October 2011 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the October 2011 sprint (now that it's almost December):

• Fixed 10 bugs
• Got our version of MODFLOW-NWT working with MNW, SFR and UZF packages
• Fixed the model wrapper for MODFLOW-NWT to show progress
• Documented MODFLOW-NWT on the wiki
• Created a MODFLOW-NWT tutorial
• Held a training course in Australia (see post below)
• Designed and implemented the ZONEBUDGET interface (available in 8.2)
• Made some improvements to our continuous testing system, including adding a new machine
• Added an Export 3D Grid to Shapefile feature (available in 8.2)
• Fixed some problems with the new manual MODPATH option (available in 8.2)
• Designed support for the ISTCB2 option in the SFR package
• Reviewed user requests on the forum and put them on the backlog

Exporting 3D grids to shapefiles

A new feature in GMS 8.2 is the ability to export a 3D grid to a shapefile. The following figures show a MODFLOW model from the Lake package tutorial. The first image shows the model in GMS. The second shows the grid exported as a shapefile and read into ArcMap 10 with a background map, symbology, and transparency. GMS includes a projection file with the exported shapefile which causes it to be properly positioned when imported to ArcMap.

Training Adelaide Australia

Sustainable Resources Industry Training (SRIT) hosted a GMS training course in Adelaide, Australia from October 4-7. The course was a great success with attendees from Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Thank you to all who attended and to Geoff and Glenys Flight from SRIT for organizing the course.

September 2011 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the September 2011 sprint:

• Released GMS 8.1 with 64 bit support, faster MODFLOW I/O, enhanced lighting options and other features.
• Almost finished the MODFLOW NWT interface coming with GMS 8.2.
• Posted an update of GMS 8.0.
• Fixed over 30 bugs
• Furthered the development of the ADH interface for the US Army Corp of Engineers
• Completed changes to the MODPATH interface to make automatically running MODPATH optional. Will be available in GMS 8.2.
• Added support for the MODFLOW DE4 solver, to be available in GMS 8.2.
• Added support for preserving comments at the top of MODFLOW package files in the NWT and UZF packages (available in GMS 8.2).

GMS 8.1 officially released with 64-bit support

Today we officially released GMS 8.1, meaning it is no longer in beta. The biggest change is that a 64 bit edition is now available. See the full list of what's new in GMS 8.1 and download it today.

Article on Using GMS With TOUGH2 and Complex Geology

A neat article in June's issue of Computers and Geosciences shows how the author's used GMS to set up a 3D grid used with TOUGH2. An account is required for full access to the article.

August 2011 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the August  2011 sprint:

• Fixed over 36 bugs
• Posted a new video about the Text Import Wizard on our YouTube channel
• Posted a new video about the automated parameter estimation with PEST on our YouTube channel
• Posted the video from July's "What's new in GMS 8.0" webinar
• Completed phase two of the ADH interface for the Army Corp of Engineers
• Made progress on the MODFLOW-NWT interface
• Assisted the consulting group on several projects

July 2011 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the July 2011 sprint:

• Fixed over 29 bugs
• Did a live webinar on what's new in GMS 8.0 and 8.1. Unfortunately we don't have the recording posted yet but hope to soon.
• Posted a new video about interpolating MODFLOW layer elevations on our YouTube channel
• Completed phase one of the ADH interface for the Army Corp of Engineers
• Started the MODFLOW-NWT interface
• Finished the 3D grid display option to contour a second specified data set
• Fixed a few FEMWATER bugs
• More wiki clean up and progress on Wiki to PDF feature
• More manual testing of 64 bit GMS
• Assisted the consulting group on several projects
• Visited the University of Michigan to discuss an "Environmental and Ship Motion Forecasting" project for the U.S. Navy
• Added an image in the image gallery

GMS Webinar July 21, 2011

The GMS team held its first webinar on July 21, 2011. The webinar highlighted new features in GMS 8.0 and 8.1. We wanted to thank everyone that took time out of their schedule to attend the webinar. If you have any feedback please send it to us at webinar@aquaveo.com. We hope to post a recording of the webinar shortly. Here is a list of some of the features that were demonstrated:

