Rhino Formatting Guide

Here's how you name the layers and how that naming breaks down to pieces of information that inform FloodAdapt. The pipeline reads the layer name and (where present) the geometry's Z coordinates, then writes a ready-to-ingest GeoJSON. Per-feature attribute entry via Rhino's SetUserText is still supported as an override but is no longer required.

01Layer Names

The pattern is:

<canonical_type>[_<value><unit>][_<value><unit>]…

The canonical type tells the pipeline what kind of intervention this is. Each trailing _<value><unit> token sets one parameter on every feature on that layer. Tokens stack and are order-independent; a plain canonical name (no suffix) uses the layer's defaults.

Canonical types

Suffix units

Append _<value><unit> to encode a parameter. The unit determines the attribute and which conversion (if any) is applied. Units that aren't valid for the canonical type are rejected with a warning and the layer still resolves without that attribute.

Examples

Multiple input layers can resolve to the same canonical type with different parameter values. pump_5cms and pump_20cms both write into one <stem>_pump.geojson with mixed-capacity features; the pipeline reads capacity per-feature.

Variants _v<N> and options _opt<X>

Two tag suffixes let you author multiple design alternatives in one Rhino file. They serve different purposes and follow different rules — pick the right one.

Each variant + option combination writes to its own geojson: platform_optA_4.064m → <stem>_platform_optA.geojson. The properties dict on every feature carries variant and/or option fields so downstream code can filter.

Tags are order-independent and stack with parameter tokens. platform_optA_4.064m, platform_4.064m_optA, and platform_optA (with crest set via UserText) all resolve correctly.

02Auto-Derive From Geometry Z

Drawing geometry at non-zero Z lets the pipeline read elevation directly. Z values are converted from the source CRS units to metres automatically — Rhino models in EPSG:2263 (US survey feet) get a 0.3048 multiplier; EPSG:32618 (metres) doesn't. The factor is logged on every ingest.

Barriers and platforms

For LineStrings on levee / seawall / gate layers and Polygons on the platform layer:

Buildings

For 3D Brep / Mesh / Extrusion footprints on the buildings layer:

• ground_elev_m = min Z across all vertices
• height_m = (max − min) Z, only if the range exceeds 0.5 m (so flat 2D footprints aren't false-tagged with a height)

2D building footprints (closed polylines drawn flat) keep working — the pipeline samples ground elevation from the DEM and uses the layer-default height.

mesh_surface (the special case)

For elevated forms with grading — a rail station with sloping ramps, a podium that steps down between streets, a complex landform — author the design as a single 3D mesh on a layer named mesh_surface. The pipeline rasterizes the mesh to a height field, slices it into elevation bands at --contour-interval (default 0.5 m), and emits one platform polygon per band. Each polygon is tagged with the band's mid-elevation as crest_elevation_m.

Per-mesh UserText keys contour_interval_m and raster_res_m override the CLI defaults for that mesh.

03Geometry per Layer

04Coordinate System

Declare the CRS at ingest time. Common options:

python scripts/ingest_cad.py my_design.3dm --source-crs EPSG:2263

      source CRS 'EPSG:2263' uses 'us survey foot' → z×0.3048

05Precedence

When multiple sources supply the same attribute, the higher source wins:

06UserText (Override Path)

For per-feature exceptions — one pump that's bigger than the rest, one barrier with a custom name — use Rhino's SetUserText command. UserText overrides everything from the layer name and from geometry Z.

SetUserText crest_elevation_m 5.33
SetUserText capacity_cms 12.5
SetUserText measure_name "East Harlem Seawall — Section A"

// On a mesh_surface mesh, override the contour interval / resolution
SetUserText contour_interval_m 0.25
SetUserText raster_res_m 0.5

07Pitfalls