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(VERSION 2.90)
USER MANUAL
PISCES II concept and its basic capabilities are described in the PISCES II (V. 2.90).
SHORT MANUAL. Please familiarize yourself with this document prior to working
on PISCES II.
This manual describes working on the applications “Primary Instructor Workplace”
and “Additional Instructor Workplace”.
SHORT MANUAL
1.6 Exercise Management To highlight sections of a document
Preamble 9
1. CHAPTER 1
Exercises and Scenarios
• primary instructor;
• instructor;
• observer.
The primary instructor creates and starts exercises.
The instructor can work on the exercise only after its creation and run by the primary
instructor.
The observer gives the user all information on the current scenario but no possibility
of editing the model objects. The observer can operate the scenario only after its
connection by the scenario owner.
The commands “Activate” and “Join” are described in the section 1.7 Scenario
Management.
The scenario owner can change model objects, control the scenario model time
(see the section 1.5 Model Time), stop and close the scenario. The co-operators
can change model objects, but they cannot control the model time. Any changes
introduced by a user are reflected for all users.
An active scenario, in turn, can run in one of the following four modes: Preparation,
Forecast, Conduct and Debrief. The Preparation, Conduct and Debrief modes
correspond to the Oil Spill Response (OSR) drill stages.
See the PISCES II (V. 2.90). SHORT MANUAL for more detailed information
on conducting OSR drills.
1.4.1 Preparation
The preparation mode allows returning to the scenario start or a save point for
subsequent simulation of another variant of event development.
Save point is a model time moment, at which the system situation has been saved.
You can run the scenario back to the save point and then “outact” its continuation.
The need for returning is caused by the fact that scenario preparation usually
takes several iterations. It involves simulation of some variant of event development,
assessment of such variant acceptance, and development of an alternative by
the instructor, if the variant is recognized as unsuccessful.
By default, after activation the scenario is run in the preparation mode. For this
purpose select an inactive scenario from the “Scenarios” list of the “Scenario
Management” panel and click the “Activate” button:
The scenario will be activated and run in the preparation mode. Further work
on the scenario in this mode is described in the section 2.10 Scenario Operation.
1.4.2 Forecast
The Forecast mode is intended for obtaining prompt oil spill behaviour forecast,
the response forces taken minimum account of. In this mode, model calculations
are made at an increased time step.
To switch to the forecast mode, activate scenario (for more detailes see
1.4.1 Preparation) and select the SCENARIO/FORECAST MODE command in the program
menu. This command is only available on the scenario owner’s menu.
The scenario in the forecast mode can at any time be returned to the preparation mode.
To return the scenario to the preparation mode, select the SCENARIO/PREPARATION MODE
command from the menu.
ATTENTION!
At switching between forecast and preparation modes during scenario preparation
spreading adjustment is broken. If model exactness is important it is recommended
to make calculations from the beginning and up to the end of the scenario only in a
mode of the forecast or preparation.
Switching between forecast and preparation modes have no effect on quality of
modelling.
1.4.3 Conduct
In the conduct mode, the model events are irreversible, and there is no possibility
to “come back” and replay the scenario. Model objects can be edited.
The scenario activated in the forecast or preparation mode can be switched over to
the conduct mode. This being the case, the model situation will be restored for the
last moment reached during the previous run of the current scenario in the conduct
mode. If the scenario has not been run in the conduct mode, it will be returned to its
beginning. Further work on the scenario in this mode is described in the section
2.10 Scenario Operation.
To switch over to the conduct mode, select the SCENARIO/CONDUCT MODE command
in the program menu. This command is available only in the Primary Instructor’s
menu, if he is the scenario owner. The instructor-operators’ menu has no command
SCENARIO/CONDUCT MODE.
To return to the forecast or prepapation mode, select the SCENARIO/FORECAST MODE or
SCENARIO/PREPARATION MODE command of the program menu. In this case the model
situation will remain the same, and simulation will carry on from the current moment
of time, i.e. from the moment reached by the end of playback in the conduct mode.
1.4.4 Debriefing
The debriefing mode allows forward and reverse playback of the model event
record. There is no possibility of editing model objects in this mode.
To start the inactive scenario in the debriefing mode, select the scenario you need
from the “Scenarios” list in the scenario control panel and click the “Debrief” button:
Viewing the completed scenario record is run without the model server, so a direct
transfer from this mode to the forecast, preparation or conduct modes is not possible.
To change over to any other mode, it is necessary to exit the viewed scenario
using the command FILE/LEAVE SCENARIO in the program menu (see the section
2.10 Scenario Operation for a more detailed description of these commands)
and activated it by clicking the “Activate” button.
To switch over to any other mode, exit the viewed scenario using the FILE/CLOSE
SCENARIO command in the program menu (see the section 2.10 Scenario Operation
for a more detailed description of these commands), and activate it by clicking
the “Activate” button.
ST = SST + MT
Apart form the internal temporal characteristics, PISCES II also features an external
one: Clock Time (CT), which is time of user’s existence. It is taken to coincide with
the computer system time.
A mouse right-hand button click on the indicator opens a four item context menu:
The first three items (SCENARIO TIME, MODEL TIME and CLOCK TIME) allow selecting
a mode for representation of the temporal characteristics:
Ratio between the internal and exterior PISCES II times allows determination of
modeling speed. This is a ratio of model time shift to the clock time this shift has taken.
For instance, 1:60 speed means that simulation of a 1 hour duration oil spill has
taken 1 minute of real time.
The modelling speed indicator shows an expression of the following format “1:n [m]”,
where n is the set time scale, and m is the real computation speed depending on
compressor capacity. If the values m and n differ only slightly, the set time scale will
be shown in “1:n” format.
If the scenario is stopped, the time indicator background is grey, otherwise it is white.
1.6.1 Create
To create a new exercise, click the “New” button of the “Exercise Management” panel:
To save the newly created exercise, enter its name in the “Name” field and
its description in the “Description” field. Click “OK” to save the created exercise
or “Cancel” to quit saving and close the dialog box.
The created exercise requires creation of a scenario. This operation is described
in section 1.7 Scenario Management in greater detail.
1.6.2 Open
To open a previously created exercise, select the one you need in the “Exercises”
list of the “Exercise Management” panel and click the “Open” button:
The program will switch over to the scenario management mode. This mode
is described in section 1.7 Scenario Management in greater detail.
1.6.3 Close
You can close the exercise both in the mode of scenario management and
in the mode of scenario operation.
To close the exercise in the scenario management mode, click the “Close Exercise”
button on the “Scenario Management” panel:
To close the exercise in the scenario operation mode, select the FILE/CLOSE EXERCISE
command in the menu of the primary instructor.
1.6.4 Copy
To make a copy of the selected exercise under a given name, click the “Copy”
button on the “Exercise Management” panel to open the “Copy Exercise” window:
Enter the name, by which you wish to save the exercise. Click “OK”, to copy
the exercise or “Cancel” to quit copying and close the dialog box.
1.6.5 Rename
To change the name of the selected exercise, click the “Rename” button on
the “Exercise Management” panel to open the “Rename Exercise” window:
Enter the new name for the exercise. Click “OK”, to rename the exercise or “Cancel”
to quit renaming and close the dialog box.
1.6.6 Delete
To delete a selected exercise, click the “Delete” on the “Exercise Management”
panel. The “Exercise management” dialog window will appear:
Click “OK”, to delete the exercise or “Cancel” to quit deleting and close the dialog box.
Use the appeared panel “Exercise properties” to edit the exercise description in the
“Description” field. Click the “OK” button to save the description or “Cancel” to quit
changing the description and close the dialog box:
1.7.1 Create
To create a new scenario in the exercise, click the “Create” button on the
“Scenario Management” panel. The “Create Scenario” window will appear:
For the newly created scenario, enter its name in the “Name” field and set the
scenario start date and time in the “Time” field. Use “Time zone” field to enter the
time determining the time zone of modelling. From this point on, this data will be used
for import of currents and weather conditions. If the license includes 3D visualization
option, there will be “3D Scene” list in the dialogue box. From “3D Scene” list, you
can choose one of installed 3D scenes (for more details of 3D scene installation
see PISCES II (V. 2.90). INSTALLATION GUIDE).
Click the “Create” button, to save the created scenario or “Cancel” to quit creating
scenario and close the dialog box.
PISCES II will close the “Scenario management” panel, switch to the mode of scenario
operation and activate the workplace main interface. To continue working on the new
scenario, you have to initiate it. This operation is described in section 4.1 Impact Area.
PISCES II will close the “Scenario management” panel, switch to the mode
of scenario operation and activate the basic interface of the instructor workplace.
If the scenario was created in the previous PISCES II versions, after activation
the program will suggest creation of a scenario copy:
Enter a new scenario name and press “OK” in order to create a scenario copy which
the current PISCES II version can operate with, or “Cancel” to close the scenario
converting dialogue box.
The newly created scenario will be a copy of PISCES II scenario without saving a full
model recording of the scenario returned at the moment immediately after the scenario
start. Activate it as you would activate regular scenarios by using “Activate” button.
PISCES II will close the “Scenario management” panel, switch to the mode
of scenario operation and activate the workplace main interface.
Also you can join the external scenarios the same way (for more details see
1.9.2 Work with Common Scenario).
If you are not the owner of the current scenario, this button will be disabled.
To deactivate the scenario in the scenario operation mode, select the FILE/DEACTIVATE
SCENARIO command in the program menu. If you are not the owner of the current
scenario, this command will not be available.
1.7.5 Copy
To create a copy of the scenario you have selected under another name, click the “Copy”
button on the “Scenario management” panel. The window “Copy scenario” will appear:
Enter the name, by which you wish to save the scenario. Click “OK” to copy the scenario
or “Cancel” to quit copying and close the dialog box.
The command allows you to save a scenario prepared for the drill after proper
simulation of response resource application, or to save a copy of the active scenario.
To save the objected scenario, select the FILE/DEACTIVATE command in the program menu.
ATTENTION!
Do not perform the “Reset To” operation, otherwise the model record will be deleted.
The “Scenario management” panel will appear. Select the scenario you wish to save from
the “Scenarios” list, and click the “Copy” button. Specify a new name for the scenario.
To conduct the drill, you have to activate the scenario and set it for the start of events
by the “Reset To” command (this command is described in detail in the section
2.10.4 Reset To).
To copy the active scenario, exit it using the FILE/LEAVE SCENARIO menu command.
The “Scenario management” panel will appear. Use the “Scenarios” list to select
the scenario you wish to copy, and click the “Copy” button. After copying you can
choose to come back to this scenario using the “Join” command or to continue
working on its copy.
1.7.6 Rename
To rename the selected inactive scenario, click the “Rename” button on the
“Scenario management” panel to open the “Rename scenario” window:
Enter a new name for the scenario and click “OK”, if you wish to rename
the scenario or “Cancel” to quit renaming and close the dialog box.
1.7.7 Delete
To delete a selected inactive scenario, click the “Delete” button on the “Scenario
management” panel. The “Delete scenario” dialog window will appear:
Click “OK” to confirm scenario deletion or “Cancel” to quit and close the dialog box.
ATTENTION!
Not more than 4 remote configurations can operate jointly.
Remote instructors can work on one scenario, control model objects, receive and
print out reports on the current scenario status in much the same way as in a local
configuration.
Press the “OK” button to establish a connection with the set parameters,
or the “Cancel” button to close the “PISCES Network Setup” window.
In the other remote configuration, in the primary instructor’s window you should also
select the PISCES NETWORK… command from the FILE menu. In the PISCES Network
Setup window, check the “Enable Connection” checkbox and select the “Connect to
Host” option button. In the “Listening Port” field, enter the same value as for the host
port which you are getting connected to.
Press the “OK” button to establish a connection with the set parameters,
or the “Cancel” button to close the “PISCES Network Setup” window.
If the connection is established successfully, the status bar in the bottom part of the
instructor window will display “PISCES Network: OK”, and a dialogue box will appear
advising which host the connection has been established with:
You can view the list of all the local configurations combined in the common PISCES
network by using the primary instructor’s FILE/PISCES NETWORK CONNECTIONS… menu
command. After the selection of this menu command the screen displays a window
containing a list of remote configurations:
After the connection has been established, you can start joint work on one scenario.
After the opening of a scenario in whose properties the “Public” option is set,
the scenario name will appear in the “External” group of the list of scenarios
on the scenario control panel.
ATTENTION!
The scenario list of the “External” group is shown in any open exercise.
You can connect to external scenarios just like to the local active scenarios by using
the “Join” button. Select a scenario from the list and press the “Join” button:
The instructor who has connected to an external scenario becomes its operator like
in the connection to a local scenario (see under 1.4 Scenario Operation Stages),
i.e. he/she can control model objects and cannot control the model time. The only
difference for the external scenario operator is that the scenario owner can limit
the group of model objects available for the control by the operator.
After the first connection to a common scenario, all the objects are under the control
of the scenario owner. The scenario owner can pass the control of model objects
to other user groups. To this end, he/she selects the ASSIGN CONTROLLER command
from the object’s context menu. The “Assign Controller” window which will appear,
displays a list of all the local configurations connected to the common scenario:
From the list, select the name of the configuration which you wish to pass the object
control to and press “ОК”. To close the “Assign Controller” window without passing
the model object control to another configuration, press the “Cancel” button.
To return the model object control to him/herself, the owner should again select
the ASSIGN CONTROLLER command from its context menu, select the “*” line from
the “Controller” list in the “Assign Controller” window and press “ОК”.
ATTENTION!
Model objects created in a common scenario are under the control of the user group
which created them.
ATTENTION!
The RESPONSE/MANAGE CONTROLLERS menu command is available to the scenario owner only.
When this menu command is selected, the screen displays the “Manage Controllers”
dialogue box which provides a list of all the local configuration which connected
to the scenario:
The “Controller” column provides a list of name of all the remote user groups which
connected to the scenario. The user groups currently connected to the scenario are
marked with “+” in the left hand column of the table. Values in the “Objects” column
stand for the number of model objects controlled by the user group in question.
To switch the control of all the objects belonging to a user group, select this user
group and press the “Assign…” button. In the “Assign Controller” window which will
open up, select the user group which the control of objects is passed to and press
the “OK” button.
The “Remove…” button can be used for removing from the list names of remote
configurations which are currently not connected to the scenario. A press on this
button opens up the “Assign Controller” window in which you should specify the user
group which the control of model objects will be passed to.
The “Close” button closes down the “Manage Controllers” window.
The following elements of the user interface are shown in the figure:
1. Window caption.
2. Menu.
3. Toolbars.
4. Main data window.
5. Contextual menu.
6. Module dialog box.
7. Chart window.
8. Data window.
9. Non-module dialog box.
10. Status bar.
3. Toolbars designed for fast switching of tools and program operational modes
duplicate the menu functions:
5. Dialog box is designed for performing a restricted single task e.g. printing.
Such window contains a small number of control elements for closely
interrelated parameters.
6. Non-modal dialog box doesn’t prevent access to other windows, so there is no need
to close it. As a rule, these are information windows showing sets of interrelated
parameters:
7. Modal dialog box allows the user to enter data within the window only, disabling
access to all other application windows. Only one module dialog box can be
active in the application. The “OK” button saves introduced changes and closes
the window. The “Cancel” button cancels the operation and closes the window:
8. Status bar shows indicators of the application operation mode, the status
of PISCES network, rate of simulation and model time. The left part of the
status bar line shows prompts of the menu items:
The basic informational load is carried by two types of child windows: the chart
window and the data window.
9. Chart window provides graphical representation of the simulation area, while
the data windows provide general-purpose access to all types of objects and
representation of their properties in a textual form.
Several chart windows with different settings can be opened for a scenario.
The category panel (1) contains a tree with names of objects’ categories and
subcategories:
All of them are preset and cannot be edited by the user with the exception of
the categories “Incident Data/Assignments” and “Response resources” showing
assignment structure units and resource structure units, which can be edited by
the user in the process of work.
Only one category can be selected in the category panel. The category panel (2)
displays a list of objects belonging to the selected category:
The object list is a table with object lines and attribute columns. The object panel
hosts only basic attribute columns. The user can perform dynamic setting of number,
type, mutual position and size of the list columns.
Attributes of the object selected in the object panel are displayed in the property
panel (3):
If several objects are selected in the data panel, the property panel displays their
similar properties e.g. course or speed.
The property panel shows the whole set of object attributes, which are represented
by statically arranged control elements: line editors, lists, option buttons, etc.
In case of a large number of attributes they are arranged on several tabs.
The parameter values in the lists and on the property pages can be converted to
different measurement units depending on the operator’s preferences. The context
menu for such field shows the parameter value in different measurement units:
In the “Instructor Workplace” application, only one window can be opened, i.e.
“Data Browser”. It provides structural access to all categories of the given scenario.
In addition to the Data Browser, data views windows containing objects of the same
category can be opened. For example, the weather window shows just weather
conditions:
An up-arrow means the entries are sorted in direct order, while a down-arrow indicates
the reverse order of sorting.
You can select more than one object in the chart window simultaneously. The selected
objects can belong to one data category only, e.g. the current one.
Select an object from the currents category on the chart. Press the left mouse button,
hold it down and draw a rectangular around several objects of different categories:
Depress the left button. It will result in selection of all currents falling into
the selection rectangular:
Please note that response resources have not been selected, therefore the
“Tidal current 12” object selected before can be supplemented with objects from
the currents category only. The objects selected in the chart window will be shown
in the data window as selected too:
The data windows can display simultaneously objects of the same category only.
Select the PROPERTIES command in the context menu of the selected objects.
It will open the “Multiple Objects Properties” window.
This window contains the same fields as the properties window of a single object.
The data in these fields depend on whether or not the field values differ for the
selected objects. If the data coincide, e.g. the object status or its location point,
the field will be filled. If for selected object this field contains different values,
the field in the “Multiple Objects Properties” window will be shown blank.
The field background colour depends on whether or not the field value can be edited.
If the field is white, you can change the value in it, but if it is blue, the field is non-
editable. Colour settings for editable/non-editable fields depend on PISCES II settings
(this is described more fully in the section 8.3.2 Colors of “Read-only” Fields)
and those of the OS.
Then the fields can be edited the same manner as for a single object.
For example, you can specify the “Boom” label in the “Label” field. Then all selected
booms will be shown under the same text label.
The tasks in the list are divided for convenience into several categories:
The statuses “Not started” and “Not available” are set for the task automatically
by the PISCES II program, the user being not able to set them manually.
2.8 LAYOUTS
The data/chart windows can be arranged on the PISCES II screen in a number
of different ways. The system provides several standard window arrangements
designed for optimisation of Instructor’s work, when performing different PISCES II
tasks. These arrangements are called Window Layouts. They can be toggled using
the LAYOUTS item of the WINDOW menu or the buttons on the toolbar.
