Plan drains with the Drainage Planner

A LiDAR field has a flow line in almost every swale. The Drainage Planner keeps only the paths that drain at least the ground you choose, so what is left is the network worth cutting. Arrows show which way the water runs. Save it as a plan and it loads on the grade map in one tap.

Before you start

Time: about 5 minutes per plan.

• The field was made with Prepare Field or Generate Mapping Products on app v1.5.4 or later, so it has flow lines and ponding. Imagery-only and DEM-only fields, and fields made on older versions, have no Drainage Planner button.
• No internet needed. The planner works on what is saved on the tablet.

Open the planner

Right after Prepare Field: in the Field Prep Complete window, tap Open Drainage Planner, the green button at the bottom right.

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Any time later:

1. Open My LiDAR Fields

   From Home or from any map: Open My LiDAR Fields.

2. Tap the arrow at the right end of the field's row

   The row opens to show the field's layers and buttons.

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3. Tap Drainage Planner

   The button at the bottom of the opened row, left of the red Delete.

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The planner fills the screen: the map on top, titled Drainage Planner — and the field name, and the controls along the bottom. The field boundary, the ponding and the draft plan lines are drawn on the map.

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Make a plan

Drag the Minimum drainage area slider

It's the top slider in the panel along the bottom. Put your finger on its round handle and slide it. The line above reads Minimum drainage area: 2 ac, and the map redraws as you move.

• Right (up to 20 ac): fewer lines, only the main paths.
• Left (down to 0.1 ac): more lines, right up into the small swales.

Steps: 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, 20 ac. It starts at 2 ac. In metric the steps run 0.05–8 ha and start at 0.8 ha.

Under the slider: 76 flow paths shown. On a quarter-to-half section that is typically over 100 lines at 0.5 ac and under 20 at 20 ac. If you set it higher than any path drains, it reads No flow paths drain at least 20 ac — lower the minimum.

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Read the plan lines

Plan lines are purple. A line is wider the more ground it drains. Purple arrows with a white edge point downstream, toward the outlet: one about every 200 ft, or one in the middle of a line shorter than 400 ft.

Follow the arrows to where the main line leaves the field. That's where your ditch outlets.

Drag the Ponding cutoff slider, if you want

The lower slider works as on the map: toward Wet first (right) shows only the worst wet spots, toward Wet last (left) shows more. It's a rank from 0 to 100, not a depth, and it's saved with the plan. See The ponding cutoff.

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Tap Save plan

The green button at the bottom right of the screen. A window called Save plan opens.

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Check the name, then tap Save plan

The Plan name is filled in for you from the field and the minimum, for example Section 12 West – drainage plan (5 ac). To change it, tap the box and type. Then tap Save plan at the bottom right of the window.

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You're back on the map

The planner closes and you're back on the map you came from. A message along the bottom reads Saved Section 12 West – drainage plan (5 ac). The plan stays on the map over the ponding and the boundary.

In Map Layers the plan now has a PLN row. It takes the place of the field's Flow Routes row, and Depressions stays switched off.

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Leaving the planner with the back arrow without saving throws the draft away and puts the map back the way it was.

Make as many plans per field as you like, for example one at 2 ac for the main ditches and one at 0.5 ac for the laterals.

Show a saved plan on the survey or grade map

Map overlays are not kept after the app closes, so load the plan again each session.

1. Tap the layers button

   The dark square button with a blue stacked-sheets icon, at the bottom right of the map. A window called Map Layers opens.

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2. Tap +

   In the top-right corner of the Map Layers window: a green plus sign. A menu opens.

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3. Tap Drainage plan

   The last line of the menu. A window called Drainage plan opens. Plans are listed under their field, each with its minimum area.

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4. Tap the plan

   Its box ticks and the plan loads on the map behind: boundary, ponding and the purple lines. Tap it again to take it off.

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5. Tap Close

   At the bottom right of the Drainage plan window. You're back in Map Layers.

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6. Tap Close in Map Layers

   At the bottom right of the Map Layers window, right of Clear All. You should see the purple plan lines on the map.

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In Map Layers the plan is one row with a PLN badge. Its trash icon removes the whole plan from the map (lines, boundary and ponding). The saved plan isn't deleted.

No plans saved yet? The window reads No saved drainage plans yet. Open a LiDAR field's Drainage Planner to make one.

Rename, edit or delete a plan

1. Open the Drainage plan window

   As in steps 1 to 3 above.

2. Press and hold the plan

   Keep your finger on its name for about a second (Press and hold). A menu slides up from the bottom of the screen: Rename, Edit, Delete.

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3. Tap what you want to do

   • Rename: a window with the Plan name box opens. Type the new name and tap Rename.
   • Edit: the Drainage Planner opens on that plan. Change the sliders. Then tap Update plan to overwrite it, or Save as new to keep both. The new name fills in with the new minimum, for example Section 12 West – drainage plan (3 ac).
   • Delete: the app asks Delete Section 12 West – drainage plan (3 ac)? Tap Delete. This can't be undone.

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If it doesn't work