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**[[Viewing_and_Explanation_of_Flow_Tables|Exporting Flow Table to Microsoft Excel, Explanation of Fields]]
**[[Viewing_and_Explanation_of_Flow_Tables|Exporting Flow Table to Microsoft Excel, Explanation of Fields]]
**[[Viewing_and_Explanation_of_Flow_Tables|Viewing Details for Entries in Flow Table, and Exporting to Microsoft Excel]]
**[[Viewing_and_Explanation_of_Flow_Tables|Viewing Details for Entries in Flow Table, and Exporting to Microsoft Excel]]
='''Viewing and explanation of Flow tables'''=
The previous section described how to use CPT to analyze the commerce utilizing one particular reach within the vast waterway transportation infrastructure.  The total tons and/or $-value utilizing each foot of maintained depth is one obvious way to gauge the overall significance of that channel.  However, another indicator of significance can be found by looking at all the other reaches transited by the cargo utilizing that channel, in order to ascertain how critical the channel is to the function of the broader transportation network.  This section describes how to use the Flow feature of CPT towards this end.
==''Selection of single sub-reach for Flow analysis''==
Because of the large amounts of data that must be processed during the Flow queries, it is highly recommended that only single reaches be selected for analysis.  Failure to do this will often result in extremely long query times, and the hosting web server will likely time out before the request is completed. 
For this example, the Grays Harbor, WA Entrance Channel is chosen for analysis by returning to the Reach Selection tab.  This reach should be selected after all other Charleston Harbor reaches used in the previous example have been removed.  Figure 27 shows the Grays Harbor Entrance Channel being selected from the Reach Selection tab.
[[Image:Figure27_SelectionForFlow.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Fig. 27 – Selection of Grays Harbor, WA Entrance Channel for CPT Flow example]] 
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==''Tips for faster query times and .kml settings''==
Due to the large amounts of commerce data that must be processed while performing a Flow request, it many instances it is recommended that Preferences be set so as to improve query times.  Depending on user requirements, the simplest way to do this is to request a single year of coverage.  The same commodity flow patterns will be revealed for most cases, and the amount of data to be processed is reduced considerably.  An alternate way to improve query times is to employ the Traffic and/or Commodity type filters, again depending upon whether user requirements allow.  All of these settings are controlled via the Preferences tab and are explained in detail in Section 2.3 ''Explanation of Preferences''.  For the Grays Harbor example presented here, select only year 2007 for running the Flow query.
Viewing of the Flow query results gives a powerful visual indicator of the significance of a given channel to the broader maritime navigation system.  Therefore it is important to set the .kml settings in the Preferences tab so as to maximize visual impact.  For instances in which commodity flow patterns need to be shown over large regions such as the Gulf of Mexico or the Ohio River Valley, the Line option for the .kml overlays typically works best.  Though the Polygon option provides for flexibility concerning minimum and maximum overlay widths, the graphics rendering within Google Earth tends to make the polygons difficult to see at far zoom levels.  Conversely, for situations where commodity flows are desired across a smaller region such as San Francisco Bay, then the Polygon option may prove to be more effective.  For the Grays Harbor example, choose the Line option under KML Settings, with Linear scaling, a minimum width of 1 pixel, and a maximum width of 10 pixels.
==''Exporting Flow table to and viewing in Google Earth''==
Once Preferences have been defined and saved, the Flow query can be executed by clicking on the Flow tab to the right of the Rankings tab.  For high-tonnage channels, running the Flow query may take several seconds; however, for smaller locales like Grays Harbor, the wait times should be negligible.  Figure 28 shows the Flow query results for Grays Harbor, WA.
[[Image:Figure28_FlowResults.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Fig. 28 – CPT Flow query results for Grays Harbor, WA, 2007]] 
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The first row in the Flow table shows the channel selected previously using the Reach Selection menu, in this case the Grays Harbor Entrance Channel.  The Tons and Dollars entries for this reach (1,244,705 and $246,148,859, respectively) represent all cargo transiting the reach during 2007 and are equal to those that would appear if the Rankings tab were to be selected.  All of the remaining entries in the Flow table represent other reaches elsewhere within the waterway network where the cargo transiting the Grays Harbor Entrance Channel also transits.  The tons and $-value figures indicate how much of the cargo transiting the Grays Harbor Entrance Channel also transits each respective reach.
