WhatsNewinHECRAS5.

0Beta

SincethelasttestreleaseofHECRAS(Version4.2Alpha2),wehaveaddedmanynew
capabilitiesandspeededupthecomputationsforboth2Dand1D.Thefollowingisalistof
whatisnewsincethelastrelease:
1.

2DOnlyComputationsandMultiple2Dareas

YoucannowrunHECRASwithonly2DFlowAreas(1ormore)andno1Delementsif
youwant.SoHECRAScannowdo1Donly(multiple1Delements);2Donly(1ormore2D
areas);andCombine1D/2Dwithmultiple1Delements(1Dreachesandstorageareas)and2D
FlowAreas(asmanyasyouwant).
2.

SeveralNewWaystoLink2DFlowAreasto1DElements

Inthepreviousrelease,youcouldonlylinka2Dareatoa1DReachusingaLateral
Structure.Youcannowlink2DFlowAreasinallthesamewaysyoucanastoragearea.The
followinglistisallthedifferentwaysthata2DFlowAreacanbelinkedto1Delements:
a.

LateralStructure2DFlowareascanbeconnectedtoa1DriverReachwitha
lateralstructure(Sameasbefore).

b.

SA/2DAreaConnThisisahydraulicconnectionthatusetobeforStorage
Areas.Nowitcanbeusedtolinkastorageareatoa2Darea,2Dareatoanother
2Darea,andastorageareatoanotherstoragearea.

c.

1Dreachto2DAreayoucannowdirectlyconnecta1Dreachintoa2Darea.
Thisisaccomplishedthesamewayasconnectinga1Dreachtoastoragearea.

d.

2DFlowAreatoa1DReachYoucanalsohavea2Dareaupstreamandhave
1Dreachescomingoutofit.

3.
HydraulicStructuresInsideof2DFlowAreasWehaveaddedthecapabilitytoadd
hydraulicstructuresdirectlyinsideofa2DFlowArea.Hydraulicstructuresmustlineupalong
2DFlowAreaFaces.UserscanputinStationElevationdatahigherthantheterrain,aswellas
addGates,Culverts,weirs,etcTheSA/2DAreaConn(storageareaand2Dareahydraulic
Connector)canbeusedtoputahydraulicstructuredirectlyinsideofa2Darea.

Formoreinformationonhowtoconnecta2DFlowAreato1Delements,pleasereview
thedocumentCombined1Dand2DModelingwithHECRASthatwassentoutwiththe
software.
1

4.

ImprovedComputationalSpeedfor2Dand1D

WehaveputalotofeffortintoimprovingthecomputationalspeedofHECRAS,both
for2Dcomputationsandalso1D.ThefollowingtwotablesareafewofthedatasetsIrunona
regularbasistocheckbothspeedandcomputationalaccuracy.Herearetheresultsofour
speedimprovementsonafewdatasets.

2DComputationalTests
2DTestData
Alpha2

DiffWave
DonutHole2D
5min31s
Muncie1D/2D
15min7s
Ohio/Miss
20min19s
1D/2D
Natomas
18min53s
1D/2D
SaintPaul
1min46s
1D/2D
CherryCreek
21min36s
Dambrk2D
YoloBypass
25min4s
1D/2D
AverageSpeed

Increase

5.0Beta
DiffWave
1min47s
4min48s

Speed
Increase
3.1
3.1

Alpha 2
FullEquations
10min41s
59min59s

5.0Beta
FullEquations
5min8s
9min21s

Speed
Increase
2.1
6.4

8min53s

2.3

111min37s

62min42s

1.8

5min28s

3.5

20min24s

7min17s

2.8

1min9s

1.5

3min28s

2min7s

1.6

8min32s

2.5

114min46s

55min13s

2.1

11min25s

2.2

52min28s

23min5s

2.3

2.6

2.7

1DComputationalTests
TestName
LowerColumbiaRiver1984Flood
Natomous1D500yrevent
RedRiveroftheNorth500yrevent
OhioRiverModelMay2011Flood
SouthPlatteDambreakModel

4.2Beta

5.0Beta

SpeedIncrease

31min53s
17min48s
89min5s
5min43s
15min53s

22min13s
5min28s
71min8s
4min26s
13min50s

1.4
3.3
1.3
1.3
1.15
1.7

AverageSpeedIncrease

5.

NewHECRASMapperFeaturesandOutputCapabilities

ManyadvancementshavebeenmadetoHECRASMapper.Thefollowingisalistof
thosechanges:

a.

