Wallingford Software has announced the release of FloodWorks v6.0, its real time flood forecasting and warning software solution. FloodWorks is a modular software package that enables real-time simulation and forecasting of extreme hydrological and hydraulic conditions within river basins, drainage systems and the coastal zone. Version 6.0 provides users with a multitude of enhanced monitoring and data handling features.
One of the key new features in v6.0 is multiple status objects, which gives users powerful control over the mode of an operational FloodWorks server, enabling FloodWorks to switch to a higher state of alert when certain combinations of events are triggered such as heavy rainfall and high river levels in certain locations. It also provides users with as many status objects as they need to help monitor system events.
NEW AND ENHANCED MODEL ALGORITHMS
FloodWorks v6.0 also features new and enhanced model algorithms. New model algorithms include a rating equation to convert between river levels and flows, and the new simple runoff model. Enhanced model algorithms include extra outputs from the PDM rainfall-runoff model, a time-based priority infill model, and an enhanced rain-gauge averaging model for calculating a catchment’s average rainfall.
PRIORITY INFILL FEATURE
The time-based priority infill feature allows users to fill in missing telemetry data in a more open way ‐ in previous versions, if data was missing at a particular timestep, FloodWorks would look for replacement data in the first data source defined in a list. If no data was found, the second source in the list would be checked and so on.
Priority infill allows users to set a time span during which an alternative data source is valid. Outside this time span, that source is ignored and FloodWorks moves on to the next source in the list.
RAIN GAUGE AVERAGING
Rain gauge averaging is another useful addition. V6.0 allows users to choose the profile from a single gauge and scale this to give the same volume over the time period as the average from all the contributing gauges, allowing peak values to be maintained.
SERVER UPDATE FACILITY
FloodWorks v6.0 also has a server update facility, which enables minor changes to be made to an operational server without the need to export a completely new server. This is particularly useful when setting up and undertaking initial testing.
EXTERNAL RAINFALL FORECAST DATA
FloodWorks also now supports external rainfall forecast data from advanced weather radar display and rainfall forecasting systems. This can be radar data, rain gauge-only data, or merged radar and rain gauge data. The radar data is imported in XML format, compliant with many government data exchange standards.
450 PREVIOUS SAVED STATES
The approach to saving states has also changed. In previous versions, FloodWorks saved the latest 40 states for use as initial conditions in future forecast runs, but in some situations it was felt that this was not enough. This issue has been addressed by increasing the number of previous saved states to 450.
SILENT EVENTS
The silent events feature allows events that are not critical to the system to be hidden. If a large number of events are occurring, the map can quickly become confusing. Checking the visible checkbox ensures all critical events are shown while others where the box is not checked are hidden by default in event manager.
FloodWorks’ sales manager, Tyrone Parkinson, said: "The new version of FloodWorks is packed with important new features that both enhance its usability and underline the relevance of the solution to today’s operational modelling requirements."
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