Latest Contributions by TomDeWitte

By Tom DeWitte Earlier today Esri posted the first ever industry data model for managing District Heating and District Cooling (DHC) pipe systems. This data model continues Esri’s efforts in providing industry specific template data models. The DHC 2020 data model provides District Heating and District Cooling organizations with an implementation ready configuration for Esri Geodatabase data repositories. This data model template is provided as a free download for all to use. Why Create This Data Model The goal of the DHC 2020 data model is to make it easier, quicker, and more cost effective for organizations responsible for the management of District Heating or District Cooling pipe systems to implement the ArcGIS platform. The DHC 2020 data model accomplishes this by freely providing a data model template that demonstrates a best practice configuration of the Esri geodatabase to address the system of record needs of DHC organizations. How was this Data Model Created Creating a new industry data model requires an immense amount of information.  More information than any one person or organization contains. Fortunately, many persons from around the world were willing to share their knowledge and time to help bring this data model to life.  This group effort from organizations big and small, public and private, incorporates hundreds of years of industry knowledge into this data model. Best Practice Application of ArcGIS Technology DHC 2020 was configured to take advantage of the latest capabilities provided by the ArcGIS Technology. This includes recent enhancements such as contingent values, attribute rules, and the Utility Network. In this data model you will find contingent value configurations to restrict the valid types of pipe insulation and pipe material based on whether the pipe transits, steam, condensate, heated water, or chilled water. Included in DHC 2020 are many attribute rules to automate attribute population as well as provide data quality checks. This data model includes utility network subnetwork configurations for defining pressure zones, circulation areas, leak detection zones, cathodic protection zones, and energy zones. And let’s not forget the thousands of connectivity, containment and association rules of the utility network. Industry Business Rules Business rules are a great way to share industry knowledge. Sometimes it is simple, such as ensuring that the maximum operating temperature is greater than the standard operating temperature, or that the in-service date occurred after the date of installation. Others are more complicated, such as knowing when to create a containment association between two assets.  Thanks to the combined knowledge of many persons across the industry, these business rule examples and many more are included with this data model. Sample Data Included in the download file stored on the District Heating and Cooling industry page of geonet in addition to the data model asset package is a sample dataset.  This dataset is fully 3D and provides great examples of the many facilities which participate in a District Heating or District Cooling pipe system.                 Data Dictionary As I noted in my October update, writing a data dictionary is not fun, but it is very important to explaining the what, the how and the why of the data model.  Work on the data dictionary is complete and included in the download file as a PDF document. This data dictionary includes descriptions of each featureclass subtype layer.  For each subtype layer a full description of each attribute that is appropriate is provided. Additionally, the data dictionary includes a listing and description of each attribute rule that is to be included with the data model.   How to Download This data model, its sample data, and data dictionary are available as a single download from the District Heating and Cooling industry page on geonet.  You can download it directly with this link: https://community.esri.com/t5/district-heating-and-cooling/district-heating-and-cooling-data-model-2020-release/ta-p/1008751 As noted previously, this data model is the cumulation of the input of many persons.  This data model can only evolve with your feedback. If you have suggestions for improving this data model or see something that requires correction to help the next person, please reply to this blog and post your feedback, or you can email me directly at: [email protected]. ... View more

DHC 2020 Edition This is the official release of the 2020 Edition of the District Heating and Cooling Data Model (DHC2020). It is designed to support data management for the District Heating, Steam and District Cooling industries.  The downloadable files are: -DHC2020_AssetPackage.zip -DHC2020_DataDictionary.pdf The DHC2020_AssetPackage.gdb file geodatabase is an ArcGIS Pro version 2.6 asset package. The asset package includes the data model and the sample data. The data dictionary provides full documentation of the data model. If you have questions, please post them to this geonet community, so everyone can see and share the information. Thank you Tom DeWitte Esri Technical Lead – District Heating and Cooling Industries   ... View more

