodrunofftypesofevents,Thetaof1.0,willgive
aboutthesameanswersasThetaof0.6.However,thisshouldbetestedforeachmodeldueto
sitespecificgeometryandfloodpropagation,inwhichitmaymakeadifferenceintheresults.

ThetaWarmup(0.61.0): 1.0(default)

ThisisthevalueofTheta(seedescriptionabove)thatisusedduringthemodelwarmup
andrampupperiods.ThisvalueofThetaisonlyusediftheuserhasturnedontheunsteady
flowwarmupoption,ortheBoundaryConditionRampupOptionfor2Dareas.

2Dwatersurfacecalculationtolerance(ft):

0.01(default)

Thisisthe2Dwatersurfacesolutiontolerancefortheiterationscheme.Ifthesolution
oftheequationsgivesanumericalanswerthathaslessnumericalerrorthanthesettolerance,
thenthesolverisdonewiththattimestep.Iftheerrorisgreaterthanthesettolerance,then
theprogramwilliteratetogetabetteranswer.Theprogramwillonlyiterateuptothe
maximumnumberofiterationssetbytheuser.Thedefaultissetto0.01ftbasedon
experienceinusingthemodelforarangeofapplications.

MaximumNumberofiterations(040):

20(Default)

Thisisthemaximumnumberofiterationsthatthesolverwillusewhileattemptingto
solvetheequations(inordertogetananswerthathasanumericalerrorlessthantheuser
specifiedtoleranceatalllocationsinthe2Dcomputationalmeshdomain).Thedefaultissetto
20.However,theusercanchangeitfrom0to40.Itisnotrecommendedtochangethisunless
youaresurethatchangingthevaluewilleitherimprovethechancesthatthemodelwill
converge(I.e.increasingthevalue),orspeedupthecomputationswithoutcausingany
significanterrors.

EquationSet:

DiffusionWave(Default)orFullMomentumEquation

TheHECRAStwodimensionalcomputationalmodulehastheoptionofeitherrunning
the2DDiffusionWaveequations,ortheFull2DSt.Venantequations(sometimesreferredto
asthefull2Dshallowwaterequations).Thedefaultisthe2DDiffusionWaveequationset.In
general,mostfloodapplicationswillworkfinewiththe2DDiffusionWaveequations.The
89

DiffusionWaveequationsetwillrunfasterandisinherentlymorestable.However,thereare
definitelyapplicationswherethe2DFullSt.Venantequationsshouldbeusedforgreater
accuracy.Thegoodnewsisthatiteasytotryitbothwaysandcomparetheanswers.Itis
simplyamatterofselectingtheequationsetyouwant,andthenrunningit.Createasecond
Planfile,usetheotherequationset,runit,andcompareittothefirstPlanforyourapplication.
Moredetaileddiscussionsonthedifferencesbetween2DDiffusionWaveand2DFullSt.Venant
willbeavailableintheRASUsersManualwhenHECRAS5.0ispublicallyreleasedtothe
generalpublic.

InitialConditionsRampupTime(hrs):

DefaultisBlank(notused)

ThisoptioncanbeusedtoRampupthewatersurfacefromadryconditiontoawet
conditionwithina2Darea(orfromaflatwatersurfaceifaninitialwatersurfaceelevationwas
entered).Whenexternalboundaryconditions,suchasflowandstagehydrographs(or1D
reaches),areconnectedtoa2Darea,thefirstvalueoftheconnectedfloworstagemaybea
high(i.e.averylargefloworastagemuchhigherthanthecellelevationitisattachedto).Ifthe
modelweretostartthisway,suchahighdiscontinuitymaycauseamodelinstability.Sothis
optionallowstheusertospecifyatime(inhours)torunthecomputationsforthe2DFlow
Area,whileslowlytransitioningtheflowboundariesfromzerototheirinitialvalue,andthe
stageboundariesfromadryelevationuptotheirinitialwetelevation.Theuserspecifiesthe
totalInitialConditionsRampupTimeinthisfield(10hoursforexample).Theusermustalso
specifyafractionofthistimeforRampinguptheboundaryconditions.Avalueof0.5means
that50%oftheInitialConditionstimewillbeusedtoRampUptheboundaryconditionstotheir
initialvalues,theremainingtimewillbeusedtoholdtheboundaryconditionsconstant,but
allowtheflowtopropagatethroughthe2DFlowArea,thusgivingitenoughtimetostabilizeto
agoodinitialconditionthroughouttheentire2DFlowArea.TheRampuptimeforthe
boundaryconditionsisenteredinthenextrow,whichislabeledBoundaryConditionRampup
Fraction.

BoundaryConditionRampupFraction(0to1.0):

0.5(50%)Defaultvalue

ThisfieldgoesalongwiththepreviousfieldInitialConditionsRampupTime.Thisfield
isusedtoenterthefractionoftheInitialConditionsRamupTimethatwillbeusedtorampup
the2DFlowAreaboundaryConditionsfromzeroordry,totheirinitialfloworstage.Userscan
enteravaluebetween0.0and1.0,representingthedecimalfractionoftheInitialConditions
RampupTime.

NumberofTimeSlices(IntegerValue):

1(Default)

Thisoptionallowstheusertosetacomputationaltimestepfora2Dareathatisafractionof
theoverallUnsteadyflowcomputationinterval.Forexample,iftheuserhassettheUnsteady
90

Flowoverallcomputationintervalto10minutes,thensettingavalueof5inthisfield(fora
specific2Darea)meansthatthecomputationintervalforthat2Dareawillbe1/5oftheoverall
computationinterval.Whichforthisexamplewouldbe2minutes(e.g.10/5=2).Different
valuescanbesetforeach2DFlowArea.Thedefaultis1,whichmeansthat2DFlowAreais
usingthesamecomputationaltimestepastheoverallunsteadyflowsolution(computation
Intervalisenteredbytheuserontheunsteadyflowanalysiswindow).

