15.3 2D Output
TUFLOW outputs the following 2D outputs:
Additionally, time-series data from the 2D domain can be output using plot outputs (Section 15.3.3).
15.3.1 Mesh Output
The TUFLOW Viewer (found in the QGIS TUFLOW Plugin) can be used to load mesh temporal outputs in QGIS. When loading this data into TUFLOW Viewer, all map outputs specified by the user in the Map Output Data Types will automatically load under the results type panel. Symbology can be set for the outputs by right-clicking on the output in the results panel, in the same way described for raster outputs (Section 15.3.2).
Documentation focused on map outputs in the TUFLOW Viewer is contained in the TUFLOW Wiki Map Outputs page. Some key pages related to viewing mesh outputs are linked below:
- Loading Map Outputs
- Display Maximums
- Save Default Styles
- Plotting Time Series
- Plotting Cross Sections
An example of loading in an .xmdf file into the TUFLOW Viewer is shown below.
Note: Using TUFLOW Viewer, it is also possible to extract transect flow time-series from the mesh output result (see the TUFLOW Wiki TUFLOW Viewer - Map Outputs - Plotting Flow page for details). Unfortunately, map outputs do not include all required information for accurate extraction of this output type. A more accurate way, and the recommended approach, to obtain flow time-series information is to use the 2D plot outputs (Section 15.3.3).
15.3.2 Raster Output
Grid (raster) based outputs can be loaded into QGIS via drag and drop. Once loaded, there is a range of styling options. An example of setting the symbology for a raster layer is provided in TUFLOW Module Tutorial Model 1.
It is also possible to load NetCDF rasters into TUFLOW Viewer (when the Map Output Format has been set to NC or HRNC). The Loading NetCDF Grids Wiki page describes this process.
15.3.3 Plot Output
The location of plot outputs need to be defined prior to the simulation, as described in Section 11.3.2. 2D time-series data from plot output (PO) or longitudinal profile (LP) data at locations defined using 2d_po and 2d_lp layers (see Section 11.3.2) are output as _PO.csv and _LP< name>.csv files into the “results” folder. These files can be used in spreadsheet software for graphing and time-series analysis. 2D plot outputs can also be loaded and viewed in the TUFLOW Viewer using the same method described in Section 15.2.1. An example of plotting 2d_po outputs is shown in Result Viewing - TUFLOW Tutorial Module 1.
The commands Start Time Series Output and Time Series Output Interval are used to control the period and frequency of output.
When writing plot outputs, TUFLOW produces two .csv files, _PO.csv and _POMM.csv. _PO.csv is time-series data over the duration of the simulation. _POMM.csv reports the maximum and minimums. The columns included in the _POMM.csv file are:
- Output (for example, columns containing summary information for Flow, Water Level and Velocity)
- Location (name of the 2d_po point, line or region)
- Maximum (Extracted from Time Series)
- Time of Maximum
- Minimum (Extracted From Time Series)
- Time of Minimum
Time-series and maximum output in .csv files is also available when using Reporting Locations (see Section 11.3.3) and Structure Groups (see Section 11.3.4). These two options provide the ability to combine 1D and 2D domain outputs. The .csv files that are produced are listed in Table 15.1.