The layouts provided by PISCES II and the corresponding buttons on the toolbar
are listed in the table below:
Charts Only Layout for work with charts. The screen displays the chart window
and the cursor data window
Weather and Information on weather and currents. The screen displays the chart
Currents window, the weather window, the wind window and the current window
Pollution Pollution information. The screen displays the chart window, the data
browser window, the aerial contamination window, the spill source window,
and the parcel window
Response Response resource information. The screen displays the chart window,
Resources the response resource window and the command panel
Events Event information. The screen displays the chart window, the event script
and the event scenario
Custom Personal user layout. Keep user settings made on the screen
The user can change parameters of any layout, but a change in the preset layouts
will last for one session only or until switching to another layout. The chart scale,
to take one example, will last for a session of work in preset layouts. If different
layouts in the chart window are assigned different scales, they will be retained
throughout switching between layouts within a session.
Any changes in the custom layout will be retained within the given scenario after
the PISCES II session too.
The first group of buttons on the panel is related to scenario playback. The playback
functions are available for the scenario owner only. These commands are disabled in
the operators’ scenario menus, the scenario control toolbar containing just the indicators.
The control buttons are followed by a group of indicators, reading parameters
of scenario operation (scenario time, mode/speed of modelling).
The mode indicator reads the current mode of scenario operation. There are four
modes with corresponding indication as follows:
2.9.1 Start
The “Run Forward” command available in any mode allows starting the scenario
to run forwards.
2.9.2 Stop
The “Stop” command available in any mode allows stopping the scenario playback
(making a pause).
To set a save point, select the SCENARIO/MAKE SAVE POINT command in the
program menu or click the “Make Save Point” button on the scenario
control toolbar.
Use the appeared “Make savepoint” panel to enter the point name in its “Savepoint
name” field, and enter its short description specifying the point in the “Comments” field:
Click the “Save” to save the point or “Cancel” to quit saving it and close the dialog box.
You can set a save point both during scenario playback and when it is stopped. When
a save point is set, the run scenario, in which the model time runs, will be stopped,
unless the scenario is operating in the SYNC real time mode (for more details
of the SYNC mode, see under 2.9.8 SYNC Real Time Mode Real Time Mode).
2.9.4 Reset To
The “Reset To” command is available in the mode of forecast or preparation.
It allows coming back to the scenario beginning or to a save point set previously,
to view the scenario once more or to choose another variant of event development.
To return to an available save point, select the SCENARIO/RESET TO command
in the program menu. Select the point you need in the “Savepoint list”
of the appeared “Reset To” panel. Click the “Reset” button to reset the scenario
to the selected point or “Cancel” to quit and close the dialog box:
2.9.5 Jump To
The “Jump To” command available in all modes allows running the scenario at
a maximum speed possible determined by computer capacity (this is described
more fully in the 1.5 Model Time section), and stopping it automatically upon
reaching the specified “Jump to” time.
At the top you can see the “Current model time” non-editable field showing
the current model time.
To jump, you can specify the interval to skip in the scenario in the “Jump interval”
field or specify exact time in the “Jump To” field.
When time is entered in the “Jump interval” field, the “Jump to” value will be
automatically translated in accordance with the following equation:
“Jump to” = “Current model time” + “Jump interval”
Having specified the time, to which the scenario should jump, click the “Jump” button
to start scenario winding or “Cancel” to quit jumping and close the dialog box.
2.9.7 Speed
The “Speed” parameter allows the modelling speed to be varied (this is described
more fully in the 1.5 Model Time section) in all modes.
A right click on the indicator or the SCENARIO/SPEED command in the program menu
opens a list to choose and set the required speed from:
To synchronise the scenario time with the computer clock, select the SYNC item
from the context menu of the modelling speed meter on the toolbar.
You can also use the SCENARIO/SPEED/SYNC menu command. The SCENARIO/SPEED/SYNC
menu command and the SYNC command from the context menu of the modelling
speed meter on the toolbar are only available in the Preparation and Conduct
modes.
If the scenario time differs from the current computer time by less than
an hour, the program will switch to the SYNC mode, and the display will
show a SYNC(m) format line where m is the actual modelling speed.
If the scenario time differs from the current computer time by more than an hour,
the screen will display a warning.
In this case, in order to switch to the synchronous mode, you can change the scenario
start time so that the scenario time does not differ from the current computer time
by more than an hour (for more details see 2.9.10 Scenario Properties).
To turn off the mode of synchronising with the computer clock, select any modelling
speed in the SCENARIO/SPEED menu or from the context menu of the speed meter on
the toolbar (for more details see 2.9.7 Speed). The synchronising mode will turn
off when any operation on the model time is performed (pause, jump over a time
interval, scenario rollback to the save point).
Edit the scenario start time as required in “Scenario start” field. Use “Time zone” field
to set the time determining the modelling area time zone. From “3D Scene” list, you
can select one of installed 3D scenes (for more details of 3D scene installation see
PISCES II (V. 2.90). INSTALLATION GUIDE). If the license lets joint operations
via internet, the “Public” option will be shown. Switch on this option to get external
access to scenario (for more details see 1.8.2 Work with Common Scenario).
After changing the scenario properties press “OK” to save changes or “Cancel”
to exit from the dialogue box without making changes.
2.11 3D VISUALIZATION
PISCES II can show scenario objects in the 3D visualization. The visualization
system allows representation of the environment, i.e. the water space, moving
sea surface vessels and aircraft, response resources and oil spill.
The scene where the action takes place is selected at the scenario creation time.
PISCES II 3D visualisation uses 3D scenes and object models produced by Transas;
these should be bought separately and installed as per the license. For more details
of 3D scene and model installation see PISCES II (V. 2.90). INSTALLATION GUIDE,
sections 1.4 Installation of Visual Scenes and 1.5 Visual Models Installation).
When the scenario is created the time zone is also specified in “Time zone” field, this
affecting the time of the day shown on 3D visualisation. To change the time zone
or 3D scene where the scenario objects are shown, use the scenario properties window
opened by using SCENARIO/SCENARIO PROPERTIES menu command.
The 3D visualization task is run via the router in the same manner as the other
PISCES II tasks. After running the task, while the scenario is not connected to the
3D visualization channel, the screen is covered by the “PISCES 3D” screen saver.
The 3D visualization system is provided with data on the following scenario objects:
• Oil spill;
• Deployed booms;
• Deployed skimmers;
• Platforms, for which the 3D model is specified in the properties pane
of the “3D Model” field on the “Features” page;
• Dispersant spraying from the “Aircraft” type platforms.
2.11.1 Viewpoints
A viewpoint specifies observer’s position and his view direction onto the 3D scene.
To create a viewpoint, select CREATE VIEWPOINT menu command in the INCIDENT DATA/
VIEWPOINTS item context menu:
The fields “Name” and “Label” are used to specify the object name and text label
to be displayed in the chart panel.
The user specifies the viewpoint coordinates in the “Latitude/Longitude” field. The
fields “Altitude”, “Direction”, “Pitch” specify the observer’s position at the observation
point. The “Altitude” field specifies the observer’s altitude, the “Direction” field shows
the observer’s view direction, while the “Pitch” field shows his angle of sight.
Having specified all viewpoint parameters, click “Set to chart”. The mouse
cursor in the chart window will assume the following form:
Specify the position of the viewpoint on chart by a click. The specified spot
will exhibit the created viewpoint’s icon in the form of a pair of binoculars:
You can edit the created viewpoint using the PROPERTIES context menu command.
See the commands of the context menu in the table below:
Command Purpose
PROPERTIES Invoking the object property panel
MOVE ICON Allowing object movement
HIDE/SHOW LABEL Hiding /showing the object label
2.12.1 Print
The FILE/PRINT menu command allows printing the contents of any chart window open in
the scenario, or data. Select this command in the menu. It will invoke the “Print” window:
The “Printer” field in the upper part of the window indicates the name of the system
default printer.
The drop-down “Window” list can be used to select the window to be printed from.
The list shows the window name and the current scale for chart windows.
The “Print Range” option buttons allow setting a sequence of printing chart window
records: “All” – to print all records, “Selected” – to print the selected ones.
The “Print Header” group of options allows setting the printout header look. If you select
all option of the “Print Header” group, the header will have the following appearance
<Printed window header >-<Exercise name>-<Scenario name>-<Scenario time>-
<Model time>. If an option in the “Print Header” group is not selected, the corresponding
header part will not be printed.
Having set all options, click “OK” to start printing the selected window or “Cancel”
to close the dialog box.
Use the “File name” field to specify location and name of the file to export the chart
contents to.
The “Cyclic Export” checkbox allows regular export of the chart window to the file.
If you choose this mode, specify the interval to be used for saving the chart window
contents in the “Period” field. The default interval is 60 seconds of model time.
Click the “OK” button to save the chart window contents to the file or “Cancel”
to discard changes and close the dialog box.
In the window which will open up, select the necessary window name from the list
and press the “OK” button to export data or the “Cancel” button to close the “Export
to file” window without data export.
To export part of data, select the necessary lines by using the <Shift> + <left mouse
click>. You can switch the line selection by using the <Ctrl> + <left mouse click>.
Then select the EXPORT SELECTED DATA TO FILE… command from the heading context
menu. In the window which will open up, select the necessary data window name
from the list and press the “OK” button to export data, or the “Cancel” button to close
the “Export to file” window without data export
DCW format is used for storing topographical land maps containing descriptions
of terrain, water bodies, information on communications, inhabited localities, etc.
(see the figure below):
PISCES II works with navigational charts of TX97 format, the same charts being
used for coastline import. DCW format charts are taken advantage of, when the
land situation is to be represented in greater detail e.g. terrain relief, roads, inhabited
localities, aerodromes, etc.
Commands for working with charts are located under the TOOLS item of the program
menu; also they are duplicated in the toolbar:
To display the chart, it is necessary to load it to PISCES II using the “Load Chart”
command.
Select the command TOOLS/LOAD CHART in the program menu or click the
“Load Chart” button on the toolbar.
Select a chart for the region concerned featuring a sufficient level of detail and click
on its boundary. The chart will be loaded into PISCES II. The loaded chart border
will be shown as a thick line:
If the borders of some charts are situated nearby and we try to load one of
this charts the window containing the list of all this charts would appear. Choose
an item from the list and press “OK” to load it, or “Cancel” to close this window.
Files with protected charts are installed under license. If the protected but not licensed
chart files are placed in the PISCES II/Chart folder, an attempt to load them will result
in display of the chart borders only, but the charts per se cannot be loaded.
Select the TOOLS/UNLOAD CHART command in the program menu or click the
“Unload Chart” button on the toolbar.
Select the chart to be loaded and click on its boundary. The chart will be unloaded
from PISCES II. It will be marked in the chart window by a thin borderline instead
of the thick one.
The additional chart layers of PISCES II behave similar to those of the base system.
If none of the tools is activated, the mouse cursor serves as an indicator for
selection of model objects. The selected model objects can be edited. The object
context menu is opened with the right-hand button. For selection you can use the
mouse buttons and the modifier keys. If the model objects are selected in the table
windows, they are highlighted in the chart windows and vice versa.
The chart layer visibility and icon display settings form a set of settings which can be
saved for a fast change of the chart view and for use in other scenarios. In PISCES
II, there are several standard default sets.
• All objects;
• Modelling objects –PISCES objects, the chart is turned off;
• Navigational – all the chart’s navigational layers, the field of currents is turned off;
• Oil Spill – field of current, spill, there is only shore on the chart;
• Response – without field of currents, on the chart there is shore and depth contours.
The set of settings is selected from the pull-down list in the bottom part of the
“Chart View Control Panel” window on the “Overlays” and “Object display” tabs.
You can change the settings and save your own set. To do this, enter the set name
in the field in the bottom part of the chart window control panel and press the “Save”
button. To apply subsequently the saved set of settings to the active chart window,
you will only have to select it from the list.
To delete the unnecessary set of settings, select it from the list and press the “Delete”
button.
A list of cursor parameters shown in the “Cursor Data” tab is given in the table below:
Parameter Value
Lat Source latitude
Lon Source longitude
Ref Reference point coordinates
Dist Distance to reference
Brg Bearing to reference point
Rings Distance between range rings
The “Rescale” command shows the cursor position in a chart fragment corresponding
to the one in the chart window. Click the “Rescale” button in the cursor data window .
The cursor data window will show an area covered by the current chart window
with a 30 % margin. A cross-like cursor in the window duplicates position of the
main cursor of the system.
The “Whole World” command changes the scale so that the cursor data window
could hold the entire world map. Click the “Whole World” button in the cursor data
window . The cursor data window will display the world map, indicating cursor
position on it.
The “Cursor Data” tab allows to change also scale of an active chart window and to
set position of the center of a chart. For change of scale of a chart move the mouse
to the “Cursor Data” tab, click the left mouse button and draw a rectangular of the
future boundaries of the visible area. Release the left key of a mouse. The active chart
window will be regenerated in the specified borders. It is possible to set position
of the center of an active chart window by click of the left mouse button in the
“Cursor Data” tab.
Layer Control
The navigational charts contain a lot of information. Not all of this information
is required for working. The “Overlays” tab allows the informational layer
representation on the chart to be set.
For the layers edited by the user (incident area objects, pollution, resources),
you can set the “read-only” mode to protect them against unauthorized changes.
For this purpose, click next to the required layer to have the “lock” icon appeared .
The layer will be protected against any modification up to the moment of removing
the lockout device.
In the “Overlays” tab you can use the Windows-standard function of collapsing/expanding
the lists and their individual branches. A full list of PISCES II layers with brief comments
is given in the table below:
Chartg Chart
Raster Images Raster images, loaded by the user on top of own chart
layers
Pollution Pollution
Boom Boom
Dispersant Dispersant
Equipment Equipment
Platform Platform
Object Display
The “Object display” tab in the chart view control panel allows the way the icons
of resources and other objects are displayed, to be adjusted.
For objects shown on the chart, the exact direction of their motion can be shown
as a speed vector, the speed value is shows with hatches on the vector.
Option buttons in the top left corner of the panel allow the display of course vectors
and speed marks to be turned on.
The meanings of these option buttons are described in more detail in the table below.
Option Description
Vector If this option is turned on, the resource motion direction is shown with the speed vector
Speed marks Turns on the display of speed marks on the speed vectors. The speed marks
can be shown in different ways depending on the speed of the resource:
• at a speed of up to 5 knots, the speed marks are placed one for each knot
and have a form of hatches:
• at a speed of more than 20 knots, the speed mark has a form of an arrow:
Icon Turns on/off the display of object icons on the chart. If this button is turned off,
all the objects on the chart are shown as points
Buttons in the “Icon size” group allow selection of the size of icons shown on
the chart: large, small and varying automatically to suit the scale. The meanings
of buttons are described in more detail in the table below:
Description Button
At any chart scale, large size modelled object icons are shown
At any chart scale, small size modelled object icons are shown
The icon size depends on the scale. With the scale reduction, icons of modelled objects
first decrease in size and are then replaced with a point to declutter the screen
Option buttons in the “Label source” group allow determining the data source which
a label to be displayed in the chart window is taken from.
Data source Description
None Labels are no displayed in the chart window for any objects
Name For each object, the chart window shows a value set in the object properties window
in the “Name” field
Label For each object, the chart window shows a value set in the object properties window
in the “Label” field
Call sign For the resources, the chart window shows a value set in the properties window
on the “Characteristics” tab in the “Call sign” field (for more details see under
6.1.3 General Response Resource Parameters).
For the rest of objects, no labels are shown in the chart window
MMSI For the resources, the chart window shows a value set in the properties window
on the “Characteristics” tab in the “MMSI” field (for more details see under
6.1.3 General Response Resource Parameters).
For the rest of objects, no labels are shown in the chart window
Lloyd’s number For the resources, the chart window shows a value set in the properties window
on the “Characteristics” tab in the “Lloyd’s number” field.
For the rest of objects, no labels are shown in the chart window (for more details see
under 6.1.3 General Response Resource Parameters)
The commands “Moving Symbol” and “Moving Polygon” allow the creation
of a movable icon/area, for which all changes of coordinates made in the process
of scenario execution will be remembered.
Symbol
The ADD INFO/SYMBOL… command allows adding an icon in the chart window,
and specifying its coordinates, pointlike object and text label.
Select the ADD INFO/SYMBOL… command to open the “Symbol Properties” panel:
Specify the icon name in the “Name” field and its text label in the “Label” field.
Usually an abbreviated name is used as a text label.
Set the coordinates in “Lat.” and “Lon.” fields and press “OK” button, or press
“Set to chart” button and indicate the desired on-chart object position with the mouse.
To change the icon for the object, select the icon in the chart panel
and select the PROPERTIES command the context menu.
Click the following area in the appeared panel:
Select a suitable icon and press “OK” to set it or “Cancel” to cancel
icon change and close the dialog box.
Click “OK” in “Symbol Properties” to save the icon change on chart, or “Cancel”
to cancel editing and close the dialog box.
Movable Icon
Assignment of a movable icon is performed in much the same fashion as specification
of an icon in the scenario. The only exception is that for such an object all changes
of coordinates during scenario execution will be remembered, and it will be displayed
during scenario viewing in the debriefing mode. For an unmovable icon, for example,
only the position specified last will be saved for subsequent debriefing.
Area
The ADD INFO/POLYGON… command allows adding a polygonal area in the chart window.
Selection of this command results in appearance of the “Polygon Properties” panel:
Parameters of the area, which can be specified using this panel, are described
in the table below:
Parameter Value
Name Polygon name
Label Text label (usually an abbreviated name)
Filling Style Filling style
Filling Colour Filling colour
Icon Colour Icon colour
Outline Colour Area border colour
Having specified area parameters, click the “Set To Chart” button to specify object
form/position on the chart or “Cancel” to cancel area creation and close the dialog
box. Use your mouse to specify vertices of the polygon and right click to save the
specified field, or press <Escape>, to exit the mode of polygon assignment.
To change the object icon, select an area in the chart panel and click
the PROPERTIES command from the context menu.
Select a suitable icon and press “OK” to set it or “Cancel” to cancel icon change
and close the dialog box.
Click “OK” in the “Polygon Properties” window to save polygon icon change on chart,
or “Cancel” to cancel area editing.
Movable Area
Specification of a movable area is performed in much the same fashion as specification
of an area in the scenario. The only exception is that for such an object all changes
of coordinates during scenario execution will be remembered, and it will be displayed
during scenario viewing in the debriefing mode. For an unmovable area, for example,
only the position specified last will be saved for subsequent debriefing.
Text
The ADD INFO/TEXT… command allows adding a text block in the chart window.
Selection of this command results in appearance of the “Text Box Properties”
panel containing the tabs “Text” and “Style And Colours”:
Parameters of the text block, which can be specified using this panel, are described
in the table below:
Parameter Value
Name Block name
Text Text input field. When text is entered, to move to the next line,
press keys <Ctrl> + <Enter>
Alignment Text alignment in the block
Filling Style Presence and type of filling (shading)
Font Size Font size
Margin Size Text block margin size
Bold Bold font
Parameter Value
Italic Oblique font
Border Availability of block borders
Colours
Text Font colour
Box Block background colour
Filling Filling colour
Having specified the parameters, click the “Set To Chart” button to specify block
position on the chart (the cursor indicates position of the block centre).
Click “OK” in the “Text Box Properties” window to place the created block
on the chart or “Cancel” to quit block creation and close the dialog box.
Raster Image
The ADD INFO/RASTER IMAGE… command allows adding a raster image in the chart
window, i.e. a graphical file of BMP format with 256 colours. Selection of this
command results in appearance of the “GeoRefImage Properties” panel:
Specify the file to load the image from: select the file in the “Image” drop-down list
or click the “Import” button and specify the required file on the disk.
