Welcome to the HEC-FDA Version 2.0 Quick Start Guide. This document is written for users who have previous experience using the HEC-FDA software or have experience working with hydrologic, hydraulic, and economic data. Specifically, this document walks users through the data requirements and workflow involved in converting an HEC-FDA Version 1.4.3 study into an HEC-FDA Version 2.0 study.  Review the HEC-FDA User Manual for more information. The HEC-FDA tutorial on Version 1.4.3 to Version 2.0 Study Conversion contains a more detailed demonstration of the workflow provided in this quick start guide.In the conversion tutorial, we use a different data set than the data set that is used for the Create New Study from Scratch quick start guide.

Heads up: transitioning from decades-old technology straight to brand-new technology can be clunky. As an example, consider what it would take to upload the data on a floppy disk to the cloud. Compared to that, this workflow is a breeze! 

Study Conversion Data Requirements  

The following data can be exported from HEC-FDA Version 1.4.3 as a tab-delimited text file for direct import into HEC-FDA Version 2.0:

  • Damage Categories
  • Occupancy Types
  • Frequency Functions
  • Regulated-Unregulated Functions
  • Stage-Discharge Functions
  • Levee Data
  • Aggregated Stage-Damage Functions (you need to manually set the export parameter in the database to 1, navigate here to see how)

Warning: 1.4.3 Stage-Damage Functions Not Certified for Use

While aggregated stage-damage functions can be exported from Version 1.4.3 into Version 2.0, these functions should not be used for planning studies. When transitioning study data sets from Version 1.4.3 to Version 2.0, users should compute new aggregated stage-damage functions in Version 2.0. Version 1.4.3 stage-damage functions should only be used for reference in sensitivity analysis. 

Read about what 1.4.3 study data cannot be converted into 2.0 study data and why, in the section below on Inconvertible Study Data. 

Helpful Hints About Working With Study Data in 2.0

Tips and Tricks

  • Keep track of the units of measurement. Units of measurement will not be tracked nor handled within HEC-FDA Version 2.0. For example, if terrain elevation is measured in meters but the first floor elevation is measured in feet, HEC-FDA will not know about the discrepancy - this will have to be handled outside of HEC-FDA. 
  • Generally, there are five distributional assumptions available for input relationships and uncertainty parameters: normal, log normal, triangular, uniform, and deterministic (no uncertainty). These distributions are specified in their usual way. 

Study Conversion Workflow

First: Export from 1.4.3 and Import into 2.0 

  1. Create a new study by importing an a tab-delimited file with the above listed study data that was exported from HEC-FDA Version 1.4.3
  2. Import impact area set
  3. Import stage-damage functions 

  A set of impact areas in the form of a polygon shapefile must be developed. The file must have a string or integer field that identifies a unique name. Only one set of impact areas can be imported. 

Alternatively, create a new study the usual way (see Create New Study from Scratch for instructions) and import the study data element by element (e.g., import all frequency curves, then import all rating curves). You can have all exported 1.4.3 study data in a single tab-delimited text file - the import procedure only imports the data requested. 

Take a look at the following video to learn about creating a new study from Version 1.4.3 data. To watch the video, please select the Video tab.

Transcript for Create New 2.0 Study from Version 1.4.3

Welcome to the Hydrologic Engineering Center's Flood Damage Reduction Analysis Version 2.0 training video. My name is Julia Slaughter, and this video provides instructions for creating a Version 2.0 study from a text file exported from a Version 1.4.3 study. Specifically, this video walks viewers through importing the study data, impact area set, and aggregated stage-damage functions. 

Let's get started.

Open HEC-FDA Version 2.0 and from the File menu click Import Study. The Import Study interface opens as a tab. From the Study Name text box enter the desired study name. Next, select the HEC-FDA Version 1.4.3 import text file. Select the browser ellipse button to open the browser window. Navigate to the location of the appropriate text file, select the file, and click, open. Click the Study Path ellipse button to set the desired location to save the new study and click Select Folder. We recommend users enter a description for their study in the Description text box. Now you are ready to import the Version 1.4.3 study. Click Import and view the Import Log. 