It is useful to be able to visualize this cargo flow information, and so CPT allows the user to export these results to Google Earth using the Export to KML button found below the Flow Reaches table, as shown in Fig. 28.  The Flow results for Grays Harbor, WA for 2007 are shown in Figure 29.
[[Image:Figure29_FlowGoogleEarth.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Fig. 29 – CPT Flow query results for Grays Harbor, WA, 2007, as shown in Google Earth]] 
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The cargo transiting the entrance channel is also seen to travel elsewhere along the west coast, with various amounts also transiting the Columbia River, the British Columbia Inside Passage, LA-Long Beach, and Humboldt Bay.  Each link can be selected and the tons and $-value transiting that link viewed, as shown in Figure 29.  While the Line feature makes it easier to see the various reaches from a far zoom position, the Polygon feature often gives a better indication for cargo flow within a project, as shown in Figure 30.
[[Image:Figure30_PolygonFlow.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Fig. 30 – Polygon feature used to show cargo flow through Grays Harbor, WA, 2007]] 
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One can see from the overlay that roughly half of the tonnage transiting the Grays Harbor Entrance Channel is foreign (non-Canadian) traffic, and therefore cannot presently be tracked by CPT beyond the extent of the entrance.  Only domestic shipments and Canadian imports and exports are tracked by CPT over deep water and therefore able to be plotted in Google Earth.  However, for USACE-maintained projects such as Grays Harbor, foreign traffic flow is plotted, as seen in Fig. 30.  Use Google Earth to select each sub-reach and see how the cargo transiting the entrance channel is distributed across the Grays Harbor project.
==''Exporting Flow table to Microsoft Excel, explanation of fields''==
The details of each channel and deep-water link listed in the Flow Reaches table can be written to a spreadsheet file for later viewing and processing by clicking the Export to Excel button at the bottom left of the table, as seen in Fig.28.  The resulting spreadsheet is shown in Figure 31.
The various fields contain the underlying data that is processed and summed to form the totals seen previously in the Flow Reaches table (Fig. 28).  The spreadsheet contains additional fields indicating the Traffic type and Commodity type making up the totals for each reach.  The top of the spreadsheet file contains information on data filters set using the Preferences tab prior to running the Flow query.
[[Image:Figure31_FlowSpreadsheet.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Fig. 31 – Flow Details spreadsheet for Grays Harbor, WA Entrance Channel, 2007]] 
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==''Viewing details for entries in Flow table, and exporting to Microsoft Excel''==
One final level of detail is available using CPT and cargo Flow analysis.  Each entry in the Flow Reaches table (Fig. 28) may be selected, revealing a details tab similar to those described previously for Reach Details in Section 4.1 ''Selection of sub-reach from Rankings table''.  Figure 32 shows the details tab that appears for the Humboldt Bay approach, which is highlighted in Figure 29.
[[Image:Figure32_FlowDetails.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Fig. 32 – Flow details for Grays Harbor, WA Entrance Channel and Humboldt Bay, CA]] 
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The details tab shows that all of the cargo transiting both the Grays Harbor Entrance Channel and the Humboldt Approach is domestic traffic consisting of roughly squared wood.  The shipments have a total tonnage of 151,000 and a total $-value of $13.7 million.
Below the details tables shown in Fig. 32, a draft profile chart is displayed showing the depth-utilization of the shipments traveling between Grays Harbor and Humboldt Bay.  Figure 33 shows the draft profile for tons.
[[Image:Figure33_DraftProfileShared.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Fig. 33 – Draft profile for shipments between Grays Harbor and Humboldt Bay, 2007]] 
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The raw data underlying the chart shown in Figure 33 can be obtained by clicking the Export to Excel button below the tables in Fig. 32.  The resulting spreadsheet can be seen in Fig. 34 and includes fields for Commodity type, Traffic type, draft, tons, and $-value.  This data provides a complete characterization of the cargo movements between the two locations.
[[Image:Figure34_DraftProfileSpreadsheet.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Fig. 34 – Draft profile details for traffic shared between Grays Harbor and Humboldt Bay]] 
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='''Comparing sub-reaches across multiple navigation projects'''=
='''Comparing sub-reaches across multiple navigation projects'''=