EddieViscosityTransverseMixingCoefficient:

DefaultisBlank(notused)

Themodelerhastheoptiontoincludetheeffectsofturbulenceinthetwodimensional
flowfield.Turbulenceisthetransferofmomentumduetothechaoticmotionofthefluid
particlesaswatercontractsandexpandsasitmovesoverthesurfaceandaroundobjects.
TurbulencewithinHECRASismodeledasagradientdiffusionprocess.Inthisapproach,the
diffusioniscastasanEddieViscositycoefficient.ToturnturbulencemodelingoninHECRAS,
enteravaluefortheEddieViscosityTransverseMixingCoefficientforthatspecific2DFlow
Area.Thiscoefficientrequirescalibrationinordertogetatanappropriatevalueforagiven
situation.ThedefaultinHECRASiszeroforthiscoefficient,meaningitisnotused.The
numericalschemeinHECRASprovidessomenumericaldiffusionautomatically.Additional
diffusionusingtheEddieViscosityformulationcanbeobtainedbyenteringavaluegreaterthan
zerointhisfield.BelowaresomevaluesfortheTransverseMixingCoefficient(DT)thathave
beenfoundtobeappropriateundercertainconditions.

MixingIntensity
0.11 0.26 Littletransversalmixing
0.3 0.77
2.0 5.0

Geometryandsurface
Straightchannel
Smoothsurface
Moderatetransversalmixing Gentlemeanders
Moderatesurfaceirregularities
Strongtransversalmixing
Strongmeanders
Roughsurface

1D/2DIterationOptions.

Defaultiszero(meaningthisisnotturnedon)

TherearealsosomeoptionsforControlling1D/2DIterations,whichcanbeusedtoimprovethe
computationsofflowpassingfroma1Delement(Reachorstoragearea)toa2DFlowArea.By
defaultthisoptionisturnedoff,andmost1Dto2Dconnectionswillnotneediterations.
However,whenthe1D/2Dhydraulicconditionsbecomehighlysubmerged,orthereareflow
reversals,ortidallyinfluencestages/flows,theniteratingbetweenthe1Dsolutionand2D
91

solutionmaybenecessarytogetanaccurateandstableanswer.Toturnonthe1D/2D
iterationsoption,selectthe1D/2DOptionstab.ThenyoucansettheMaximumiterations
between1Dand2D,aswellastolerancesforcontrollingtheconvergencecriteria.Iteration
canbesetfrom0to20,withzeromeaningthatitdoesnotdoanyextraiterations(thisisthe
default).Ingeneral,onlyusethisoptionifyouarehavingastabilityproblemata1D/2D
hydraulicconnection.Setthenumberof1D/2DIterationstoaslowaspossibleinordertogeta
stableanswerbetweena1Dand2Dconnectionthatishavingstabilityproblems.TheNumber
of1D/2DIterationswillcausetheentiresolutiontobedonemultipletimesforeachtimestep
inordertogetthedesiredconvergence.Thiscoulddramaticallylengthenruntimes.Ifyou
turnthisoptionon,itissuggestedthatyoustartwithalowvalue,like3orso.Ifthestability
problemstillexistswiththatnumberofiterations,thenincreaseitfromthere.

Theconvergencecriteriafor1D/2DiterationsconsistsofaWaterSurfaceTolerance,
FlowTolerance(%),andaMinimumFlowTolerance.Thewatersurfacetoleranceiscurrently
onlyusedwhenanupstream1Dreachisconnectedtoadownstream2DFlowArea.Inthis
situation,the1Dregioniscomputed,thenthe2Dregion.Theassumedwatersurfaceelevation
attheboundaryisreevaluated.IfthewatersurfacehaschangedmorethantheWaterSurface
Tolerance,thentheprogramwilliterate.Whenthewatersurfaceelevationattheboundary
haschangelessthanthetolerance,thesolutionstopsiteratingandmovesontothenexttime
step.
TheFlowTolerance(%)getsusedforthefollowing1D/2Dconnections:Lateral
Structure;SA/2DHydraulicConnection(SAto2D,or2Dto2D);and2DFlowAreato1DReach
connection(Currentlyinthe5.0Betaversion,thisonlyworkswhenanupstream2DflowAreais
connectedtoadownstream1Driverreach).ThedefaultvaluefortheFlowTolerance(%)is0.1
%.If1D/2Diterationsareturnedon,thentheflowbetweenthesetypesof1D/2Dconnections
getsrecomputedaftereachtrialtoseeifithaschangedmorethantheuserdefinedFlow
Tolerance(%).Ifithaschangedmorethantheflowtolerance,thentheprogramiterates.A
companiontolerancetotheFlowTolerance,istheMinimumFlowTolerance(cfs).Thepurpose
ofthistoleranceistopreventtheprogramfromiteratingwhentheflowpassedbetweena1D
and2Delementisverysmall,andnotsignificanttothesolution.Forexample,youmayhavea
connectionfroma1Dreachtoa2DFlowAreaviaaLateralStructure,inwhichtheflowunder
certainconditionsisverylow,sotheactualchangeintheflowfromoneiterationtothenext
couldbeverysmall(putthepercenterrorisveryhigh).Suchasmallflowmayhaveno
significancetothesolution,soiteratingtheentiresolutiontoimprovethissmallflowbetween
the1Dand2Delementsmakesnosense,andmaybejustwastingcomputationaltime.In
generalitisagoodideatosetaminimumflowwhenturningon1D/2Diterations.Thedefault
valueis1cfs,however,theismostlikelymodelspecific.

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New1DComputationalOptions

Wehaveaddedtwonew1Donlycomputationaloptions,andgotridofoneexistingoption.If
youselecttheTablabeledGeneral(1DOptions)ontheComputationalOptionsandTolerances
window,youwillseewehavechangedtheformatoftheseoptions,aswellasaddedtwonew
options.Thetwonew1Doptionsare:

1.MaximumnumberofIterationswithoutimprovement.Thisoptionisoffbydefault,
butifyouturniton,itwillmonitorthemaximumnumericalerrorcomputedduringthe1D
Iterations,andiftheerrordoesnotimprovewithinXiterations,thenthe1Dsolverstops
iteratingandgoesontothenexttimestep.Forexample,letssayyouhavethedefault
maximumnumberofiterationssetto20.IfyousettheMaximumnumberofiterations
withoutimprovementto5,thenduringanytimestep,iftheiterationschemedoesnot
continuetoimprovethenumericalsolutionfor5iterationsinarowitwillstopandgotothe
nexttimestep,usingwhicheverpreviousiterationwasthebestsolution.Ingeneral,5isagood
numbertostartwithforthisoption,butyoumaywanttotryloweringit.Thisoptionwill
improvecomputationalspeedfordatasetsthatiteratealot.However,ifyouturnitonandset
thevaluetoolow,youmayincreasethemodelinstability.

