The changes in this beta will also be available in the next Source production release.

This release includes:

• The Spell observer logic is no longer an “Experimental feature” and has been integrated with the current ordering logic for the Environmental flow node.

• Replicate Runner Enhancements : Introduced selection of sub-runs of any number of scenarios to the custom chart, added an option for specifying the format for displaying replicate names in results manager and, added a field “Max Replicates” which will display the maximum number of replicates in the Replicate Analysis as per the input.

• Other enhancements and bug Fixes.

 IRMU:

• Spell Observer has been removed as an experimental feature and is now shown on all spell-based actions at environmental flow nodes. 

• Results should not change unless you enable the Spell Observer. 

• The "Enabled" option on the Spell Observer screen will be the key option to switch between current (non-Spell Observer), and new (Integrated Spell Observer) functionality. 

• When the user enables the Spell Observer (clicking the enable check box on the spell observer screen), the spell observer functionality integrates with the nodes and changes the ordering behavior. 

• The Integrated Spell Observer makes the following interface components redundant:  

  • Success Criteria: with Spell Observer enabled, success no longer considered the criteria on the screen shown below

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    Success will be based on the criteria set on the Spell Observer Screen.  

  •  ‘End Spell if it will fail’ check box: This will no longer end a spell when the observer logic has been enabled. It is recommended that the “End spell using a function” should be used to stop ordering.
    
    

    Open

    

    
    

  • Spell Definition ‘Spell End criteria’ will no longer impact ordering.
     

     

• When Spell Observer is enabled... 

  • The "forcing" of Spells functionality will use the count of observed successful spells in its decision-making. 

  • Natural spells can no longer occur as they did under the old logic. 

    • That is, if the Action is unable to order, it will not take any action. 

    • 'Spell Definition -> Spell Start -> Method == Direct Ordering Based -> Natural spell start threshold' functionality will be disabled 

  • If the ‘Allow Orders' is not enabled, the Spell Observer model will observe spells, but none of the node ordering functionality will work.  i.e. the action would be looking for “natural spells” only. 

  • The following action recorders have been set to return “NaN” as they have either been replaced with observer-specific recorders or are not expected to return sensible values.  

    • Consecutive successful time steps in current spell 

    • Cumulative Spell Shortfall 

    • Cumulative Spell Target Volume 

    • Cumulative Spell Volume 

    • Fall Phase Volume Expected 

    • Fall Phase Volume Received 

    • Full Requirement (Tracking) - It is recommended that you use Full Requirement (Managed Spells) recorder instead 

    • Minimum flow required for success 

    • Number of Successful Spells Completed in Season 

    • Successful time steps in current spell 

  • The following recorders return values based on the ordering (current) logic 

    • Time in current spell  

      • returns number of days water is being ordered 

    • Number of Spells Completed in Season  

      • Counts the number of ordered events finished in the season 

    • Number of Spells Started in Season 

      • Counts the number of ordered events started in the season (started events do not always end) 

  • The following recorders have been added 

    • Observer - Antecedent Condition 

      • Returns NaN when the observer is not enabled 

    • Observer - Consecutive Successful TimeSteps In Current Spell 

      • Counts the number of days from when you exceed the “Start target for observation” until you drop below the “End Target for Observation” 

      •  Returns 0 when the observer is not enabled 

    • Observer - Cumulative Spell Volume 

      • Sums the volume of water on days when the flow is above the “Start target for observation” until the event ends (based on the Spell Observer -> Spell End Criteria) 

      • Returns 0 when the observer is not enabled 

    • Observer - Number Of Successful Spells Completed In Season 

      • Counts the number of Successful Spells completed in the season. A spell starts when the Start target of observation is exceeded and ends when Spell Observer -> Spell End Criteria has been met.  

      • Returns 0 when the observer is not enabled 

    • Observer - Successful TimeSteps In Current Spell 

      • Count the number of timesteps where the flow exceeds “Start target for observation” until the Spell Observer -> Spell End Criteria has been met. 

      • Returns 0 when the observer is not enabled 

    • Observer - Time In Current Spell 

      • Count the number of timesteps from when the “Start target for observation” is first exceeded until the Spell Observer -> Spell End Criteria has been met. 

      • Returns 0 when the observer is not enabled 

    • Observer - Time Since Last Successful Spell 

      • Counts the number of timesteps after Spell Observer -> Spell End Criteria has been met. Resets to zero when the minimum duration above the observer target is exceeded 

      • Returns 0 when the observer is not enabled 

    • Observer - Time Since Minimum Duration Is Met 

      • Counts the number of timesteps after the minimum duration above the observer target is exceeded. Resets to zero the next time the minimum duration above the observer target is exceeded. 

