HECResSimTechnicalNotes

July2013

HECResSimVersion3.1
TechnicalNotes(May2013)
or
Whatyoushouldknowifyouareupgradingfroma
previousreleaseofHECResSim

Openinganolderwatershedin3.1
Itisstronglyrecommendthatyoumakebackupcopiesofyourolderwatershedsbeforeopeningthemin
HECResSimVersion3.1.Thereasonforthisisthattheformatofthedatathatmakesupyourmodel
changes,sometimesubstantially,betweenversions.Newerversionscanreadolderdataandwill
convertittothenewformat;howeverolderversionscannotfullyreadnewerdataandsomedataloss
canoccur.
WhenyouopenanolderreservoirnetworkinanewerversionofResSim,ResSimwilldisplayamessage
boxexplainingthatthedataisbeingupdatedtoconformwithseveralnewenhancementsandthat
youshouldsaveyournetworktoretaintheupdates.IfyouSaveNow(orlater),youshouldnot
openthewatershedinanolderversionofResSim.ThismessagecanbeseenfromboththeReservoir
NetworkandSimulationmodulesinResSim.

ComparisonofResults
Duetoavarietyofprogramenhancementsandcorrections,youmayfindthatresultsproducedbyHEC
ResSim3.1donotmatchthoseproducedbyanearlierversion.WeatHEChavetestedthisrelease
underawidevarietyofconditionsandwatershedmodelsandbelievethattheresultsproducedbythis
versionareasgoodasorbetterthanthoseproducedbyearlierreleases.Belowaredescriptionsof
someofthechangesthatweremadeandwhywebelievethesechangesmayproducedifferentresults.

LeapYear
WerevisedthealgorithmsinResSimthathandleseasonallyvaryingdata(zonedefinitions,rules,
diversions,evaporation,etc)sothatResSimwouldbeawareofthecorrectnumberofdaysthatexistina
givenyear.Inpreviousversions,everyyearwasassumedtohave365daysandeachdayoftheyearwas
assignedanindexnumber.ThusJan1wasday1,Feb1wasday32,Mar1wasday60,andsoon.This
wasokayformostyears,butinaleapyear,Mar1shouldhavebeenidentifiedasday61,notday60,
duetotheadditionofFeb29thinleapyears.BecauseResSimwasnotaccountingfortheextradayin
February,itsinterpretationofallseasonaldataduringaleapyear(afterFeb28th)was1dayoff.With
thisissuecorrected,inflectionpointsinseasonallyvaryingdatathatarespecifiedtooccurafterFeb28th

HECResSimTechnicalNotes

July2013

nowoccurontimeinleapyears,soresultsthatareoperationallyconstrainedbythisdatawillbe
somewhatdifferentthanthoseproducedbyearlierversions.

Evaporation
ThelastchangemadetoResSim3.1beforereleasewastothecomputationofreservoirsurfacearea
whichisusedinthecomputationofevaporation.Wefoundduringtestingthatundersomeconditions,
thecomputedareacouldbesubstantiallyoutofphaseintime(byoneormoretimesteps)fromthe
computedpoolelevation.Thesolutiontotheprobleminvolvedmovingthecomputationofarea(from
thebeginningofthetimestep)totheendofthetimestepwhereendofperiodelevationandstorageare
computed.Thismaynotshowupasmuchofadifferenceinmostwatersheds,butyoumaynoticethat
theareaandevaporationresultsnowappearshiftedbyonetimestepfrompreviousresults.

RateofChangeConstraints
AlthoughthespecificationofRateofChangeruleshasnotchanged,theirinfluencewithintherelease
decisionlogicinResSimhas.Rateofchangerulesarenowappliedin3separatewayswithinthelogic:
1. AsaRule.Likeanyotherrule,RateofChangerulesareevaluatedtodetermineadesiredrelease
limitthatisthenappliedtotheallowablerangeofreleasesthisapplicationhasnotchanged.
2. AsaconstraintontheGuideCurveRelease.Typically,rulesdonotinfluencethedetermination
ofthereleasetogettoguidecurve,butbecauseRateofChangerulescanhaveavarying
windowofapplicabilityand,ifnotplannedfor,cancausethereleasestoovershoottheguide
curve,logicwasaddedtotheguidecurvereleasealgorithmtoincluderateofchangeconstraints
sothatguidecurvereleasescouldbecutback(orincreased)earlierthantheyotherwisewould
beandunnecessaryoscillationsattheguidecurvewouldbeavoided.Thisapplicationwasin
priorversionsofResSim,butthelogicofitwasreworkedinthenewreleasetobemore
effectiveforvariablerateofchangerules.And,thislogiccannowbeturnedoffwithaResSim
ComputeoptionintheTools>Optionseditor.
3. Asaconstraintonthereleasefordownstreamcontrol.ThisisanewfeatureinResSim3.1.In
previousreleasesofResSim,thedownstreamcontrollogicdidnotaccountforrateofchange
limits,sotherewereoccasionswhenthedownstreamcontrolrulewouldcallforcutbacks(or
increases)inthereleasesinordertomeetdownstreamcontrollimitsbutthereleasesfor
downstreamoperationwouldbeoverriddenbyhigherpriorityrateofchangelimits,resultingin
violationsofthedownstreamconstraint.Withtheadditionofthenewlogictoaccountforrate
ofchangeconstraintsinthedownstreamcontrolrule,ResSimsdownstreamcontrollogiccan
nowbesmarter,earlier.ThiswasaccomplishedbywideningResSimslookaheadwindowin
anefforttoaccountfortherateofchangeinfluence.Withthewidenedwindow,cutbacks(or
increases)fordownstreamcontrolcanbeginsoonersothatarateofchangeconstraintisnot
violated.ThisnewfeatureisONbydefaultbutcanbeturnedoffthroughanoptioninthe
AdvancedOptionseditorofthedownstreamcontrolrule.WiththisoptionON,modelsthat
includebothRateofChangerulesandDownstreamControlrulescouldproducedifferentresult
thanolderversionsdid.
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HECResSimTechnicalNotes

