The HEC-WAT software application is based on a framework designed to support a flexible integration of multiple software applications.
The plugin API allows for the flexible integration of individual pieces of software within HEC-WAT without requiring special code to support the individual software.
The HEC-WAT software allows the US. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to meet its flood risk management mission through a holistic and approach facilitated by the following three capabilities.
Model Linking Editor
The Model Linking Editor allows users to define how model outputs map to model in subsequent models - these linkages show HEC-WAT how to run the models sequentially as an system of models.
Managing Computational Sequence
The HEC-WAT overarching framework allows automated computation of complex models water resources studies in an integrated approach. These compute sequences can be reproduced with varied boundary conditions through the Flood Risk Analysis (FRA) compute option.
Reporting Output
The HEC-WAT framework displays results from multiple models run in concert through behaviors provided by the plugins.
The FRA compute option supports the evaluation of risk based metrics for a watershed while treating the watershed as a system. The FRA compute option provides the user a nested Monte Carlo simulation to perform risk assessments that keeps natural variabilities separated from knowledge uncertainties The HEC-WAT software also allows a user to perform plan comparisons or system performance analyses while incorporating risk analysis methods.