Revision as of 17:08, 6 July 2011

Channel Portfolio Tool (CPT)

POC: Dr. Kenneth Ned Mitchell br\Kenneth.n.mitchell@usace.army.mil br\601-634-2022 br\US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) br\Coastal and Hydraulics Lab (CHL)

Active URL (CAC authentication required): https://cpt.usace.army.mil/

Developmental URL (Corps machines only): https://itlgis01.usace.army.mil/CPTIWRWeb

CPT is developmental software that is updated frequently.

CPT User's Guide

Comparing sub-reaches across multiple navigation projects

One of the most useful applications of CPT is that of directly comparing sub-reaches from different projects using objective, consistent criteria. This allows for the importance of an individual channel or sub-reach to be stated in terms of the larger waterway network, not simply the other reaches within the project. The Rankings and Details tables and charts are obtained just as described in Section 3 Comparing sub-reaches within a single navigation project, only a larger subset of channel and sub-reaches is selected for analysis. To assist with this selection of sub-reaches across multiple USACE Projects, a useful Google Earth interface is employed via the ITL GEAR portal, as discussed below.

Selecting sub-reaches via ITL GEAR portal

The ERDC Information Technology Lab (ITL) hosts Google Earth Application Research (GEAR) portal:

https://itlgis01.usace.army.mil/ecid/default.html

This link serves as the access point to several coastal navigation asset management tools under development by the Corps RD community, including CPT. Figure 35 shows the GEAR portal.

Maintained USACE channels are indicated by colored lines, while deep-water network links are shown as simple white lines. The web-based portal features the same functionality as Google Earth, allowing for zooming in and out and 3D panning. The “Select Points” feature (indicated by arrow in Fig. 35) can be used to quickly choose a large number of sub-reaches for analysis with CPT.

File:Figure35 ITLGearPortal.jpg
Fig. 35 – ITL GEAR Portal

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In the following example, the portal will be used to select all portions of the Lower Mississippi River within the New Orleans District. Figure 36 shows how the Google Earth functionality has been used to zoom in onto the south Louisiana, and the Draw Points feature (shown by arrow in Fig. 36) employed to define the area of interest.

File:Figure36 GearPortalSelection.jpg
Fig. 36 – GEAR Portal used to select all MVN portions of the Lower Mississippi River

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Once the area containing channels of interest has been fully defined, the “?” query button can be selected to launch the CPT application, as shown in Figure 37.

File:Figure37 CPTviaGearPortal.jpg
Fig. 37 – CPT launched via the GEAR Portal

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Microsoft Silverlight and Google Earth plugin

Two software add-ons are needed to utilize the GEAR portal: Microsoft Silverlight and the Google Earth browser plugin. Both packages are ACE-IT approved and can be easily downloaded and installed, though local ACE-IT requirements for installation may vary.

Microsoft Silverlight can be downloaded here: http://www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight/Get-Started/Install/Default.aspx

The Google Earth plugin is available through this link: http://earth.google.com/plugin/

Removing unwanted sub reaches from Reach Selection menu

As in previous examples, any reaches inadvertently selected via the GEAR portal can be removed by highlighting them and clicking the Remove from Selected Reaches button on the Reach Selection page. Use this feature to remove any reaches not belonging to the Lower Mississippi River within the New Orleans District (MVN).

Tips for faster query times

Depending on the number of reaches selected via the GEAR portal, it may be necessary to employ some Preferences filters to help with query times, similar to those described for the Flow queries (Section 5.2 Tips for faster query times and .kml settings). For the example using the Lower Mississippi River, select only year 2007 for analysis.

Viewing and Interpretation of results

Once all Lower Mississippi sub-reaches have been selected and Preferences saved, clinking on the Rankings tab executes the rankings query. For the Lower Mississippi River example, please be patient while CPT processes the large amounts of data for this high-traffic area. Figure 38 shows the resulting Ranked Reaches table.

File:Figure38 CPTRankedLowerMissRiver.jpg
Fig. 38 – CPT ranked Reaches for the Lower Mississippi River, 2007

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It is interesting to note that adjacent reaches in the Rankings table are not necessarily contiguous within the actual river system. This is due to the manner in which inland river cargo overlaps with deep-draft foreign shipments. Figure 39 shows the draft profile for tons in a representative section of the Lower Mississippi River, illustrating the overlap between internal cargo and deep-draft, oceangoing shipments. All other viewing and analysis options are available, as previously described in Sections 3 - 5. Use CPT to more fully analyze the commercial traffic transiting and docking along the Lower Mississippi River.

