Field Notes

Engineering notes from the person behind Clear But Complex. Drainage, hydrology and the math under everyday things, one idea per issue, worked with real numbers.

Samuel Rivera, P.E. · Austin, Texas · New issues on LinkedIn, weekdays

No. 02 · Nov 2, 2026 · 9 sheets

A 3D city model from OpenStreetMap

Downtown Austin rebuilt from open map data for the Digital Madness music video: the route, a local grid on Congress Avenue, missing heights, meshing and a 1-bit renderer.

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No. 01 · Oct 30, 2026 · 9 sheets

Site drainage, rainfall to outfall

Peak flow and storm drain sizing for a 2-acre Austin site under the City of Austin Drainage Criteria Manual, from Atlas 14 rainfall to the outfall.

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Clear But Complex

The same desk makes the music.

Clear But Complex is dark, peak-time acid techno with visuals drawn in code. Field Notes 02 came out of that work: for the Digital Madness video, downtown Austin was rebuilt from open map data and rendered one dot at a time.

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Illustrative examples. Real designs follow the governing criteria manual and are sealed by a licensed engineer.