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Innovyze IWLive Receives AWI 2012 Award for Innovation Pioneering Real-Time Utility Operations Solution Named Best Return on Investment for Operators;
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Broomfield, Colorado USA, July 17, 2012 — Innovyze, a leading global innovator of business analytics software and technologies for wet infrastructure, today announced that Aging Water Infrastructure (AWI) has named the smart water solution IWLive the recipient of its 2012 Wet Infrastructure Innovation Award in recognition of IWLive’s cutting-edge capabilities that provide a best return on investment for water operators. An industry-first comprehensive solution for real-time water distribution hydraulic and water quality modeling, monitoring, forecasting, and SCADA integration, IWLive gives water utility operators unprecedented decision-making ability. It uniquely combines advanced spatial–temporal analytics and network simulation technologies in a powerful, easy-to-use solution tailored to the day-to-day needs of system operators. The result is improved system operation and performance at greater reliability and lower cost. Beyond increasing efficiency and reducing energy consumption, IWLive also helps operators better understand the effects of main breaks, pump shutdowns, or other scheduled maintenance and mitigate the impacts of negative events. “Network modeling is an invaluable tool for water utility planning and engineering departments,” said Innovyze President and Chief Operating Officer Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEE, Hon.D.WRE, Dist.D.NE, F.ASCE. “Translating the benefits of network modeling to real-time utility operations proved difficult, however. With last year’s launch of the groundbreaking IWLive, Innovyze transformed the paradigm for how and where network models can be applied. IWLive allows the entire organization to improve system performance and reliability, enhance customer service, save money, safeguard critical infrastructures, and maximize protection of public health.” Added Boulos, “We are honored that AWI has recognized IWLive for innovation and maximized return on investment and look forward to continuing to deliver the very best in smart water network solutions for the water industry.” “IWLive is a breakthrough in smart water network management and pays for itself by avoiding a couple of water main breaks. Some water systems are experiencing more water main breaks as a result of less experienced operators working with out-of-date hydraulic data and aging infrastructure. IWLive closes the workforce knowledge gap that occurs as seasoned expert operators retire.” said Gregory Baird, AWI President and creator of the Wet Infrastructure Resource Solution Center (www.AgingWaterInfrastructure.org). “It turns beginner and mid-level operators into experts and empowers operators with advanced real-time risk management decision making and predictive control. Innovyze continues to lead the water industry with the best in smart water network innovation for optimizing efficiency.” |
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Back-to-back La Niñas cooled globe and influenced extreme weather in 2011
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120710111111.htm July 15, 2012
ScienceDaily (July 10, 2012) — Worldwide, 2011 was the coolest year on record since 2008, yet temperatures remained above the 30 year average, according to the 2011 State of the Climate report released online today (July 10, 2012) by NOAA. The peer-reviewed report, issued in coordination with the American Meteorological Society (AMS), was compiled by 378 scientists from 48 countries around the world. It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments on land, sea, ice and sky.
"2011 will be remembered as a year of extreme events, both in the United States and around the world," said Deputy NOAA Administrator Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D. "Every weather event that happens now takes place in the context of a changing global environment. This annual report provides scientists and citizens alike with an analysis of what has happened so we can all prepare for what is to come."
The lead character of the 2011 climate story was a double dip La Niña, which chilled the Pacific at the start and end of the year. Many of the 2011 seasonal climate patterns around the world were consistent with common side effects of La Niña. (Credit: NOAA Climate Portal)
Video: Why All Faucet Drips Have the Same Shape
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/07/video-why-all-faucet-drips-have-.html?rss=1 July 15, 2012
To some, the "drip, drip" of a leaky faucet is a minor irritation; to physicists, it's a great example of the predictive powers of science. In 1996, theoretical work suggested that, as a water drop hangs from a faucet, its cone-shaped neck should always have the same internal angle at break-off: 36.2°. That was an ambitious prediction given the hugely complex dynamics of dripping water, but it was also very difficult to test with any accuracy. Now, thanks to modern technology, researchers have finally plugged all doubts. A team of engineers and physicists set up a camera that took images at up to 220,000 frames per second in front of a dripping nozzle and measured the angle of the water's neck at the moment of break-off (see close-up video of a drop breaking from its neck). The angle was 36.0°, the team reports this month in Physical Review E, within 1% of the predicted value. That confirmation is good news for inkjet manufactures, many of which would like to know how reliable computer simulations of liquid dripping are so that, for example, they can figure out the optimum height to position ink heads without resorting to costly trial and error.