      • Returns 0 when the observer is not enabled 

    • Spell Recorder has been disabled 

      • This has been replaced by the Observer – Spell Observer Recorder 

How the Spell Observer Works 

The figure below shows the interface for setting up the spell observer.   

The spell observer is designed to look for flow events regardless of whether you have ordered an event.  This includes: 

1. The ability to look for events that occur outside the ordering window 

2. The ability to look for events based on delivering a specific volume of water during a particular season. 

The antecedent condition will reset to one once a season is considered successful (the observer has recorded the number of spells required for a successful season) and will remain at one until the spell required to complete a successful season is finished.  If further spells occur in that season, the condition will reset to 1 when the spell is considered successful. 

The interface allows you to set the parameters that will be used to determine the success of a spell (and the success of a season). These parameters can also be set via input sets.  

The spell observer does not consider rates of rise and fall when deciding if an event has been successful.  

Threshold-based spells 

The figure below shows what the observer considered to be a spell based on thresholds.   

Spell Start 

The spell starts when the “Start target for observation” multiplied by the “Proportion Required: Target” is exceeded. For threshold events, it is recommended that the “Proportion Required: Target” be set to 100%. 

The “Start target for observation” can be set to a user-defined value or linked to the ordering definition. If the check box “Use spell definition target” is ticked, the “Start target for observation” will match the target set in the “Spell Definition: Target”.  Where a function is used to define the “Start target for observation”, the value of the function on the first day of the Observation Season is used by the spell observer. 

Spell Success 

A spell is successful when the flows equal the “Minimum Duration for Observation” multiplied by the “Proportion Required: Duration” and the Volume Requirement has been met.   

The Volume Requirement is determined by multiplying the “Start target for observation” by the “Minimum Duration for Observation”.  

 For threshold-based events, it is recommended that the “Proportion Required: Duration” be set to 100%.  

Spell End 

A spell ends when the Spell End Criteria are met. For threshold-based spells, this is when the flow drops below the End Threshold for the duration specified in the “Spell End: Duration below end target” for consecutive days.  

The End Threshold is the min (“Start target for observation” * “Proportion Required: Target”, “End target for observation”) 

Successful Seasons 

Where the “Number of spells required for a successful season” exceeds 1, the season will be deemed successful when the required number of successful spells is met.  When a season is deemed successful, the antecedent condition resets to 1.  It will reset to 1 for each subsequent successful spell in the season.  

Volume based events 

Some environmental flow requirements are best measured by the volume of water delivered during the season.  The spell observer can capture these events using the Proportion Required settings. The figure below shows what the observer will consider to be a successful Volume-based spell.  

To track spells that are only based on volume, you will need to set the 

1. Proportion Required: Target to 0 

2. Proportion Required: Duration to 0, and  

3. Number of spells required for a successful season to 1 

The Volume required for success is determined as: (‘Start target for observation” “Minimum duration for observation”) * Proportion Required: Volume 

It is recommended that Proportion Required: Volume is set to 100% 

For volume-based events, when ‘Proportion Required: Target’ = 0 and ‘Proportion Required: Duration’ = 0:  

Spell Start – will occur and the start of the observer season  

Spell Success – will occur when Volume delivered “Observer – Cumulative Spell Volume”  

Spell End – will occur at the end of the season. 

Replicate Runner Enhancements

With this version, you will be able to add all the sub-runs of a selected scenario, some of the sub-runs of the selected scenario and any number of selected runs across the selected multiple scenarios to the custom chart. You will now be able to search through the runs available to select the run you want to add to custom chart.

And there is a new field “Max Replicates” that is added to auto-populate the maximum possible number of replicates in the Replicate Analysis as per the scenario input sets. And Users can now specify the format they want to display the names of the replicates from the “Replicate Name Format” dropdown.

Other Enhancements &. Bug Fixes:

Minor enhancements and Bug fixes include:

• Add a "Net Trade" recorder under Continuous Accounting similar to how we have it for Annual Accounting. Added Successfully

• Modifications to 'Aggregate Modified Effective Allocation'. Successfully Implemented

• Fix the entry to Log reporter - Found while testing Overrides functionality. Fixed

• Add a 'Forgot Password?' button to the login when using Source. Added Successfully.

• License agreement in Source Beta Splash Screen. Fixed.

Regression Testing

There is no tolerance in our regression test suite to allow for earlier identification of results being different on different machines or versions of operating systems. 

See: 5.43 Regression Test Changes

Full Release Documentation