hands-on example

1. Importing a TOPOBATHYMETRIC digital elevation model

From the main interface or the drop-down menu, access the 'DEM/Bathymetries section'. Previously saved topobathymetries will be shown in the window and, listed just below its visualization, the names of the different simulations that use it.

To import a new topobathymetry, click on the button '+ NEW TOPOBATHYMETRY'. A pop-up dialog will appear asking: 1) File, the location of the DEM file, 2) Name, defining the topobathymetry file to upload, 3) Description, a brief description (optional), and 4) Select the UTM zone of the DEM file (the default time zone is set to that of the Balearic Islands, Spain).

By clicking on 'File', a file browser dialog will appear to search for the Topobathymetric DEM file to be added to your file system. This must be a regular ASCII file with the structure defined in the section 'HOW TO BUILT A TOPOBATHYMETRIC FILE' of this manual.

Once DEM file, Name, and UTM zone are filled, click on the 'UPLOAD' button. At the 'DEM/Bathymetries Section', the DEM will appear listed as well as the visualization of the area.

2. Creating a new project

From the 'Projects' section, accessible from the main interface or the lateral drop-down menu, user can access to saved projects or create new projects.

On clicking the 'CREATE NEW PROJECT' button, a pop-up dialog will appear asking for the project name and a brief description of the project. Once created by pushing on the 'CREATE' button, it will appear listed at the 'Projects' section interface.

By clicking over the name of any of the saved projects, user can access, visualize, modify and create new simulations within the projects.

3. Creating a new simulation

To create a new simulation, first enter a project by clicking over its name. Each project can contain as many simulations as user requires. 

The 'Simulation' interface will appear. Through the button 'CREATE NEW SIMULATION', the user will access to the 'Simulation' step-by-step wizard. The first step is to define the general information for the simulation to be performed:

The second step is to select from the list the topobathymetry to be used for the simulation (saved topobathymetries are listed in the screen):

On selecting the corresponding topobathymetry, in the third step user must define the computational area for the SWAN model (further details in the Scientific Report Section of this manual). The wizard assistant will guide the user to the steps to follow to define the computational area. First of all, user must draw a line parallel to the shoreline of the study area, and approximately situated at least 15 m depth of the bathymetry (off-shore). It is recommended to read the instructions on the screen to properly define the computational area. Then, the user must define a point inland that will define the onshore boundary of the computational area. User can remove the selection by the button 'CLEAN' or confirm the zone by the button 'CONFIRM' which will activate the 'NEXT' button.

Once the area is confirmed, in the forth step user has the choice of selecting the storm scenario by default (leaving the slider option to the right), 

or creating a storm for the model (changing the slider option to the left):

Then, by clicking 'NEXT' the user moves to the fifth step, where the RCP scenario and the time horizon to be simulated must be selected using a drop-down menu:

Continuing with steps six, seven and eight, the user has the option to define the parameters for the SWAN and Listflood models respectively, as well as specify the median grain size (D50) of the beach zone to be computed.

Lastly, the ninth step allows the user to select the plots to generate, as well as the background and overlays to be used. The drop-down menu will only list the previously loaded layers in the "WMS Layers" section.

This "WMS Layers" section is accessible via the expandable menu in the upper left corner of the window. Therefore, the user must first add the desired layers here before using them later.

By clicking 'NEXT', the Toolbox summarizes the simulation information. The simulation will then be created, listed in the 'Simulation' interface, and ready for computation.

4. Running a new simulation

To run a simulation, first enter in the Simulation interface by selecting the project from the 'Projects' page. The simulations of the corresponding project will be listed in the main screen. To start the simulation, user can click the 'Run models' button. Once the simulation starts, the debug console activates at the lower half of the screen. The console provides details of the steps being performed. 

During the simulations, the user can continue preparing new projects, simulations or see the results of previous runs inside the tool. The current ongoing simulation will be running in batch mode.

5. Viewing results

Once the simulation has finished, the user can access to the results section through the 'VIEW RESULTS' button. The 'Results' interface is divided in 6 windows:

6. Downloading results

The 'Download' section allows the user to generate an automatic report (pdf) containing the basic information of the project and the simulation as well as the most relevant results, as well as to download a zip file containing models raw results, plots, reports and the DEM of inundation and erosion areas.

Results also will be saved in 'C:/Users/UserName/.ona_toolbox/results' :