1. General Features
1. Learning Center - www.aquaveo.com/gms-learning
2. YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/aquaveo
3. GMS Community Edition - www.xmswiki.com/xms/GMS:Community_Edition
4. Import from Web
5. ArcGIS map server layers
2. Improved 3D Graphics
1. Transparency
2. New lighting options
3. Faster data set switching
4. Faster frame rate (real time pan/rotate)
5. Block Fill contours
6. Save to Google Earth
3. New Modeling Features
1. MODFLOW 2005
2. UZF Package
3. LMG3 package - Parallel Versions of MODFLOW 2000 & 2005
4. Open Containing Folder
5. Parameter Estimation - Different types of regularization
6. SEAWAT
7. Regional to Local model enhancements
4. 64 bit Version of GMS
1. Coming with version 8.1
2. Load larger models
3. Work with larger data sets
4. 64 bit versions of MODFLOW

June 2011 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the June 2011 sprint:

• Fixed over 37 bugs
• Got "Learn GMS" help menu command working for 32 and 64bit
• Fixed issues with 64bit and small allocations
• Found and fixed several memory leaks
• Added units tests for all the projection and reprojection stuff
• Almost completed the 3D grid display option to contour a second specified data set
• Tested and debugged 64bit version with a large MODFLOW model
• Fixed order of Annotations tool bar and fixed north arrows to open installed north arrows folder by default
• Cleaned up the wiki and made good progress on the Wiki to PDF feature
• Added some unit tests for kriging and fixed some kriging bugs
• Fixed slow drawing of rasters
• Attended the MODFLOW & More conference in Golden, Colorado
• Completed designs for MODFLOW-NWT and MODFLOW-MNW2
• Added a new video to the YouTube channel about the free GMS Community edition

GMS Software Quality

When developing GMS there are several ways we work to ensure the quality of each release, and we are continuously striving to improve the quality of GMS to make it as bug free as possible. We use a multi-layered approach to help in finding bugs as quickly as possible. We use unit testing, code reviews, intermediate testing with continuous builds, automated testing through the graphical user interface, and review by the Quality Control team.

The quicker a bug can be found and fixed the better. As a developer, best of all is to find and fix a bug before anyone else sees it. Our unit tests help this happen. Unit tests are tests that are included right along with the GMS code. When changes are made, tests are written to make sure that existing functionality isn't broken, and tests are written to test new functionality. Unit tests are a group of tests that run very quickly and are run each time GMS is built.

Code reviews can also be very helpful in finding issues. For code reviews we have another member of our development team look at the code changes we've made to make sure there aren't any problems. Just like reviewing a manuscript, it's always good to have another set of eyes to look at the code to make sure everything is okay.

Our intermediate tests are written in the same way as unit tests but each test takes more time to run. All of our unit tests only take a few seconds to run but intermediate tests can take several minutes. To run both our unit and intermediate tests we have a continuous build machine that is constantly looking for changes in our code base. When changes are made, GMS gets built and the unit and intermediate tests get run. To manage this process we use CruiseControl.NET. CruiseControl.NET automatically manages our unit and intermediate testing and provides a GUI interface so all developers can always easily see if the tests are passing or failing.

Our next layer of testing is graphical user interface (GUI) testing. For GUI testing we use TestComplete™. TestComplete™ allows us to record and write scripts that run the GUI of GMS. Tests include all of the GMS tutorials, several reported bugs, and tests that cover specific areas of GMS. The tests run each night and the results are reported through CruiseControl.NET.

The last layer of testing is the Quality Control team. After every sprint the QC team reviews the work the development team did during the sprint. If they find any problems they are reported to the development team.

When all of these fail to find new or existing bugs, and a bug isn't found here at Aquaveo, it is likely a bug will be found by one of our users. When this happens we will do whatever we can to get a bug quickly fixed and in our next release. For this to happen we need to know about the bug. It is very helpful to us when users who have run across a bug will take time out of their busy schedule and notify our Tech Support department about the bug (support@aquaveo.com, (801) 691-5530 [Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm Mountain Time]). They can walk you through what is needed so we can reproduce the bug and fix it. Another thing that can be helpful if it's a crash detected by BugTrap is entering your email address, a description of what you were doing, and clicking on "Submit Bug" to submit a bug report. We regularly go through the submitted bugs to fix them.

