A Blog About Engineering Software

Software Applications related to water engineering(Free & Paid)

06/03/2008

This time i had spotted the softwares that had solved my problems in water related modeling....More

Graph Drawing Software Titles

16/1/2008

In general MS Graph,Grapher and Surfer is used to draw graphs in various field of science,commerce and engineering.MS Graph does not have much functions,it can not draw derivatives and can not create animations.Grapher and Surfer are expensive and can only be used by institutions.Below is a list of software that are cheap, build animation and draw graphs of derivatives.A Graph Integration tool and a site selling Graph templates for word is also included.

PET Calculator

11/12/2007

A very small script that will calculate the potential evapo-transpiration(ET) with the help of Penman's Equation(PE) is created.PE is a big equation and needs tedious and careful calculations to find ET.But this calculator will help anyone to find ET by PE at a click of a button.

Definition of PET and its importance :

Evapotranspiration (ET) is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and water bodies. Transpiration accounts for the movement of water within a plant and the subsequent loss of water as vapour through stomata in its leaves. Evapotranspiration is an important part of the water cycle.

Potential evapotranspiration (PET) is a representation of the environmental demand for evapotranspiration and represents the evapotranspiration rate of a short green crop, completely shading the ground, of uniform height and with adequate water status in the soil profile. It is a reflection of the energy available to evaporate water, and of the wind available to transport the water vapour from the ground up into the lower atmosphere. Evapotranspiration is said to equal potential evapotranspiration when there is ample water.

Evapotranspiration and the water cycle

Evapotranspiration is a significant water loss from a watershed. Types of vegetation and land use significantly affect evapotranspiration, and therefore the amount of water leaving a watershed. Because water transpired through leaves comes from the roots, plants with deep reaching roots can more constantly transpire water. Thus herbaceous plants transpire less than woody plants because herbaceous plants usually lack a deep taproot. Also, woody plants keep their structure over long winters while herbaceous plants must grow up from seed in the spring in seasonal climates, and will contribute almost nothing to evapotranspiration in the spring. Conifer forests tend to have much higher rates of evapotranspiration than deciduous forests.[citation needed] This is because their needles give them superior surface area,[dubious — see talk page] resulting in more pores for transpiration, and allowing for more droplets of rain to be suspended in and around the needles and branches, where some of the droplets can then be evaporated. Factors that affect evapotranspiration include the plant's growth stage or level of maturity, percentage of soil cover, solar radiation, humidity, temperature, and wind.

Through evapotranspiration, forests reduce water yield, except for in unique ecosystems called cloud forests. Trees in cloud forests condense fog or low clouds into liquid water on their surface, which drips down to the ground. These trees still contribute to evapotranspiration, but often condense more water than they evaporate or transpire.

In areas that are not irrigated, actual evapotranspiration is usually no greater than precipitation, with some buffer in time depending on the soil's ability to hold water. It will usually be less because some water will be lost due to percolation or surface runoff. An exception is areas with high water tables, where capillary action can cause water from the groundwater to rise through the soil matrix to the surface. If potential evapotranspiration is greater than actual precipitation, then soil will dry out, unless irrigation is used.

Evapotranspiration can never be greater than PET, but can be lower if there is not enough water to be evaporated or plants are unable to readily transpire.

Following books can be consulted to know the importance of the equation and hence the calculator

R.G. Allen - The ASCE Standardized Reference Evapotranspiration Equation

Richard G. Allen - Lysimeters for Evapotranspiration and Environmental Measurements: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Lysimetry

K.Subramaniya - Engineering Hydrology

For : Students and Engineers of Water Resources and Hydropower.

Hydro Power Calculator

11/12/2007

A very small script that will calculate the theoretical potential hydropower of a certain stream.If Discharge Carrying Capacity(cubic meter/sec) of the stream,available Head(meter) and specific weight of water is given(kg/cubic meter), the calculator will calculate the potential hydropower(P) of the stream in m kg/sec.The same value can be found in horse power or in kilowatt if the unit is changed.If 'hp' is written in place of given unit of the calculated potential power, then P will be in horse power and if 'kW' is written,P will be in kilo watt.

Cost : $ 0

Following books can be consulted to know the importance of the equation and hence the calculator

Jeremy Thake - The Micro-Hydro Pelton Turbine Manual: Design, Manufacture and Installation for Small-Scale Hydropower

Finn R. Forsund - Hydropower Economics

Dandekar - Sharma - Water Power Engineering

For : Students and Engineers of Water Resources and Hydropower.

SMART SOFTWARES THAT ENGINEERS CAN USE against some money : Part : 1

25/11/2007

FindGraph

FindGraph is comprehensive graphing, curve fitting, and digitizing tool. The program offers 12 generic fits, including linear regression, logistic functions, fourier approximation, neural networks, B-splines curves, plus a library of over 300 industry-specific 2D formulas.Built-in Wizard helps applying different curve fits to discover the model that describes data the best. The software enables to smooth, interpolate, subtract, differentiate, integrate, and transform data and curves. The software includes the peak fitting features.The program comes with 200 built-in common graphing 2D functions support for polar, cartesian, and parametric equations. Built-in Wizard helps to digitize the data. The program supports OLE automation and can be built-in to other software applications.

