What's New in RiverTools 5?

The short answer is: just about everything!

All previous versions of RiverTools were desktop apps that you would install and run on your personal computer. This meant that all of your datasets consumed space on your computer's hard drive, and all computations were performed by your computer. For longer-running extraction jobs, this could make it more difficult to use your computer for other tasks until the jobs were finished.

By contrast, RiverTools version 5.0 is a web app that runs in your browser. There is nothing to install and you have immediate access to new versions and features as soon as they are released. All of your datasets are stored in the cloud and do not consume space on your hard drive. In addition, all computations take place in the cloud on remote servers. This means that you can start a longer-running job and continue to use your computer for other tasks. You can check on the status of jobs you have submitted with the View Jobs dialog in the User menu. If you log out, your jobs will continue to run in the cloud until they're finished.

Another big difference between RiverTools 5.0 and previous versions is that it is offered with a multi-tiered subscription model. The tiers differ in terms of the maximum size of the DEMs you can download and the maximum amount of cloud storage space you have for your datasets. However, the software functionality is the same for each tier.

Yet another big difference is that it is now easier than ever to acquire a DEM for your region of interest from the latest and most accurate DEM products. The Get DEM dialog in the File menu makes it easy to download DEMs from OpenTopography.org, from both global and US-based DEM products. It is no longer necessary to mosaic together tiles (often 1-degree x 1-degree) to span your region of interest.

The entire graphical user interface for RiverTools 5.0 has been redesigned and is now much more streamlined and intuitive. RiverTools 5.0 has almost all of the functionality that was available in RiverTools 4.0, even though many new capabilities have been added. There are just a few RiverTools 4.0 features that are not yet in version 5.0, but improved versions of those are coming in the next release. Note that every dialog still has its own context-specific HTML help page and RiverTools is still a stand-alone application. As always, RiverTools can still handle very large DEMs.

New "Valley Centering" Algorithm for Flow Direction in Flats

New, More Accurate Channel Slope Algorithm

File → Get DEM Dialog

New Set Menu, with Colors, Preferences, and Ellipsoids

Prepare → Clip DEM Dialog

Prepare → Reproject DEM Dialog

Extract → Radiation Grids → Shortwave Dialog

Analyze → Channel Profiles Dialog

Analyze → Solar Functions Dialog

User → Account Info Dialog

User → View Jobs Dialog

RiverTools is a trademark of Rivix, LLC.