2.1DEquationSolver.WeuseamatrixsolutionsolvercalledSkylinewhichuses
Gaussianeliminationforreducingthesizeofthematrix.Ithasbeenstreamlinetowards
dendriticriversystems,andisveryfast.However,sometimesHECRASmodelscanbevery
largeandhavemanyinterconnections(loopsinthestreamnetwork,ormanyinterconnected
storageareas).Wehaveaddedanoptiontosolvethe1DmatrixwiththePardisosolverthat
weusein2D.ithasthebenefitofbeingabletousemultiplecores.InexperimentsatHEC,we
havefoundthattheSkylineMatrixsolverisstillfasterfordendriticsystems.However,large
modelswithlotsofLateralstructures,storageareas,andloopsinthereaches,Maysolve
fasterusingthePardisosolver.Tryitouttoseewhichoneworksbetteronyourspecificdata
set.Wedonothavealotofexperienceinusingthissolveronthe1Dside.Souseitatyour
ownrisk.Meaning,dontjustcomparethecomputationaltimes,alsocomparetheresultsto
makesuretheyarethesame.
Note:WealsogotridoftheoptiontoConvert1DEnergyBridgestoCrossSectionswith
Lids.Thisoptionwasnotusedoften,andinsomecasescausedmodelstabilityissues.Sonow
allbridgesarepreprocessedintoafamilyofcurves.Ifthisoptionwasturnedoninyourmodel,
thischangemayproducedifferentcomputedresultsinthevicinityofthatbridge.

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D. 32 bit and 64 bit Computational Engines

HECRASnowhasboth32bitand64bitcomputationalengines.The64bitcomputational
enginescanhandlelargermodeldatasets,andwillalsorunfasterthanthe32bitengines.The
softwarenowautomaticallycomeswithbothsetsofcomputationalengines.Userscancontrol
whichenginestousefromthemainHECRASwindow,byselectingOptions,thenProgram
Setup,thenUse64bitcomputationalengines(whenavailable).Bydefault,thesoftwarewill
comeswiththe64bitcomputationalenginesselectedasthedefault.UnchecktheUse64bit
computationalenginesoptionifyouwanttheprogramtousethe32bitcomputational
engines.Ourtestinghasnotshownanydifferencesbetweentheresultsfromthe64bitand
the32bitversions.However,thereremainsaverysmallpossibility(howeverremote)that
therecouldbeadifferenceforsomedataset,especiallyadatasetthatishavingstability
problems(orisontheedgeofhavingastabilityproblem).Weplanonmakingthe64bit
versiontheofficialHECRASreleaseversion.

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V.

Viewing Combined 1D/2D Output using RAS Mapper

Onceyouhavecompletedanunsteadyflowrunofyourmodel,userscanlookatallofthe
1Doutput(PlotsandTables)inthesamemannerasbefore,usingthetraditionalplotsand
tables.However,the2DoutputresultsareviewedwithinRASMapper.Currently,youcan
visualizeinundationareas(andothertypesofoutput)withinRASMapperforRiverReaches,
StorageAreas,and2DFlowAreasatthesametime.Tovisualizetheoutput,selecttheGIS
Tools|RASMappermenuonthemainHECRASwindow(orjustselecttheRASMapper
button
appear.

onthemainRASwindow).TheRASMapperwindowshowninFigure53will

Figure53.RASMapperwindowwithcombined1D/2Dfloodinundationoutputdisplayed.

95

A. Overview of RAS Mapper Output Capabilities

HECRASMappercanbeusedtodevelopterrainmodelsandvisualizeHECRASresultsin
amapbasedformat.RASMapperhasthefollowingcapabilities:
1. Developterrainmodelsforusein2Dmodelingandvisualizing1D/2Dmodel
results.Terrainmodelscanbedevelopedfromoneormoreterraintiles,and
thesetilescanhavedifferentgridresolutions.
2. Varioustypesofmaplayerresultscanbegenerated,suchas:depthofwater,
watersurfaceelevations;flow(1Donlyrightnow);velocity(1Donlyrightnow);
arrivaltime;andfloodduration.
3. Computedmodelresultscanbedisplayeddynamicallyonthefly,ortheycanbe
writtentoastatic(storedtodisk)maplayer/depthgrid.
4. Computedmodelresultscanbeanimatedorshownforaspecificinstancein
time.
5. Timeseriesplotsandtablescanbedisplayedfor1Dand2Doutputdirectlyfrom
RASMapper,atanylocationwherethereisamaplayerresult.Timeseriesplots
andtablesinclude:watersurfaceelevation;depth;velocity(2Dnodevelocities,
2DaverageFacevelocities,and1Dvelocities);and2DFaceaverageshearstress
6. Userscanqueryanyactivemaplayersvaluebysimplymovingthemousepointer
overthemap.
7. WebImagery,shapefiles,andpointlayerscanbedisplayedasbackgroundlayers
behindthecomputedresults.
8. Youcannowmakeaterrainmodelfromthecrosssections(Channelonlyor
entiresections),theriverandbanklines,andthecrosssectioninterpolation
surface.Elevationsbetweenthecrosssectionsareinterpolatedusingthe
interpolationsurfaceandthecrosssectionelevations.Thisterrainmodelcan
thenbecombinedwithyourotherterraindata(overbank/floodplain)tomakea
newterrainmodelinwhichthechannel/crosssectiondataisnowburnedinto
theoverallterrainmodel.