May 2011 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the May 2011 sprint:

• Added three new GMS videos on the YouTube channel.
• Fixed 24 bugs
• Created an installer for GMS 8.1 for 32 and 64 bit
• Created 64 bit versions of MODFLOW
• Got 64 bit tests of MODFLOW running
• Added a preference for 64 bit MODFLOW
• Made good progress on restoring ability to contour and block fill at the same time
• Finished fixing the annotation bugs to be included in 8.1
• Created a local help page, similar to the online learning center, which will direct users to the tutorials installed locally
• Created a table of contents for the wiki and got PDF generation of the wiki working. A locally installed PDF version of the wiki will be available with GMS 8.2.
• Added code to MT3D model checker to look for missing species in the conceptual model
• Almost finished basic raster implementation (raster objects coming in GMS 8.2)
• Wrote a design for MODFLOW-NWT
• Changed some MODFLOW dialogs to conform to the standard for variable names
• Made lighting dialog display changes instantly in graphics window

GMS Resources for Educators

We recently created the GMS Resources for Educators page at aquaveo.com. There you can find sample lectures, in-class exercises, and homework assignments for a one semester, college level course in groundwater modeling. The course teaches groundwater modeling principles with an emphasis on MODFLOW and MODPATH. GMS is used as one of the software tools in the course and a lot of time is spent building real models on the computer. From the course description, "This course is application oriented. We cover the fundamental equations and the modeling theory but the emphasis is on teaching you how to solve real world problems. At the end of the semester, you should feel confident in your ability to develop and calibrate a complex 3D groundwater model."

Dr. Norman L. Jones has taught this class for years at Brigham Young University as CE 547 - Groundwater Modeling. He continually updates and improves the material. To obtain the entire curriculum with a syllabus, tests, and answers to the homework assignments and the tests, email Dr. Jones njones@byu.edu.

At the end of the course students complete a case study of the Woburn site described in the book A Civil Action. If you are familiar with the book or the case, you might be interested in the excellent Woburn Hydrogeology Data page maintained by Dr. Jones which includes all sorts of raw data for use in building a groundwater model, as well as photos of the area and even photos of many of the key players in the book. The case study is designed to be done with the students divided up into small teams - some teams working for the prosecution, and some for the defense.

MODFLOW and More 2011

Members of the GMS team recently attended the MODFLOW and MORE 2011 conference in Golden, Colorado. The conference was great. There were many presentations related to MODFLOW modeling and groundwater in general. One interesting development was the announcement of MODFLOW USG (Unstructured Grid). This version of MODFLOW is not yet released but it looks quite different from current versions of MODFLOW.

It was good to meet current GMS users and get feedback on improvements that can be made to GMS. Thanks to all those that came by our booth.

GMS Learning Center and YouTube channel

In order to help make it easier to learn how to use GMS, or to just see what GMS can do, we recently launched the GMS Learning Center at Aquaveo.com.  All the GMS videos we've created so far are available there. These are YouTube videos so you can also find them all on our Aquaveo channel on YouTube. Look for the GMS playlist. These videos are all recorded in high-def so they're best watched full screen at 720p. We add a few new videos each month. Various folks around the office have been recruited for the voice recordings and none of them are professional voice actors but we think they've done a pretty good job.

Also at the GMS Learning Center are all the standard tutorials which ship with GMS. The tutorials can be freely downloaded and completed offline. Finally there are links to the wiki, the user forums, the training courses, and a new Resources for Educators page that will probably warrant it's own blog post in the near future.

April 2011 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the April 2011 sprint:

• Fixed 22 bugs.
• Created 64 bit versions of MODFLOW.
• Taught the GMS training course in Dresden, Germany.
• Updated the tutorial docs and files on the wiki for GMS 8.0.
• Fixed some issues with the IUZBND array in the UZF package.
• Documented MODFLOW world files on the wiki.
• Simplified code behind Contour Options and Raster Options dialogs.
• Added tests for the Set Arc Directions From Stream Data feature.
• Researched converting the wiki to a pdf or chm file.
• Fixed some coding problems that were resulting in compiler warning.
• Changed the Visual Studio project for 64 bit GMS to follow pattern of 32 bit property sheet.
• Added to the suite of 64 bit test.

Better MODFLOW observation plots

GMS has included observation tools for a long time. These work with any numerical model and let you compare field observed data with model computed output. With transient data, the time of the observations doesn't necessarily match the model output times. In this case GMS would do a temporal interpolation to come up with a model calculated value.

When MODFLOW 2000 came out it included built in observations calculated when you ran MODFLOW. Now if the observation time didn't match the output time it didn't matter because MODFLOW would be sure to calculate an additional output at the observation time.

The residual errors calculated by MODFLOW have been available in GMS since shortly after MODFLOW started computing them but the GMS observation plots still behaved the old way, by doing a temporal interpolation. Until now. We just replaced the old way with the new and revamped several observation plots. The following images illustrate the difference.

Old and busted. Notice the interpolation times of the upper and lower range don't always match the observation times.

New hotness. Upper and lower bands replaced with fixed point-in-time box symbols. The color makes it easier to interpret.

