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Environmental Modeling Community of Practice

Wellhead Analytic Element Model (WhAEM) Release Notes


WhAEM Version: 3.3.2

Center for Exposure Assessment Modeling (CEAM)
National Exposure Research Lab (NERL)
Office of Research and Development (ORD)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)
https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/ceam/forms/contact-us-about-environmental-modeling-community-practice


CURRENT RELEASE:

WhAEM version 3.3.2 was released in June 2018. This document lists known deficiencies in version 3.3.2 as well as the changes from the previous release. 


KNOWN DEFICIENCIES IN VERSION 3.3.2:1.

WhAEM does not support International representations of commas as decimal points. The work around for European users is to set Windows to use the American decimal mode in the control panels.


Major CHANGES BETWEEN VERSIONS 3.2.1 and 3.3.2.

  1. The WhAEM installation folder structure has been modified to be compatible with the security requirements of the latest Windows operating systems. The application folder now only contains executables and no files will be written to this folder. The user application data folder contains the various documents associated with WhAEM and the WhAEM help system. The WhAEM projects are stored in the My Documents folder. Additionally, the file written by "contour.exe" is now deleted and recreated for each new contour set. This is to overcome read-only security settings.
  2. Base maps in WhAEM are managed by ESRI's MapObject LT 2 and reprojections have been removed from the Tools menu in WhAEM. The user will be responsible for all map management using state-of-the-art GIS software. Additionally, the BBM Base Map Browser has also been removed from the Tools menu.  The user can access BBM files from an EPA website as explained in the WhAEM Help system. 3. The WinHelp system for WhAEM has been replaced by an updated HTML Help system. The HTML Help system is fully compatible with all newer Windows operating systems.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  1. The HTML Help file "WhAEM.chm" is stored in the user application data folder on the C: drive.  Due to Microsoft security protocol an HTML Help file will not function when installed on network drives. Additionally, the WhAEM.chm" file must be installed by a certified install script (like the WhAEM Install Script) and will not work when simply copied into the application data folder.
  2. On most computers the default security settings in Internet Explorer will block the pop-up windows included in WhAEM.chm. To allow these pop-up messages, proceed as follows. From Internet Explorer select the Tools menu and then Internet Options... On the Internet Options dialog elect the Advanced tab. Scroll down until you see the Security options.  Enable (check) the box "Allow active content to run on My Computer." Close the dialog and quit Internet Explorer. This new setting will take effect the next time the Internet Explorer is launched (e.g. by the HTML Help system in WhAEM). In case you use another default internet browser you may need to make a similar security settings change.3. Since Hypsography labels (terrain elevations) were only available on a demo base map set in the Vincenne's model the option has been removed from the View menu to avoid confusion.

Version: 3.2.1

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • The line-sink " " parameter is now automatically calculated by the Solver.
  • The Ending Head on the Linesink Properties dialog may be copied to the Starting Head for quick sequential entry of multiple line-sink strings along a stream.
  • The organization of the Inhomogeneity Properties Dialog has been improved.
  • Inhomogeneity domains can now have shared boundary sections.
  • The Tools menu contains a Database Repair feature to remove remote Test Points, Wells, or Text Labels that cannot be captured in the WhAEM model window (cause Zoom to Extents to fail).
  • Improved prompting for a new solution or just a new contour plot or path line traces in response to model parameter changes.
  • The View menu now has a Show Vertices option with a sub menu for Show Linesink Vertices and Show Inhomogeneity Vertices.

Known Deficiencies

  • WhAEM2000 does not support International representations of commas as decimal points. The work around for European users is to set Windows to use the American decimal mode in the control panels.
  • Users of the Windows Vista operating system must manually download and install the WinHlp32.exe executable in order to use the WhAEM2000 Help system. This is necessary, because Windows Vista does no longer support this Help system and prevents the WhAEM2000 Installer from installing it. The WinHlp32.exe may be downloaded from the Microsoft website:

Version: 3.2.0

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • A utility was added for editing shapefiles under View > Basemaps > Vector Graphics. The user can choose a single color or they can choose an attribute field which specifies how a particular shape file is colored. The user may also select any number of attribute fields (contained in the shape file) to display as labels.