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B. Adding Results Map Layers for Visualization

OnceanHECRASmodelruniscompleted,andRASMapperisopened,therewillbea
ResultsLayerthathasthesamenameastheHECRASPlanNameforthatrun(seeFigure54
below).BeneaththeResults|PlanNameLayer,bydefaulttherewillbeaGeometryLayeranda
DepthLayer.TheGeometryLayerwillcontaintheHECRASInputGeometryLayers.The
GeometryLayerincludessublayersof:River;BankLine;RiverEdgeLine;Junction;XS(Cross
sections);StorageArea;2DFlowArea;andXSInterpolationSurface.Anyorallofthese
Geometrylayerscanbeturnedonforvisualizationofmodelelements.

Figure54.RASMapperwithDefaultResultsLayersshown.

Bydefault,afterasuccessfulHECRASmodelrun,therewillbearesultslayercalled
Depth.TheDepthlayercanbeusedtovisualizethemodelresultsinaninundationmapping
form(e.g.twodimensionalmapofthegeometry,withwaterandotherlayersontopofit).The
Depthlayerwillbecomputedanddisplayedonthefly,meaningitcomputesitinmemoryand
displaysitasneeded.Theunderlyingterrainusedforcomputingdepthsisbasedontheview
scaleofthemap.Ifyouarezoomedin(largescalemapping)thebase(raw)datawillbeused
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forcomputingdepths;however,ifyouarezoomout(smallscalemapping)aresampledversion
oftheterrainisused.Therefore,thedisplayeddepthsmaychangeslightlybasedonthescale
atwhichtheuseriszoomed.Bydefault,thedepthlayerisnotaprecomputeddepthgrid
storedonyourharddisk.

Otherresultslayersareavailableforvisualization,butyouhavetorequest/createa
resultslayerthatyouwanttodisplay.Tocreateanewresultslayer,rightclickonthedesired
PlanName(listedintheResultsLayer)andselecttheoptioncalledAddnewresultsmap
layer.ThisoptionwillbringupawindowthatwillallowyoutoselectanewResultsMapType
(Figure55).ThiswindowcanalsobedisplayedbyselectingTools|ManageResultsMaps.Then
theResultsMapManagerwillappear,andtheusercanthenselectAddNewMapfromthat
window,tocreateanewresultsmaplayer.

Figure55.ExampleoftheResultsMapwindowusedtocreatenewresultsmaplayers.

AsshowninFigure55,theNewResultsMapParameterwindowhasthreesectionsto
selectfrom.OntheleftistheMapType,whereyouselecttheparameteryouwanttomap
(createalayerfor).Afteraparameterispicked,themiddlesectionofthewindow(Unsteady
Profile)isusedtopicktheprofiletype:Maximum(Maxstageeverywhereregardlessoftime);
Minimum(Minstageeverywhereregardlessoftime);oraspecificdateandtime(resultsatthat
specificinstanceintime).Ifamapisgoingtobedisplayeddynamically(computedinmemory
anddisplayedonthefly),itdoesnotmatterwhatyoupickfortheprofile,youwillbeableto
dynamicallyvisualizealltheprofiles.Ifamapneedstobecreatedasastaticmap(aresultsor
depthgridwrittentoafile),thenthespecificprofileyoupickwillbeusedforthatstaticmap.
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ThelastthingtoselectonthewindowistheMapOutputMode.Themapoutputmodeis
whereyouselectwhetherthemapwillbeaDynamiclayer,orelseitwillbeaStoredmaplayer.
Dynamiclayersgetcomputedontheflyasneededandcanbeanimatedthroughthetimesteps
ofthesolution.Dynamicmapsarethemostusefulforvisualizingtheresults.Storedmapsonly
needtobecreatedwhenyouwanttocreateadepthgrid,orotherlayertype,thatyouwant
writtentotheharddisk.AStoredlayercanbeusedbyanotherprogram(forexamplebyHEC
FIAtocomputedamagesorlifeloss),oryoucandisplayitinaGISanduseitforanother
purpose.

CurrentlyRASMapperislimitedtocreatingthefollowingmaplayers:
1.Depthofwater
2. Watersurfaceelevations
3. Flow(1Donlyrightnow)
4. Velocity(1Donlyrightnow)
5. Depthtimesvelocity
6. Arrivaltime
7. Floodduration

Arrivaltimeandflooddurationmaplayers,requireadditionalinformationfromtheuser:
whethertowritetheresultsoutinHoursorDays;adepththreshold(defaultiszero,but
youmaywanttoenterahighervalue,like1or2feet);andfinallyastartingdataandtimetobe
usedfortheevaluation(thismaybethestartofawarningtime,whichwouldthenmakethe
arrivaltimecalculationawarningtime).

C. Dynamic Mapping

AsshowninFigure56,therewillberesultslayersforeachPlanthathasbeenrun.For
thisexample,undertheResultsLayerinthepanelontheleftside,thereareresultsforaPlan
calledUnsteadyRunwith2D50ftGrid.UndertheUnsteadyRunwith2D50ftGridlayer
therearetwosublayers:Geometry,andDepth.TheGeometryLayerrepresentswhat
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Geometrydatawasusedintherun,andwaswrittentotheoutputfile.TheDepthlayeristhe
DynamicMappingDepthGridoutputlayer.ThekeywordhereisDepth.Theinformation
followingintheparenthesesisjustwhatcurrentdepthgridisshowingintheplot.Insidethe
parenthesescouldbeaspecificDateandTime,orMax,orMin.
RightclickingontheDepthresultslayerforthisPlanwillshowacontextsensitive
menuthathasseveraloptionsforthisoutputlayer.Theseoptionsare:LayerProperties;Edit
MapParameters;ZoomtoLayer;RemoveLayer;MoveLayer;ExportLayer;andAnimate
Profiles(seeFigure56).

Figure56.RASMapperwiththeOptionsmenudisplayedforadepthoutputlayer.

