Accessing and Viewing Results

General results are included in the diagnostic file 'filename.zzd' , which can be viewed at the end of the simulation. The figure below presents a view of a diagnostic file and its components.

These results include the following quantities, which are used in sediment balances. Discrepancies in the sediment balances are also given as percentages.

1. An overall sediment balance: the sediment mass entering the model, the mass leaving, the mass depositing and the mass dredged.
2. The mass depositing converted to a volume, the total volume dredged and the overall volume change from the bed elevation changes. (The latter is found by summing the total volume between the river and the datum elevation at the beginning of the run and again at the end of the run.)
3. Balance (a) repeated for each size fraction
4. When the SORTED algorithm is selected: the mass brought in from the parent bed, the mass deposited, the mass in the active layer, the mass in the deposited layer and any mass dredged. This balance is given for each size fraction.
5. The general results also give tables listing, at each section: initial and final bed levels, deposited and dredged volumes, cumulative transport and sediment composition in the bed and in transport. Sediment composition is not listed if there is only a single size fraction. The figure below presents a view of the tabulated data for sediment of 5 size fractions. The composition of the deposited and the active layers is included if the SORTED algorithm is selected. Composition is given both as representative sizes (D, D, D& D) and as the proportion within each size fraction.
   

The time varying results of the mobile bed run are written to the binary file 'filename.zze' . The results can be processed using the TabularCSV output, as shown in the figure below. Make sure you select the appropriate file type from the drop down menu, Sediment Results (*.zze).

TabularCSV output supplies output in Comma Separated Variable (CSV) format for easy access and further manipulation in spreadsheet packages, such as Microsoft Excel. The TabularCSV is accessed from the Tools menu.

Once you have selected the appropriate results file, as explained above, the TabularCSV will allow you to write results for all nodes at a specified time in initial conditions format for use as initial conditions for subsequent runs.

The output options are (1) Simulation Results - output at selected time intervals at all or selected nodes, (2) Maxima and minima of all or a single variable at all or selected nodes, (3) Extract new boundary conditions, (4) Initial Conditions output. Make sure you select the output of your choice in the Output Parameters Tab of the TabularCSV window, as shown in the left hand side of the figure below.

The output options can be applied to the following results, which are available for inspection:

• Sediment transport rate (in m /s)
• Bed elevation (in mAD)
• Change in bed elevation during the last time step (in m)
• Sediment concentration (in ppm)
• User defined variable, is stated in the Datafile (see earlier help).
• Net change in bed elevation (in m)

Note that in the above results, erosion is negative and deposition is positive. Sediment results presented for the start of the simulation are actually those calculated at the end of the first time step.

In addition to the 'filename.zze' file, cross section plots at regular time intervals may be produced at specified nodes if method 2 or 3 is chosen to update the cross sections (remember that this selection is done when creating the Datafile, under General System Parameters, as explained earlier). The initial and final channel cross sections at every node are also output to a file, when method 2 or 3 is chosen to update the bed, and can be viewed by selecting a node in the standard Flood Modeller graphics.

If the method to update the channel geometry is set to 2 or 3, then the file 'filename.sec' is created. This lists the offsets and then the initial and final elevations for each cross-section in their order of computation (which may differ from their order in the model data editor). The file can be imported into a spreadsheet and the change in cross section shape can then be quickly plotted for each section. Final water levels are also included in the file.