Known Deficiencies

  • WhAEM2000 does not support International representations of commas as decimal points. The work around for European users is to set Windows to use the American decimal mode in the control panels.

Version: 3.1.1

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • Raster graphics, such as USGS Digital Raster Graphics files (DRGs) in the GeoTIFF format are now supported as basemaps. A utility is available for converting USGS Digital Orthophoto Quads (DOQ) into GeoTIFF format.
  • Simple WHPAs are now available as a Tool. The simple WHPAs include arbitrary/calculated fixed radius, asymmetric CFR, and well in uniform flow.

Known Deficiencies

  • WhAEM2000 does not support International representations of commas as decimal points. The work around for European users is to set Windows to use the American decimal mode in the control panels.

Version: 2.1.0

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • The Tools basemap browser was expanded to have Web and CD-ROM access to EPA supplied binary basemaps.
  • The Tools convert and export are now ESRI shapefile compatible.
  • The solver GFLOW1 has been updated (Oct 20, 2002).
  • The base map viewer has been updated to fill in blue for major surface water features, and the potential viewing of elevation values associated with hypsography BBMs has been added (although the hypso maps are currently available on the CEAM Webserver for Ohio and Nebraska only).

Known Deficiencies

  • WhAEM2000 does not support International representations of commas as decimal points. The work around for European users is to set Windows to use the American decimal mode in the control panels.
  • Convert > DM to BBM may experience an error message.
  • Convert > SDTS to BBM does not currently support elevation labels for 7.5 minute hypsography coverages.

Version: 2.0.4 beta

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • The copy to clip board option in the results table has been fixed.

Version: 2.0.3 beta

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • The Tool export to DXF was updated, adding tic marks on tracelines.
  • The Tool convert CAD to BBM was tested and updated.

Version: 2.0.2

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • The conversion tool for SDTS to BBM has been updated to correct for bugs in routine SDTS2BBM.
  • The conversion tool for DLG to BBM has been updated to correct for bugs in routine BLDDLG.

Version: 2.0.1

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • New solution engine GFLOW1, and therefore slightly different data entry windows.

Version: 1.0.5

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • The conversion tool from DXF to BBM has been updated to include recent dxf and dwg formats. This tool is still not robust.
  • A warning is now given during creation of a project to recognize that base maps using USGS DLG, including all the bbm files downloaded from the EPA Web server, have distance units in feet, and the user should not attempt to change to feet.

Version: 1.0.4

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • Updated WhAEM2000 GUI file conversion utility to recognize the variety of USGS DLG file formats (Tools > Convert > DLG to Basemap/SDTS to Basemap).
  • Updated WhAEM2000 GUI to allow for multiple selection of BBM files (Project > Base Map Settings > Add BBM).
  • Corrected deficiency of the WhAEM2000 GUI in recognizing project work spaces with long names or spaces in the path.

Known Deficiencies

  • WhAEM2000 may not fully support the most recent versions of DXF. The work around is to convert to earlier DXF formats (e.g., using TurboCAD, Surfer).
  • WhAEM2000 does not support International representations of commas as decimal points. The work around for European users is to set Windows to use the American decimal mode in the control panels.

Version: 1.0.3

Corrections & Improvements to Prior Versions

  • First released through CEAM on July 3, 2000, 14:03:44.
  • Created WhAEM model system and user support documentation files (refer to sub-directory/folder README): README.TXT, RELEASE.TXT, UPDATE.TXT, ABSTRACT.TXT, RESPONSE.TXT, and YEAR2000.TXT.

Known Deficiencies

  • Unhandled error will occur when adding binary base maps (BBM) to a new project under Windows95 when the project is created in the C:/Program Files/WhAEM folder. The work around is to create new projects under a different path and/or folder, for example C:/WhAEM_DAT/.
  • There is an incompatibility of the Tool convert DLG to BBM for some USGS maps. Work is underway to correct this problem.