Attached is a short video showing how the new ArcGIS Field Maps can be for Digital As-Builting.  This demo leverages the arcade scripts to provide construction crews the ability to validate assets prior to installation, and to document installed assets.  This configuration of ArcGIS Field Maps works in both a connected network and a disconnect network. ... View more

Looking for a better solution for managing your steam, heated water or chilled water pipe system? Please join us October 28 th from 11:00am – 11:30am U.S. Central time for a brief 20-minute presentation on using ArcGIS for managing the assets and systems of your District Heating, Steam, and District Cooling pipe systems. See all the details at: https://imgis2020.esri.com/exhibitors/11EAFD0B4900378082654F82FCF35551/See-a-Demonstration This presentation is part of Esri’s Infrastructure Management and GIS conference. The conference is complementary to all Esri customers that are current on maintenance and subscriptions. ... View more

Tired of playing GIS gymnastics with multiple data silos of your pipe system data.  Please join us on October 29 th from 12:00pm – 1:00pm U.S. Central time for a presentation followed by live Q&A on using ArcGIS for managing a single digital natural gas pipe system from wellhead to meter.  A pipe system that leverages both linear referencing and connectivity to manage the gas pipe assets. See all the details at: https://imgis2020.esri.com/live-stream/19752784/Unified-Pipe-Data-Management-Managing-Your-Pipe-System-with-UN-and-APR This presentation is part of Esri’s Infrastructure Management and GIS conference. The conference is complementary to all Esri customers that are current on maintenance and subscriptions. ... View more

Wondering how to better manage the Cathodic Protection portion of your pipe system. Please join us October 28 th from 12:00pm – 12:30pm U.S. Central time for a brief 20-minute presentation on using the utility network and attribute rules to simplify data management and enhance capabilities. See all the details at: https://imgis2020.esri.com/exhibitors/11EAFD0B4900378082654F82FCF35551/See-a-Demonstration This presentation is part of Esri’s Infrastructure Management and GIS conference. The conference is complementary to all Esri customers that are current on maintenance and subscriptions. ... View more