LayerPropertiesThisoptionallowstheusertocontrolwhateachlayerlookslike,suchas
colors,colorramps,symbolandlinecolorsandtypes,fillstyles,etcItalsocontainsatab
calledSourcewhichprovidesinformationaboutthelayer,aswellaswhatthefilenameis,
whereitisstored,etc
EditMapParametersThisoptionisintendedtoallowtheusertoeditorchangethe
parametersofthemaplayer.
100

ZoomToLayerThisoptionzoomsinorout,suchthattheextentsoftheselectedlayerare
visible.
RemoveLayerThisoptionallowstheusertodeletethelayerfromtheRASMapperwindow.
MoveLayerThisoptionallowstheusertomovethelayerupordownwithintheRASMapper
layerlist.Thisisimportant,sincesomethingthatishigherinthelist(above)willbeplottedon
topofthingsthatarelowerinthelist(below),whenmultiplelayersareturnedontogetherfor
display.Whenthisoptionisselected,severalsubmenuswillpopupthatallowyoutomovea
layer:Top;UpOne;DownOne;Bottom;UpaLevel;andDownaLevel.Theusercanalsoleft
clickonalayeranddragitupanddownwithinthelayerslist.
ExportLayerThisoptionhasseveralexportoptionsavailable,suchas:savefeaturetoa
shapefile;savefeaturetoaGMLfile;convertfeaturetoapointshapefile;convertfeaturetoa
multipointshapefile;andExportMapforuseinGoogleMap/Earth.Notallofthesefeatures
areavailableforeverymaplayertype.
ExportMapforuseinGoogleMap/EarthViewersThisoptionwillexporttheDepthgridto
whatistermedaTileCache(beforedoingthistheusermustsetthespatialprojectionusingthe
SetProjectionforProjectoptionfromtheRASMapperToolsmenu).ATileCacheisaseriesof
files(256X256pixels)withdifferentresolutions,writtenoutusingapyramidedandtiled
schemethatmeetsGooglesmappingspecifications(i.e.,therewillbeseveraldirectories,each
onerepresentingadifferentresolution).Whenthisoptionisselected,thewindowshownin
Figure57willappear.

Figure57.TileCacheOptionsEditor.

TheuserisrequiredtosettheBaseFolderinwhichthesesubfolderswillbedevelopedandthe
tileswillbestored.Additionallytheusershouldselectthecellsizethatwillrepresentthemost
101

detailedtilelevel(whenzoomedin).Forexample,ifyoupicklevel16cell(pixel)size~1.9
meters(asshownintheexampleabove),yourmostdetailedpyramidlevelwillhavetilesin
whicheachpixelsizerepresents1.9meters.Ifyouplanonzoomingwayinandwantgreat
detailinthemap,youwouldpickahigherlevel/smallercell(pixel)size.However,thesmaller
yougo,thelongeritwilltaketogeneratethisTileCache,andthelargerthefilestoragespace
required.Also,thiscell(pixel)sizewillchangedependingonthelatitudeofyourproject.
AnimateProfilesThistoolallowsyoutoperformtheDynamicMappingandtheanimationof
inundationmaps.TheAnimateProfilestoolbarisshowninFigure58.

Figure58.DynamicMapping/AnimationToolBar.

AsshowninFigure58,whenanimatingtheDepthlayerforaspecificPlan,theuser
willhavetheoptionofselecting:Max,Min,orusingthesliderbartomovetoaspecificpointin
timeduringtheevent.IfMaxisselected,thenthemaximuminundationthatoccurredatevery
locationinthemodel(1Dcrosssections,storageareas,and2Dmesh)willbeplottedforthe
depthgrid.IfMinisselected,thentheminimumdepththatoccurredateverylocationwithin
theeventwillbedisplayed.IfyouselectthePlaybutton(farrightgreenarrow),thenthemap
willautomaticallyploteachmappingoutputintervalinsequence(i.e.animate).Theanimation
canbestoppedbyselectingthepausebutton.Iftheuserusesthesliderbar,theycanselecta
specificdateandtime,whichwillresultinshowingtheinundationmapforthatspecific
instanceintime.ThetimesavailablearebasedontheMappingOutputIntervalspecifiedinthe
UnsteadyFlowSimulationwindow.Youcanalsoholddowntherightarroworleftarrowatthe
endsofthesliderbartohaveitanimatethemap,eitherforwardsorbackwardsintime.Keep
inmindthesemapsarebeingcreatedontheflyinmemory.Theydonotexistinafileonthe
disk.Becausethesemapsarebeingcreatedonthefly,thisisreferredtoasDynamicMapping
(Tryitout,itsfun!!!).Itisalsothebestwaytovisualizetheresultsofthemodelfroma
mappingperspective.

FutureversionsoftheAnimationToolwillhaveaRecordbutton,sotheusercanplay
theanimationandrecordittoavideofile.Fornowifyouwanttocreateamoviefileusethe
Snagitsoftware(orsimilarpackage)tocapturethescreenwhileanimatingtheinundation
results.

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D. Creating Static (Stored) Maps

Theusercancreateastaticmap(mapstoredtothedisk)atanytimefromRASMapper
byselectingtheTools|ManageResultsMapmenuitem.Whenthisoptionisselectedthe
windowshowninFigure59willappear.

Figure59.ResultsMappingWindow.

AsshowninFigure59,thiseditorwillallowtheusertocreatenewmaplayers(AddNew
Map),aswellasgeneratestoredmapstoafile(whichcanbeusedwithFIA,orinaGIS,etc).
Toaddanewresultsmaplayer,pressthebuttonlabeledAddNewMapforthedesired
Planthatyouwanttocreateamapfrom,thiswillbringupthewindowshowninFigure60.

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Figure60.AddNewResultsMapLayerWindow.

