Software Development for Mixing Zone Modeling and Analysis

Software Development for Mixing Zone Modeling and AnalysisNathan HinkleRonak PatangNina Yang

1What Is a Mixing Zone?What Is a Mixing Zone?Mixing Zones (n):Mixing zones are limited regions in rivers, lakes and coastal areas where the initial dilution (dispersion) of point-source wastewater discharges occur

What Is a Mixing Zone?

What Is a Mixing Zone?Who MixZon IsWhat the company does and where we fit inCORMIX LicensingTechnical SupportMixing Zone Field StudiesConsultingTools We Worked With

SensorsCTDConductivity, Temperature, DepthUsed to find plumesADCPAcoustic Doppler Current Profiler Uses sonar to determine water velocitiesDGPSDifferential Global Positioning SystemProvides sub-meter location data

Source: rdinstruments

Location 15m from satellitesDifferential GPSStation broadcasts offset between known coordinates and satellite coordinates.Illustration: Nathan HinkleFLIRForward Looking InfraRedUses infrared to measure spot temperatures

Source: mixzon.com

FLIR

FLIR system on a telescoping mastFLIR system on a tethered balloonJet Boat

Photos: mixzon.comInternally developed softwareCommercial Processing Software

RiverboatRaft

SensorsGPSWiFi BridgeWiFi Access PointLaptopInternally developed processing toolsSource: mixzon.comCommercial processing toolsData Post-processing Application DevelopmentData processing with custom applications to replace manual spreadsheet labor

Nathan Hinkle

CTD Data Collection:CTD = Conductivity, Temperature, Depth sensorUsed to find plumes and determine mixing zonesData collected as text files

Photo: mixzon.comCTD Data Collection:

CTD Depth casts:Sensor is dropped inDowncastthen pulled upUpcastWe only want upcast dataWe only want the data points for the maximum values

CTD Processing Previously:Data saved as raw textInterns and employees manually find upcastMaximum values manually foundSlow, inefficient

CTD Processing Solution:Designed an algorithmWrote an application to implement algorithmUsed C++/CLI programming language

CTD Processing Solution:Output as smaller text filesOutput to GIS shapefileGPS coordinates make pointsAttribute data attached to coordinate pointsMaps can be created from these points

User can select multiple filesOutput is shown while processingGraph is shown for each of the measurementsMaximum values are shown with lines and in text

User can select which files graph to look atStatus strip shows sensor informationOther ProjectsHelped with field data collection

Other ProjectsRedesigned MixZons intranet siteNew UIPlatform-independent, w3c-compliant codeUsed PHP, HTML, CSS

Skills LearnedMicrosoft C++/CLINew programming languageMixing zone terminologyUnderstanding of GPS/GISEnvironmental science in the field Experiencing a professional work situationOther Interns ProjectsOther interns sections of the ppt have been redactedThank You!Thank you to all of the people who made our internships such a great experience:

Dr. Robert Doneker MixZons PresidentOur mentorsAdi RamachandranDr. Todd SandersFrank OpilaKent ThompsonThomas Legacy LovettThe ASE staff