NewTerrainFileFormatWehavechangedthefileformatfortheHECRAS
TerraindatafromourownTiledMappingSystem(*.tms)toaGeoTifffileformat
(*.tif).GeoTifffilesaretiled,pyramided,andcompressed,justlikeourown
formatwas.SoithasallthesamebenefitsoftheTMSfiles.However,GeoTiffis
astandardfileformat,whichyoucandraganddropintoArcGIS,orother
software.Soforcompatibilitywithotherindustrystandardsoftware,wehave
changedhowwemakeandstoreterraindata.Wehavealsoswitchedallofour
outputgridstotheGeoTiffformattomakeiteasierforuserstogettheresults
intoaGISorotherpieceofsoftware.

b.

AdditionalSpatialOutputVariablesforMappingWehaveaddedseveralnew
variablesinadditiontowaterdepth,thatcannowbevisualizedinRASMapper.
Theseinclude:Depth,WaterSurfaceElevation,Flow,Velocity,Depthtimes
Velocity,ArrivalTime,andFloodDuration.

c.

TimeSeriesPlotsandTablesyoucannowclickonthemapandrequest
varioustimeseriesdataplotsandtablesforthespotyouareclickingon.For2D
FlowAreasyoucangetdepth,watersurfaceelevation,averageFacevelocity,
pointvelocitiesatFaceNodes,andaverageshearstressatcellfaces.

d.

QueryActiveMapLayersYoucannowsetamaplayerastheactivemap.
Thenwhenyoumovethemousepointeroveritisautomaticallydisplaysthe
pointvaluesofthelayeratthatlocation.

e.

MergeCrossSectionDatawithotherTerrainLayersYoucannowmakea
terrainmodelfromthecrosssections(Channelonlyorentiresections),theriver
andbanklines,andthecrosssectioninterpolationsurface.Elevationsbetween
thecrosssectionsareinterpolatedusingtheinterpolationsurfaceandthecross
sectionelevations.Thisterrainmodelcanthenbecombinedwithyourother
terraindata(overbank/floodplain)tomakeanewterrainmodelinwhichthe
channel/crosssectiondataisnowburnedintotheoverallterrainmodel.

6.

NewComputationalOptionsfor2Dand1D

Wehaveaddedseveralnowcomputationaloptionsfor2Dflowareasandalsosomefor
1Dcomputations.Theseoptionsincludenewcomputationalfeatures,iterationsfor1D/2D
connections,timeslicingfor2DFlowAreas,andtwonewfeaturesfor1Dcomputationsto
improvespeed.PleaseseetheCombined1Dand2DModelingwithHECRASdocumentthat
wassentoutwiththesoftwareformoreinformationonthis.

7.

ImprovedSpeedandMemoryUsageofthe2DPreProcessor

Wehaveimprovedthecomputationalspeedandthememoryusageofthe2DPre
Process.Sonowlargerdatasetscanbeprocessed,andthepreprocessingismuchfasterthan
itwas.

8.

Additional2DFlowAreaInitialConditionsOptions

Wenowhaveseveralwaystosettheinitialconditionsina2Dflowarea.Theseinclude:

a.

DryInitialConditions

b.

SingleWaterSurfaceElevation

c.

UseaReStartfilefromapreviousrun

d.

Usingthe2DFlowAreaInitialConditionsRampupTimeOption.

9.

BankErosionandFailureCapabilities(USDAARSBankStabilityandToeErosionModel
(BSTEM))

InpreviousversionsofHECRASthesedimenttransportcomputationshavebeenlimitedto
verticalcrosssectionadjustmentsthatcansimulatedepositionandincision.Thesediment
capabilitiesin5.0havebeencoupledwiththeUSDAARSBankStabilityandToeErosionModel
(BSTEM)whichcomputeslateralscourandbankfailureaswell.Nowthesedimenttransport
modelcansimulatetheinteractionsbetweenthreeprocesses:

Incision/Deposition

LateralScour

GeotechnicalBankFailure

ThesedimentmoduleinHECRASwillthenroutethematerialfailedorscouredfromthebanks
throughtherestofthemodel.CompleteUserandTechnicalReferenceManualsaswellas
exampledatasetsareavailablebycontactingStanfordGibson
(stanford.gibson@usace.army.mil)atHEC.

10.

UnsteadySedimentTransport

HECRAS5.0canperformsedimenttransportstudieswithunsteadyflowhydraulicsinaddition
tothequasiunsteadyoptionfrompreviousversions.TogetaStartUpGuidetodescribehow
tosetupanunsteadysedimentmodel,contactStanfordGibson
(stanford.gibson@usace.army.mil)atHEC.