ThiswindowwasdescribedearlierunderthesectioncalledAddingResultsMapLayers
forVisualization.ThiswindowcanbeusedtocreateaDynamicMapLayer,orcreateaStatic
MapbycheckingononeoftheoptionsundertheStored(noanimation)section,then
pressingtheCreatethisMapbuttonatthebottomofthewindow(seeFigure60).Anew
LayerwillthenshowupontheManageResultsMapswindowfortheselectedPlan,however,
thestatusofthatmapwillbelabeledFolderdoesnotexist,whichmeansthestoredmaphas
notbeencreatedyet.
Tocreatethestoredmap,pressthebuttonlabeledCompute/UpdateStoredMaps
(SeeFigure59).Thiswillstarttheprocessofcreating/updatingstoredmapsforallofthestored
maplayersthatareoutofdate.Whenthisprocessiscomplete,therewillbeasubdirectory
withintheprojectdirectorythatislabeledthesamenameastheRASPlanName.Thisfolder
willcontaintheresultsinagriddedfileformat.RASMappercreatesfilesintheGeoTIFF
(GeospatialTiffwith.tiffileextension)fileformat.TheGeoTIFFisafilestandardandcanbe
useddirectlyinArcGIS10andhigherandothersoftwarepackages.Youcansimplydragand
droptheGeotifffilesontoyourArcGISproject.ThelatestversionofHECFIA(version3.0and
above)alsousestheGeoTifffileformatforincorporatingHECRASresultsforthecomputation
offlooddamagesandpotentiallifeloss.AdditionallyRASMappercreatesafilewiththe
extension.hdf.The.hdffilecontainsinformationforRASMapperabouttheGeoTifffiles.
RASMapperalsocreatesanXMLfilewiththeextension.vrt.Thevrtfileissupportedby
otherGISsoftwareforvisualizingrasterfiles.Ifyouhavemorethanoneterraingridforyour
Terrainmodel,thenRASMapperwillalsomakemorethanoneoutputdepthgrid.(i.e.ittiles
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them).The.vrtfileisjustacollectionfilethatdescribesthefilesandwheretheylivespatially.
IfyoudragthatfileovertoaGIS,orimportit,thenitbringsinallthetilesasasinglecollection
inonelayer,andyoucanhavethemallattributedthesame.

E. Querying RAS Mapper Results

WhenaMapLayerisbeingdisplayedinthemapwindow,theresultsofthatmapcanbe
queriedtodisplaythepointvaluebysimplymovingthemouseoverthemaplayer.Todothis
youmustfirstclickontheresultsmaplayer,tomakeittheactivelayer.Whenaresultsmap
layerisbeingdisplayed,andyouclickonthatlayer,thelabelwillturnmagentainthelayer
directorytree.Oncethedesiredresultslayeristurnedon,anditissettotheactivelayer,move
themousepointeroverthatlayer,andeverywhereyoumovethemousepointeryouwillget
thenumericalvalueofthatresultdisplayednexttothemousepointer.Seetheexamplebelow
inFigure61.

Figure61.ExampleofQueryingavaluefromtheactivemaplayer.
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F. Time Series Output Plots and Tables

WhenaResultsLayeristurnedonfordisplay,theusercanalsogettimeseriesplotsand
tablesforthoseresultslayers.Ifaresultsmaplayerisdisplayed,movethemousepointerover
thatlayerandthenrightclickthemouse,apopupwindowwillappearwithadditionaloutput
optionsfordisplayingtimeseriesplots.Forexample,iftheDepthresultsmaplayeristurned
on,rightclickonthatmaplayerandanoptionforplottingaWaterSurfaceTimeSerieswillbe
availableinthepopupwindow.
If2DFlowAreasareinthemodel,additional2DmodelresultsintheformofTimeseries
plotsandtablesareavailable.Toget2Dmodelspecificresults,firstturnonthe2DFlowArea
grid,fromtheGeometrylayerofthedesiredplan,listedintheResultslayer.Whenthe2D
FlowAreagridisturnedon,rightclickthemouseovertopofit,thepopupmenuwillshow
optionsforplotting(Figure62)thefollowingtimeseries:WaterSurfaceTimeseries;CellDepth
TimeSeries;2DFacePointVelocityTimeseries(thisisapointvelocityoftheclosestCellFace
Pointwhenselected);2DFaceVelocityTimeSeries(thisistheAverageVelocityacrosstheCell
Facethatisclosesttothemousepointerwhenselected);2DFaceShearTimeSeries(thisisthe
averageShearStressacrossthecellfacethatisclosesttothemousepointerwhenselected);
andthePropertyTables(thisistheprecomputedcellelevationvsvolumeandFaceproperty
tables(elevationvsarea,wettedperimeter,androughness)thatareusedinthesolutionofthe
equations).

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Figure62.Exampleshowingoptionsfordisplaying2DModelOutputTimeSeriesResults.

AnexampletimeseriesplotfromRASMapperisshowninFigure63.

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Figure63.ExampleTimeSeriesHydrographPlotfromRASMapper.

OnceatimeseriesisplottedfromRASMapper,thereisalsotheoptiontodisplaythe
resultsinatable.TabularresultsaredisplayedbyselectingtheTabletabonthetimeseries
plot.UserscanhighlightdatainthetableanduseCntrlCtocopythehighlightsinformationto
theWindowsClipboard.Also,whenviewingtheplot,rightclickingbringsupapopupmenu
withtheoptionstoCopyValuestoClipboard(whichcopiesallofthedata)andtoZoomto
theFullExtentofthedata.Additionally,themousewheelcanbeusedtoZoomInandOuton
theplot;holdingdowntheCntrlkeyandusingthemouseallowsformeasuringontheplot;and
holdingdowntheZkeyandusingthemouseallowstheusertodrawaZoomWindow;
pressingtheEsckeywillzoomtothefullextent.

108

G. Background Map Layers

HECRASMapperhasseveraloptionsforbringinginotherdatalayers/formatstobe
usedasbackgroundmapsbelowyourcomputedresults.Forexample,thefollowingfile
formatsaresupported:webimagery;ESRIShapefiles;VRT(VirtualRaster)files;GML
(GeospatialMarkupLanguage)files;andmanyotherfileformats(115fileformatsarecurrently
supported).TheGMLfiletypesupportedistheSimpleFeaturesversion3format.
TousetheWebimagerycapability,firstsetthespatialreferencesystemfortheproject.
SelecttheTools|SetProjectionForProjectmenuitemfromtheRASMappermenubar.When
thisoptionisselectedthewindowshowninFigure64willappear.

Figure64.EditortosettheRASprojectsspatialreferencesystem.

Tosetthespatialreferencesystem(coordinatesystem),browseandselectanexisting
.prjfile(ESRIprojectionfile)thatcontainsthecorrectcoordinatesystem.IfArcGIS10or
lowerisinstalledonyourcomputer,youcanbrowsetotheArcGISdirectorythatcontainsa
listingofalltheavailablecoordinatesystemsandselecttheappropriateone.Thedefault
directorypathwhereArcGIS10orlowerstoresalistingofalltheavailablecoordinatesystems
islistedintheProjectionFiletextbox,showninFigure64.Forthisexample,NAD1983State
PlaneIndianaEastwasselected.

