Time Series Files
Time series files are external text files that contain data for GeoSWMM's time series objects (non-visual). Examples of time series data include rainfall, evaporation, inflows to nodes of the drainage system and water stage at outfall boundary nodes. The file must be created and edited outside of GeoSWMM, using a text editor or spreadsheet program. A time series file can be linked to a specific time series object using GeoSWMM's Time Series Editor.
The format of a time series file consists of one-time series value per line. Comment lines can be inserted anywhere in the file as long as they begin with a semicolon. Time series values can either be in date / time / value format or in time / value format, where each entry is separated by one or more spaces or tab characters. For the date / time / value format, dates are entered as month/day/year (e.g., 5/11/2002) and times as 24-hour military time (e.g., 6:30 pm is 18:30).
After the first date, additional dates need only be entered whenever a new day occurs. For the time / value format, time can either be decimal hours or military time since the start of a simulation (e.g., 2 days, 4 hours and 20 minutes can be entered as either 52.333 or 52:20). An example of a time series file is shown:
Rainfall Data for Gage RG1
07/03/2003 00:00 0.00000
00:15 0.03200
00:30 0.04800
00:45 0.02400
01:00 0.0100
07/03/2003 14:30 0.05100
14:45 0.04800
15:00 0.03000
18:15 0.01000
In earlier releases of GeoSWMM, a time series file was required to have two header lines of descriptive text at the start of the file that did not have to begin with the semicolon comment character. These files can still be used as long as they are modified by inserting a semicolon at the front of the first two lines.
When preparing rainfall time series files, it is only necessary to enter periods with non-zero rainfall amounts. GeoSWMM interprets the rainfall value as a constant value lasting over the recording interval specified for the rain gage thatutilizes the time series. For all other types of time series, GeoSWMM uses interpolation to estimate values at times that fall in between the recorded values.
Time series files are external text files that contain data for GeoSWMM's time series objects (non-visual). Examples of time series data include rainfall, evaporation, inflows to nodes of the drainage system and water stage at outfall boundary nodes. The file must be created and edited outside of GeoSWMM, using a text editor or spreadsheet program. A time series file can be linked to a specific time series object using GeoSWMM's Time Series Editor.
The format of a time series file consists of one-time series value per line. Comment lines can be inserted anywhere in the file as long as they begin with a semicolon. Time series values can either be in date / time / value format or in time / value format, where each entry is separated by one or more spaces or tab characters. For the date / time / value format, dates are entered as month/day/year (e.g., 5/11/2002) and times as 24-hour military time (e.g., 6:30 pm is 18:30).
After the first date, additional dates need only be entered whenever a new day occurs. For the time / value format, time can either be decimal hours or military time since the start of a simulation (e.g., 2 days, 4 hours and 20 minutes can be entered as either 52.333 or 52:20). An example of a time series file is shown:
Rainfall Data for Gage RG1
07/03/2003 | 00:00 | 0.00000 |
00:15 | 0.03200 | |
00:30 | 0.04800 | |
00:45 | 0.02400 | |
01:00 | 0.0100 | |
07/03/2003 | 14:30 | 0.05100 |
14:45 | 0.04800 | |
15:00 | 0.03000 | |
18:15 | 0.01000 |
In earlier releases of GeoSWMM, a time series file was required to have two header lines of descriptive text at the start of the file that did not have to begin with the semicolon comment character. These files can still be used as long as they are modified by inserting a semicolon at the front of the first two lines.
When preparing rainfall time series files, it is only necessary to enter periods with non-zero rainfall amounts. GeoSWMM interprets the rainfall value as a constant value lasting over the recording interval specified for the rain gage thatutilizes the time series. For all other types of time series, GeoSWMM uses interpolation to estimate values at times that fall in between the recorded values.