July2013

DownstreamControlLogic
DuringBetatestingofHECResSimVersion3.1,oneofthebetatestersencounteredaproblemwiththe
basicdownstreamcontrollogicinResSimthatwasaddressedbeforethereleasewascompleted.The
problemshowedupasasubstantialviolation(bymorethan15%)ofthedownstreamobjectiveduringa
periodthatthereservoirshouldhavebeenabletocontrolforthatmeansduringaperiodwhenthe
cumulativelocaltothecontrolpointwasnotinexcessofthemaximumflowobjective.Aftersignificant
investigation,wefoundthattheexistingdownstreamcontrolalgorithmhadtwoweaknesses:itdidnot
adequatelyaccountforattenuationduetoroutinganditdidnothandlerapidlyvarying(oscillating)flow.
Inanefforttoaddresstheseweaknesses,werevisedthedownstreamcontrolalgorithmtobetter
handlearapidlyvaryinginflowhydrographandaddedsomeadvancedoptionstomanagethe
attenuationadjustment.OneoftheattenuationadjustmentoptionsisONbydefaultwithaseta
parametersthatallowsthedownstreamruletoperformfairlywellmostofthetime.Thesechanges,
ofcourse,meanthatmostwatershedswithdownstreamcontrolmayproducedifferentresultswiththis
releasethantheydidwithpriorreleases.Ourtestsshowedthatforthecaseswestudied,whenthe
resultsweredifferent,thenewalgorithmseemstoperformmoreconservativelythantheoldonedid.
Thismeansthatduringanevent,thereservoirmaystorewaterratherthatattemptfilltheavailable
spaceatthecontrolpoint;thiswasourtradeoffsothatthealgorithmcouldhandlemorerapidly
varyinginflowhydrographs.

TandemCascades
Whiledevelopmentwasstillongoing,weusedResSim3.1todevelopastudymodelofawatershedthat
hadthreereservoirsinseriesthatoperatedtogetherforanobjectivedownstreamofafourthreservoir.
ThemechanismtooperatethesereservoirstogetherasasysteminResSimistheTandemrule.But,we
foundthattheTandemoperationwouldnotquiteperformasdesiredifoneofthereservoirsinthe
middlehadtooperatetoahigherpriorityobjectivewhenitdidso,thesystembalancewouldnottrack
correctlythroughtheothersystemreservoirs.ThiswasduetothefactthattheTandemruleonlysaw
onepairofreservoirsatatimeasasystem;itdidnotseetheentirechainoftandemreservoirsasa
singlesystem.So,logicwasaddedtotheTandemoperationalgorithmtoseetheTandemchainor
cascadeandtobalancethefullsetofreservoirstogetherasasinglesystem,evenifoneormoreofthe
reservoirsinthesystemwasconstrainedbyhigherpriorityobjectives.Youshouldlookforpotential
differencesinyourresultsifyouhavetandemoperationinyourmodelsincethismodificationtothe
algorithmcouldaffectyourresults.

RunControlOptions
TheResSimpackagehasbeenincorporatedintwomodelintegrationproductsproducedbyHEC.The
firstistheCorpsWaterManagementSystem,CWMS,whichwasdevelopedforrealtimedecision
supportmodeling.ThesecondistheWatershedAnalysisTool,HECWAT,whichwasdevelopedtoassist
modelersinstreamliningtheanalysisofresultsfromplanningstudymodels.CWMSstronglyinfluenced
theearlydevelopmentofResSim,buttheWAThashadsomemorerecentimpacts.Tocurrentusers,
themostobviousimpactwillbefoundwhenyourunoreditanexistingalternativeorcreateanew
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HECResSimTechnicalNotes

July2013

alternative.Yousee,thespecificationofthecomputeintervalortimestephasbeenmovedin
previousversions,thetimestepwasspecifiedwhenthesimulation(timewindow)wascreated;inthis
version,thetimestepisspecifiedaspartofthealternativedefinitiononthenewRunControltabofthe
AlternativeEditor.Existingalternativesinexistingsimulationsshouldbeabletodeterminethe
appropriateintendedtimestepontheirown,butyoumayencounterinstanceswhereourbestguess
codeisinadequate,sowatchforpossibleerrors.