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1. Web Imagery:

OncethecorrectcoordinatesystemissetinRASMapper,theWebImageryoptioncan
beusedbyselectingitfromtheToolsmenu(orrightclickonMapLayersandselectAdd
WebImageryLayer).Whenthisoptionisselected,awindowwillappearwiththelistof
availablewebservicesfordownloadingwebbasedimageryandmaplayers(Figure65).Select
oneoftheavailableoptionsandpresstheOKbutton.Whenawebserviceisselected,RAS
Mapperwillsendthelimitsofthecurrentlyviewedareatothatserverandrequestthe
imagery/mapdata.Oncethedataisreceiveditisdisplayedonthescreen.Thisdataisnot
savedtotheharddisk.Itisonlyforrealtimedisplayoftheimageryandmaplayers.When
usingthisoption,everytimetheuserzoomsinorout,orpans,itmakesanewrequestforthe
data,receivesit,andthendisplaysit.SeeanexampleofWebimageryusedasabackground
layerinFigure66.

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Figure65.WebmappingservicesavailableinRASMapper.

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Figure66.RASMapperwithbackgroundWebimageryloadedwithaninundationdepthgrid
overlayed.

2. Other Map Layer Formats

Asmentionedpreviously,inadditiontowebimagery,RASMappersupportsmany
differentfileformatsfordisplayingmaplayers.Someofthemorepopularformatsare:esri
ShapeFiles;GeoTIFF;MrSID;JPEG;Arc/InfoGrids;Bitmaps;netCDF;USGSASCIIDEM;etc

Tousethisoption,rightclickonMapLayers,thenselecttheAddMapDataLayers
option.Thefilechooserwindowwillappear,allowingyoutonavigatetothedesiredfileand
selectit.SeeFigure67below:

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Figure67.ExampleFilechooserforbringinginMapLayerstobeusedforbackgrounddisplay.

H. National Levee Database

ThelasttooltodiscussisthelinktotheNationalLeveeDatabase(NLD).Ifyouselect
ImportNLDfromtheRASMapperToolsmenu,thesoftwarewillautomaticallycalltheNLDand
requestalistofalltheleveesandfloodwallsthatarewithintheprojectarea(theareayousee
onthescreenwhenfullyzoomedout).TheNLDwillsendalistbacktoHECRASandawindow
willappearonthescreenwiththatlistoflevees/floodwalls(seeFigure68).

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Figure68.ListofleveesandfloodwallssenttoRASfromtheNLD.

IfyoupresstheOKbuttonitwillaskyoutoselectadirectorytostorethedatain.Oncea
directoryisselected,thesoftwarewilldownloadalevee3Dcenterline,afloodwall3D
centerline,andapolygonoftheprotectedareaforeachoftheleveeslistedinthewindow
showninFigure68.Currentlytheinformationisstoredina.gmlfileformat(Geospatial
MarkupLanguage).ThenextstepforHECRASinusingthisdataistoautomatetheprocessof
convertingitintoanHECRASLateralStructuretorepresenttheleveesandfloodwalls,aswell
asusetheprotectedareafor2Dflowand/orstorageareaboundaries.Thisisnotavailableyet
(Sorry!!!).

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VI.

2D Output File (HDF5 binary file)

TheOutputforthe2DFlowAreacomputations,aswellassomeofthe1Doutput,is
containedinabinaryfilethatiswrittenintheHDF(HierarchicalDataFormat)fileformat.
SimilartoanXMLdocument,HDFfilesareselfdescribingandallowuserstospecifycomplex
datarelationshipsanddependencies.However,unlikeXMLfiles,HDFfilescancontainmany
differenttypesofdataandallarestoredinanefficientbinaryform.Furthermore,HDFallows
directaccesstodifferentpartsofthefilewithoutfirsthavingtoparsetheentirecontents.
Specifically,weareusingtheHDF5fileformat(version5ofHDF).

ThereisalotofoutputcurrentlywrittentotheHDFfilesthatcannotcurrentlybe
viewedspatiallyinRASMapper.Forexample,velocityinformationiscomputedforalltheCell
Faces(FaceVelocity),andtheFacePoints(NodeXVel,andNodeYVel).Toviewandorusethis
additionaloutput,theusercanaccessitdirectlyfromtheHDFfiles.

AFreeHDFfileviewercanbedownloadedfromTheHDFGroupatthefollowing
location:

http://www.hdfgroup.org/hdfjavahtml/hdfview/index.html#download_hdfview

DownloadandInstalltheWindows64bitversionifyouhavea64bitoperatingsystem.The64
bitversioncanreadboth32and64bitfiles.

OncetheHDFfileviewerisinstalledyoucanopenthefiles,viewwhatisinthere,display
tabulardata,andevenplotresults.ShowninFigure69isanexampleHDFfileoutputfroman
HECRAS1D/2Dmodelrun.AsshowninFigure69,theusercangettotheUnsteadyflow
outputforthe2Dareas(aswellas1Dobjects)bydrillingdownthroughthe
Results/Unsteady/Output/OutputBlocks/UnsteadyTimeSeries/2DFlowAreas/,thenclickon
thefoldernameofthe2DFlowAreaandtheusercanseealltheoutputthatwascomputed
andstoredforthatspecific2DFlowArea.Currentlywhatisavailablefor2DFlowAreais:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Depth:
FaceShear:
FaceVelocity:
NodeXVel:
NodeYVel:
WaterSurface:

Depthofwaterineachofthecells(Feetormeters)
Averageshearstressovertheface(lb/ft2orNewtons/m2)
Averagevelocityateachcellface(ft/sorm/s)
TheXcomponentofthevelocityvectorataFacePoint(ft/sorm/s)
TheYcomponentofthevelocityvectorataFacePoint(ft/sorm/s)
Watersurfaceelevationforeachcell(feetormeters)

115

Asyoucanseebylookingatthefileformat,thereisalsotimeseriesoutputinthisfilefor
the1Dobjects(crosssections,storageareas,lateralstructures,inlinestructures,etc).
OvertimealloftheHECRASbinaryoutputwillbeswitchedtothisfileformat.Fornow
thetraditional.O##filesarestillwrittentoandusedforthepostprocessingoutput,
whichuserscanviewfromthegraphicsandtablesintheHECRASinterface.Evenafter
HECRAShasswitchedovertousingHDF,HECRASwillstillfullysupportDSS(importof
dataanduserselectedoutputofresults).

