Draw and Assign Terminal Outfalls Command

An outfall is the point where wastewater or stormwater is discharged from a drainage system, sewer system, or treatment plant into a larger body of water such as a sea, lake, river, or ocean. It is typically the endpoint of a network of pipes or conduits that collect and transport the water or wastewater from various sources (such as industries, homes, or storm drains) to a final point of release into the environment. In hydrology, outfalls are terminal nodes of the drainage system used to define the final discharge point under dynamic wave flow routing. For other flow routing methods such as a kinematic wave, the terminal outfall behaves as a junction. Refer to this article in our knowledge base to learn more about terminal outfall.

In GeoSTORM software, terminal outfalls can be defined by either drawing or assigning nodes on the Map View using the following commands:

• Draw Terminal Outfalls
• Assign Terminal Outfalls

Drawing/Assigning Terminal Outfalls

The Draw/Assign Terminal Outfalls command allows the user to manually draw/assign single or multiple nodes on the Map View as terminal outfalls one after another until completed.

Follow the steps below to use the Draw/Assign Terminal Outfalls command:

1. From the Input ribbon menu, select the Terminal Outfalls dropdown menu and choose the Draw/Assign Terminal Outfalls command.
   
2. The following dialog box(s) will be displayed.
   • Draw Terminal Outfalls:
     
     
   • Assign Terminal Outfalls:
     
     

The following sections describe how to use the Draw/Assign Terminal Outfalls command and interact with the above dialog boxes.

Drawing Terminal Outfalls

In the Draw Terminal Outfalls dialog box, the Draw Outfall Nodes section is used to draw single or multiple nodes on the Map View as terminal outfalls.

To draw terminal outfalls, follow the steps below:

1. From the Draw Outfall Nodes section, click the [Draw] button and the dialog box will temporarily disappear.
   
2. The status bar (shown under the Map View) will prompt the user to draw terminal outfall nodes on the Map View. Click on the Map View to draw the terminal outfall nodes.

   Note: From the Outfall Specifications section, if:

   • Outfall ID naming option is selected, then the user can draw only one terminal outfall node on the Map View.
   • Auto-name outfall ID naming option is selected, then the user can draw multiple terminal outfall nodes one after the other on the Map View.
3. After drawing terminal outfall nodes, press the [Enter] key or right-click and select Done from the displayed context menu.
4. The Draw Terminal Outfalls dialog box will be redisplayed, and the status of the Outfall nodes read-only field will be changed from Not Drawn to Drawn.
   

Notes:

• To draw the node more accurately, use the mouse roller wheel to zoom into a specific location.
• The Snap Mode option can be enabled to cause the drawn outfall to snap to the nearest stormwater element. Refer to this article in our knowledge base for more information.

Assigning Terminal Outfalls

In the Assign Terminal Outfalls dialog box, the Select Outfall Nodes section can be used to manually assign single or multiple nodes on the Map View as terminal outfalls.

To assign terminal outfall nodes, follow the steps below:

1. From the Select Outfall Nodes section, click the [Pick] button and the dialog box will temporarily disappear.
   
2. The status bar (shown under the Map View) will prompt the user to select previously drawn nodes from the Map View to assign them as terminal outfalls. Click on nodes to select them.

   Note: From the Outfall Specifications section, if:

   • Outfall ID naming option is selected, then the user can select only one node from the Map View.
   • Auto-name outfall ID naming option is selected, then the user can select multiple nodes one after the other from the Map View.
3. After selecting nodes, press the [Enter] key or right-click and select Done from the displayed context menu.
4. The Assign Terminal Outfalls dialog box will be redisplayed, and the status of the Outfall nodes read-only field will be changed from Not Selected to Selected. Click the [Clear] button to cancel the previous selection and redo the entire process.
   

Terminal Outfall Specifications

The Outfall Specifications section is common to both the Draw Terminal Outfalls and Assign Terminal Outfalls dialog boxes and is used to specify the outfall ID for each drawn/assigned terminal outfall. The user can assign these IDs either manually or automatically using some predefined formats.

Follow the steps below to assign IDs to the terminal outfalls:

1. If a terminal outfall was drawn/assigned while the Outfall ID radio button option was selected, the user can manually enter the terminal outfall ID in the corresponding field, as shown below.
   
2. Alternately, the user can enable the Auto-name outfall ID radio button option to automatically name every newly drawn/assigned terminal outfall as per the user’s predefined naming formats, as shown below.
   
   The different terminal outfall naming formats present in the Auto-name outfall ID option are as follows:

• • Outfall ID prefix: This option allows a prefix to be added to the start of the terminal outfall ID.
  • Outfall ID digits: This option permits the specification of a set number of digits to use for the terminal outfall ID. For example, using 3 digits causes the terminal outfall ID to be of the format 001, 002, etc.
  • Next available outfall ID: This entry defines the next terminal outfall ID number to be used.
  • Outfall ID increment: This entry defines the increment to use when numbering the terminal outfall. The default value is 1.
  • Outfall ID suffix: This option allows a suffix to be added to the end of the terminal outfall ID.
  • Outfall ID preview: This entry provides a preview of the terminal outfall naming specifications defined above.

Assign Terminal Outfall Elevation

The Assign Elevation section allows the user to assign invert elevation to the terminal outfalls using a terrain model. If the checkbox at the header of this section is unchecked, then the content of this section will be disabled, and invert elevation cannot be assigned.

Note: Define this section before completing drawing/assigning of terminal outfalls so that invert elevation can be assigned.

Terrain Elevation Source

Depending upon the selected terrain elevation source, the options of the Assign Elevation section change to select the corresponding terrain type already available in the project.

The Terrain elevation source dropdown combo box supports the following surface types:

• Elevation Grid
• LandXML Data
• TIN Surface

Elevation Grid

If the user selects Elevation Grid as the terrain elevation source, the content of the Assign Elevation section changes as shown below.

The following option is displayed when the Elevation Grid is selected as the terrain elevation source:

• Elevation grid layer
  This dropdown combo box allows the user to select the elevation grid layer available in the project.

LandXML Data

If the user selects LandXML Data as the terrain elevation source, the content of the Assign Elevation section changes as shown below.

The following options are displayed when the LandXML Data is selected as the terrain elevation source:

• TIN surface layer
  This dropdown combo box allows the user to select the TIN surface layer type.

• TIN surface
  This dropdown combo box allows the user to select the TIN surface type.

Tin Surface

If the user selects TIN Surface as the terrain elevation source, the content of the Assign Elevation section changes as shown below.

The following options are displayed when the TIN Surface is selected as the terrain elevation source:

• TIN surface layer
  This dropdown combo box allows the user to select the TIN surface layer type.

• TIN surface
  This dropdown combo box allows the user to select the TIN surface type.

After defining all the required data, click the [Apply] button to complete drawing/assigning terminal outfalls. Note that if terminal outfalls are drawn/assigned using the Auto-name outfall ID option, then the [Apply] button will be displayed disabled since the just drawn/assigned terminal outfalls have already been named and created.