See more videos.
Note: Types of Stormwater Inlets from HEC12 and HEC22
Stormwater Inlets consist of four main types (http://onlinemanuals.txdot.gov/txdotmanuals/hyd/storm_drain_inlets.htm) with most common shown in Figure 1.
1. Curb opening inlets either at a sag or continuous on the street,
2. Grate Inlets either at a sag or in combination with a Curb opening
3. Slotted Drains in parking lots which can be simulated as curb opening inlets and
4. Combination inlets either at a sag or continuous on the street which combine a curb opening inlet and a grate inlet for the stormwater runoff
A sag inlet is the end of the line for the runoff because the flow and its debris load have no other place to go as described in the HEC-22 and HEC-12 manuals and a continuous grade inlet is designed to capture the entire runoff flow but if the flow is too large or the inlet is clogged the bypassed flow can travel past the inlet and flow on down the street to a new inlet. The interception of a sag inlet is ultimately 100 percent but the amount of interception by a continous inlet is variable and is governed by the width of the opening, the grade of the street, the splash over velocity and the amount of side and flontal flow in a grated or combination inlet which is governed by the width and the length of the grate. Any flow in a continous opening inlet that is not captured ends up as bypass flow and travels down the downstream link or conduit (Figure’s 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6).
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Figure 1. Common Types of Stormwater Inlets on Streets
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Figure 2. Continuous Grate Inlet(1) and Sag Curb Opening Inlet(4) |
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Figure 3. Curb Opening Inlets(2) |
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Figure 4. Continuous Curb Opening Inlet(2) |
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Figure 5: Grate Inlets and Combination Inlets (1, 3 and 5) |
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Figure 6: Grate Inlets and Combination Inlets (1, 3 and 5) |
From the Great, great and great physics blog Starts With a Bang a story about a monster storm on Titan
“For most of the history of our species we were helpless to understand how nature works. We took every storm, drought, illness and comet personally. We created myths and spirits in an attempt to explain the patterns of nature.” -Ann Druyan
Here on Earth, we are well aware of how devastating storms can be. From hurricanes to flash floods, an unpredictable change in weather can turn a serene setting into a catastrophe in no time at all. The clouds that fill the skies can often portend what type of weather is coming, and to me, the most impressive and fearsome of all is the rare and remarkable supercell.
Image credit: Sean Heavey / Barcroft Media, from Glasgow, Montana.
The least common and most severe type of thunderstorm, supercells form when a warm, moist layer of air (typically found above a cold layer, since heat rises) slides below an even higher-elevation cold layer. The wind shear from this motion causes vorticity, or a spinning motion, of the air in the warm layer. As the warm air tries to rise through the cold layer, the rotating vortex becomes vertical, and creates a mesocyclone, which can lead to tornadoes in the most catastrophic of cases.
Image credits: Vanessa Ezekowitz, retrieved from the wikipedia page for supercell.
Even in cases where tornadoes do not form, the supercell storm provides a spectacular deluge and incredible wind speeds.
Image credit: Martin Kucera of http://www.floridalightning.com/.
Under the most extreme circumstances, many tornadoes erupt and the storm — although usually brief — can literally destroy an entire town, as was the case a year ago in Joplin, MO. As seen from space, only the flat top of the supercell was visible, blinding us to the destruction that was occurring underneath.
Image credit: NASA / GOES-13 satellite, of the 2011 Joplin, MO supercell.
It will come as no surprise that raging storms like this are not unique to Earth. In fact, they are common and can last for extremely long durations on gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn.
Source: http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2012/07/13/the-biggest-storm-ever-on-a-small-small-world/