This is the second beta release of the District Heating and Cooling Data model.  It is a version 2.6.0 asset package.  This is a specific configuration of a file geodatabase, that when coupled with the Utility Network Package Tools, can be used to create, load and configure a full utility network for this industry.   Please post any comments or suggestions to this geonet site.   Thanks Tom DeWitte Esri Technical Lead District Heating and Cooling ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte Earlier this month, Esri released Utility and Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) 2020. This release continues Esri’s practice of maintaining a template data model ready “out-of-the-box” to manage natural gas and hazardous liquid pipe system data within an Esri geodatabase. This release includes enhancements to keep up with changes in industry practices and regulatory requirements.   What’s New for 2020 Esri software development staff continue to enhance and evolve the capabilities of the geodatabase. Keeping up with these advancements is an ongoing activity. In addition to the data model representing a best practice on how to leverage the geodatabase, the data model also represents a repository of industry knowledge. Much of the structure and content of this data model is based on feedback from Esri’s many gas and hazardous liquid industry users. For the 2020 edition, special focus was on three key areas: Incorporation of new geodatabase capabilities Adjusting to address new industry practices and regulatory requirements Feedback from customers   Incorporation of New Geodatabase Capabilities Two recent enhancements are incorporated into UPDM 2020.  These enhancements are Attribute Rules and Contingent Values.   An attribute rule is an arcade script which automates an edit task such as populating an attribute or defining a utility network association. The script is embedded within the geodatabase. This ensures that the data automation and data assurance properties of the attribute rule are always invoked regardless of the Esri client application performing the edit. With UPDM 2020, attribute rules were added to automate the following edit tasks: Automatically create a containment association when a content feature is spatially contained by or within a distance of a valid container feature. Automatically populate the “material” attribute value with the “assettype” value for those materials which have the same value for “assettype” and “material”. This applies to Cast Iron, Ductile Iron, and Other. A contingent value is a dynamic constraint on the values in a coded value domain list based on the value set by another attribute which is not the subtype field. In UPDM 2020, a contingent value listing was added to the PipelineLine featureclass to limit the valid choices for the “material” attributes based on the “assettype” value. For example, when the editor is placing a pipe segment with an “assettype” value of “Coated Steel,” the “material” attribute is dynamically constrained to limit an editor’s picklist of materials to only grades of steel (Grade A, Grade X42, Grade X60, etc).   Adjusting to Industry Practices Keeping up with changes to industry practices and regulatory requirements is a continual effort. For operators in the United States, a new set of federal regulations for onshore transmission pipelines went into effect, on July 1, 2020. One of these regulations is 192.607, Verification of Pipeline Material Properties and Attributes: Onshore steel transmission pipelines.  This new regulation defines changes to what information a transmission operator must maintain for the life of the pipe asset feature. Many people in the industry refer to this new regulatory required industry practice as traceable, verifiable, and complete. To help onshore transmission operators adopt this new industry practice several changes were made to UPDM 2020. Added attributes to PipelineJunction for managing “X-Ray Number”, and “Joint Coating Type” on fittings. Added attribute to PipelineLine for managing “Mill Test Pressure”, “Heat Number”, and “Joint Number” to improve management of pipe manufacturing data. Added attributes to PipelineDevice for managing “Remote Operation”, “Operator Type”, and “Device Actuator Type” data to improve management of devices with remote operation capabilities.   Enhancements Due to Customer Feedback Many customers in late 2019 and early 2020 were kind enough to take the time to share lessons learned from their implementation of UPDM 2019. Many of these lessons learned have been incorporated into UPDM 2020. A sampling of changes based on customer feedback include: Increasing the text field length of the PipelineLine attribute, LocationDescription from 100 to 255. Changing the default value for the PipelineLine attributes, WarningTape and TraceWire from “Yes” to “No” for the subtype “Transmission Pipe”. Add the subtype “Pipe Bend” to the PipelineJunction featureclass to better support transmission data management. Move “P_PipeCrossing” featureclass into the PipeSystem feature dataset to support use as a linear referenced event with the ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing solution   Gas and Pipeline Enterprise Data Management For many gas utility and pipeline enterprises, deploying the ArcGIS platform that leverages the concepts of a service-oriented webgis is more than loading the UPDM 2020 data model into an enterprise geodatabase. It requires additional steps such as creating an ArcGIS Pro map configured for publishing the data model, publishing of the Pro map to create the required map and feature services and, perhaps, configuring a location referencing system. To help simplify these additional steps performed with UPDM 2020, Esri has embedded UPDM 2020 into a new ArcGIS for Gas solution.  The new solution is called Gas and Pipeline Enterprise Data Management. This solution provides UPDM 2020, sample data, and an ArcGIS Pro project configured with tasks and performance optimized maps. You can access this solution from the Esri ArcGIS For Gas solution site: https://solutions.arcgis.com/gas/help/gas-pipeline-enterprise-data-management/    As part of incorporating UPDM 2020 into this new gas industry solution, the data dictionary has been converted into a searchable online web page.  This will simplify searching the previously 800-page data dictionary. You can directly access the new UPDM 2020 online data dictionary from this link: https://solutions.arcgis.com/utilities/data-dictionary/index.html?cacheId=699ffe0419684c288bc6c5d638355b6e    For more information about Gas and Pipeline Enterprise Data Management and the additional information it provides, you can read the following storymap. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/02cf898e224b49be87babc1d7699201b?rmedium=links_esri_com_s&rsource=https%3A%2F%2Flinks.esri.com%2FSolutions%2FGasPipelineEnterpriseDataManagement%2FGettingtoKnow   For those not familiar with UPDM and its goal, here is a quick overview. What is UPDM UPDM is a geodatabase data model template for operators of pipe networks in the gas and hazardous liquids industries. UPDM is a moderately normalized data model that explicitly represents each physical component of a gas pipe network from the wellhead to the customer meter, or a hazardous liquids pipe network from the wellhead to the terminal or delivery point, in a single database table object. UPDM is the only industry model which can manage a single representation of the entire pipe system.  For many companies around the world this single data repository aligns well with enterprise practices to vertically integrate business processes and operations. Why UPDM The goal of the Esri UPDM is to make it easier, quicker, and more cost-effective for pipeline operators and gas utilities to implement the ArcGIS platform. The Esri UPDM accomplishes this by freely providing a data model that takes full advantage of the capabilities of the geodatabase. The data model is created and tested with ArcGIS products to ensure that it works. This significantly reduces the complexity, time, and cost to implement a spatially enabled hazardous liquid or gas pipe system data repository. Looking Forward to UPDM 2021 A wise man once said “change is the only constant.” This is a great quote when thinking about UPDM going forward. The Esri development team will continue to enhance the capabilities of ArcGIS. Industry will continue to evolve its practices. To continue adjusting to industry practices and incorporating new ArcGIS capabilities, the Utility and Pipeline Data Model will continue to evolve.  These changes will be constant for many years to come. ... View more