Use the “Name” field to specify the name for the image.
Then it is necessary to define image position on the chart, by specifying two control
points “Point1” and “Point2”. By default, these points are located in the upper left
corner and the lower tight corner, respectively. In the image coordinate system,
the upper left corner has coordinates “0,0”, while the coordinates of the lower right
corner are equal to image width and height in pixels.
Click the “Set to chart” button and specify geographical coordinates for “Point1”
and “Point2.
The control points are not to be necessarily positioned in the image corners.
They might be set so as to coincide with some significant objects in the image.
First, supplement the chart with the graphical file with reference control points at
the image corners. Right click on the orange border of the image and via the context
menu select the command SET POINT 1. The cursor will assume the following form: .
Specify the first significant point on the image (e.g. a lighthouse, a cape or an
inhabited locality). Right click again on the orange border of the image and via the
context menu select the command SET POINT 2. The cursor will assume the following
form: . Specify the second significant point in the image.
Now it is necessary to specify the coordinates of the control points. Select the
“Properties” command in the image context menu. Use the appeared property
window to specify coordinates of the control points in the fields “Point 1”[Lat/Lon],
“Point 2”[Lat/Lon]. Click the “OK” button to place the image on the chart or “Cancel”
to cancel the image movement and close the dialog box.
For convenience of placing the image, the segments of the same colour can be
made transparent. To this effect, select the SET TRANSPARENCY command in the image
context menu and use your mouse to indicate the colour to be made transparent.
To undo color transparency, select again the SET TRANSPARENCY command and press
<Alt> on the keyboard. Holding down <Alt>, use your mouse to specify the image
area to make the corresponding color non-transparent.
It is not advisable to place images of more than 100 km dimensions on the chart,
as in this case the picture will feature strong distortions.
3.3.4 Revert
The “Revert” command provides returning to the previous state of the chart window.
Actually, the command cancels the last setting made in the chart window. PISCES II
preserves a list of 32 recent settings of the chart window.
To return to the previous state of the chart window, select the TOOLS/REVERT
command of the program menu or click the “Revert” button on
the toolbar. The chart window will revert to the previous state.
3.3.5 Centre
The “Centre” command will move the specified point to the centre of the chart window.
Select the command CENTRE in the TOOLS menu or click the “Centre” button
on the toolbar. The cursor will assume the following form: . Specify
the point on the chart to be moved to the chart centre.
To change position of the centre of a chart it is possible as with the help of a mouse
scroll wheel. To move the centre of a chart upright you should move mouse scroll
wheel, to move the centre across – you should move mouse scroll wheel at the
pressed key <Shift> on the keyboard.
Select the TOOLS/ZOOM command of the program menu or click the “Zoom”
button on the toolbar. The cursor will assume the following form: . Press
the left mouse button, draw a rectangular of the future boundaries of the visible
area on the chart. Click the left mouse button again. The chart window will be
regenerated in the specified boundaries.
3.3.7 Scale up
The “Scale Up” command allows the scale of the chart window to be increased.
Select the command TOOLS/SCALE UP in the program menu or click the “Scale
Up” button on the toolbar. The chart will be represented at a greater scale.
You can increase a scale by moving mouse scroll down at the pressed
key <Ctrl> on the keyboard.
3.3.9 Ruler
The “Ruler” command shows range/bearing to the selected point.
Select the TOOLS/RULER command in the menu or click the “Ruler” button on
the toolbar. The cursor will assume the following form: . Indicate the
start point or the object to measure the range to. PISCES II
will show the range/bearing to the point/object.
Select the REFERENCE POINT command in the TOOLS menu or click the
“Reference Point” on the toolbar. The cursor will assume the following
form: . Indicate on the chart the range ring reference point.
Select the CHART INFO command from the TOOLS menu or press the
information on chart toolbar button. The cursor will assume the following
form: .
Click the left mouse button on an object on the loaded ТХ97 chart (for more details
of chart loading see 3.1.1 Chart Load). The screen will display the “Chart Info”,
dialogue box containing navigational information on the selected object and on
the chart on the whole.
If several mutually overlapping ТХ97 charts are loaded, data on the topmost
(last loaded) chart will be displayed.
Enter the name of the view to be saved into the upper field. Click “Save” to save
the current view or “Cancel” to cancel saving and close the dialog box.
Use the list on your left to select the chart view you need. Click the “Open” button
to load the view or “Cancel” to quit view loading and close the dialog box.
If the “Open in new window” checkbox is checked, the view to be loaded will open
in a new chart window rather than in the current one.
The field to the left contains a list of available views. Those not needed for subsequent
work can be deleted with the aid of the “Delete” button.
The “Cancel” button allows exit from the “Open view” panel.
The factors influencing spill behaviour in the PISCES II model belong to two groups,
i.e. geographical objects and variable parameters of environment conditions.
Among the geographical objects are the exercise area, coastline and environmental
sensitive areas. Geographical objects are specified on the chart as polygonal areas.
Environment parameters, e.g. weather conditions, are specified in PISCES II
for the whole scenario period in the form of table-driven functions. During scenario
execution, the program interpolates the input data in the way providing continuous
changes of parameters.
Select a scale and level of chart detail for the given scenario (this is described more
fully in Chapter 3) and click the “Define” button to specify the impact area.
The cursor in the chart window will assume the following form:
Use your mouse to specify vertices of the polygon, and right click to save
the specified field, or press <Escape>, to exit the mode of polygon assignment.
The impact area boundaries are represented in the form of a thin dotted orange line:
The polygon defining the impact area can be edited: dragged, vertice added/deleted.
When the impact area boundaries will take their finished form, click the “Complete”
button on the yellow field in the upper part of the chart window.
This action finishes assignment of impact area, the scenario switching over from
the initialisation mode to the exercise preparation mode. The yellow warning strip
will disappear. The mode indicator on the toolbar will change its “Init” value for the
“PREPARATION” one, and the background colour will change for green. The status
of the task “Impact Area” in the “Scenario checklist” window will change for
“Completed”, and a green tick will appear the list.
ATTENTION!
The impact area is specified at the stage of scenario initialisation prior to its start.
After start, the impact area boundaries cannot be edited. If you need to edit the
impact area after starting the scenario, you have to bring it back to the starting point.
For this purpose select the SCENARIO/RESET TO menu command and the
“Start scenario” point in the appeared list of saved points.
After selecting the ENVIRONMENT/SET IMPACT AREA command of the menu or the INCIDENT DATA
SETUP/INCIDENT AREA item of the “Scenario checklist” window context menu, the sequence of
actions is similar to specification of impact area at the initialisation stage.
It is sometimes necessary to edit the impact area in a scenario after the setting of the
coastline (for more details of the coastline see the next section 4.2 Coastline). In this
case, after the impact area boundaries have been changed in the chart window, or
ENVIRONMENT/SET IMPACT AREA menu command has been selected, the following message
will appear:
Press “Yes” for the entire coastline to be deleted after the setting of a new area, or
“No” if you wish to save the set coastline, or “Cancel” to cancel the impact area editing.
4.2 COASTLINE
The next scenario preparation task is specification of the coastline. The entire
coastline can be specified manually, if you wish so, by sequential creation
of coastline parcels using the ENVIRONMENT/CREATE ISLAND menu command.
It is advisable to first import a piece of shore from a suitable navigational chart,
and then to edit individual parcels manually, if necessary.
You can get access to the coastline edit commands through the ENVIRONMENT
menu or the coastline context menu in the chart window. Partial access to
these commands is also possible through the COASTLINE context menu item
in the “Scenario checklist” task list.
Complicated cases of coastline import might take quite a long time. If it takes more
than 3 seconds, the “Coastline Import” window with a warning will appear:
The “Triangulation of imported coastline data will take about” field shows the
approximate time of import. Click “OK” to continue coastline import or “Cancel”
to interrupt it.
To get more detailed information on the coast, you might need a greater scale
chart. The figure below demonstrates that a large-scale chart gives a more exact
presentation of the shore, and the coastline imported before from a small-scale
chart will not coincide with the image on this chart:
Enter the growth value and press “Yes” to extend the chart boundaries, or press
“No” to import coast from the charts with unchanged boundaries.
Select the coastline using your mouse. Press the left mouse button, hold it down and
draw a rectangular around the group of vertices to be edited. Depress the left-hand
button. Now the selected group can be added vertices with the aid of <Shift> + <Left-
click> or selection of vertices can be toggled on and off by <Ctrl> + <Left-click>.
To remove vertices, select the DELETE POINTS command of the coastline context menu
in the chart window. The selected vertices will be deleted, and the coastline will be
regenerated subject to these changes.
The selected vertices can also be moved. For this purpose, drag the selected
group of points to a new place by pressing the mouse left-hand button. Depress it,
when the points will be in the required position.
The mouse cursor in the chart window will assume the following form:
Use your mouse to specify vertices of the polygon defining the new island and press
the right-hand button to save the created island or <Escape> to exit the polygon
specification mode.
Specify coastline type in the “Type” drop-down list in accordance with exercise
conditions. Types of ground supported by PISCES II are given in the list below:
• coral;
• gravel/cobble;
• mixed sand gravel;
• mud;
• peat/tundra scarp;
• rock;
• sand.
Click “OK” to save the entered data or “Cancel” to finish input and exit the dialog box.
4.2.6 Parcels
Coastline consists of vertices connected by segments. The segments can be combined
under a specified name to a coastline parcel. For example, you can select a coastline
parcel related to a beach or an environmental sensitive area and give it a unique name.
Specification of parcels is required for timely tracing of spilled oil statistics on pollution-
sensitive fragments of shore (beaches, protected zones, inhabited localities, etc.).
Right after coastline import, all its segments are related by default to a single parcel,
which is called “Unassigned”.
The COASTLINE item of the “Data Browser” window lists the parcels composing
the coastline. Their parameters are listed in the table below:
Field Description
Name Parcel name (editable field)
Length Coastline length (non-editable field)
Type Ground type (described more fully in the section 4.2.5 Coastline Type)
Stranded oil Spilled oil statistics (non-editable field)
Recovered oil Amount recovered oil on shore by shore cleanup equipment (non-editable field)
Recovered oil and soil Amount recovered mixture soil/oil on shore by shore cleanup equipment
(non-editable field)
To combine several coastline segments to a parcel, select the coastline using your
mouse. Press the left mouse button, hold it down and draw a rectangular around the
part of the coastline to be a parcel. Depress the left-hand button. The selected group
can be added vertices with the aid of <Shift> + <Left-click> or selection of vertices
can be toggled on and off by <Ctrl> + <Left-click>:
Having selected the required vertices and coastline segment for the group, select
the ASSIGN PARCEL item of the coastline context menu. The “Parcels” dialog window
will appear:
Click the “New Parcel” button and specify a name for the new parcel in the appeared
“Create Parcel” dialog box:
Click the “Create” to close the dialog. The newly created parcel will appear
automatically selected in the “Parcels” list:
Click the “OK” button, to combine the selected coastline segments under the specified
name or “Cancel” to cancel the combination and close the dialog. The line with the name
of the new parcel will appear in the “Data Browser” window under the “Coastline” category:
You can combine the selected segments under an existing name, if necessary.
It is usually done, if there are new data on the number/position of the segments
comprising the given parcel or if the coastline has been redefined. For this purpose
select the ASSIGN PARCEL command, then select the required name in the “Parcels”
list and click “OK”.
Specify the ground type for the created parcel. The sequence of actions is similar
to one described under 4.2.5 Coastline Type.
Specify, in the form of parcels, all coastline fragments, for which the spilled oil
statistics should be known as required by the exercise conditions.
ATTENTION!
All changes of the shape of coastline are introduced at the stage of scenario
preparation prior to its start only. After scenario start the coastline cannot be edited.
If you need to edit the coastline after starting the scenario, you have to return it to
the starting point. For this purpose select the SCENARIO/RESET TO menu command and
the “Start scenario” point in the appeared list of saved points. Then specify the
coastline as you did at the scenario preparation stage.
The chart window will display vectors corresponding to the computed values.
The basic vectors are shown navy-blue; while the vectors computed from the basic
one are blue:
Variation of the field of currents with time can be checked visually by running
the scenario forward at a high rate of simulation.
For this purpose, click the “Play Forward” on the toolbar or select the command item
SCENARIO/RUN FORWARD in the menu and set simulation rate, e.g. 1:60 or higher.
On the next drawing, a surface current vector us added to the initial flow field. It can
be seen that the flow field has changed uniformly throughout the entire modelling
area due to the superposition of the initial “north” and added “west” current.
The mouse cursor in the chart window will assume the following form:
Indicate position of the created current vector on the chart using your mouse.
The program will create the current vector at the specified point and open the
properties window for this vector.
Click the “Edit table” to open the “Speed and direction” dialog window containing
the velocity/direction value table depending on the time for this vector:
To augment the table with a value line, click the “Insert” button. The context menu
for the velocity/direction values allows the required measurement units to be set.
The “Delete” button allows deletion of needless lines from the table.
Enter necessary data on the vector and click the “OK” button to save the table for
the created vector or “Cancel” to interrupt parameter input and exit the dialog box.
Freshly created vectors are called the “basic vectors”. PISCES II uses them
for computation of the field of currents values at each point of the impact area.
Having specified the field of currents according to the exercise conditions, visually
check the obtained field at a high simulation speed.
The vector parameters editable using this panel are described in the table below:
The “Table” button on the panel is designed for viewing and/or editing the velocity/
direction value table for the selected current vector.
The “Import from” group buttons make it possible to import a current vector again.
Clicking the “T&C Database” button leads to iterated import of a current from the
database of tidal and surface climatic currents, containing systematic information
collected from official hard copy charts, current atlases and various tables.
For more details of importing base current vectors from the built-in database
see 4.3.4 Import of Basic Field of Currents Vectors.
The “File” button from the Export to group buttons allows import of the table
containing relation between the velocity/direction of the current and the model
time from the <file name>.srf file in case of a surface current or from the <file
name>.tdl file in case of a tidal current. For more details of importing base current
vectors from a file see 4.3.5 Import and Export of Current Base Vectors to File.
To import vector within the impact area, select the ENVIRONMENT/T&C DATABASE menu
item. The “Import currents” dialog window will appear:
In this window, use “Import time” field to set the period which the data will be
imported for. The change of current will be imported for the set time period only,
after this the current will be considered as constant. You can enter the period value
manually directly to the “Import time” field or choose of the specified by default
in the fields “Maximum import time” or “Default import time”:
• the “Maximum import time” field shows the maximum duration of the period,
for which currents can be imported. Usually it is 120 hours;
• the “Default import time” field shows the period value set in PISCES II
by default. Usually it is 72 hours.
Select the value you need (maximum or default one) and click the “Set”, or enter
time directly in the “Import time” field.
Now you have to specify types for the currents you are going to import: surface
currents and/or tidal currents. To do so it is sufficient to check the required
checkboxes:
Click “OK” to import the currents or “Cancel” not to do so and exit the dialog box.
The program imports currents only within the impact area. The current database
might lack data for the area. In such case, a message about absence of data will
be displayed:
ATTENTION!
If currents are imported not at the zero time point, the data to be imported are only
those, starting from the current model time. For the times, which are less than the
current model time, the current velocities and direction are equal to 0.
To export currents to a file, it is necessary to enter the common part of the names
of the files, to which the data are to be exported. For this purpose, click the “Browse”
button and specify the path to and the name of created files. By default, the files will
be created in the current working folder, and the common part of the names of the
files will coincided with the scenario name. The specified name and path to the files,
where the data are to be exported, will be shown in the line “Path and base name”
at the bottom of the window:
Click the “OK” button, to export to the file or “Cancel” not to do that and close the
dialog box. On completion of data export, a window with an export result message
will appear:
ATTENTION!
No label of any current can contain symbols \ /: * ? “ < >. Otherwise, the whole field
of currents will not be exported.
The created files can be edited manually or added with data obtained from external
sources, and loaded to a PISCES scenario.
To load data on a field of currents from a file, use the ENVIRONMENT/GET FROM FILE menu
command to open the “Import” window:
Click the “Browse” button and specify the file to import data from. Selection of the
file in the “Import” window will result in unblocking selection of the parameters, data
on which are contained in the selected file as well as in the cognominal files located
in the same folder.
Check the “Surface currents” and/or “Tidal currents” checkboxes, if the latter are not
disabled. Click the “OK” button to import currents, or “Cancel” to close the dialog box
without any change event scrip to the existing field of currents.
On completion of import, a window with current import results will appear:
ATTENTION!
If currents are imported not at the zero time point, the data to be imported are only
those, starting from the current model time. For the times, which are less than the
current model time, the current velocities and direction are equal to 0, if the imported
current did not existed before, or if the current velocity/direction were left
unchanged.
Please note that the impact area boundaries are not taken into consideration during
current import from a file as contrary to import from the inbuilt database. All currents
specified in the <file name>.foc file will be imported whatever their coordinates.
The context menu of the map of currents contains two commands: EDIT and DELETE.
Select EDIT command from the context menu. A window with properties of the map
of currents will open up:
Parameters of the map of current which are displayed in the properties window,
are described in the table below:
Parameter name Description of parameter
Name Name of map of currents
Label Text label shown on the chart
Reference point: Coordinates of the centre of the map-of-currents rectangular area:
• Lat; • Latitude;
• Lon • Longitude
Width Width of the map-of-currents rectangular area
Height Length of the map-of-currents rectangular area
Dimensions Number of points in which the current direction and velocity is ser, vertically
and horizontally. In the rest of map-of-currents points, the field of currents
is calculated form the set values
Superposition Option for taking into account base current vectors. If this option is off,
base vectors of tidal and climatic currents are not taken into account
in constructing a field of currents within the map of currents
To delete a map of currents, select DELETE command from its context menu.
An entry on the imported map of currents will appear in the data navigator
in “Environment/Currents” category.
