Instructional Videos – Surface Water Solutions: Consulting and Software Training

Please visit our updated Instructional Videos page at hydroschool.org/tutorials/.

All continuing education resources previously listed at surfacewater.biz has moved to hydroschool.org; going forward, the surfacewater.biz website will be dedicated to drainage-related consulting work only.

Below is the archived page.

Our YouTube channel provides free instructional videos in conjunction with the RAS Solution blog. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive updates when additional videos are posted.

[Disclaimer: The models we cover in these videos are intended to quickly demonstrate a few basic functions in HEC-RAS. Sign up for our online or face-to-face courses to dive into further details. To keep things simple, the models in the videos run in a few seconds; a decent flood model will typically take hours or even days of computational time – and that’s after hours or days of setup time and then followed by days more to troubleshoot and run sensitivities. These preliminary models are just for fun and not necessarily any reasonable depiction of reality; as we always say in our courses, just because it gives you a pretty picture doesn’t mean it’s right – or even remotely meaningful!]

Below are some of the videos we’ve put together so for our ongoing hydraulic modelling video series. Let us know if you have suggested topics you’d like us to cover next!

What’s new in HEC-RAS 6.0

Our latest video series highlights selected features in the new beta release of HEC-RAS 6.0.

Part 1: 3D Viewer

Part 2: Google Earth 3D, RASter Calculator, and energy elevation plots

Part 3: Flood hazard, difference/afflux maps, and indicative rip rap sizing

Part 4: New terrain modification tools

Part 5: Polygon modification layers

HEC-RAS Hollywood Trilogy Episode 1: Tsunamis and dam breaches in disaster movies

HEC-RAS Basics

The prequel: Getting started

– Part 1: Creating a 1D geometry in RAS Mapper:
(click here for accompanying article and webinar recording)

– Part 2: 2D mesh refinement areas:

– Part 3: Internal boundary conditions setup:

– Part 4: Internal boundary conditions results:

– Part 5: Variable time steps:

– Part 6: New culvert options:

– Part 7: Rating curves:

Here’s what we end up with after going through these tutorials. For this one, we’ve added the dam as cross sections in a 1D reach and exported it as terrain – makes a nice little whirlpool at the intake:

Follow along with our video instructions below to modify your own digital elevation model:

Click here for further instructions and examples of terrain modification in HEC-RAS.

Here’s a video covering internal vs. external boundary conditions:

Here’s a video about using RAS Mapper as a GIS tool to georeference static aerial imagery and hard copy maps:

Here’s an introduction to our 2018 Munich course that includes building a mile-high dam across the Alps and severing Denmark from Europe with a big ol’ canal, creating Legoland Island in the process!

[This one’s in German – to see the translation, view the video on YouTube and scroll down to the description]

And here’s another one that was just for fun as an introduction to one of our 2018 courses in New Zealand:

Here are some of the crazy models around the world (and out of this world) that I presented at the inaugural HEC-RAS pub & grub:

Of course we’d love to have you join us for face-to-face training to learn about the new features in depth, but for those unable to travel to a course, we also offer interactive online courses through the Australian Water School. More details here.

Upcoming videos:

First principles:
– Part 1: Hydrostatics
– Part 2: Velocity head
– Part 3: Energy and friction
– Part 4: Momentum and acceleration
– Part 5: Raster vs. scalar and raster vs. vector
– Part 5: Subcritical vs. supercritical
– Part 6: Steady vs. unsteady
– Part 7: 1D vs. 2D vs. 3D
– Part 8: Courant number
– Part 9: Mobile boundaries
– Part 10: Chaotic systems