Phased plan process
To start the process one shall define the design challenge as clear as possible, and the goal shall be set with a clear ambition. Then it can be determined which tool can be used to help solve the facing challenges. You might conclude that an existing tool is not ready for your location, or that there is no existing tool you can use. Please then follow the steps explained in the next section. The same sequence is used as above to describe the cases.
Existing tool application, existing geographical location.
The following approach is used in the case that a tool is developed and applicable for the geographical area of interest, and is applied as a means for communication in an interactive workshop setting with stakeholders.
Step 1: Start with a kick-off meeting where all stakeholders are present. During this kick-off meeting the problem analysis should be presented and the aim of the session clarified. A demonstration of the MapTable tool will familiarise the participants with the tool and indicate what input is required from them. When the participants are familiar with the tool, a draft inventory of requirements and wishes regarding the final result can be made. During this step, the design requirements should be discussed (i.e. maximum allowed ecological impact is met when the impact is everywhere below a value of ‘3’). This might result into small required adaptation of the tool settings on the spot.
Step 2: In a second step the stakeholders start brainstorming on possible solutions and intervention concepts. The aim of this is to collect a set of viable alternative solutions that the stakeholders are willing to assess and compare, using the MapTable application.
Step 3: The resulting alternatives will now be modelled and evaluated with MapTable. During this process, some small adjustments may be made to the different designs. The results will be discussed with the stakeholders and the best solution will be jointly decided upon. This can be performed with the use of the selection method as defined in step 1.
Step 4: For the final solution a detailed design can now be made and carried forward. If required, more detailed models can be applied to determine the effects of the proposed design with a higher accuracy. The results of the MapTable tool applications can be used as input for the detailed design models.
Existing tool application, different geographical location.
In the case that a tool with the desired purpose already exists, but the geographical location of your project has not been modelled, the tool has to be adapted before it can be applied in a workshop. This means that spatial data needs to be obtained from other sources (e.g. models) and be prepared according to the input requirements for the chosen model. One shall be aware that these steps might consume a significant amount of time. For documentation refer to the MapTable Handbook (Werf ten Bosch, 2009) (Dutch only).
Step 1: Develop a hydrodynamic numerical model for the area of interest. Validate and calibrate the model.
Step 2: Develop the hydrodynamic and morphological database.
Step 3: The resulting alternatives will now be modelled and evaluated with MapTable. During this process, some small adjustments may be made to the different designs. The results will be discussed with the stakeholders and the best solution will be jointly decided upon. This can be performed with the use of the selection method as defined in step 1.
Step 4: For the final solution a detailed design can now be made and carried forward. If required, more detailed models can be applied to determine the effects of the proposed design with higher accuracy. The results of the MapTable tool applications can be used as input for the detailed design models.
New tool application.
If no existing tool applications is suitable for the case at hand, a new tool can be developed that is compatible with MapTable. To develop a new tool application, the developer needs to have experience with the programming tools as listed above. For the MapTable concept, a flexible interface (a GUI) was designed that in principle any other tool can be plugged into it. To develop your own tool, you can follow the steps below:
Step 1: Define the required result and user input. What result should the tool provide? What switches and controls should be available to the user?
Step 2: Define the physical processes and determine how they interact. Develop a workflow and determine the required modules. Check which modules from existing MapTable tools can be used.
Step 3: Develop the tools and draft the required databases. A step-by-step approach to fill the databases is provided in the handbook.
Step 4: Test the tool and draft databases, and make amendments where necessary. Once finalised, the tool can be used as described in the other step-by-step approaches.