Cost : $ 49.95

NeuroXL Classifier

NeuroXL Classifier is a fast, powerful and easy-to-use neural network software tool for classifying data in Microsoft Excel. Designed to aid experts in real-world data mining and pattern recognition tasks, it hides the underlying complexity of neural network processes while providing graphs and statistics for the user to easily understand results. NeuroXL Classifier uses only proven algorithms and techniques, and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Excel.

Cost : $ 39.95

NeuroXL Predictor

NeuroXL Predictor is a neural network forecasting tool that quickly and accurately solves forecasting and estimation problems in Microsoft Excel. It is designed from the ground-up to aid experts in solving real-world forecasting problems. The NeuroXL Predictor interface is easy-to-use and intuitive, does not require any prior knowledge of neural networks, and is integrated seamlessly with Microsoft Excel. The software brings increased precision and accuracy to a wide variety of tasks, including stock price prediction, sales forecasting, and sports score prediction.

Cost : $ 79.95

NeuroXL Package

The NeuroXL Package provides you with unbeatable value by combining both our neural network add-in tools for Microsoft Excel in one low price package. This powerful combination of software will provide you with the ability to quickly and accurately solve a full range of real-world forecasting, pattern recognition, and data mining problems.

Cost : $ 99.95

Flow Pro

Easily design open-channel waterways, culverts, irrigation channels, sluiceways, and flumes with Flow Pro.Flow Pro saves you time and money by letting you compare multiple hydraulic design alternatives and exports the results to Word or Excel. Visualize depth, flow, and velocity with its built-in graphing tool.

Cost : $ 39.95

Energy Auditor

Retrofitting for energy conservation can spend a lot of money and save no energy; or spend a little money and save lots of energy. Energy Auditor has a database of weather from 211 U.S. cities and gives an accurate estimate of your specific current energy use and how much you can save by implementing the most effective projects. You can toggle an option to get real time results like a spreadsheet. It's ideal for anybody wanting to save energy - homeowners, business owners, realtors, contractors, and engineers. The program isolates the areas of your building that use the most energy - typically the roof. Changing the roof color alone can reduce utility bills by 25%. You can simulate adding attic insulation or ventilation; shading walls or windows; installing double paned or storm windows - and the program gives you a specific energy savings for each project, or combination of projects.

Cost : $ 28.50

HVAC Loads

Calculating heating and cooling loads for residential and light commercial buildings has never been easier. The program uses the Manual J method, with enhancements to make the results more accurate and risk free. It operates like a spreadsheet so you get real time loads for every change you make. It a great tool to study any building's energy use profile to determine the best ways to reduce energy costs. Help files have design temperatures for over 400 U.S. cities and all the information you need to make accurate inputs - insulation values for typical walls, roof assemblies, windows, and floors. Once you have all the information stipulated you can experiment with extra roof insulation, attic ventilation, special windows, shading, and many more energy saving ideas. The program calculates a heating and cooling load for each building element, and the air flow needed to satisfy the load. A full analysis is done for both heating and cooling - you can toggle from one to the other by clicking a radio button. All the information is printed out or you can access the form with a word processor and format the results.

Cost : $ 18.50

Energy Conversion with Plots Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet calculates thermodynamic and transport properties of a few gaseous, liquid and solid species (TP), according to International units. The user can analyze power cycles (Carnot, Brayton, Otto, Diesel and MHD), power cycle components and processes (compression, combustion and expansion) and compressible flow (velocity of sound, Mach number, stagnation and static properties, nozzle, normal shock, diffuser and thrust).

Cost : $ 24.99

Gas Dynamics

This program calculates thermodynamic and transport properties of gaseous, liquid and solid species (TP, HP and SP), according to U.S. customary and International units. The user can analyze power cycles (Carnot and Brayton), power cycle components and processes (compression, combustion and expansion) and compressible flow (velocity of sound, Mach number, stagnation and static properties, nozzle, normal shock, diffuser and thrust).

Cost : $ 445

Gas Dynamics Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet calculates thermodynamic and transport properties of a few gaseous, liquid and solid species (TP), according to International units. The user can analyze power cycles (Carnot and Brayton), power cycle components and processes (compression, combustion and expansion) and compressible flow (velocity of sound, Mach number, stagnation and static properties, nozzle, normal shock, diffuser and thrust).Required MS Excel or higher and/or other spreadsheet compatible applications

Cost : $ 14.90

Spreadsheet Converter

ExcelEverywhere and SpreadsheetConverter are the same programs, so a license key for SpreadsheetConverter works for ExcelEverywhere and vice versa. Converts an Excel spreadsheet into an HTML-page with embedded JavaScript. The web page looks like the spreadsheet and calculates like the original spreadsheet.

Cost : $ 97