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Graphical User Interface  Visualization  SMS Modules  SMS Supported Models

Graphical User Interface

Thanks to the graphical tools of SMS, with standard MS Windows functionality, building models and viewing results is very easy and intuitive. All modeling parameters are entered through interactive graphics and easy-to-use dialog boxes. The software is well-suited for the construction of large, complex meshes (several thousand elements) of arbitrary shape. A finite element mesh of a simple region can be constructed within a few minutes. Meshes of more complex regions, which normally would take days or weeks to construct manually, can be constructed within a few hours. Mesh generation errors are easily detected during mesh construction, and can be corrected within minutes. Existing digital elevation models can be imported and used as background data to generate elevations for the model.



Graphics and Visualization

SMS is a powerful graphical tool for model creation and visualization of results. Models can be built using digital maps and elevation models for reference and source data. During the model building process, the graphical representation of the model allows quick review and presentation of your work. Fully 3D views, with contouring and shading, of your model allow anyone to see and understand the domain and parameters of your analysis.

Analysis results from any of the models in SMS can be output or displayed graphically using a variety of plots, including vector plots, contour plots, color-shaded contour plots, and time-history plots. Contour plots and color-shaded contour plots of water surface elevation, velocity, discharge, contaminant concentration, and bed scour and deposition can easily be generated for any of the computed time-steps. Time-history plots can be requested at any location to illustrate fluctuations in water surface elevation, velocity, discharge, contaminant concentration, and bed elevation. A data set calculator is provided, allowing the user to perform comparisons between analysis models—such as displaying the difference in water surface elevations and flow velocities due to a change in the operation of a flood gate.

Both steady-state and transient solutions can be shown animated (as if viewing a movie) using either particle trace, vector, or contour animation. For steady-state solutions, particle trace animation allows the user to clearly see the inherent flow patterns in the mesh (see image below). For transient solutions, vector and contour animation allows the user to observe how water surface elevation, velocity, discharge, contaminant concentration, and bed elevation vary with time (see below).

Flow Trace Animation

Transient Model Animation

SMS Models

Numerical models are programs that are separate from SMS that are used to run an analysis on a model. The models can be built in SMS, and then run through the numerical model program. SMS can then read in and display the results of the analysis.  SMS also has the option of using a “model wrapper” to run the model and display real-time results of during the model simulation.

The following numerical models are currently supported in SMS. Each model is included with the SMS installation (model executable files and documentation) and is fully linked with the SMS software.

	ADCIRC A 2D, depth-integrated, barotropic time-dependent long wave, hydrodynamic circulation model. ADCIRC can be applied to deep ocean, continental shelves, coastal seas, and small-scale estuarine systems.		TUFLOW TUFLOW is a computational engine that provides two-dimensional (2D) and one- dimensional (1D) solutions of the free-surface flow equations to simulate flood and tidal wave propagation.
	BOUSS-2D A comprehensive numerical model for simulating the propagation and transformation of waves in coastal regions and harbors based on a time-domain solution of Boussinesq-type equations.		CMS-Flow A  2D, finite-difference hydrodynamic circulation model intended for analysis of coastal areas.
	CMS-Wave The CMS-Wave model is a nearshore wave transformation model capable of representing wave diffraction and reflection.		RMA2 A hydrodynamic modeling code from the USACE that supports 2D subcritical flow analysis, including wetting and drying and marsh porosity.
	CGWAVE A wave model that can simultaneously simulate the effects of refraction, diffraction, reflections by bathymetry and structures, dissipation due to friction and breaking, and nonlinear amplitude dispersion.		RMA4 RMA4 can be applied to represent the transport of a contaminant, salinity intrusion, or tracking DO and BOD in a 2D system.
	FESWMS A hydrodynamic modeling code from the FHWA that supports both super and subcritical flow analyses, including area wetting and drying.		STWAVE A wave model simulates wave refraction and shoaling, wave breaking, diffraction, wave growth because of wind input, wave-wave interaction and white capping.
	GENESIS A shoreline response numerical modeling system. The model is adopted as the official shoreline change model of US Army Corps of Engineers.  Accounts for shoreline change by longshore sediment transport gradients.		HYDRO AS-2D HYDRO AS-2D performs 2D modeling of bodies of water. The procedure integrated in HYDRO AS-2D is based on the numerial solution of the 2D current equations with Finite-volume-Discretization.

SMS Modules

The SMS interface is separated into several modules; these modules contain tools that allow manipulation and model creation from different data types. The modules of SMS are:

Map Module
Mesh Module
Cartesian Grid Module
Scatter Point Module


Map Module
The Map Module in SMS allows you to use GIS or CAD data, as well as TIFF or JPEG image data, to create and enhance visualization of your surface water models.

Images (such as USGS quad maps or aerial photographs) can be used in SMS as a reference for digitizing features in your model or as a backdrop to enhance model presentation. With GIS or CAD data, or data you have digitized yourself in SMS, you can assign parameters and boundary conditions to your model in a quick and intuitive manner. SMS will automatically generate a mesh or grid network and assign parameters/boundary conditions from your Map Module data. This greatly reduces the time and effort required for model building, allowing you to focus on analysis and calibration with your model.

The Map Module also allows you to set up observation points and cross sections where results from a numerical model can be compared to data collected in the real world. Further, reports and statistical analysis can be generated from these observation/calibration tools.

Mesh Module

The Mesh Module is used to construct 2D finite element meshes of rivers, estuaries, bays, wetland areas, or coastal regions. SMS includes a sophisticated set of mesh generation and editing tools to handle complex modeling situations. In SMS, 2D meshes are used as the basis for analysis for:

TABS (RMA2, RMA4 )
FESWMS - FHWA commissioned hydrodynamic model
ADCIRC - coastal circulation model
CGWAVE - wave energy model
HYDRO-AS 2D - river hydrodynamic model

After an analysis, output data at each node of the mesh can be used to generate contour, fringe and vector plots to represent the solution. Multiple time steps from time variant solutions can be strung together to form an animation of the dynamic solution. SMS also generates animations of steady state vector functions such as flow velocity.

Cartesian Grid Module

The 2D Cartesian Grid Module contains tools used to construct 2D Cartesian finite difference grids. These grids consist of cells aligned with a rectilinear coordinate system. The tools provide a fast, efficient method for creating such grids, populating them with data and running a numerical model. The models that are supported in the Cartesian Grid Module are:

STWAVE - wave energy model
WABED - wave energy balance model
M2D - hydrodynamic circulation specifically adapted for coastal zones
TUFLOW - 1D and 2D hydrodynamic model
BOUSS-2D - wave transformation in harbors and coastal areas

Analysis results from these model can be displayed using the tools in the Cartesian Grid Module to create contour, fringe and vector plots to represent the solution. Multiple time steps from time variant solutions can be strung together to form an animation of the dynamic solutions as well.

Scatter Point Module

The Scatter Point Module is used to interpolate from groups of scattered data points to the other data types (i.e., meshes and grids). SMS supports three interpolation schemes including linear, natural neighbor and inverse distance weighted. The module is also used to view and edit survey data (i.e. SHOALS data).

Interpolation can be used to provide initial conditions, compare the results of overlapping meshes, or to verify a solution. This capability in SMS allows scattered data to be applied to any mesh or grid that has been constructed for modeling in SMS.