The first line of the map-of-currents description contains the name of the map
of currents closed in tags <Name></Name>, e.g:
<Name>Ladoga lake, spring, wind 11.02, N-W</Name>
</WindValue>
<Season type=”AnnualInterval”>
<Begin type=”Date”>
After the description of conditions for calculating the map of currents, set
in <GeoRectangle></GeoRectangle> tags is the position of the map
of currents on the chart. The table below lists map-of-currents parameters
in <GeoRectangle></GeoRectangle> block, which determine the geographic
referencing of the map of currents:
Name Purpose
<ReferencePoint type="Position"> Specifies the latitude and longitude
<Latitude type="Angle" (in degrees) of the field-of – currents
Unit="degrees">Latitude</Latitude> centre in degrees. The negative
<Longitude type="Angle" latitude value means that the map-
Unit="degrees">Longitude</Longitude> of-currents centre is situated in the
south hemisphere. With the setting
</ReferencePoint>
of a negative longitude, the map
of currents will be situated in the
western hemisphere
<Rotation type="Angle" Angle between a side of the map
Unit="degrees">Angle</Rotation> of currents and the meridian
<Rectangle> Dimensions of rectangular
<Width type="Distance" Unit="m">Width</Width> map-of -currents area
<Height type="Distance" Unit="m">Height</Height>
</Rectangle>
After the description of the geographic referencing of the map of currents there is a
<SpeedVectorsPlanes></ SpeedVectorsPlanes> block, which determine the
number of plans and their operation time. The format of this block is provided below:
<SpeedVectorPlanes type="Container" Columns=”number of points
along the width of rectangular map-of-currents area, in which
current speed and direction are set” Rows=” number of points
along the length of rectangular map-of-currents area, in which
current speed and direction are set” AngleUnit=”degrees”
SpeedUnit=”m/s” TimeUnit="DD.MM.YYYY HH:MM">
<Item type="Plane">
<Time> DD.MM.YYYY HH:MM </Time>
<RawDataOfSpeedVectors></RawDataOfSpeedVectors>
</Item>
<Item type="Plane">
<Time> DD.MM.YYYY HH:MM </Time>
<RawDataOfSpeedVectors></RawDataOfSpeedVectors>
</Item>
…
</SpeedVectorPlanes >
The format of a block of data determining a field of currents within the map
of currents is provided below:
<RawDataOfSpeedVectors>
current speed in m/s current direction in degrees
current speed in m/s current direction in degrees
…
</RawDataOfSpeedVectors>
The chart window will display vectors corresponding to the computed values.
The basic vectors are shown with bold green lines; while the vectors computed
from the basic one are shown in thin green lines:
The wind vector length depends on the wind speed; in addition, at the beginning of
each vector there is a “feathering” meaning the wind force. A long feather
corresponds to the 5 m/s speed, a short feather – 2 m/s.
To augment the table with a value line, click the “Insert” button. The context menu
for the velocity/direction values allows the required measurement units to be set.
The context menu can also be used for selecting the wind direction setting method:
where the wind is blowing from and to.
The “Delete” button allows deletion of needless lines from the table.
Enter necessary data on the vector and click the “OK” button to save the table for
the created vector or “Cancel” to interrupt parameter input and exit the dialog box.
Freshly created vectors are called the “basic vectors”. PISCES II uses them
for computation of the field of winds values at each point of the impact area.
Having specified the field of winds according to the exercise conditions, visually
check the obtained field at a high simulation speed.
For this purpose, click the “Play Forward” on the toolbar or select the command item
SCENARIO/RUN FORWARD in the menu and set simulation rate, e.g. 1:60 or higher.
The vector parameters editable using this panel are described in the table below:
The “Table” button on the panel is designed for viewing and/or editing the velocity/
direction value table for the selected wind vector.
The “Import from file…” button makes it possible to import the table containing the
velocity/direction relationof the wind and the model time from the <file name>.wnd
file. The “Export to file…” button allows import of the table containing velocity/direction
relation of the wind and the model time in the <file name>.wnd file. For more details
of importing base wind vectors from a file see 4.3.5 Import and Export of Current
Base Vectors to File.
To export winds to a file, it is necessary to enter the common part of the names
of the files, to which the data are to be exported. For this purpose, click the “Browse”
button and specify the path to and the name of created files. By default, the files will
be created in the current working folder, and the common part of the names of the
files will coincided with the scenario name. The specified name and path to the files,
where the data are to be exported, will be shown in the line “Path and base name”
at the bottom of the window:
Check the “Wind” checkbox by left mouse and click the “OK” button, to export to the
file or “Cancel” not to do that and close the dialog box. On completion of data export,
a window with an export result message will appear:
ATTENTION!
No label of any wind can contain symbols \ / : * ? “ < >. Otherwise, the whole field
of winds will not be exported.
The created files can be edited manually or added with data obtained from external
sources, and loaded to a PISCES scenario.
To load data on a field of winds from a file, use the ENVIRONMENT/GET FROM FILE menu
command to open the “Import” window:
Click the “Browse” button and specify the file to import data from. Selection of the
file in the “Import” window will result in unblocking selection of the parameters, data
on which are contained in the selected file as well as in the cognominal files located
in the same folder.
Check the “Wind” checkboxe, if the latter is not disabled. Click the “OK” button
to import winds, or “Cancel” to close the dialog box without any change event scrip
to the existing field of winds.
ATTENTION!
If wind are imported not at the zero time point, the data to be imported are only
those, starting from the current model time. For the times, which are less than the
current model time, the wind velocities and direction are equal to 0, if the imported
wind did not existed before, or if the wind velocity/direction were left unchanged.
Please note that the impact area boundaries are not taken into consideration during
wind import from a file. All winds specified in the <file name>.fow file will be
imported whatever their coordinates.
The window which will open up, presents the HMI source parameters:
Field Purpose
Name Uneditable value. Name of the communication channel. Matches the name
of the communication channel set in the Meteo Data Communicator
Label Uneditable value. A text label of an object which will be displayed on the chart
Position Uneditable value. Coordinates of the weather data source
Status Uneditable value. Status of connection with the HMI source. In the source
of successful connection, the “Status” field displays “Connected” value,
“No connection” otherwise.
“No data” value means absence of data for the requested time
Update time Uneditable value. Time of the latest data updating in the communication channel.
After the scenario start, the Meteo Data Communicator requests for the data
updating every 30 minutes of modelled time
Use as current This option allows import, from the HMI source, of data on the speed and direction
of the surface current located in the same coordinates as the HMI source
Use as wind This option allows import, from the HMI source, of data on the speed and direction
of the wind located in the same coordinates as the HMI source
To look up the current values of weather parameters, switch to the “Data” tab:
For the parameters of weather conditions which the weather data source provides
no data on, “Value” field displays “N/A” (“not available”).
To receive data from the weather data source on the speed and direction of the
current on the water surface, return to the “General” page and set the “Use as
a current” checkbox.
The checking of the “Use as a wind” checkbox on the “General” page allows data on the
wind direction and velocity to be received.
Press the “OK” button to receive data on the surface current, or the “Cancel” button
to close the window of the HMI source properties.
• Water temperature;
• Air temperature;
• Wave height;
• Water density;
• Nebulosity.
To specify/edit some parameter, select the ENVIRONMENT/WEATHER CONDITIONS button
in the program menu. The action will open the “Weather” window containing the
table of weather condition data:
For example, to specify water temperature, double click on the required item. It will open
the “Temperature” dialog box with the table of water temperature depending on time:
The created table shows wind parameters for the moment of scenario start.
If the exercise conditions require constant water temperature, only the temperature
value is to be edited in the table.
If water temperature changes with time, the table should be added a required nom
of lines with temperature values for specified time moments. To do this, use the
“Insert” button. By default, the table is added lines in increments of 30 minutes.
Edit values of time, water temperature in accordance with exercise conditions.
The context menu for the temperature values allows the required measurement units
to be set. The “Delete” button allows deletion of needless lines from the table.
Click the “OK” button to save the table or “Cancel” to enter water temperature.
The rest of weather conditions (air temperature, sea state, nebulosity) are set and
edited in a similar manner. Nebulosity in PISCES II is set in integers from 0 to 10.
The nebulosity value of 0 corresponds to the fair weather, 10 – to overcast.
Water density, in PISCES II, is set as permanent for the whole time of scenario.
Select the item “Water density” in the “Weather” table and click the “Edit value”
button to open the “Water density” dialog window specifying the current water
density value:
Edit the value if necessary and click the “OK” button to save the specified value
of density or “Cancel” to quit editing and close the dialog box.
Check the checkboxes for the weather condition parameters to be exported. Click
the “OK” button, to export to the file or “Cancel” not to do that and close the dialog box.
On completion of data export, a window with an export result message will appear.
The export operation will result in creation of the following files:
The created files can be edited manually, added with data obtained from external
sources, and loaded to a PISCES scenario. It is also possible to export wind vectors
(for more information see 4.4.4 Import and Export of Wind Base Vectors to
File) and current vectors (for more information see 4.3.6 Import and Export of
Current Base Vectors to File).
To load weather conditions from a file, use the ENVIRONMENT/GET FROM FILE menu
command, which opens the “Import” window:
Click “Browse” and specify file to import data from. Selection of the file in
the “Import” window will result in unblocking the checkboxes for those import
parameters, data on which are contained in the selected file as well as in the
cognominal files located in the same folder.
In the “Weather” checkbox group, check the unblocked parameters to be imported.
Click “OK” to import the select weather conditions or “Cancel” to close the dialog
box without introduction of any changes to the scenario weather conditions.
On completion of import, a window with import result message will appear:
If weather conditions are imported not at the zero time point, the data to be imported
are only those, starting from the current model time. The table of dependence of
the parameter to be imported versus time will not be changed for the time less than
the current model time.
It is also possible to export wind vectors (for more information see 4.4.4 Import and
Export of Wind Base Vectors to File) and current vectors (for more information
see 4.3.6 Import and Export of Current Base Vectors to File).
In the same way, you can import weather conditions, using the “Import” button on
the panel of properties of water temperature or air temperature, or the “File” button
on the panel of properties of wind velocity/direction or that of the sea state.
To import weather data from an external source, select the “Ext. Source”
option button on the weather parameter properties panel:
The window which will open up, will display a list of communication channels
with the meteo data server, which contain data on the selected weather condition
parameter:
You can look up the list of existing communication channels with the Meteo Data
Server in the “Environment/External weather sources” category of the data navigator
(for more details see under 4.4 External Sources of Hydrometeorological Data).
Select the communication channel name and press the “OK” button to connect
to the channel, or the “Cancel” button to close the “Select source” window. After the
successful connection to the communication channel, “Source” field on the weather
conditions parameter panel will display the name of the channel.
ATTENTION!
If a data source communication channel is deleted or turned off, “Source” field
displays the word “removed” after the channel name, and the scenarios takes into
account the last value received in the data import.
After the scenario has been run, a request for the HMI (Hydrometeorological information)
updating is sent every half hour of the modelled time.
Fast Ice
To create a fast ice area, you can use CREATE ICE/FAST ICE… command of ENVIRONMENT
menu. The selection of this command opens “Fast Ice Properties” panel:
Set the ice area name which will be shown in the data window, in “Name” field.
“Thickness” field is used for setting the ice thickness. After setting the parameters,
press “Set to chart” button to set the ice field form and on-chart position, or Cancel,
button to cancel the setting of the area and close the dialogue box. Use the mouse
to set vertexes of a polygon and press the right mouse button to save the set area,
or <Escape> to exit from the ice field setting mode. On the chart, the newly created
fast ice filed is shown as a light grey polygon:
Pack Ice
To create pack ice, select PACK ICE command from CREATE ICE submenu of the main
ENVIRONMENT menu. In the dialogue box which will appear, se ice concentration
in Concentration field.
The further procedure for creating pack ice is similar to the creation of fast ice.
On the chart, the newly created area is shown as follows:
You can see the list of all ice fields set in the scenario in Ice conditions window
opened by WINDOW/ICE CONDITIONS… menu command.
Ice fields created in the scenario are edited in much the same way as the rest
of polygonal areas in PISCES II.
To change parameters of an ice field, select it from the list in Ice conditions window,
and from the context menu select EDIT command. In the ice properties window which
will open up, make changes in the ice parameters and press “OK” to save changes
you have made, or Cancel to close the dialogue box without saving changes.
Procedures for changing the ice area form and on-chart position are similar
to those used for the rest of polygonal PISCES II objects (for more details see
4.2.3 Edit Coastline).
To delete ice, select on the chart and choose Delete command from the context menu.
ATTENTION!
Only SIGRID3 format charts where all the polygons are set with geographic
coordinates, can be loaded in PISCES II. Loading charts which use projections may
result in the program failure and scenario data corruption.
Ice charts only serve for illustrating the environment and have no effect on the model
operation. To take into account the effect of the ice on an oil spill, the instructor should
create fast and pack ice areas manually (see section 4.7.1 Set Ice Conditions).
To load an ice chart in the scenario, select ICE MAP command from CREATE ICE submenu
of the menu ENVIRONMENT item. The dialogue box which will open up displays a list
of all the available charts:
Select a chart from the list and press “OK” to import ice, or Cancel to close
the dialogue box.
Ice condition will be shown on the chart:
The list of all the loaded ice charts is displayed in Ice conditions window opened by
choosing menu WINDOW/ICE CONDITIONS command. To change the chart name, select it from
the list and select EDIT command from the context menu. In the window which will open
up, set a new chart name in Name field and press “OK”, or press “Cancel” to close the
dialogue box without changing the chart name. You can delete the ice chart by selecting
it from the list and choosing “Delete” command from its context menu.
Enter the object name in the “Name” field and a label in the “Label” field.
The “State” field cannot be edited by the user, it indicates oil presence at the given
ESA object at the current time.
Neither can you edit the “Oil Impact Time” field, it shows the time of oil entering
the given ESA object.
Using the “Environmental Impact” you can specify a list of species inhabiting
the given ESA:
The “Add” button allows addition of a new species to the list. The added line in the
tab is highlighted in red until the moment, when statistics is calculated in reference
to bions injured by the spill (see the section 5.4.4 Environmental Impact Statistics
for more detailed information on the ecological sensitivity areas).
Edit the initial number of species bions in the “Initial amount” field of the table. Use the
“LC50” and “Time LC50” fields to specify oil concentration sufficient for death of half of
bions of the given species, and time period, in which they die due the given concentration.
The “Remove” button allows deletion of the selected species from the list.
Using the “Import” button, you can select one or more species with preset parameters
from a text file. Click the “Import” button. A window will open allowing to specify
the path to the *.bio file containing information on species in the lines following
appearance: <Group><Subgroup><Name><Scientific name><LC50><Time LC50>.
The scope of PISCES II supply includes one standard file
Environmental Impact.bio with information on the species listed in the table
above. The Environmental Impact.bio file is located in the
PISCESII/ConstData/ExportImport/Samples folder. You can edit this file using any text
editor, or create your own files with the.bio extension.
Selection of a file will result in opening the “Select species” window displaying
the following data:
Check the checkboxes in the left-hand table column for the species you would
like to import and click “OK” to add selected species to the ESA species list or
“Cancel” to close the dialog box without adding the selected species to the list.
Now you have to specify an ESA form and its position on chart. Click the “Set To Chart”
button on the “Create ESA” panel.
The dialog box will close, and the mouse cursor will assume the following form:
Use your mouse to specify vertices of the polygon defining the environmental
sensitive area to be created and press the right-hand button to save the specified
area or <Escape> to exit the polygon specification mode.
You can create as many ESA objects as required by the exercise conditions.
To edit an ESA object, select it by a left click. Its context menu contains a number
of commands for changing the object properties. These commands are described
in the table below:
Command Purpose
Properties Opening the object properties menu
Hide/Show Icon Toggling display of the object icon
Hide/Show Label Toggling display of the object level
Move Icon Moving the object icon
Delete Deleting the object
Delete Points Deleting object point(s)
At the state of scenario preparation, the polygon defining the environmental sensitive
area can be edited: dragged, vertice added/deleted.
To move an object, select it and drag it to a new place keeping the mouse left button
pressed. Depress the left button, when the object is at the required place.
To edit some object vertices, press the left mouse button, hold it down and draw
a rectangular around the group you need. Depress the left button. Now the selected
group can be added vertices with the aid of <Shift> + <Left-click> or selection
of vertices can be toggled ON and OFF by <Ctrl> + <Left-click>.
To move the selected vertices, press the mouse left-hand button and drag
the selected group of points to a new place. Depress it, when the points
will be in the required position.
To remove vertices, select the DELETE POINTS command in the ESA object context
menu. The selected vertices will be deleted, and the object will be regenerated
subject to these changes.
Command Purpose
PROPERTIES Opening the object properties menu
HIDE/SHOW LABEL Hiding/showing the object level
MOVE ICON Moving an icon to a specified place
Select the PROPERTIES item in the context menu of the main location point to open
the “Main Location Points Properties” window:
The “Location Point General” tab allows the name/label (fields “Name” and “Label”)
of the main location point to be edited. It is desirable that the name of the main
location point would define the entire area as a whole.
The program specifies main location point coordinates in the “Lat”/“Long” fields
automatically. These fields cannot be edited by the user.
Choose a suitable icon and press “OK” to set it or “Cancel” not to change it and close
the dialog box.
The “Arrived Units” tab contains information on the response resources assigned
to the main location point.
Properties of the additional location point are specified in much the same fashion as
those of the main location point, the sole exception being that the item context menu
will also feature the DELETE command designed to delete the object.
• Leak source – featuring leakage rate depending on time and the source route;
• Point source – featuring oil mass and spill coordinates, assuming that the entire
oil mass is released at once;
• Area source – featuring oil mass and the initial slick form. Here it is assumed that the
entire oil mass is instantaneously distributed as a flat layer over the specified area.
To specify a new spill source, use the program menu to select the command
POLLUTION/NEW SPILL SOURCE. Select the required spill type in the menu:
Leak Source
To create a new source of the “Leak” type in the scenario, use the menu to select
the command POLLUTION/NEW SPILL SOURCE/LEAK SOURCE. The “Oil Leak Source
Properties” dialog box will appear:
The “Leak Source” tab enables you to specify parameters of the source of leakage,
described in the table below:
Field Purpose
Name Source name
Label Text label displayed on the chart
Start time Leakage start time, which is counted from the scenario execution start
Default speed Default speed of the spill source
The “Export” button allows the spill source data to be saved to an XML-file
(for more information see. 5.1.6 Export and Import of Spill Sources).
The “Edit Spill Rate” button allows you to specify/edit the rate of oil spilling.
Click this button to open the “Spill Rate” table:
To change the source icon, click the zone on the page “Leak Source”
in the source properties window.
Select a suitable icon from the list and press “OK” to set it or “Cancel” to close
the dialog box without saving.
The “Set To Chart” button makes it possible to specify the initial point and travel
route of the spill source. Click the button and use your mouse on the chart to
indicate the point of initial spill location and the key points of the spill source travel
route. Right click after defining the route in full or <Escape> to return to editing the
source properties.
It will open the “Route” table describing the spill source travel route (coordinates
of the route key points, travel speed at the segments starting from the given points,
expected time of spill source arrival at the given points):
The user can edit the “Speed” and “Stop time” fields in accordance with scenario
conditions. The “Alarm” checkboxes in the table are designed to ensure an alarm
signal at the time of spill source arrival at the given points.
You can invoke the “Route” table using the “Edit Route” button in the “Oil Leak
Source Properties” window or context menu “Edit Route”, if necessary.
In addition to parameters specified on the tab “Leak Source”, there are non-editable
fields there. They display information describing the status of the spill source at the
current time. These fields are listed in the table below:
Field Purpose
Status Source status (This is described more fully in the section 5.1.5 Source Behaviour)
Current spill rate Current rage of oil release
Total amount Total quantity of oil to be spilled
Amount spilled Amount of spilled oil
Position Current position of the spill source
Latitude Source latitude
Longitude Source longitude
The process of setting properties for an oil product is described under the paragraph
5.1.2 Set Oil Product Properties.
Point Spill
To create a point spill source in the scenario, select the POLLUTION/NEW SPILL SOURCE/
POINT SOURCE menu command. This will open the “Oil Point Source Properties” dialog box:
The “Point Source” tab allows you to specify the point spill source parameters
described in the table below:
Field Purpose
Name Source name
Label Text label displayed on the chart
Start time Leakage start time, which is counted from the scenario execution start
Total amount Total quantity of oil, which will be spilled
The “Export” button allows the spill source data to be saved to an XML-file
(for more information see 5.1.6 Export and Import of Spill Sources)
The “Set To Chart” button is designed to specify the spill source location. Press
this button and indicate the spill source on-chart location with the mouse, or set
the source coordinates in “Latitude” and “Longitude” fields and press “OK” button.