This is the first beta release of the District Heating and Cooling Data model.  It is a version 2.6.0 asset package.  This is a specific configuration of a file geodatabase, that when coupled with the Utility Network Package Tools, can be used to create, load and configure a full utility network for this industry.   Please post any comments or suggestions to this geonet site.   Thanks Tom DeWitte Esri Technical Lead District Heating and Cooling ... View more

By Anastasiia Savchenko and Tom DeWitte The Esri User Conference is done, and summer is rapidly coming to an end. But progress on the District Heating and Cooling (DHC) data model continues. Since the early July release of Alpha 4, we have been working towards a mid-August release of beta 1. The goal for beta 1 is to have a complete rule base, network attributes, summary attributes, attribute rules and subnetwork definitions. With these additions to the data model we are getting very close to being feature complete. Let's discuss these remaining items in detail. Rules, Rules, Rules          A key component to the Utility Network is its ability to help data editors to enter and update components of the pipe system correctly. This not only improves data quality it also improves editing efficiency by helping editors enter the information correctly the first time.  The upcoming beta release will be the first release with a full set of connectivity rules to join the previously defined sets of containment and attribute rules. Network Attributes Network attributes are the utility network variables that allow summary attributes and trace tasks to be able to leverage a feature’s attributes.  This upcoming release will contain an updated set of network attributes. Summary Attributes   For each unique type of subnetwork, a specific set of summary attributes can be defined. These summary attributes will leverage a network attribute to define the information from the pipe system components to be summarized for a specific subnetwork.  For example, each pressure zone currently has the following summary attributes which the software will automatically tabulate. Total Pipe Length Total Transmission Pipe Length Total Distribution Pipe Length Total Supply Pipe Length Total Return Pipe Length Pipe Volume Number of Valves Number of Pumps Number of Heat Exchangers Number of Expansion Joints Testing and more Testing Before the beta can be released, there needs to be testing of the rule base and testing of integration with the other domain specific data models.  This is an important step to insure that multi-utility organizations are able to easily append this DHC 2020 data model onto electric, gas ,water, and other Esri domain specific data models. Almost Done             There are still a few aspects to modeling District Heating and Cooling systems that need to be completed.  First is understanding how to correctly model a Leak Detection system so it can be created, maintained, and traced with minimal effort and no duplication of data.  Second is the creation of a data dictionary, and third is the creation of a symbology style set. Conclusion             Even though there are still a few outstanding items to complete, this effort is on schedule.  But we are always looking for more volunteers with industry knowledge to help with this effort.  If you work in, or support the Steam, Heated Water, or Chilled Water utility organizations and are interested in joining one of our working groups, please let us know.  You can contact us via geonet or directly via email: [email protected], [email protected] . ... View more