BRAILS

The BRAILS tab provides an automated workflow for coupling Celeris with BRAILS building inventories and NOAA topo-bathymetry data.

EVT Celeris BRAILS panel.

It streamlines the preparation of simulation inputs by:

  • Acquiring topo-bathymetry from NOAA APIs automatically.

  • Generating and merging BRAILS building inventories.

  • Performing imputation to fill missing building attributes.

  • Combining building data with bathymetry-topography to form the input bathymetry file for the simulation.

Important

This tool directly updates the input files in the Celeris tab. Once the workflow finishes, the bathymetry visualization will also refresh with the new inputs.

Location Selection

At the top of the tab, the Location Selection widget provides two methods for defining the region of interest.

Option 1: Address (Easy / Recommended)

  • Enter a text address (e.g., “Seattle, WA”).

  • The tool automatically geocodes this to latitude/longitude.

  • Specify:

    • Buffer Radius (degrees): defines the square region size.

    • Offset Longitude / Latitude (degrees): shifts the centroid if needed.

Note

This approach is easiest since it uses a human-readable address with optional adjustments.

Option 2: Bounding Box (Precise)

  • Manually specify:

    • lon_LL and lat_LL = lower-left corner

    • lon_UR and lat_UR = upper-right corner

  • Retrieves BRAILS inventories and NOAA bathymetry within the bounding box.

Tip

Use the bounding box if you require fine-grained control of the study area.

Settings Widget

At the bottom of the tab, the Settings widget allows fine control of bathymetry grid preparation:

  • Approx. Grid-Cell Size (m): NOAA API attempts to match this resolution, with slight warping due to global projections.

  • Upsampling Ratio: - 1 = no upsampling - 2 = doubles the resolution - Higher values increase detail, but also computational cost.

  • Include Buildings?: - Checked = merge BRAILS building inventory with topo-bathymetry. - Unchecked = skip buildings for faster runs (minutes saved), but lose

    built-environment effects.

Warning

Excluding buildings speeds up the workflow but removes their influence on hydrodynamics in your Celeris simulations.

Run Workflow

At the bottom, press the Run widget to execute the automated workflow.

Workflow sequence:

  1. Acquire topo-bathymetry from NOAA APIs.

  2. Generate and merge BRAILS inventories.

  3. Perform imputation for missing attributes.

  4. Combine inventories with bathymetry to form simulation-ready input files.

  5. Update the Celeris tab automatically: - Input bathymetry file - Visualization of bathymetry, sensors, and structures

Note

Always verify the updated inputs in the Celeris tab before launching full simulations.