Featured Projects — Software CWMS-CAVI, Real-Time Forecasting

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Corps Water Management System (CWMS) is a software product suite that supports the Corps’ real-time water control mission. A key component of CWMS is the Control and Visualization Interface (CAVI), which supports QA/QC of recently collected monitoring data and forecast modeling to support water operations decision-making. Some of the key features of the CAVI include:

  • Georeferenced display of gage stations and model schematics
  • Forecast modeling for rainfall/runoff, reservoir operation, river hydraulics, and flood impact analysis
  • Data extract and post from the CWMS Oracle database
  • Integrated plotting and reporting

We have served as a key software development contractor supporting the USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center’s (HEC) CWMS development since the mid-1990s and have been the primary developer of the CWMS-CAVI. The latest version of the CAVI, which is to be fielded in 2014, is a significant upgrade to previous versions. The primary model suite includes MetVue, HEC-HMS, HEC-ResSim, HEC-RAS, and HEC-FIA.

The upcoming version adopts a plug-in architecture that supports direct interaction with native modeling applications. The plug-in feature allows advanced users to include custom computational tools, as needed. Another significant improvement is the use of online map tiles and live coordinate transformation in the georeferenced mapping interface, which allows users to overlay model schematic and supporting GIS data layers without first converting all data to a single-coordinate projection.

CWMS-CAVI is a desktop Java application that makes extensive use of the large set of Java-based libraries we developed for HEC, providing the application framework, data management, database access, user interface components, georeferenced mapping, and engineering calculations.

Results and benefits

The CWMS-CAVI is the primary tool for real-time forecast simulation in support of the Corps’ water management mission. We have worked continuously with the USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center over many years to develop and refine interface capabilities in response to the feedback and needs expressed by the Corp’s district offices.

Screenshot of northern California waterways with overlay interface and charts.

The CWMS CAVI User Interface provides direct access to HEC-HMS, HEC-ResSim, and HEC-RAS application screens.

Screenshot of charted northern California waterways flowing into the San Francisco Bay.

The CWMS CAVI includes geo-referenced map display of the integrated model schematic with GIS data layers and on-line map tiles.