GMS Training - Perth, AU - Recap

We just completed a training course in Perth, Australia from October 23-26. The course was a great success. Users from all over Australia came together to learn how to use GMS to solve their ground water modeling problems. We even had a user fly in from Japan.

Many thanks to our friends at SRIT (Geoff and Glenys Flight) for organizing the course.

SRIT also had a drawing for some prizes for our course attendees.

Rasters

A new image object type which we are calling a "raster" has been added with GMS 9.0. Rasters are essentially images with elevations - an image that includes a color value and a data value at each pixel. GMS uses the raster object type to support DEM files, and a large variety of DEM file types can be imported into GMS as rasters.

Rasters can be displayed as 2D images, with or without shadows, or as a 3D point cloud without shadows. Both options are very fast and memory efficient. Four different shaders, or color ramps, can be used to show  variations in elevation.

Rasters can be interpolated to all other GMS object types as well as to MODFLOW layer data (similar to 2D scatter points). They can be created inside GMS from 2D scatter points.

A wiki page has been created to document the raster interface in GMS and a new Raster tutorial will be available when GMS 9.0 is released.

Online Maps

"Online maps" are a new feature added at GMS 9.0. Online maps are free raster data (aerial photos, street maps, elevation data etc.) from sources such as ESRI and OpenStreetMap.org (other sources can be added via an Advanced button). If you have an internet connection, online maps can be displayed in the background in GMS and are updated automatically as you zoom in and out or pan the view. The imagery is automatically projected to the current display projection and displayed in real world coordinates. An online map can be exported and saved locally with your project.

Online maps provide an easy way to locate and start a new modeling project. For more information, see the wiki.

Get Online Maps dialog.

GMS showing a World Topo Map Online Map.

GMS showing a World Imagery Online Map.

September 2012 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the September 2012 sprint:

• Fixed over 18 bugs
• Changed the Virtual Earth Locator tool to start where the graphics windows is currently
• Project-on-the-fly finished except for tutorial
• Rasters finished. Added display of elevation under mouse, exporting of more formats, legend fixes, local (non-global) projections, 3D point cloud display
• Horizons -> Solids using rasters implemented
• Added node xyz coordinates to arc attribute table
• Progress on Wiki -> Help
• GMS 9.0 beta ready
• MODFLOW-LGR HDF5 conversion done
• MODFLOW version, precision, parallel options saved in super file

GMS Now Includes Support for the PCGN Solver

GMS 9.0 includes support for the PCGN solver (Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient Solver with Improved Nonlinear Control).  The PCGN solver is included in MODFLOW-2005.  The PCGN solver was created to provide more options for models with poorly converging non-linear problems.  A detailed description of recommended PCGN input values can be found in the USGS Online Guide to MODFLOW.

The PCGN solver has been parallelized and can result in faster model runs for large models when the MODFLOW Parallel preference is enabled in the GMS Preferences dialog.

SUB - Subsidence and Aquifer-System Compaction Package

GMS version 9.0 has added support for the SUB package in MODFLOW.  The SUB package was developed by the USGS to simulate aquifer compaction and land subsidence.  The SUB package simulates compaction of interbeds including both elastic (recoverable) and inelastic (not recoverable) compaction. It also includes the ability to simulate interbeds where drainage from the interbed is immediate (no-delay) or delayed.

In GMS you can add interbeds and set interbed attributes using the conceptual model interface.  You can also add and edit interbeds through a grid interface.  The grid interface also includes the ability to setup SUB package output.  When SUB package vertical displacement has been set to be saved to a file, a VerticalDisplacement data set is added to the model solution in the GMS project explorer as shown above.

To learn more about using the SUB package in GMS, a new tutorial will be available in the GMS learning center when GMS 9.0 is released. Documentation on the wiki is available now.

August 2012 Sprint Highlights

Some of the more interesting accomplishments from the August 2012 sprint:

• Fixed over 14 bugs
• Fixed dragging display when using computers with integrated graphics 
• Implemented Project-on-the-fly for all modules and objects
• Added import/export support for several DEM/Raster file types including:
• GeoTIFF
• Arc/Info ASCII Grid
• BIL
• USGS DEM
• FLOAT/GRID (NED)
• Surfer Ascii Grid Files
• DXF
• Added interpolation from raster catalogs
• Added legends for rasters
• Added user defined min/max for scatter -> raster
• Added ability to open multiple files at once
• Added drag-and-drop to the entire GMS window, not just the Graphics Window
• Reconfigured the XYZF and IJK/ID panes to accomodate Lat/Lon and projection
• Added mouse tracking while using the pan and rotate tools
• Finished some tutorials: null-space Monte Carlo and SUB package