116


Figure69.ExampleHDFFileOutputfromHECRAS1D/2DModelRun

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Appendices

A.

RAS Mapper Supported File Formats

ThefollowingisalistofthefileformatsthatcancurrentlybeimportedintoHECRAS
Mapper:
VRT:VirtualRaster
GTiff:GeoTIFF
NITF:NationalImageryTransmissionFormat
RPFTOC:RasterProductFormatTOCformat
ECRGTOC:ECRGTOCformat
HFA:ErdasImagineImages(.img)
SAR_CEOS:CEOSSARImage
CEOS:CEOSImage
JAXAPALSAR:JAXAPALSARProductReader(Level1.1/1.5)
GFF:GroundbasedSARApplicationsTestbedFileFormat(.gff)
ELAS:ELAS
AIG:Arc/InfoBinaryGrid
AAIGrid:Arc/InfoASCIIGrid
GRASSASCIIGrid:GRASSASCIIGrid
SDTS:SDTSRaster
DTED:DTEDElevationRaster
PNG:PortableNetworkGraphics
JPEG:JPEGJFIF
MEM:InMemoryRaster
JDEM:JapaneseDEM(.mem)
GIF:GraphicsInterchangeFormat(.gif)
BIGGIF:GraphicsInterchangeFormat(.gif)
ESAT:EnvisatImageFormat
BSB:MaptechBSBNauticalCharts
XPM:X11PixMapFormat
BMP:MSWindowsDeviceIndependentBitmap
DIMAP:SPOTDIMAP
AirSAR:AirSARPolarimetricImage
RS2:RadarSat2XMLProduct
PCIDSK:PCIDSKDatabaseFile
PCRaster:PCRasterRasterFile
ILWIS:ILWISRasterMap
SGI:SGIImageFileFormat1.0
SRTMHGT:SRTMHGTFileFormat

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Leveller:Levellerheightfield
Terragen:Terragenheightfield
GMT:GMTNetCDFGridFormat
netCDF:NetworkCommonDataFormat
ISIS3:USGSAstrogeologyISIScube(Version3)
ISIS2:USGSAstrogeologyISIScube(Version2)
PDS:NASAPlanetaryDataSystem
TIL:EarthWatch.TIL
ERS:ERMapper.ersLabelled
JPEG2000:JPEG2000part1(ISO/IEC154441)
L1B:NOAAPolarOrbiterLevel1bDataSet
FIT:FITImage
GRIB:GRIddedBinary(.grb)
MrSID:MultiresolutionSeamlessImageDatabase(MrSID)
JP2MrSID:MrSIDJPEG2000
MG4Lidar:MrSIDGeneration4/Lidar(.sid)
RMF:RasterMatrixFormat
WCS:OGCWebCoverageService
WMS:OGCWebMapService
MSGN:EUMETSATArchivenative(.nat)
RST:IdrisiRasterA.1
INGR:IntergraphRaster
GSAG:GoldenSoftwareASCIIGrid(.grd)
GSBG:GoldenSoftwareBinaryGrid(.grd)
GS7BG:GoldenSoftware7BinaryGrid(.grd)
COSAR:COSARAnnotatedBinaryMatrix(TerraSARX)
TSX:TerraSARXProduct
COASP:DRDCCOASPSARProcessorRaster
R:RObjectDataStore
MAP:OziExplorer.MAP
PNM:PortablePixmapFormat(netpbm)
DOQ1:USGSDOQ(OldStyle)
DOQ2:USGSDOQ(NewStyle)
ENVI:ENVI.hdrLabelled
EHdr:ESRI.hdrLabelled
GenBin:GenericBinary(.hdrLabelled)
PAux:PCI.auxLabelled
MFF:VexcelMFFRaster
MFF2:VexcelMFF2(HKV)Raster
FujiBAS:FujiBASScannerImage
GSC:GSCGeogrid
FAST:EOSATFASTFormat
BT:VTP.bt(BinaryTerrain)1.3Format

119

LAN:Erdas.LAN/.GIS
CPG:ConvairPolGASP
IDA:ImageDataandAnalysis
NDF:NLAPSDataFormat
EIR:ErdasImagineRaw
DIPEx:DIPEx
LCP:FARSITEv.4LandscapeFile(.lcp)
GTX:NOAAVerticalDatum.GTX
LOSLAS:NADCON.los/.lasDatumGridShift
NTv2:NTv2DatumGridShift
CTable2:CTable2DatumGridShift
ACE2:ACE2
SNODAS:SnowDataAssimilationSystem
ARG:AzaveaRasterGridformat
RIK:SwedishGridRIK(.rik)
USGSDEM:USGSOptionalASCIIDEM(andCDED)
GXF:GeoSoftGridExchangeFormat
HTTP:HTTPFetchingWrapper
NWT_GRD:NorthwoodNumericGridFormat.grd/.tab
NWT_GRC:NorthwoodClassifiedGridFormat.grc/.tab
ADRG:ARCDigitizedRasterGraphics
SRP:StandardRasterProduct(ASRP/USRP)
BLX:Magellantopo(.blx)
GeoRaster:OracleSpatialGeoRaster
Rasterlite:Rasterlite
SAGA:SAGAGISBinaryGrid(.sdat)
KMLSUPEROVERLAY:KmlSuperOverlay
XYZ:ASCIIGriddedXYZ
HF2:HF2/HFZheightfieldraster
PDF:GeospatialPDF
OZI:OziExplorerImageFile
CTG:USGSLULCCompositeThemeGrid
E00GRID:Arc/InfoExportE00GRID
ZMap:ZMapPlusGrid
NGSGEOID:NOAANGSGeoidHeightGrids
MBTiles:MBTiles
IRIS:IRISdata(.PPI,.CAPPietc)

120