File:Figure39 DraftProfileLowerMissRiver.jpg
Fig. 39 – CPT Draft profile for section of the Lower Mississippi River, 2007

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Viewing and explanation of Rollup tables

Though Fig. 38 shows a ranked table of sub-reaches along the Lower Mississippi River, one notices that the tons and $-values in the respective columns cannot simply be summed in order to obtain a grand total for the entire section of the River. Doing so would result in traffic that transits multiple sub-reaches being counted more than once, causing the final total to be overstated. Therefore it is necessary to compile a consolidated statement of traffic for the group of sub-reaches selected, wherein cargo transiting more than one channel segment is still only counted once. The CPT Rollup feature provides this capability, as described below.

Selection of multiple sub-reaches

This example will use the same group of Lower Mississippi River sub-reaches as used in Section 6. For other cases, the sub-reaches should be selected using the drop-down menus in the Reach Selection tab.

Explanation of Rollup table contents

Once the sub-reaches are selected and the Preferences saved (2007 is the only year included in the Lower Mississippi River example), continue to the Rollup tab which is located directly to the right of the Flow tab. The Rollup tab includes a Traffic Rollup table and a Ranked Reaches Rollup table. The Traffic Rollup table specifies the tonnage and dollar amounts for each type of traffic. The Ranked Reaches Rollup table shows the traffic type, tons, and dollar amount for each commodity in the rollup. Figure 40 shows the Rollup tab for the Lower Mississippi River example.

File:Figure40 RollupLowerMissRiver.jpg
Fig. 40 – Rollup for Sub-reaches in the Lower Mississippi River - MVN, 2007

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Exporting to Microsoft Excel; explanation of fields

The CPT user may also export the rollup details to Microsoft Excel for additional viewing by clicking the Export to Excel button below the Ranked Reaches Rollup table. As described in Section 3.4, a prompt should appear which will allow the user to open the file in Excel or save the file. The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet will list the traffic type, commodity type, tons, and dollar amount for all of the consolidated cargo transiting the group of selected channels, as shown in Figure 41. The data shown in the spreadsheet represent all of the cargo that transits any of the reaches in the selected grouping. The figures do not necessarily represent shipments that transit all of the selected reaches. The key point is that cargo transiting more than one reach within the selected group is nonetheless only counted a single time when compiling the Rollup table.

File:Figure41 ExcelSpreadsheetRollupLowerMissRiver.jpg
Fig. 41 – Excel spreadsheet showing Rollup for the Lower Mississippi River - MVN, 2007

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Comparing Projects, Districts, and Divisions

Selection of entities to be ranked

As described in Section 2.2, the CPT user can specify the entities (Divisions, Districts, Projects, or Reaches) to be analyzed by selecting the respective tab on the CPT Home page. This section will present several examples of using this feature to quickly compare waterborne commerce figures at the Project, District, and Division levels, respectively.

After choosing Project-level analysis from the CPT Home screen, choose LRD from the Division menu and then select the Buffalo District (LRB). Next, select all LRB Projects, as shown in Figure 42.

File:Figure42 ProjectSelection.jpg
Fig. 42 – CPT Project Selection within Buffalo District

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Tips for faster query times

Under the Preferences tab, select 2007 only to help with query times. When selecting Projects which much higher tonnage levels than those in LRB, it might be necessary to limit the query further by choosing a subset of traffic types and/or commodities.

Viewing of details for entries in Rankings table

Once Preferences have been saved, click the Rankings tab to see the LRB Projects compared to one another, as shown in Figure 43.

File:Figure43 ProjectRankings.jpg
Fig. 43 – LRB Project Rankings for 2007

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As indicated by the absence of tabs, the CPT Flow and Rollup features are not yet available for the Project, District, and Division levels. Subsequent versions of CPT will likely incorporate the Rollup feature at these higher levels, while the Flow feature will remain at the Reach level of analysis for the foreseeable future. As with other Rankings tables discussed in previous sections, any entry can be clicked on for further details. Figures 44-46 show the tables and charts on the Details page for Cleveland, OH.

File:Figure44 ProjectDetails.jpg
Fig. 44 – Details tables for Cleveland, OH, 2007

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Explanation of Details tables and charts

The figures in these tables are equivalent to those that would be obtained were the user to perform a Rollup query on all of the individual sub-reaches within the Cleveland project.