After creating the HEC-FDA 2.0 study from the FDA 1.4.3 study text file, an impact area set must be imported. Right-click on Impact Area Set and click Import Impact Area Set. The import dialog opens as a tab. Enter the desired impact area name. Whenever possible we recommend users enter a description. For example, a description can be used to share information with team members. Now we need to set the path to the impact area shapefile. Select the ellipse button to open the shapefile browser window. Navigate to the location of the desired shapefile, select the file and click open. Shapefiles store geometric location and attribute information. The Unique Name drop-down list updates with a list of the attributes in the selected shapefile. Select the appropriate attribute containing the unique impact area names. Review the Quick Start Guide's Recommended GIS Skills page for more information. You are ready to import the impact area set. Click OK, the Importer tab closes and the Study Tree updates with the imported impact area set. Users can edit, remove or rename imported impact area sets. 

The last step for completing the import of the Version 1.4.3 study into Version 2.0 is to import the aggregated stage-damage functions. The stage-damage functions must be imported after the impact areas because a stage-damage function is the relationship of direct economic costs caused by flood inundation to a range of flood stages for a given impact area. In other words, a stage-damage curve cannot be assigned to an impact area if the study does not contain any impact areas. Review the Quick Start Guide's Impact Areas topic and Aggregated Stage-Damage Functions page for more information. For now, let’s walk through the process for importing the functions from the FDA 1.4.3 exported text file. Right-click on Aggregated Stage-Damage Functions and click the import command. The stage-damage functions importer opens as a tab. Click the FDA Version 1 File ellipse button to open the file selection browser window. Navigate to the same text file used to create the FDA 2.0 study and click Open. The name of the text file now displays in the File textbox. Click Import and view the import log. Close the tabs when finished viewing the import logs. Aggregated stage-damage functions can be edited, removed or renamed. 

After creating the new study you will need to review the study properties. From the File menu, click Properties. Here you can change the Price Information, Convergence Criteria, and add Study Notes. This is also where you will change the Discount Rate for the current year. Click Save and Close when you are finished.

Second: Specify and Compute Scenarios

Specify a Scenario for each project condition-analysis year combination. Review Part C: Specify and Compute Scenarios section of the quick start guide's Create New Study from Scratch topic for more information.

The following must be selected for each impact area for a given Scenario:

  1. Discharge-frequency function
  2. Stage-discharge function 
  3. Stage-frequency function if not able to use discharge-frequency function and stage-discharge function 
  4. Set of stage-damage functions, one for each damage category - asset category combination. 

The following may optionally be selected for each impact area for inclusion in a given Scenario:

  1. Regulated-unregulated flow transform function
  2. Interior-exterior stage transform function 
  3. Levee elevation, system response curve optionally 
  4. Additional thresholds 

After completing the selections for each impact area, hit save, and right-click on the scenario and hit compute. When the compute is complete, a message will be displayed prompting whether to display results. 

Third: Specify Alternatives and an Alternative Comparison Report

  1. Specify Alternatives. An alternative should represent a given project condition and should include one Scenario for each analysis year. Right-click on the Alternative and hit view results. 
  2. Specify the Alternative Comparison Report by identifying the without-project condition and each with-project condition for comparison. Right-click on the alternative comparison report and hit view results.

Review the  for more information regarding alternatives and alternative comparison reports

Inconvertible Study Data

The following items can not be converted from 1.4.3 study data into 2.0 study data:

  1. Price index information
  2. Plans
  3. Years
  4. Streams
  5. Damage reaches
  6. Damage categories
  7. Structure modules
  8. Structures
  9. Water surface profiles

The above items that cannot be imported are not accommodated for one of three reasons:

  1. Data is not exported from HEC-FDA 1.4.3
  2. Study configuration is different in HEC-FDA 2.0
  3. HEC-FDA 2.0 requires spatial data sets

Related Topics

  • Page:
    Version 1.4.3 to Version 2.0 Study Conversion — This tutorial documents the steps to follow to convert an HEC-FDA Version 1.4.3 study to a Version 2.0 study. Heads up: transitioning from decades-old technology straight to brand-new technology can be clunky. As an example, consider what it would take to transfer the contacts on a Nokia flip phone to an iPhone 14. Compared to that, this workflow is a breeze!