The point spill source will be represented on chart, as follows:
To change the source icon, select the created source in the chart panel and select
from the context menu the command PROPERTIES.
In the opened window of source properties click the area on the
“Point source” page:
Select a suitable icon from the list and press “OK” to set it or “Cancel” to close
the dialog box without saving.
In addition to parameters specified on the “Point Source” tab, there are non-editable
fields. They display information describing the status of the spill source at the current
time and its coordinates. These fields are listed in the table below:
Field Purpose
Status Source status (This is described more fully in the section 5.1.5 Source Behaviour)
Position Spill source coordinates
Latitude Source latitude
Longitude Source longitude
Setting oil product properties for a point spill source is described in the paragraph
5.1.2 Set Oil Product Properties.
Area Source
To create a new source of the area source select the POLLUTION/NEW SPILL SOURCE/AREA SOURCE
menu command. This will open the “Oil Area Source Properties” dialog box:
The “Area Source” tab enables you to specify parameters of the area source described
in the table below:
Field Purpose
Name Source name
Label Text label displayed on the chart
Start time Leakage start time, which is counted from the scenario execution start
Total amount Total quantity of spilled oil
The “Export” button allows the spill source data to be saved to an XML-file (for more
information see 5.1.6 Export and Import of Spill Sources). The “Set to Chart”
button allows you to specify the spill source position. Click the button and use your
mouse on the chart to indicate a polygonal area delimiting the spill source. Right click
to finish area delineation. The spill source will be represented on the chart as follows:
To change the source icon, select the created source in the chart panel and select
from the context menu the command PROPERTIES.
In the opened window of source properties click the area on the “Area” page:
Select a suitable icon from the list and press “OK” to set it or “Cancel” to close
the dialog box without saving.
In addition to parameters specified on the tab Area Source”, there are non-editable
fields there. They display information describing the status of the spill source
at the current time and its coordinates. These fields are listed in the table below:
Field Purpose
Status Source status (this is described more fully in the section 5.1.5 Source Behaviour)
Initial area Spill area
Centre of the spill Spill source centre coordinates
Latitude Source latitude
Longitude Source longitude
Setting oil product properties for this source is described in the paragraph
5.1.2 Set Oil Product Properties.
The oil product grade can be selected from the PISCES II database, and then you
can edit any product parameter, if necessary.
ATTENTION!
The changes introduced to product parameters are saved to the current scenario
only, i.e. they won’t be entered to the PISCES II database. To save the changed
product parameters in the database or to add a new oil product grade, use the
“Oil specification editor” utility.
To select an oil product from the database, click the “Select” button. It will open the
“Select Product Type” table listing all oil product names available in the database as well
as their characteristics: type (raw/refined), density group, density and distillation curve:
Choose a product and press “OK” to select it or “Cancel” to close the table.
The oil product parameters, which can be entered/edited are listed in the table below.
Parameter Purpose
Name Product name
Type Product type: raw or refined
Density Product density
Surface tension Product surface tension
Viscosity Product viscosity
Maximum water content Value showing the maximum content of water in the emulsion
Pour point As the ambient temperature drops to the oil congelation point, spread
and weathering processes stop
Flash point As the ambient temperature drops to the oil congelation point, burning
process stops
Emulsification constant Emulsification constant specifies the proportion of oil which has to evaporate
to start emulsification process
The table provided on the “Product” tab allows the oil product distillation curve
to be edited:
The “Insert” and “Delete” buttons under the table allow lines to be added/deleted,
respectively.
Edit oil product parameters on the “Product” tab in accordance with the scenario
conditions and click “OK” to save the changes or “Cancel” to close the spill
properties window.
Command Purpose
Properties Opening the source properties menu.
Using this menu, you can edit any source parameter specified at the time
of its creation
Hide/Show Icon Toggling display of the source icon on and off
Hide/Show Label Toggling display of the source label on and off
Move Icon Moving the source icon
Delete Deleting the source
Delete Points Deleting a point(s) from the source.
Valid for the kind of source extended in time/space only
For a leak source spill, there is an additional command in the context menu,
“Edit Route”, allowing the table of the source travel route to be viewed/edited.
To change the form of the initial spill area or the spill route, select the source using
your mouse, which will result in selection of the polygonal area of the source or
polygonal line showing the spill route. Select several vertices by your mouse:
Press the left mouse button, hold it down and draw a rectangular around the group
of your interest. Depress the left-hand button. Now the group can be added vertices
with the aid of <Shift> + <Left-click> or selection of vertices can be toggled on
and off by <Ctrl> + <Left-click>. The selected vertices can be moved or deleted
(the DELETE POINTS command in the object context menu).
To change location of any source, select it: Press the left mouse button, hold it down
and draw a rectangular around the object of interest. Depress the left-hand button.
Move the selected object to the new place.
See the table below for a list of possible spill source statuses:
Command Purpose
NOT STARTED Spill has not started yet
IN PROGRESS Spill in progress
COMPLETED Spill has occurred, the source finished working
In the properties window which will open up, on the Point source tab press the
Export button and specify the name of the file in which data on the source position
and spilled oil properties will be saved.
After the description of the spill position and time, oil properties are described
in the <OilType> </OilType> block.
• Slick – a relatively small patch of thick oil layer containing the major part of oil volume;
• Sheen – a very thin film following the slick and covering much greater surface.
PISCES II simulates only the thick oil layer i.e. the slick, disregarding the oil sheens
around the basic patch.
The simulation takes into account the following factors:
• Shore description;
• Representation of field of currents;
• Data on metrological conditions: water temperature, wind direction/force;
• Spill parameters: time, place and kind of spill; amount and properties of the oil
product.
Specification of within first three items is described in Chapter 4, the last item being
described in the current chapter.
To get access to the oil model parameters, select the POLLUTION/OIL MODEL PROPERTIES
menu item. The “Oil model control properties” dialog box will appear.
Wind/Current Influence
For computation of oil movement under action of wind and currents, the slick travels
in the current direction at the current velocity, and in the wind direction at a speed
equal to 3% of the wind velocity. The resulting movement direction is geometrical
addition of wind direction and current direction as shown in the figure below:
c – current velocity/direction;
w – 3% of wind velocity and wind direction;
s – direction and velocity of oil slick movement.
If several ice fields overlap, the area which will be taken into account by the program
in the interaction with an oil spill, is selected arbitrarily.
When oil gets into the pack ice area, it continues moving with the wind and currents.
Its motion slowing down as compared to that in the clear water. Spread and
evaporation rate is also reduced. Drop of motion and spread rate, as well as
the evaporation depends on the ice concentration value set in ice properties
in Concentration field (for more details see 4.6 Ice Conditions).
With oil within the fast ice area, evaporation stops. Oil continues moving under the
ice at a rate lower than on the clear water. Oil spread rate also drops and depends
on the thickness of ice. The thicker the ice, the smaller spread rate.
As oil interacts with motionless ice, the program takes into account the loss of oil
mass due to the adsorbing by ice (freezing-in). The amount of frozen-in oil is shown
in the oil spill general statistics in Amount Frozen-in line (for more details see section
5.4.1 General Statistics).
Diffusion
Diffusion is a random component of oil particle movement. The vector of this
component speed had a random value, distributed according to the normal law,
with zero mathematical expectation and root-mean-square deviation equal
to the speed calculated in relation to current and wind.
Taking diffusion into consideration is provided by the “Diffusion” checkbox.
Evaporation
Evaporation results in fast reduction of the spilled oil volume. The more light oil
fraction, the faster evaporation, and less oil afloat. Spills of unstable oil products
can evaporate in full after several hours, light oils can lose up to 40 % of mass
on the first day. Heavy oils feature insignificant evaporation.
Consideration of oil slick evaporation is provided by the “Evaporation” checkbox.
Dispersion
Natural dispersion is a process of transformation of some part of oil into minute
drops as a result of wave motion, these drops remaining in a suspended state in the
water column. Speed of natural dispersion depends on the sea state being inversely
dependant on oil viscosity.
Dispersion action is specified by the “Dispersion” checkbox.
Emulsification
Penetration of water into the spilled oil mass results in formation of “water-in-oil”
mixture. Emulsification causes the initial polluting substance volume increase
up to three-fold to four-fold. Emulsification starts after evaporation of a specified
quantity of oil, which can be preset in the “Emulsification constant” field for each oil
spill source individually. Maximum content of water in the emulsion is specified by
the “Maximum water content” in the “Product” tab of the oil spill source property panel.
Computation of emulsification is turned ON with the “Emulsification” checkbox.
Oil Congelation
With the ambient temperature dropping from 20 °С, oil viscosity gradually grows,
whereas the spread rate is reduced. As the ambient temperature drops to the
oil congelation point, spread and weathering processes stop. Oil congelation
temperature is set by “Pour point” parameter on “Product” tab of oil spill source
properties panel.
Display Quality
The quality of on-screen oil spill display is controlled by “Level of detail” parameter.
The “Level of detail” parameter value equal to 10 corresponds to the best display
quality. If 1 is set in “Level of detail” field, oil is shown very roughly.
The OPTIONS/SPILL DISPLAY SETTINGS menu command makes it possible to set options of
oil slick representation in the chart window: slick outline, turning ON/OFF of the
trajectory, etc. This item is described in more detail in the section
8.4 Oil Spill Display Settings.
The data are displayed in two formats: absolute value (weight in metric tons, etc.)
and relative value i.e. percent of the total mass of spilled oil.
For an emulsion, the water content ratio in the mixture is specified in “Percentage”
column.
In the scenario modelling, information on the spill state is saved every five minutes
of model time. For the convenience of handling the statistics history you can increase
the history display interval by using the OPTIONS/SPILL STATISTICS HISTORY SETTINGS… menu
command (for more details see 8.6 SPILL STATISTICS HISTORY DISPLAY
INTERVAL). The display interval does not affect the statistics recording frequency and
can be adjusted by each operator individually regardless of the scenario
operating mode.
Click the “Set on chart” button to specify the area, statistics on which is to be displayed.
Use your mouse to specify a polygonal area delimiting the require oil slick patch.
Right click after area definition.
The “Local Area Statistics” window will display statistics for the given area.
Statistics parameters displayed in the window are listed in the table below:
Parameter Value
Area Patch area
Maximum Thickness Maximum thickness of the patch
Floating amount Amount of oil remaining afloat
Stranded amount Amount of stranded oil
The local statistics window can be closed using the standard [x] button in the right part
of the caption bar or by selecting the POLLUTION/LOCAL AREA STATISTICS menu item. A tick next
to this item means that the local statistics window will be displayed, otherwise the
window will be closed, but the specified area selection will be preserved.
The specified area can be edited: you can move/delete vertices or move the
entire area. This process is similar to editing any polygonal areas in PISCES II.
Click “Create report” to create a report, “Cancel” to close the dialog box.
The created report shows for each coastline parcel: amount of oil ashore, amount
of collected oil and oil/soil mixture, as well as the length of the coastline parcel,
length of the polluted part of the parcel, and length of the coastline cleaned up using
the shore coastline cleanup equipment by the time of report.
ATTENTION!
To get a coastline pollution report, the computer should be provided with Excel.
Otherwise, the report will not be generated.
The species, for which statistics were not computed before, are highlighted
in the table in red.
To update the ESA statistics, select the POLLUTION/ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATISTICS menu
command. Use the opened “Environmental impact statistics” dialog box o enter the
time, for which the report is required, in the “End time” field:
The “Create report” checkbox allows viewing the report for all scenario ESAs
in the form of an Excel table. Check the checkbox, if you want to generate an
ESAReportAll.xls file containing a list of all ESAs created in the scenario,
and their statuses for a given time.
Click “Update statistics” to update statistics or “Cancel” to close the dialog box.
When calculation is over, data in the “Environmental impact” tab will be updated
for all ESAs: the percent of all died bions will be calculated for each species as well
as current number of species bions for the given time. The “Update time” field of
the ESA property panel will display the time the statistics were calculated.
The statistics are stale half an hour after its last updating. In this case the “Update”
field of the ESA property panel is marked in yellow.
ATTENTION!
To get an environmental sensitive area report, the computer should be provided with
Excel. Otherwise, the report will not be generated.
You can turn off the display of the pollution area by unchecking “Show pollution
footprint” in the “Spill display settings” window (for more details see under
8.4 Oil Spill Display Settings).
As the scenario rolls back to the saving time, the pollution zone outdated as
of the current moment, is delineated in red.
You can update the pollution area at any moment of the scenario modelling.
The main parameters affecting the PSP diagram calculations are listed
in the table below:
Field Purpose
Start time Time in the past which the PSP diagrams are calculated from
End time Time which calculations are made up to.
This field automatically shows the current scenario time
Number of particles In the model, oil is presented as a set of particles moving independently
affected by the current and wind.
The “Number of particles” parameter sets the number of particles which
describes a spill. The larger the value, the more detailed PSP diagram
form can be calculated by the model
Cell size Results of calculations are shown on the chart as a net distribution
of oil position probability. The smaller the cell size, the more detailed PSP
diagram form can be calculated by the model
Field Purpose
Min. particles per cell The minimum number of particles in a cell. The larger the value, the more
detailed PSP diagram form can be calculated by the model
Iterations To obtain a probability picture of a spill, several independent calculations
are made. The accuracy of the obtained solution is determined by the
number of independent calculations-iterations
Source data errors
Current direction Error in setting the direction of currents throughout the entire backtracking
calculations. If the direction of currents is unknown at some moment of
time, use this field to set the value equal to 180 degrees
Current speed Error in setting the speed of currents throughout the entire backtracking
calculations. The error value equal to 100 % means that the current
velocity is unknown
Wind direction Error in setting the direction of wind throughout the entire backtracking
calculations. If the wind direction is unknown at some moment of time,
use this field to set the value equal to 180 degrees
Wind speed Error in setting the wind speed throughout the entire backtracking
calculations. The error value equal to 100 % means that the wind speed
is unknown
Set the necessary parameters and press the “Start calculations” button. The course
of calculations will be shown on the calculations progress indicator under the
“Start calculations” button.
If large errors or a large calculations accuracy are set, spill backtracking calculations
may take a long time, so you can close the “Backtracking” window by using the “Close”
button in the bottom part of the window, and continue work with the scenario. You can
stop the PSP diagram calculations by using the “Stop calculations” button in the
“Backtracking” window.
ATTENTION!
If you need to work with the scenario simultaneously with the spill backtracking
calculations, it is not advisable to assign the instructor workstation and exercise
server to one and the same host (for more details see under PISCES II (V. 2.90).
INSTALLATION GUIDE) since the spill backtracking calculations may require a lot of
resources.
When the calculations are completed, the chart will display a PSP diagram for
the current moment of the model time:
The red colour shows diagram zones with a high spill locations probability, the orange
colour is used for showing smaller probability. You can set up the display of PSP
diagrams with the aid of the “Display options” group fields in the “Backtracking” window
called by the POLLUTION/BACKTRACKING … menu command:
The “Clear results” button deletes all the PSP diagrams throughout the entire scenario.
The program will calculate the rating, the course of calculations will be shown
on the calculations progress indicator under the “Start calculations” button.
You can suspend the rating calculations by using the “Stop calculations” button.
When the calculations are completed, the screen will display a window containing
a list of all the resources and scenario symbols with calculated probabilities
of similarity to the spill source.
After viewing the ship ratings, you can close the “Possible Oil Spill Sources” window by
using the “Close” button in the bottom part of the window. You can open this window again
with the aid of the “Show ratings” button in the bottom part of the “Backtracking” window.
Specify source name and text label to be displayed on the chart in the fields “Name”
and “Label”, respectively.
To process each source of aerial contamination, you need an individual ALOHA
copy. PISCES II configuration can include several ALOHA copies working in parallel.
Each such copy has a corresponding individual “ALOHA Communicator” module,
which constitutes a data channel between PISCES II and ALOHA.
The “Channel” list allows you to select a channel with one of the connected ALOHA
copies, which will calculate data for the current source of aerial contamination.
The name of the host ALOHA operates on is included in the channel name:
Click the “Set to Chart” button, to specify source position on chart. Using your
mouse, indicate position for the source to be created in the chart window.
The created source will be displayed on the chart as follows:
The “Lat”/“Lon” fields of the source properties window will show object coordinates.
To delete the object, select the DELETE command in its context menu.
The PROPERTIES context menu item allows you to edit object properties i.e. its name,
text label and channel.
The list of all spill sources available in the aerial contamination scenario is available
through the WINDOW/AIR POLLUTION menu command or in the “Pollution/Air” category of the
“Data Browser” window:
Use the “Channel” context menu to select a channel with one of connected
ALOHA copies, which will compute data for the current air pollution source, and
click “OK” to finish channel selection, or “Cancel” to close the property panel.
The air pollution icon in the chart panel will change for the following:
The following pollution parameters will be displayed on the property panel of the air
pollution source:
The chart window shows the maximum permissible concentration area for the smoke
above the Min Smoke Altitude and below the Max Smoke Altitude. These parameters
are set in “Air pollution display settings” window opened by using OPTIONS/AIR POLLUTION
DISPLAY SETTINGS… menu command (for more details of settings for the display of smoke
in the chart window, see 8.5 Air Pollution Display Settings).
Weather Conditions
Wind: determines spread of smoke in the wind direction and affects the atmosphere
stability. The higher the wind speed, the less stable is the atmosphere.
Nebulosity: affects the atmospheric stability. The more clouds, the stabler atmosphere.
Atmospheric stability affects the rate of spreading of separate smoke particles
and contamination area on the whole.
Platforms do not affect operation of the slick mathematical model being only
designed to illustrate IOSR actions. These object transport or tow other response
resources. Any object loaded on a platform will follow the same route with its carrier.
Equipment directly influences the behaviour of the spill model. There are six subtype
of equipment available in PISCES II:
• Booms;
• Oil skimmers;
• Dispersants;
• Dispersant application facilities;
• Shore cleanup equipment;
• Other facilities.
The equipment simulates operations of deployment and shutdown (putting to
the travelling position). The booms, skimmers and dispersants take part not only
in simulation of deployment and shutdown operations, but also in simulation of
their interaction with the oil slick. Efficiency of booms and skimmers is calculated
automatically depending on environment conditions and oil slick properties.
Objects of the Personal type are used to designate groups of people. Such objects
can move within the scene independently or loaded on platforms.
The left-hand part of the window displays the tree of response resource types
and subtypes available in PISCES II. Select the types and subtypes required by
the scenario conditions. The right-hand part of the window displays the list of
templates for this category. Select the template you need and click the “Create”
button to create a new combat facility, or “Close” to exit the dialog box.
A dialog box will appear allowing specification of parameters for the newly created
object. The window has a number of tabs, a part of which is mandatory for all
response resources, while the other part varies depending on the type. All tabs
are replicated on the object properties panel of the “Data Browser” data window.