The draft profile charts for the Cleveland Project in Figs. 45 and 46 are interesting because they show that most of the $-value of cargo uses the deeper drafts available at Cleveland (26 - 27 ft). Furthermore, this high $-value is due to a comparably small amount of imported manufactured metals and flat-rolled iron and steel products, as can be determined by sorting the Harbor Details table by $-value. This information places a higher degree of importance on the deeper drafts at Cleveland Harbor than might otherwise be given.

File:Figure45 ProjectDraftProfile.jpg
Fig. 45 – Draft Profile for Tonnage at Cleveland, OH, 2007

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File:Figure46 ProjectDraft$-value.jpg
Fig. 46 – Draft Profile for $-value at Cleveland, OH, 2007

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Just as a demonstration of the insights that can be quickly gleaned using CPT to analyze the USACE navigation portfolio at the Division level, Figures 47 – 49 show the draft profile charts for tonnage for SWD, NAD, and LRD, respectively. Note that in each instance the Tonnage Mode under Preferences was set to Docked so as to get a better indication of cargo movements into, out of, and within each Division.

File:Figure47 DivisionDraftProfileTons.jpg
Fig. 47 – Division Draft Profile for Tonnage for SWD

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File:Figure48 DivisionDraftProfileTons.jpg
Fig. 48 – Division Draft Profile for Tonnage for NAD

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File:Figure49 DivisionDraftProfileTons.jpg
Fig. 49 – Division Draft Profile for Tonnage for LRD

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Ranking of items with shoaling effects included

So far the examples presented in this guide have not included shoaling considerations, just to keep things straightforward while introducing the overall layout and functionality of CPT. However, for practical decision-support applications of CPT towards OM budget development, shoaling information needs to be included to help achieve rational allocation of funding. This section will describe how CPT can include shoaling considerations along with commerce data when ranking channels for maintenance dredge funding.

Explanation of Default Shoaling

Because controlling depths for the thousands of channel sub-reaches in the USACE navigation portfolio vary due to local hydraulic conditions, it is a significant information management challenge to include all of this data within comprehensive decision-support package for OM dredging. The CPT development plan calls for several mechanisms to be employed for inclusion of up to date shoaling conditions and channel limiting depths, including linkages to automated channel survey analysis packages, online historical datasets, and manual user upload of channel conditions via the CPT interface. Until these additions have been developed, CPT allows for inclusion of shoaling effects through use of a default shoaling parameter. As discussed in Section 2.3.1, the default shoaling feature assumes a uniform shoaling rate across the entire grouping of selected channels (or Projects, Districts, etc.). The practical effect of employing this feature is that entities are now ranked in terms of the tons or $-value transiting at the deepest of maintained depths.

Interpretation of Rankings

To help demonstrate the effect of shoaling on the Rankings compiled by CPT, return to the Charleston Harbor, SC example used previously in Section 2. Use the Reach level analysis tab and select all of the sub-reaches in Charleston Harbor. Under the Preferences tab, uncheck the Ignore Shoaling box and set the Default Shoaling rate to 3 ft/yr by simply typing a “3” in the input box (do not enter units). Select only year 2007 to ensure consistency with the previous example, and save Preferences. The Rankings tab will reveal the table shown in Figure 50. Comparison of this table with that shown in Fig. 13 shows significant differences in the rankings once the focus is shifted to the deepest 3-ft of maintained depth in each channel.

File:Figure50 RankingsWith3ftShoaling.jpg
Fig. 50 – Rankings of Reaches in Charleston Harbor with 3 ft of shoaling assumed, 2007

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Another useful comparison to the previous example using Charleston Harbor is to generate .kml overlays for viewing in Google Earth. Use the default KML Settings under Preferences and export the Rankings table to KML. The resulting Google Earth view is shown in Fig. 51.

File:Figure51 RankingsWith3ftShoalingGoogle.jpg
Fig. 51 – Charleston Harbor Reach Rankings with 3 ft of shoaling assumed, 2007

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It is very interesting to note that the Entrance Channel and other sub-reaches that were prominently shown in Fig. 18 when all cargo was included are now of secondary importance, in terms of tons transiting in the deepest 3 feet of maintained depth.

Using Details views to better understand final Rankings

Selection of the entry for Shipyard River in the Rankings table in Fig. 50, which carries roughly 1.8 million tons of cargo that would be disrupted by 3-ft of shoaling, will reveal the draft profile shown in Fig. 52.

File:Figure52 DraftProfile.jpg
Fig. 52 – Draft profile for Shipyard River in Charleston Harbor, SC, 2007

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