SEAWAT

GMS 8 has an interface to the USGS SEAWAT model. SEAWAT is a combination of MODFLOW and MT3D that allows for the simulation of density dependent flow and transport. I have included an animation of one of the sample problems from the SEAWAT documentation. We also have created a tutorial that shows how to use the SEAWAT interface within GMS.

GMS Community Edition

Starting at GMS 8.0 there is a free version of GMS called "GMS Community Edition". This version includes the MODFLOW and 3D Grid components and thus allows grid-based creation and editing of MODFLOW simulations. Existing simulations can be imported and edited as normal. There are size limits in this free version: grids can be no bigger than 5,000 cells and MODFLOW is limited to 3 stress periods. You can still import models bigger than this but then printing and saving are disabled. Otherwise, printing and saving work as normal. Also, once a model exceeds the limits a watermark will appear in the graphics window.

We hope this free version will allow more users to easily begin discovering GMS.

March 2011 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the March 2011 sprint:

• Released GMS 8.0 with lots of new features including a free Community Edition, support for MODFLOW 2005 and SEAWAT, faster and better looking graphics, improved contouring, ArcGIS map server layers, and much more.
• Updated the GMS web pages at aquaveo.com. The graphics are better, the content and layout is much easier on the eyes, there's a new learning center with videos and tutorials, and a new editions and pricing page, and a new "Why MODFLOW with GMS?" page.
• Posted a new video on our YouTube channel showing the MODFLOW stream package and streams in a conceptual model.
• Fixed 33 bugs
• Found and fixed some memory leaks
• Finished the new lighting options that will be included in version 8.1
• Made good progress on implementing the new Rasters that will be available in 8.2 and will handle DEM data much better.
• Added a bunch of pages to the wiki about the SEAWAT interface.
• Made good progress on improving the annotations that are new in 8.0 and will work much better in 8.1
• Added more automated testing of the 64 bit version of GMS that will be available with 8.1

 

GMS training course in Dresden Germany April 5-8

We will be holding a GMS training course in Dresden Germany from April 5-8. More details here.

February 2011 sprint highlights

Below are some of the more interesting accomplishments from the February 2011 sprint.

• Fixed 30 bugs
• Sped up reading of a large MODFLOW model from 15 minutes to 15 seconds
• Removed the broken 3D mesh particle sets interface
• Created a 64 bit version of the T-PROGS mcmod.dll
• Got all unit and intermediate tests running on the 64 bit build
• Planned work on enhancements to the ADH interface
• Added a preferences page for MODFLOW
• Fixed several issues with the GMS 8.0 installer
• Added two more videos to the YouTube channel
• Planned for quarterly webinars
• Solved some problems with the .hed.h5 file created when reading a MODFLOW solution
• Fixed MODFLOW 2005 to not say "Didn't converge" when it really did
• Created samples of the horizons and MODPATH tutorials
• Updated all the tutorial pdf documents and zip files on the wiki
• Documented some horizons applications on the wiki
• Overhauled and added multiple tests for the image import code

January 2011 sprint highlights

Below are some of the more interesting accomplishments from the January 2011 sprint.

• Posted an update to GMS 7.1 with several bug fixes
• Fixed several bugs in the development branch
• Ran cppcheck to find and fix various bugs
• Created three more videos for marketing
• Added some new images to the image gallery
• Wiki: Added MT3D Calculate Mass dialog help, Arc Hydro Groundwater, block fill in contour options
• Changed iso-surfaces to use OpenGL vertex arrays
• Cleaned up some things in all the tutorials
• Disabled the contour options while in the Map module if there is no MODAEM model
• Changed model checker to default to stop reporting after N errors
• Added a Run SEAWAT macro button to the toolbar
• Updated the advanced training course materials
• Created the GMS 8.0 branch
• Posted the first GMS 8.0 beta (woo hoo!)
• Updated and added lots of tests

December sprint highlights

Below are some of the more interesting accomplishments from the December sprint.

1. Fixed 28 bugs in 7.1 and development
2. Copy protection: Changed the welcome dialog to go straight to the registration dialog if no license found
3. Copy protection: Hid the maintenance string if Community Edition (CE)
4. Removed beta stuff from copy protection and updated the beta dialog
5. Added CE limits to Help|About and when leaving MODFLOW Stress Periods dialog
6. Fixed removing of some menu items based on program mode
7. Added ArcGIS web layer files to installer
8. Created some more video scripts
9. Added new front page to all tutorials
10. Wiki: Added MT3DMS run options page
11. Wiki: Contour Options page updated
12. Created some more images for image gallery
13. Updated the GMS Advanced Course training materials
14. Updated automated tests on lots of tutorials