All template parameters are provided with preset values, which makes it possible
to use them at once, without any additional editing.
The “Name” and “Label” fields are designed for specification of the object’s name
and text label.
Click it and select a suitable icon. For an object, it is possible to select an icon only
from the group associated with the given response resource subtype. Click “OK”
to set it or “Cancel” to close the icon change dialog box.
The non-editable fields next to the “Label” field contain information on the response
resource delivery method and the template used for this object.
Location
The “Locating” tab is used for specification of coordinates and other object location
information.
Parameter Value
State Non-editable field.
Shows location status of the object for the current moment of time
Location The list can be used to select a location point, to which the current response
resource is to be assigned. By default, all newly created objects are assigned
to the main location point
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates of the object on chart
Course Object course
Speed Object movement speed
Organisation
The “Organisation” tab covers the fields describing the organisational status
of the resource.
Costs
The “Costs” tab is used to specify cost of the given response resource per a time
unit depending on the kind of resource employment and to track its costs in the
course of scenario execution.
All possible kinds of employment for any resource are included in the list, where
you can select one or more items and specify their cost per a time unit. You can
mark a number of items in the list using the <Ctrl> key, or remove the marking using
the <Shift> key. The table below contains descriptions of the kinds of employment
included in the list.
Parameter Value
Ordered Resource ordered, but it has not yet arrived for CC disposal
Available Resource ready for operation
Assigned Resource assigned a task
Mechanical Out of Service Resource not ready for operation due to mechanical failures
Personal Out of Service Resource not ready due to non availability of personnel
The “Total cost” field shows the total cost of using the given resource for the current
moment of time.
Features
The “Features” tab contains auxiliary data.
The “Max Speed” and “Min Speed” parameters are used for setting the resource
speed by default.
The “Owner” field is shown in the resource list of the “Data Browser” data window,
and can be used for sorting response resources in it.
The other characteristics are grouped in a table; they change depending on the
template. This information is for reference only, being not used for calculations.
Values specified in the “Call sign”, “MMSI”, “Lloyd’s number” lines can be displayed on
the chart instead of the resource label (for more details see 3.2 Chart Window Control
Panel). By using values specified in the “IMO Number”, “Lloyd’s number”, “MMSI”,
“Call sign” field you can automatically link platforms with targets (for more details see
7.4.4 Automatic Linking of Platforms to Targets).
You can add new lines to the table or edit characteristic values in the “Value” column.
To add a new line, click the left mouse button on the bottom row of the table and enter a
new value.
ATTENTION!
If several lines with the identical value in the “Name” column are set in the table the
characteristic values will be divided with spaces.
Equipment
The “Equipment” tab exists for equipment only and contains parameters that control
its behaviour.
Parameter Value
Status Non-editable field.
Shows the current operational status of the object
Deployment time Time of resource deployment
Retrieval time Time of transferring the resource from the operational status
to the travelling one
Turnaround time Time of resource turnaround
Comments Notes
The table below describes these characteristics depending on the equipment type.
Booms
Model Boom model, to be chosen from the list
Height Height has a bearing on the boom form calculation depending on wind
and on the amount of oil, passed through the boom. If height of boom
is less than thickness of above-water oil film than the boom can pass
oil even its efficiency is 100%
Depth Depth has a bearing on the boom form calculation depending on
currents and on the amount of oil, passed through the boom. If depth
of boom is less than thickness of underwater oil film than the boom
can pass oil even its efficiency is 100%
Slack Slack shows the ratio of the boom length to the distance between
the fixing points
Length Boom length
Capacity Capacity per unit of length showing maximum oil volume, which a boom
meter can absorb
Deployment speed Boom deployment speed
Retrieval speed Rate of transfer to the travelling speed
Efficiency A value calculated by the model and showing what part of oil interacting
with the boom that latter will be able to contain. The value depends on the
boom type, current velocity and wave height.
The button is used to correct efficiency.
You can use two methods of efficiency correction in the “Efficiency”
dialog box:
• Either by directly specifying the required value, or
• By specifying a “User factor” coefficient.
In the latter case, the resulting value will be computed by multiplying
the rated efficiency by the “User factor” coefficient
Sea factor The line specifying dependence of the boom efficiency on the wave height.
This dependence is not subject to editing in the PISCES scenario,
it can only be changed by using the resource template editor
Velocity factor The line specifying dependence of the boom efficiency on the current
velocity.
This dependence is not subject to editing in the PISCES scenario,
it can only be changed by using the resource template editor
Stored oil Non-editable field.
Amount of oil absorbed by boom
Dispersant (“Model” tab)
Type Dispersant grade, to be selected from the list
Rec. O/D ratio Recommended oil/dispersant ratio
Dispersion coeff Dispersion coefficient
Density Dispersion density
Amount Dispersion quantity
Dispersion spread facilities
Type To be selected from the list
Dispersant To be selected from the list of those available in the scenario
Spread width Spread width of the equipment
Play rate Rate of spreading
Amount Non-editable field.
Quantity of spent dispersant
Dispersant Properties Characteristics of the loaded dispersant.
Non-editable fields
Name Dispersant name
Recom. O/D ratio Recommended oil/dispersant ratio
Amount available Quantity of remaining dispersant
Skimmers
Storage capacity Skimmer storage capacity
Recovery rate Oil collection rate
Recovery radius Skimmer collects oil in the circle of the given radius
Stored mixture Non-editable field.
Quantity of collected oily mixture
Oil/water ratio Non-editable field.
The oil/water ratio in the skimmed mixture in calculated in the model
depending on efficiency values
Additional water Additional water ratio, which is stored by skimmer with emulsion
Skimmer type To be selected from the list
Efficiency A value calculated by the model and showing how much the rated
capacity and the oil/water ratio in the skimmed mixture will decrease
depending on oil viscosity and wave height.
The button is used to correct efficiency. You can use two methods
of efficiency correction in the “Efficiency” dialog box: either by directly
specifying the required value, or by specifying a “User factor” coefficient.
In the latter case, the resulting value will be computed by multiplying the
rated efficiency by the “User factor” coefficient
Sea factor The line specifying the dependence of the skimmer efficiency
on the wave height.
This dependence is not subject to editing in the PISCES scenario,
it can only be changed by using the resource template editor
Viscosity factor The line specifying the dependence of the skimmer efficiency
on the oil viscosity.
This dependence is not subject to editing in the PISCES scenario,
it can only be changed by using the resource template editor
Shore cleanup equipment
Shore cleanup equipment type To be selected from the list
Basic efficiency Shows the maximum share of stranded oil that the equipment can collect
Recovery rate Oil recovery rate
Soil/Oil ratio Soil/Oil ratio in the collected mixture
Shore cleanup equipment
Efficiency Parameter, showing what part of stranded oil can be collected
by the cleanup equipment.
You can edit efficiency by click . In the “Efficiency” dialog box,
you can change efficiency using one of two methods:
• Directly specifying the require value;
• Specifying “User coefficient”.
In the latter case, the resulting value will be determine by multiplying
the basic efficiency by the user coefficient
Working parcel Non-editable field. The name of the parcel, on which the cleanup
equipment operates
Recovered mixture Amount of collected oil/soil mixture
For objects of the “platform” type, the properties window features the “Attached units”
tab, which allows the user to view the list of response resources loaded on the platform.
A double click on any object in the table opens the object properties window.
The left-hand panel contains a tree list with names of object subcategories. When
the structure is being created, the list contains only the “Unsorted” node in the root.
Using the buttons “New”, “Rename” and “Delete” you can edit the structure, the
“OK” button allows the changes in the structure to be saved, “Cancel” makes it
possible to exit the window discarding the changes.
The “New” button creates a node subordinate to the selected one. Select the root
node “Unsorted” and click “New”. The structure will show a new, “New Branch” level
subordinate to the node “Unsorted”.
You can rename the created node using the “Rename” button or delete it with
the “Delete” button.
To create a node at the same level with the specified one (hereinafter referred
to as “a neighbour”), use your mouse to select a node one level higher and click
the “New” button.
For example, you need to create the “Vessels” node to be at the same level with
the created nodes “Booms” and “Skimmers”.
Select the node one level higher, which in this case is the “Unsorted” root node.
Click the “New” button.
A new node, “New branch”, will appear in the structure. Click the “Rename” button
and rename the new node as “Vessels”.
Having created the resource structure, click “OK” to save it or “Cancel” to close
the structure editor window.
Now you can group the response resources specified in the scenario by resource
structure categories. Double click on the object from the “Response resources”
category of the “Data Browser” data window. The action will open the properties
window for this object. Select the “Organisation” tab.
Choose the category the selected object should be related to and press “OK”
to relate to this category or “Cancel” to close the window discarding all the changes.
The location of this object in the organisational structure will be registered in the
“Organisation” field of the object properties.
In the “Data Browser” data window, the object assigned to the resource structure will be
shown in the correspond category, disappearing from the “Response resources” section.
All response resources specified in the scenario can be properly arranged in the
resource structure in an analogous way. If some objects are not introduced into the
structure, they will remain in the “Response resources” section of the “Data Browser”
data window.
In the “Data Browser” data window, the resource structure is shown in the form
of a list of subcategories of the “Response resources/Organizations” section,
with objects included in the subcategories.
6.3.1 Export
The RESPONSE/EXPORT TO FILE... command of the menu is used for access
to the export functions. Selection of the command is followed by appearance
of the “Response Resources Export” window.
By default, the field will be created in the same folder with PISCES II. If you wish
to save it in another folder, click the “Browse” button and specify the path to the
created file.
Check export settings: composition of parameters and their sequence, availability
of header and measurement unit parameters (see section 6.3.2 Export Setting
Scheme below). Click the “Export” button. The response resource parameter
will be saved in a file of the specified name. On export completion, the “Response
Resources Import and Export” window will open confirming execution.
The created file will have *.txt extension; it can be opened in any program
operating text files.
Export results in saving just the list of the response resources with the specified
parameters; the response resource assignment structure and the data on object
statuses at the time of export not being saved.
The “Name” column shows parameter name, “Type” contains measurement units,
if appropriate for the given parameter. A tick next to parameter means the parameter
will be exported, and otherwise.
The composition of response resource parameters and their sequence in the file
created for export constitute “Export setting scheme”, which can be saved into an
individual file (hereinafter referred to as just “scheme”). PISCES II features a number
of standard schemes specified by default. They contain different sets of parameters,
which will be preserved during export. A scheme can be selected from the “Preset”
drop-down list.
The “Default” scheme contains only the basic information on the response resources:
name, category, delivery method and total cost.
The “Costs” scheme is used for accounting, containing the basic information on the
response resources and all parameters related to cost.
You can change the offered standard scheme. Check the parameters to be included
in the created file and uncheck the parameter not to be exported. Adjust parameter
measurement units, if necessary. You can do it using the measurement unit context
menu. Left click on the parameter measurement unit to be edited and select another
value.
You can adjust the sequence of parameters in the created export file using the “Up”
and “Down” buttons in the right-hand middle part of the window.
The “Up” button moves the parameter one position up in the table. The “Down”
button, accordingly, moves the parameter one position down.
The checked “Header” checkbox means that the created file will contain parameter
names. If it is unchecked, the file will contain just parameter values.
The set of settings made for export or import can be saved in a new file as an own
scheme. To do so, click the “Save As” button next to the “Preset” list. It will result
in appearance of the “Save Preset As”:
Enter a name for the scheme to be saved and click “OK” to save it or click “Cancel”
to discard the changes. The saved scheme will appear in the list of “Preset” schemes
available for loading. You cannot save a scheme under the name coinciding with
a preset scheme name (“Default”, “Full”, “Costs”).
When the user doesn’t need some scheme he had created, he can remove it. It can
be done be selecting the scheme in the “Preset” list and clicking the “Delete” button.
The schemes preset in PISCES II cannot be deleted and the “Delete” button being
disabled for them.
6.3.3 Import
To load PISCES II with the previously saved list of response resources, select
the RESPONSE/IMPORT FROM FILE… command of the menu and specify the data file.
By default, all files created in the course of export will be saved in the same folder
with PISCES II.
On export completion, the “Response Resources Import” window will open
confirming execution.
The imported list of response resources will be shown in the “Response resources”
section of the main data window, outside the resource structure or the organizational
structure, if the same were created in the scenario.
To conduct exercises, PISCES II simulates not only the oil slick and environment
objects, but various objects taking part in spill cleanup activities too. Information directly
related to the incidental oil spill response (IOSR) operations is combined under the
“Incident data” category. These are the location points, objectives, areas, the operation
cost summary and the dynamic response resource assignment structure.
The location points will be described in detail in Chapter 4 of the Manual, while
the other objects of the impact area are dealt with in this Chapter of the Manual.
Using the buttons “New”, “Rename” and “Delete” you can create, rename or remove
nodes in accordance with the assignment structure for the current scenario. One can
use the structure represented in the following picture as a sample.
A node can be renamed with the aid of the “Rename” button, or removed by
the “Delete” button.
The “New” button creates a node subordinate to the selected one. Select the
“Unassigned” root node and click the “New” button. The structure will acquire
a new level “New Branch”, subordinate to the “Unassigned” node.
To create a node at the same level with the specified one – “a neighbour”,
use your mouse to select a node one level higher, to which the node
to be created will be subordinated to, and click “New”.
The “OK” button allows the changes in the structure to be saved, “Cancel” makes
it possible to leave the window of structure edit discarding the changes.
In the “Data Browser” main data window, the assignment structure is shown
in the “Response resources/Assignments” section.
In addition, the resource icon colour will change in the chart window depending
on the current status.
The organisational status group includes five elements described in the table below.
The user can change the status of the resource using the following commands available
in the object context menu:
By default, all resources created in the scenario have the “Free” status. You can
order a resource with this status to come on scene using the ORDER command
or immediately involve it in the operation by the EMPLOY command. The resource
ordered by the ORDER command will be at disposal of the CC after an elapse of
certain time, which it needs to move to the impact area. The resource assigned
a task with the aid of the EMPLOY command is assumed to be fulfilling the task.
If the resource has been ordered and is en route, the order can be cancelled
by the CANCEL ORDER command. The ARRIVE command allows disruption of the process
of bringing the ordered resource to the impact area, and brings it to the location
point immediately.
The ASSIGN command allows distribution of the resources at CC’s disposal among
assignment structure units (see Chapter 7, section Assigning Tasks to Resources
for details).
Select the name of the unit for assignment of the resources, e.g. “On-water
recovery”. Click the “OK” to save the changes and close the “Assignment” dialog
box. All assigned resources will move from the “Unassigned” root element to the one
of assignment, i.e. to “On-water recovery”. All other resources are assigned to other
units in the similar way.
In order to reassign the resource to another unit, select one object or more in the
chart window or in the main data window, and then select the PROPERTIES command
in the context menu. The object properties window will appear:
In the “Organisation” tab, click button . It will result in appearance of the “Select
Assignment” dialog box with the current variant of the organisational structure.
Select the name of the unit for resource reassignment and click the “OK” button
to save the changes in the organisational structure or “Cancel” to close the window
without saving the changes.
Out of Scene
Blank Initial status of the resource
In transit The resource is sent to the impact area. The route is not specified.
The only data known is the time of arrival and the location point
Delayed Transfer of the resource to the impact area is suspended for a specified time
period
On Scene
En-route Movement along the route
Delayed Movement of the resource along the route is suspended for a specified
time period
At location The resource is in the impact area not moving
Tracked The resource position is monitored by GPS systems
“On Carrier” is a special status not included in any subgroups, such status belonging
to a resource loaded onto a platform. In such case, the positional status of the resource
is assumed to be the same as that of the platform the resource is loaded on.
In the chart view the loaded equipment is displayed by small icons under
the carrier’s icon:
You can turn off the loaded resources representation by means the “Options/Show
Resources on Carrier” menu command.
The user can change the positional status of the resource using the following
commands available in the object context menu:
The current positional status is shown in the “State” field on the “Locating” page
of the resource properties panel.
Status Description
Stowed Travelling condition
Deploying Transfer of the resource from the travelling condition to the operational status
Deployed Operational status
Retrieving Transfer of the resource from the operational status to the travelling condition
Failure The resource is out of order due to a mechanical failure
The “Deployed” status for interactive equipment (interacting with oil) is divided into
three statuses described in the table below.
Status Description
Operating Operational status of the resource
Turnaround The resource turnaround cycle. On expiration of the specified turnaround
period, the resource will automatically accept the operational status. The “Start
Turnaround” command of the context menu turns on simulation of the
resource turnaround. The “Stop Turnaround” command stops the simulation
Idle The resource suspends task fulfilment. The transfer to the “Idle” status is performed
by the “Stop operation” command of the object context menu. Fulfilment of the task
is resumed by the “Operate” command of the context menu
The user can change the operational status of the resource using the following
commands, available in the object context menu:
The current operational status is shown in the “Status” field on page “Equipment”
of the resource property panel.
The left-hand part of the panel contains general information on the object, i.e.
its name, icon, and the graphical and textual indicators of its current status.
The screen will display the “Route” table which describes the resource motion route
(coordinates of the route key points. speed on the segment starting in these points,
resource waiting time in these points):
The “Speed” and “Stop time” fields can be edited by the user to suit the scenario
conditions. The “Alarm” field in the table allows setting the necessity for displaying
a warning at the moment when the resource reaches the specified point.
The table can be called as required by pressing the “Show Route” button in the
resource window or by using the EDIT ROUTE context menu command.
In the window which will open up, specify the path to the text file containing
information on the resource route. If the selected file contains at least one waypoint
with the time later than the current scenario time, the route will be imported, the
resource will move to the first waypoint.
A file containing the route description cannot only be exported from the AIS Monitor,
but can also be created individually. In the file, the time and resource coordinates
are specified in each line, separated with tabulation signs. The format for the
description of a route waypoint is provided below:
<date in date.month.year hour:minute:second format >
<latitude> <longitude>
The PISCES delivery set includes a sample of the route description file Route.txt
which can be used as the basis for creating own routes stored in the PISCES II/
ConstData/ExportImport/Samples directory.
7.4 TARGETS
PISCES II is able to receive data on position and movement element of real object from
the VTMS and UAIS data sources, and represent them in the form of “targets”. The targets
in the chart window are displayed in the form of dotted squares, while the elements of their
movement are represented on the property page and in the “Data Browser” window similar
to resources. In addition to external targets, PISCES II makes it possible to create the own
artificial targets. The targets can be assigned resources, which would change coordinates
in accordance with the automatically refreshed data on the targets.
Select a target from the list. The properties panel will display information on the
selected target. The “Locating” tab shows data on the object position. The table
below lists parameters set on this tab:
Parameter Value
Latitude/Longitude Objects’ chart coordinates: latitude/longitude
Course Object motion direction
Speed Object motion speed
Name Object name
Label Text label in the chart window
Parameter Value
MMSI MMSI number
IMO Number IMO identification number
Call sign Callsign
Ship type Ship type
Destination Ship’s route end point
ETA Estimated time of the ship’s arrival in the
point of destination
Values set on the “Features” tab can be used for the automatic connection of resources
to targets (for more details see 7.4.4 Automatic Linking of Platforms to Targets).
