Water Quality Modeling | Advanced Visualization

"a resource for water quality modelers and limnologists"

W2i Overview

 Abstract

One of the most frustrating aspects of reservoir water quality modeling is building a working set of input files for the model when applying it to a new reservoir.  W2i for W2 v3 (formerly WIN2DW2 for W2 v2) is a user interface for CE-QUAL-W2 that has evolved with the goal of streamlining model application, especially on a new reservoir.  W2i includes simple yet powerful toolbar buttons and menu commands for quickly building new W2 inputs, viewing bathymetry, finding nearby meteorological stations, editing existing inputs, and launching CE-QUAL-W2 and the AGPM-2D to plot simulation results.  

Build W2 Inputs Quickly for a New Reservoir

W2i’s New Build feature prepares all necessary W2 input files (control, meteorology, inflow, outflow, inflow temperature and quality files, include files) from templates starting with a simple geometry spreadsheet that you create.  This simple spreadsheet contains reservoir widths and branch information that W2i  reads to build the inputs.  Without W2i  it used to take a week to get your inputs debugged on a new reservoir.  With W2i, you are running CE-QUAL-W2 and plotting results for your reservoir with AGPM-2D within minutes after building the geometry.  The New Build feature also allows you to easily increase the resolution of your computational grid using column and layer multipliers.   W2i also includes a BuildIC toolbar button that auto-creates a detailed initial conditions file (LPR.NPT) from field data. 

View W2 Bathymetry

Once you have a working set of W2 inputs, you can use W2i’s View Bath button to view your bathymetry.  View Bath displays a plan view map showing segment connections, a profile view showing layers and columns, and a cross-section view showing the layering for a given segment.

Find Meteorological Stations

Use W2i’s Find Met feature to locate all major ISWO meteorological stations within a certain radius of your reservoir, or within certain latitude and longitude offsets from your reservoir. 

  Debug W2 Inputs

Replace the template input files (meteorology, etc.) one by one with your real input files. This way you know exactly which file was the culprit if the model ceases working.  This process is much more efficient than building all the input files then trying to debug them all at once to get your first successful simulation.  

Edit W2 Inputs

W2i displays key input files and launches editors for manipulating W2 input files.  W2i remembers your paths to minimize scrolling through folder dialogs to find your latest files.  

Mass Injection Tool

WIN2DW2 (not yet available in W2i for W2 v3) includes an input tool for injecting time-varying mass of any modeled constituent into any combination of cells in your model grid, a feature that makes use of multiple W2 "tributaries".  You can specify a distribution for the loading, or default to a uniform loading among the cells.  All the qin, tin, and cin files for each cell are built for you so you can avoid the tedium normally associated with injections using W2.  This feature is handy for injecting wasteloads to evaluate discharge permits, injecting heat to study power plant discharges, or for injecting oxygen to analyze aeration system performance.  

Launch Model and Post-Processor

W2i includes quick tool-button launch of CE-QUAL-W2 and the AGPM-2D from the W2i interface.  AVI files created by AGPM-2D can be quickly viewed from W2i using the View AVI button.  

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