After the connection with an external VTS or UAIS data source has been established
and the scenario has been run, target data is updated with short delays rather than
constantly. The display of target marks in the chart window varies depending on the
latest target updating delay value and on the set permitted delay values:
• If the time interval from the latest target data updating to the current
moment is smaller than the value set in the “Short delay” field, the
target mark in the chart window is drawn in bold black dashed line;
• If the time interval from the latest target data updating to the current
moment is larger than the value set in the “Long delay” field, the target
mark in the chart window is drawn in bold red dashed line;
• If the target updating delay is within the interval between the set short
and long delay, such target in the chart window is drawn as a thin twin
red dashed line.
Synchronising delays are set with the aid of the OPTION/TARGET SYNCHRONIZATION SETTINGS…
menu command (for more details see 8.7 Synchronizing Delay Settings).
The “Name” and “Label” fields are designed for specification of the object’s name
and text label.
The “Latitude/Longitude” fields are used by the user for specification of the object
initial position coordinates, the “Course” and “Speed” fields being self-explanatory.
In the fields on the “Features” tab you can specify the target identifying data
(for more details see 7.4.1 External Targets).
The “Set to Chart” button on the “Locating” tab makes it possible to specify the initial
position of the object in the chart window and its travel route. Click this button and
then use your mouse in the chart window to specify the initial position of the object
and its travel route. Having specified the route, press the right mouse button. It will
open the “Route” table describing the travel route of the target (coordinates of the
route key points, travel speed at the points, and the expected time of target arrival
at the given point).
The user can edit the “Speed” and “Stop time” fields in accordance with the scenario
conditions. The “Alarm” checkboxes in the table are designed to ensure an alarm
signal at the time the target reaches the given point.
Edit the route table in accordance with the exercise conditions. Click “OK” to save
the changes in the table or “Cancel” to close it without saving the changes.
The created artificial target will be represented in the chart window as shown below:
The target context menu can include different commands depending on whether
the target has finished its movement along the route or not.
The context menu appearing to the left is provided for a target still moving along
the route, while the right-hand menu is for a target that has completed its movement
along the route. When the target has finished its movement along the route, it can
be assigned another route. The menu commands are described in the table below.
Command Purpose
Properties Opening the object properties menu
Edit Route Turning ON the mode of target route edit
Route completed Interrupting the movement along the route
Set position Setting target initial position
Set route Setting new route for target movement
Hide/Show Label Hiding/showing the object level
Move Icon Moving the object icon
Delete Deleting the object
Delete Points Deleting route point(s)
In the drop-down list, select a target to “attach” this resource to. By default, the
program selects the first object of its kind found in the list. When the “Keep distance”
checkbox is checked, the object will move at a specified distance from the target.
If the checkbox is not checked, then the coordinates of the resource attached to
the target will coincide with the target’s own coordinates. Click “OK”, to attach
the resource to the target, or “Cancel” to close the dialog box.
The “Position” tab on the properties panel of the resource attached to the target will
feature new fields: “GPS”, “Distance” and “Bearing”. The “GPS” field specifies the
name of the target the resource is attached to, while the “Distance” and “Bearing”
fields show the distance from the resource to the target and the bearing,
respectively.
In the chart window, the mark of the resource linked to a target in underlined with
a dashed line, and the “Targets” chart layer is turned off. It may be manually turned
on as required on the “Overlays” on the chart view control panel (for more details
see 3.3.1 Chart View Control Panel).
As a platform is linked to the target (for more details on the resource categories see
6.1.1 Response Resource Categories) the Matches by line appears in the “Select
Object” window under the target list. After the target selection from the list, the program
compares contents of the “IMO number”, “Lloyds number”, “MMSI”, “Call sign”, “Name”
field on the “Features” tab for the platform and for the selected target, and in the case
of a match,, displays the names of fields which the values matched for.
Select the target, along which route the created group is to move. Create a new
target, if necessary. Now the object group should be attached to the target. Select
the required resources in the resource structure or in the assignment structure using
the “Data Browser” data window. You can select several objects from the list with
the aid of the <Shift> + <Left-click> and <Ctrl> + <Left-click> keys.
Select the ATTACH GPS command from the context menu of the selected group.
Use the drop-down list of the “Select object” window to select a target to attach the
created Order to. When the “Keep distance” checkbox is checked, the objects in the
Order move at a specified distance from the target. Click “OK”, to attach the Order
to the target or “Cancel” to exit the dialog box.
Now, after starting the scenario, the created Order will move along the specified route.
The coordinates and course of the objects in the order will change in accordance
with the data on the target, to which the order is attached.
To terminate attachment of the resource/order to the target, select the “Detach GPS”
command in its context menu.
Similar data can be specified in the table on the “Features” tab in the resource
properties window.
Select the LINK TO PLATFORMS AUTOMATICALLY command in the “Data browser” window
from the context menu of the “Incident data/Targets” category.
The program will automatically compare the values specified in the “IMO number”,
“Lloyds number”, “MMSI”, “Call sign” fields on the “Features” tab, as well as in the
“Name” field in the platform and target properties window, and should the values
match each other, will link platforms to the targets.
If because of a mistake there are several targets in the scenario with identical IMO
number, Lloyds number, MMSI, Call sign, Name parameter values, the platform will
be linked to the first target which the match will be found for.
A similar operation is performed when the LINK TO PLATFORMS AUTOMATICALLY command
is selected from the “Response Resources” category context menu.
To cancel the linking of the resource to the target, select the TURN OFF GPS command
from its context menu, just like in the case of the manual connection.
7.5 AREAS
A part of response resources for spill control is used on a certain area. This covers
burning, application of dispersants and sorbents. PISCES II simulates application
of such resources as a polygonal area featuring certain characteristics and acting
on the oil slick in a specified manner.
All areas specified in the scenario are shown in the “Data Browser” data window
under the category of “Incident Data/Area Objects”.
7.5.1 Burning
PISCES II simulates two variants of oil burning: “free burning” and “compulsory
burning”. To simulate the free burning, the user specifies the area of initial burning
and the ignition time. All oil within the specified area will be ignited at the specified
time. Then the model will automatically calculate the intensity of burning and the
spreading of the burning process on the basis of water temperature, oil product
properties, oil slick thickness, and percent of water content in it.
To simulate the compulsory burning, the user specifies the burning area on chart,
duration and intensity of burning. The program will remove oil from the given area
at a rate specified by the user.
Free burning and compulsory burning areas in PISCES II are sources of atmospheric
pollution with smoke. For more details of smoke pollution, see 5.3.5 PISCES Built-in
Smoke Contamination Model.
The “Name” and “Label” fields are designed for specification of the area name
and its text label.
You can initiate oil burning not from the moment of the scenario start, but after an
elapse of some time – e.g. after several hours. Use the “Ignition time” field to specify
the burning start time. By default, when a new area is created, this field shows the
current scenario model time. The “State” non-editable field shows the area status.
It makes it possible to find out, whether burning has started in the given area or not yet.
See the table below for a list of possible statuses of the burning area.
Status Value
Not started The process has not started yet
In progress The process has been started
In model The model in the process of calculation
Finished The process is over
Having specified the area parameters, click the “Set to Chart” button to specify the
form and location of the burning area on chart. Click the button and use your mouse
on the chart to indicate a polygonal area delineating the burning zone.
The “Name” and “Label” fields are designed for specification of the area name
and its text label.
Use the “Ignition time” field to specify the burning start time. By default, when a new
area is created, this field shows the current scenario model time.
The “State” non-editable field shows the area status. It makes it possible to find out,
whether burning has started in the given area or not yet. Possible statuses of the
burning area are listed in the Free Burning Area section, Chapter 7.
The “Burn Duration” field is designed for specifying duration of oil burning in the
given area. By default, the value in this field is 1 hour. The “Burn Rate” field shows
the rate of oil burning in the given area. The measurement units are taken from
the context menu for this field.
The “Predicted amount” and “Burned amount” non-editable fields show statistics
on the expected and actual volumes of burned oil.
Having specified area parameters, click the “Set to Chart” button to specify the
form and location of the burning area on chart. The process of burn area delineation
is described in details in the Free Burning Area section, Chapter 7.
The “Name” and “Label” fields are designed for specification of the area name
and its text label.
The “Start time” field is used for specification of the dispersant application start time.
By default, when creating a new area, this field is used to show the current scenario
model time.
The “State” non-editable field shows the area status. It makes it possible to find out,
whether the use of dispersant has been started in this area or not. Possible statuses
for this area are listed in the Free Burning Area section, Chapter 7.
The “Area” non-editable field shows the stretch of the given area. The measurement
units are taken from the context menu for this field.
The “Dispersant” list is designed for selection of dispersant from the list of ones
specified in the scenario.
The non-editable fields “Model”, “Recommended O/D ratio”, “Amount available
dispersant”, “Expected dispersant amount” show the following characteristics
of the selected dispersant: make, recommended oil/dispersant ratio, quantity
of available dispersant and quantity of expected quantity of dispersed oil.
The “Amount dispersant to apply” field is used to specify the quantity of dispersant
to be used.
Having specified area parameters, click the “Set To Chart” button, to determine the
form and location of dispersant application on chart. The dispersant application area
is specified by a rectangular. Click the “Set To Chart” button and use your mouse
on the chart to specify two area points and a direction for rectangular formation.
Having specified the area, do a left click. The area of dispersant application will show
on the chart. The area can be moved and/or rotated, if necessary. If you place the
cursor on the corner of the selected area so that the cursor will accept the following
form: , you will be able to turn the object for an arbitrary angle around its centre.
The context menu contains commands, which can be used to edit some object
properties. They are described in the table below.
Command Purpose
Properties Opening the object properties menu
Hide/Show Label Hiding/showing the object level
Move Label Moving the object label
Delete Deleting the object
The command opens the object properties window. Open the “Model Data” tab in
this window.
The tab allows for specification of a dispersant, which will be spread from the
given DDS, and spreading parameters. The parameters and options, which can be
specified using this tab, are described in the section 6.1 Creation of Response
Resources for details.
To start the work, the DDS should be placed on scene using the PUT ON SCENE context
menu command and specifying its initial location and route. For this purpose,
use the object context menu commands SET POSITION and SET ROUTE, respectively.
The initial location and route can be specified in the chart window using the mouse.
When the route is set, the “Route” table will open, which can be used for editing
coordinates of the route key points, the speed of movement at these points,
and the time of expected arrival of the object at the given point.
After specification of all required parameters, the DDS can be used in the operation
for dispersant dissemination. Use the context menu of the object to select the DEPLOY
or DEPLOY NOW command, in order to bring the resource to the operational status
(see the section 7.2.3 Operational Statuses for detailed description of the
commands). When the scenario is started for execution, DDS will disseminate
dispersant along the specified route.
The part of the route covered by DDS will be displayed in the chart window in grey
colour, while the uncovered one will be highlighted in orange:
The “Name” and “Label” fields are designed for specification of the area name
and its text label.
The “Start time” field is used for specification of the sorbent application start time.
By default, when creating a new area, this field is used to show the current scenario
model time.
The “State” non-editable field shows the area status. It makes it possible to find out,
whether use of dispersant has been started in this area or not yet. Possible statuses
of the area are listed in the Free Burning Area section, Chapter 7.
The “Area” non-editable field shows the stretch of the given area.
PISCES II can be given different conditions of oil absorption by sorbent. The set
“Full Sorbing” option presets full absorption of any quantity of oil spilled over the
given area.
If the scenario conditions provides for absorption of a certain quantity of oil only,
uncheck the “Full Sorbing” checkbox and use the “Amount to sorb” field to specify
the maximum quantity of oil, which is to be absorbed by the sorbent in the given area.
Having specified area parameters, click the “Set To Chart”, to determine form and
location of sorbent application on chart. The process of determination of sorbent scope
of use is similar to one described in the Free Burning Area section, Chapter 7.
The context menu contains commands, which can be used to edit some object
properties. They are described in the table below.
Command Purpose
Properties Opening the object properties menu
Hide/Show Label Hiding/showing the object level
Move Label Moving the object label
Delete Deleting the object
Delete Points Deleting object point(s)
Task Description
Oil containment The deployed booms prevent spreading of oil slicks. The boom form
and diversion is determined by location of anchor points and the “slack” parameter.
Boom model characteristics determine its holding capacity
Oil collection Trawling by the basic boom configurations: U, V, J. Movement of
skimmers included in the trawling Order can be specified using the
targets, see the section 7.3.3 Attaching Resources to Targets
Use of sorbing booms A sorbing booms is one able to absorb oil. The squeezing of such boom
is performed at the moment of its retrieval, but in the PISCES II statistics,
the amount of the collected oil rises gradually as it is absorbed by the boom.
Application of sorbing booms combines oil collection and retaining, oil
concentrating and deviating
A boom, for which its capacity is specified, can absorb oil. The maximum amount
of oil, which the boom can absorb, is determined by its length, height, depth and
capacity. All these parameters are specified in the boom property panel of the
“Model data” tab.
After starting the scenario, the part of the route To start the work, the boom should be
placed on scene using the PUT ON SCENE context menu command and specifying its initial
location and route. For this purpose, use the object context menu commands SET POSITION
and SET ROUTE, respectively. The initial location and route can be specified in the chart
window using the mouse. When the route is set, the “Route” table will open, which can
be used for editing coordinates of the route key points, the speed of movement at these
points, and the time of expected arrival of the object at the given point.
Covered by the boom will be marked in the chart window in grey, while the uncovered
one will be highlighted in orange.
Containment of oil by the boom requires switching the boom over from the travelling
status to the operational one. To do so, use the context menu of the object to select
the command DEPLOY or DEPLOY NOW (see the section 7.2.3 Operational Statuses
for details). Use your mouse to indicate the boom anchoring point on chart. The points
are to be specified by left clicks. The <Backspace> key revokes the point set last.
Information on the length of the specified boom segment and the remaining boom
segment is shown to the right of the cursor (in brackets for the remaining segment).
In the chart window, the boom is represented as a broken (polygonal) line.
You can use the right mouse button to finish the boom installation, if its length is not
used in full, or to abort editing, if for some reason the boom is not to be deployed in
full. The <Escape> button cancels boom installation. After starting the scenario for
execution, the boom will be deployed taking the deflected position in accordance
with the field of currents and boom characteristics.
Contrary to other resources, the boom can also be assigned a task, when in the
“Out of Scene” status. For this purpose, select the DEPLOY or DEPLOY NOW commands
from the context menu of the created boom and specify its fixing points. After
starting the scenario, the boom will be deployed.
If capacity is specified for the boom, then if deployed it can absorb oil. The amount
of collected oil is shown by the “Stored oil” field in the boom property panel
of the “Model data” tab.
The amount of oil absorbed by the boom is added to the total amount of collected
oil in the field “Amount recovered” in the spill statistics of the data browser
in the “Pollution/Spill statistics” category (see section 5.4.1 General Statistics).
Set the main formation parameters on the “General” properties page. Order
parameters which can be set on the “General” properties page are listed below:
Parameter Meaning
Name Formation name
Label Text label which will be shown on the chart
Status Read only value.
Shows the current formation status
Start time Formation deployment time
Latitude, Longitude Object’s chart coordinates: latitude and longitude
Course Read only value.
Shows the direction of the object’s motion
Speed Read only value.
Shows the object‘s motion speed
Press the “Set to chart” button and use the mouse to indicate on the chart the two
point and direction which the formation delimiting rectangle will be drawn in.
After the formation position has been set, click the left mouse button. The picture
of the formation will appear on the chart.
The formation can be turned and its width changes as required. If you position the
mouse cursor on a corner of the selected formation so that the cursor assumes
form, you will be able to turn the object to an arbitrary angle around the centre:
To change the formation width, position the mouse cursor on its side so that its
assumes the form and drag the side with the mouse. The formation length is
determined automatically proceeding from the formation type and the boom included
in the for more details see under 7.7.2 Formation Geometric Form).
If it is necessary to change position of an already set order, you can use the context
menu’s “Set Position” command or set the order coordinates in the “Latitude” and
“Longitude” boxes in the order properties window opened via the context menu’s
“Properties” command. The list of the formation context menu commands
is provided in the table below.
Command Purpose
Properties The command displays the object properties menu
Draw Route To set a route for the object. For more details see under 7.7.4 FORMATION ROUTE
Edit Route To edit the object route. For more details see under 7.7.4 FORMATION ROUTE
Route Completed To end the route. For more details see under 7.7.4 FORMATION Route
Set Position To specify the formation position in the chart window
Hide/Show Label The command allows the object label to be hidden/shown
Delete The command deletes the object
Before starting to work with the formation, it is necessary to select its type (for more
details see under 7.7.2 Formation Geometric Form) and determine the resources
included in the order (for more details see under 7.7.3 Formation Components).
Geometric types of formations which you can set are provided in the table below:
U-formation U-formation
V-formation V-formation.
For the V type formation, a slack is set in the “V-slack”
field within 1 to 10 per cent
For any formation types, it is also necessary to set the formation width in the
“Formation width” field and the expected length of the boom which will be used
in the formation, in the “Boom length” field.
To set resources included in the formation, switch to the “Units” properties page:
To set a boom included in the formation, press the “Select” button next to the word
“Boom”. The “Select” unit window which will open up, will provide the list of all
the resources of the selected type:
From the list select a reel which the boom will be deployed from and specify the
boom length in the “Boom length” field. Note that after you have entered the boom’s
actual length, the “Select unit” window will change the boom’s expected length value
set in the “Boom length” field on the “Geometry” properties page. Press the “ОК”
button to complete the boom selection, or the “Cancel” button to close the “Select
unit” window.
The rest of the resources involved in the formation are selected in much the same
way by using the “Select” buttons. After determining all the resources included in the
formation, press the “ОК” button. All the selected resources start on a transit to their
positions in the formation.
To exclude a resource from the formation, open the “Select unit” window by pressing
the “Select” button on the “Units” page and press the “Empty” button.
The “Speed” and “Stop time” fields can be edited by the user to suit the conditions
of the scenario. The “Alarm” field in the table allows setting the necessity for
the display of a warning at the moment when the formation reaches the specified
point. Press “OK” to complete the route setting or “Cancel” to close the “Draw route”
window without setting the route.
You can view the set route by using the context menu “Edit route” command
or the “Edit table” button in the formation properties window on the “Route” page:
To set the route, you can also use the “Draw route” button on the “Route” formation
properties page.
In addition to setting the formation route directly via the “Draw route” command, you
can connect the formation to the GPS data sources. Select an formation from the
data window, and from its context menu select the “Edit” command. In the formation
properties window which will open up, switch to the “Route” tab:
Select the “Tracking” option button. Specify the necessary set of targets by using the
“Select” button. Press “ОК”.
ATTENTION!
If the formation is connected to two GPS data sources, the size of the J- formation
loop and its width are determined automatically depending on the position of targets
which the formation is attached to.
ATTENTION!
The formation will not start proceeding along the set route until it has been fully
deployed at the moment of time specified in the “Start time” field on the “General” page.
With the coming of the time specified in the “Start time” field, the status of the
formation specified in the “Status” field on the “General” properties page will change
to “Operating”. Resources include din the formation will arrive from transit in their
positions in the formation, booms will be deployed. The formation will start
proceeding along the set route.
• Threshold;
• Oleophilic;
• Vacuum;
• Mechanical;
• Belt.
Model selection determines the rated capacity of the skimmer and the dependence
of oil skimming efficiency on the oil viscosity and the wave height. See the table
below for characteristics of standard skimmers preset in PISCES II.
Skimmer model Dependence of oil skimming Dependence of oil skimming
efficiency on the wave height efficiency on the oil viscosity
Wave height Efficiency Viscosity Efficiency
(feet) (%) (cP) (%)
0 100 0 85
3 100 3000 70
Threshold 4 50 10000 5
5 25
6 0
0 100 0 10
3 100 500 40
Oleophilic 4 50 1500 90
5 25 2500 60
6 0 5000 10
0 100 0 50
3 100 2500 60
Vacuum 4 50 5000 50
5 25 10000 40
6 0
0 100 0 0
3 100 1000 20
Mechanical 4 50 5000 40
5 25 10000 90
6 0
0 100 0 0
1.97 100 1000 20
Belt
4.27 50 5000 40
6.56 0 10000 90
To start the work, the skimmer should be placed on scene using the PUT ON SCENE
context menu command and specifying its initial location and route. For this
purpose, use the object context menu commands SET POSITION and SET ROUTE,
respectively. The initial location and route can be specified in the chart window using
the mouse. When the route is set, the standard “Route” table will open, which can be
used for editing coordinates of the route key points, the speed of movement at these
points, and the time of expected arrival of the object at a given point.
For oil skimming the skimmer requires to be switched over from the travelling status
to the operational one. To do so, use the object context menu to select the DEPLOY
or DEPLOY NOW command (see the section 7.2.3 Operational Statuses for details).
The amount of oil collected by the skimmer is shown by the “Stored mixture” field
in the “Model data” tab of the skimmer property panel. The amount of oil collected
by the skimmer is added to the total amount of collected oil in the “Amount recovered”
field of the spill statistics in the data browser, the “Pollution/Spill statistics” category
(see section 5.4.1 General Statistics).
When the amount of collected water/oil mixture reaches the skimmer maximum capacity,
the turnaround cycle will start, on which completion the oil collection will continue.
The turnaround system can be controlled manually using the START TURNAROUND and
STOP TURNAROUND menu commands.
Using the list, select the coastline parcel the cleaner is to work on and click “OK”
to start up the cleaner, or “Cancel” to close the dialog box.
After cleaner’s deployment, it will go to the next segment of the coastline parcel
and start collecting oil. The cleanup process is simulated in sequence for each
coastline parcel segment, the cleaner passing through the segment only once.
The amount of oil collected by the cleaner is shown in the “Recovered mixture”
field of the cleaner property panel of the “Model data” tab. The collected oil is added
to the spill statistics in the category “Recovered oil on shore” and “Recovered soil
and oil on shore” (see section 5.4.1 General Statistics).
The results of cleaner work i.e. the amount of collected oil and oil/soil mixture and
the amount of oil left ashore can be exported to an Excel file (see 5.4.3 Coastline
Parcel Statistics for more detail).
The drop-down list contains all carriers included in the scenario. Select the platform you
need from the list and press “OK” to load the resource or “Cancel” to cancel the loading.
The properties panel will have a list of objects loaded on this platform, in the
“Attached units” tab.
The chart window will display reduced icons of the loaded objects under the platform icon.
You can load the platform with any object created in the scenario whether or not
the object is in the impact area.
To unload the object from the platform, use the context menu to select the
UNLOAD FROM CARRIER command. The resource will be unloaded from the platform,
and the fact will be reflected by the respective change of its positional status.
This is why, after a change of properties of status of objects under the automatic
control, the program offers a choice: to suspend the playback of recorded
commands after the change of properties, or to continue fulfilling the recorded
commands:
The change you have made is added to the list of object changes and is reproduced
when the scenario is replayed.
All the scenario objects which the succession of actions was set for by the instructor,
are marked off with in “ALP” column (Automatic List Processing) in the list of
objects. To the right of , the time of the last command recorded in the list of actions,
is specified for each object:
With the coming of time specified in ALP column, the object executes the last
command from the list of actions and goes under the user control.
For the oil burning area, ice and ice chart area, “Keep Action List” option is available;
it allows object action list to be saved. Set “Keep Action List” option for the remote
object to fulfil all the commands from the list of actions and be automatically deleted
next time when the scenario is replayed.
E.g. in a scenario, a fast ice area was created, its shape and position changing
throughout the entire scenario, this area was then deleted. If “Keep Action List”
option is set at the time when the area is deleted, in the next scenario replay all
the changes of the ice area including its deleting, will be repeated automatically.
Otherwise, after the scenario return to the saving point, the ice area will be restored,
but in the further scenario replays the area will be under the user control.
Press “Yes” if you really want to delete the object, or “No” to close the dialogue box
without deleting the object.
To cancel automatic control for all the scenario objects, select INTERRUPT ALL ACTION
LISTS PROCESSING command from SCENARIO menu.
To take an individual object or a group of objects from under the automatic
control, select it and choose INTERRUPT ACTION LIST command from the context menu.
In the window which will open up, press “Yes” to confirm the accepting of the
object control, or press “No” to leave the object under the automatic control.
ATTENTION!
INTERRUPT ALP and INTERRUPT ALL ACTION LISTS PROCESSING commands delete the list of
object command starting from the scenario’s current model time only. All the
operations performed on the object before this, are saved and played back when the
scenario returns to the beginning.
Use the appeared window to specify the table period, for which you would like to obtain
data on expenses, using the fields “Begin” and “End”. You can choose a type of the
financial report in the “Report” drop-down list. See report descriptions in the table below:
ATTENTION!
To get a financial report, the computer should be provided with Excel. Otherwise,
the report will not be generated.
Click “Create report” to create an Excel file with information on the expenses
in the given scenario or “Cancel” to close the dialog box without creating the report
on the resource use cost.
Column Value
Time Time of event
Objective Event category
Location Place of event
Resource Object of event
Title Header or short description of event
The context menu of any entry selected in the entry window contains entry edit
commands, which are described in brief in the table below.
Command Purpose
Add event To add an event
Edit event To edit an event
Delete event To delete an event
Mark as read To mark an event as a “read” one
Navigation
To navigate the event log, use the buttons located in its lower right part
and described in the table below.
• Up to one entry;
A double click on any entry will turn ON the entry edit mode, which can be used
for viewing the event log in a separate window. In this case the navigation buttons
are located right to the main entry contents.
Sorting
The program provides sorting and filtering functions designed for convenience
of working with the event log, which can contain quite a lot of entries.
The event entries in the data window can be sorted for any of the columns.
For example, to sort the events by time, click on the column header “Time”.
The entries will be sorted by time in the execution order. The sorted column
is marked by a small arrow in the header.
The up arrow means the entries are sorted in direct order, while the down arrow
indicates the reverse order of sorting.
Filtering
The event entries in the data window can be filtered for one or more columns.
Click on the button in the header of the column to be filtered. For example,
let’s take the “Title” column. A list of possible value for the column will appear.
Select one of them. The log will display only those entries, which contain the
specified value in the “Title” column.
Entry Creation
The “Add event” command is designed for creation of a new entry in the event log.
Selection of the command is followed by appearance of the “Add Event Log Entry”
window.
A list of preset event templates is located in the table under the “Templates” list.
For user’s convenience all events are divided into a number of categories, which are
included in the “Templates” list. You can choose one category to select the template
you need from it. There are 5 preset event categories:
Booming Events related to boom use
Burning Events related to oil burning
Dispersant Events related to dispersant use
Management Events related to operation control
USCG set Types of message used by the US Coast Guard
Select the template you need from the list of templates and double click it. The template
data will be copied to the fields “Title” and “Objective” in the lower part of the dialog
box. These fields can be edited, if necessary. For example, the user can enter his own
category designation in the “Objective” field. The created category will be saved within
the scenario. The text box under the “Title” field can be used for entering a comment
to the event description.
Specify the event time in the “Time” field and use the “Location” list to select one
of the location points included in the scenario and related to the given event. Use
the “Resource” list to select one of the resources provided by the scenario and
related to the given event. These fields can be left blank, if necessary.
Click the “Create” button, to save the created event in the event log. In this manner,
you can create any necessary number of events. The “Close” button allows you
to exit the entry creation window.
Entry Edit
To edit an entry in the event log, use its context menu to select the “Edit event”
command or just double click the entry. The “Edit Event Log Entry” window will appear.
The entry fields, which can be edited by the user, are marked by white background.
The fields, which are inaccessible to editing, are marked by blue background.
Colour settings for editable/non-editable fields depend on PISCES II settings
(this is described more fully in the section 8.3.2 Colors of “Read-only” Fields)
and those of the OS.
Entry Removal
To remove an entry from the event log, use its context menu to select the DELETE EVENT
command.
Usually, the scenario is entered with reminders and warnings for the users and the
entries expanding the informational situation of the exercises (additional information).
The reminders include, for example, information on whether or not the dispersant
application window is open. The additional information covers observers’ messages,
informal requests from private individuals and organisations, etc.
In addition to the entries, which are entered by the user manually, the program can
generate entries automatically. For example, if the user makes an entry on some event
in the event log, this entry is doubled in the event scenario. After scenario reset, the
event log is cleared, while the scenario remains. Accordingly, you can view the list
of scenario events, which were needed for working with the previous scenario version
and, maybe could be used in the current scenario. The entries not needed in the current
scenario version can be removed by the DELETE EVENT command.
The list of measurement units with set values constitutes the measurement unit
scheme, which can be saved in an individual file (hereinafter referred to as just
“scheme”). PISCES II features two preset schemes: Metric and English. You can
select any one from the “Preset” drop-down list:
The group of measurement unit settings made can be saved in a new file as an own
scheme. To do so, click the “Save As” button next to the “Preset” list. It will result
in appearance of the “Save preset” window.
Enter a name for the scheme to be saved and click “OK” to save it or click “Cancel”
to discard the changes. The saved scheme will appear in the list of “Preset”
schemes available for loading. You cannot save a scheme under a name coinciding
with a preset scheme name (“Metric” or “English”).
When the user doesn’t need a scheme he had created any more, he can remove
it selecting the scheme in the “Preset” list and clicking the “Delete” button.
The schemes preset in PISCES II cannot be deleted. The “Delete” button is not
disabled for them, but any attempt to remove a standard scheme will result in
a message advising the user about impossibility of operation.
In addition to setting the measurement units using the OPTIONS/MEASUREMENT UNITS
menu item, you can specify them manually via the context menus for the parameters
to be changed. Such setting has a higher priority over the option menu settings,
being supported in the scenario during the entire work.
The “Reset individual settings” option allows you to delete all settings made manually
and to assign the measurement units specified in the OPTIONS/MEASUREMENT UNITS item
to all parameters.
8.2 WARNINGS
The “Small Craft Advisory” area is used for warning, when wind velocity exceeds
the limit permissible for small craft.
The “Gale Warning” area is used to specify values of wind and wave height, excess
of which will automatically generate a whole-gale warning.
The window contains a list of all warnings generated by the warning program
(e.g. boom moved to the operational position), and the manner of warning
appearance – red border or yellow background. You can toggle between
appearance manners using the “Toggle” button.
ATTENTION!
This manual describes a procedure for setting a secondary display, which is true for
majority of Matrox/nVidia GeForce video adaptors, but might not agree with video
adaptors of other makes.
If for some reasons the described procedure is not appropriate for your equipment,
please refer your question about connecting the secondary display to the Windows
documentation and/or to the equipment manufacturer.
Select the OPTIONS/LSD SETUP item in the main menu. It will open the “LSD Setup” window.
The “Devices” field contains a list of system devices of the “secondary display” type,
which can be used as an information display.
The non-editable “Display Resolution” field displays the current resolution for the
selected device. You can turn ON the selected device for use by checking the
“Active” checkbox.
The lower part of the window contains a list of all possible layouts of chart windows
and data on the information display. The layouts are depicted by icons showing the
way of displaying information on LSD and mutual position of the panels. You cannot
make selection in this list, unless you have checked the “Active” checkbox. See the
Table below for layouts possible in PISCES II.
Chart and Text Chart window to the left, text window displaying the selected
category of the “Data Browser” window to the right
Chart above Text Chart window above, below – text window displaying the selected
category of the “Data Browser” window
Text and Chart Text window displaying the selected category of the “Data Browser”
window to the left, chart window to the right
Text above Chart Text window displaying the selected category of the “Data Browser”
window above, chart window below
Select the device you are going to use as an information display from the “Devices”
list. Check the “Active” checkbox. You can observe the wording “PISCES II Large
Screen Display” on the information display. The main window of the “Instructor
Workplace” application will show the “LSD View” child window. Nevertheless, the
“LSD Setup” window will stay up allowing it to be used for selection of a chart/data
window layout you need.
The “LSD View” child window contains the informational part, the size of which
exactly corresponds to LSD resolution, and the tree of “Data Browser” window
categories for selection of data category to be shown in the text window.
The informational part will be displayed on LSD consisting of panels positioned
in accordance with the selected layout.
At the top of the “LSD Setup” window hosts the “Blank”, “Update Now”, “Auto
update” and “LSD Setup” buttons for setting data display on the information display,
the buttons being positioned under the layout list.
The “Blank” button is used to cover up the contents of the LSD informational panel
with the “PISCES II Large Screen Display” caption.
The “Update” buttons immediately sends the contents of the informational panel to LSD.
The “Autoupdate” button automatically sends the contents of the informational panel
to LSD at regular specified model time intervals. Press this button to open the
“LSD Autoupdate Setup” window.
Check the “Autoupdate enabled” checkbox to enable automatic refresh of the LSD
contents. Use the “Interval” textbox to specify the refresh interval. The textbox context
menu allows selection of time measurement units: minutes or seconds. Click “OK”
to start automatic refresh of the LSD contents or “Cancel” to close the dialog box.
Use the “LSD Setup” button to call again the tableau setup window and select
another layout or turn ofа the tableau.
The information panel can be setup in accordance with scenario conditions.
The panel sizes can be determined by dragging the separators. Each of the panels
has its header. Under the panel you can see the page footer, which contains
the exercise name, scenario name and scenario model time.
You can edit background colour, font and/or text of any header. To do so, double
click the header. It will open the “TextBox Properties” dialog box:
The “Font”, “Colour” and “Text” tabs have textboxes allowing specification
of the header parameters described in the tables below.
The “Text” tab allows setting the header text:
The header can include both some optional text and the automatically refreshed
information on the current scenario with the aid of reserved words, i.e. macros.
See a list of macros in the table below.
Macro designation Description
{ChartName} Chart window header
{ChartScale} Chart scale in the window
{Exercise} Exercise name
{ModelTime} Model time
{ObjectCategory} Object category in the category tree of the “Data Browser” window
{Scenario} Scenario name
Select the macros you need from the “Macro” list and click the “Insert Macro” button
to insert the macro to the header. The header can contain a number of macros. Select
the ones you need from the list, add separating symbols, brackets, etc. and check the
header appearance by clicking the “Apply” button in the “TextBox Properties” window.
The changes made in the header will be seen in the “LSD View” window.
The “BackColour” field specifies the header background colour, which can
be selected from the set of colours in the “Colour Set” list. A double click on
“<Custom…>” in the colour list will open the Windows system palette, allowing
selection and specification of any colour.
The “ForeColour” field specifies the header font colour similar to specification
of the header font background colour.
The “Font” tab allows setting the header font.
Select a font from the “Font” list, and select zone size from the “Size” field.
The options combined in the “Effects” group are used to specify the font
appearance:
Any data panel can be selected for adjustment in the same way. The category
of data represented in the panel can be selected from the category tree located
alongside the informational part of the “LSD View” window (to the right or left
depending on the selected layout).
After proper adjustment of the informational panel, click the “Update” or “Autoupdate”
button. LSD will show the contents of the “LSD View” window. Now you can close the
“LSD Setup” window using the [X] button in the upper part of the window header, and
collapse the “LSD View” window to continue working with the scenario.
ATTENTION!
Do not close the “LSD View” window, unless you don’t need to send data to LSD.
To stop sending data to LSD, close the “LSD View” window using the [X] button
in the upper part of the window header.
Click the “Choose” button and select the required colour. Click “OK” to save the
changes in the cooler scheme or “Cancel” to close the parameter edit window.
Use the “Refresh Period” field to specify the refresh rate. Click “OK” to save
the changes or “Cancel” to close the parameter edit window.
Parameter Value
Outer line Outline.
Non-editable field.
Shows the minimal slick thickness taken into consideration for model
calculation
Inner line Intermediate outline.
The outline confining the slick area with a specified thickness
Thick line Thick outline.
The line confining the thickest part of the oil slick
There are two ways to set the oil slick boundaries in the chart windows: as a threshold
thickness of oil film or as a share of maximum oil film thickness. To set boundaries of
oil slick presentation with threshold values of oil film thickness, select “Manual” option
button and enter thickness values in the activated fields. If “Auto” is selected, you
can set position of the oil slick contours by specifying the share of the oil film maximum
thickness. The maximum thickness of the oil film is provided in the spill statistics
(for more details see section 5.4.1 General Statistics).
Parameter Value
Num trajectories Number of trajectories.
In the spill process, the oil slick can be broken up for several fragments.
The “Num trajectories” parameter allows specifying the number of the
larges fragments, trajectories of which will be represented and motion
of which will be forecasted
Trajectory marks interval Interval between trajectory marks.
The minimum time interval of trajectory mark representation
Automatic interval The option turns ON the automatic calculation of the time interval between
calculation the trajectory marks depending on the current chart scale instead of using
the “Trajectory marks interval” parameter
Show trajectory The option turns ON representation of the oil slick motion pattern in the
chart window
Show future trajectory The option turns ON the forecast of oil slick motion pattern in the chart window
points
The table below describes air pollution parameters which can be set in “Air Pollution
Display Settings” window:
Parameter Value
Show smoke Turns on/off the display of smoke in the chart window. The smoke
is shown in the chart window if “Show smoke” checkbox is checked
Min smoke altitude Altitude beneath which the smoke is not displayed
Max smoke altitude Altitude above which the smoke is not displayed
Display quality Sets smoke display quality. Corresponding to the best display quality
is level of detail 10, 1 – for the roughest display of smoke
PM10 ambient air Threshold value for the maximum permissible concentration of smoke
standard particle 10 microns in size, which is used for constructing the smoke
display internal contour
If the time interval from the latest target data updating to the current
moment is smaller than the value set in the “Short delay” field, the target
mark in the chart window is drawn in bold black dashed line.
If the time interval from the latest target data updating to the current
moment is larger than the value set in the “Long delay” field, the target
mark in the chart window is drawn in bold red dashed line.
If the target updating delay is within the interval between the set short
and long delay, such target in the chart window is drawn as a thin twin red
dashed line.
The LAYOUTS item is designed for selecting a window layout in the program
(see the section 2.9 Layouts for details).
The third group of commands of the WINDOW menu allows adjusting position
of the windows displayed on the screen: “Cascade”, “Horizontally”, “Vertically”.
The bottom part of the WINDOW menu contains a list of currently open PISCES II
windows. The active window is ticked off.