## Concentration / Display / Contours

The concentration model generates a binary (big-endian) output file on a regular latitude-longitude grid, which is read by the other programs to produce various displays and other output. The plotting program, concplot, can be accessed through the GUI, which is shown in the illustration below, or it can be run directly from the command line. Most, but not all, of the command line options are available through the GUI.

Normally only one input file is shown, unless multiple files have been defined in the Concentration Setup Run menu. The default output file name is shown and unless the box is checked all frames (time periods and/or levels) will be output to that one file. The program uses the map background file, arlmap, which by default is located in the \graphics directory. Other customized map background files could be defined. Some of these higher resolution map background files are available from the HYSPLIT download web page. This plotting program also supports the use of ESRI formatted shapefiles.

The GIS output option will create an output file of the contour polygons (latitude-longitude vectors) in two different format: the ESRI generate format for import into ArcMap or ArcExplorer, or XML formatted files packaged by Info-Zip for import into Google Earth.

For multiple pollutant files, only one pollutant may be selected for display by individual levels, or averaged between selected levels. These levels must have been predefined in the Concentration Setup menu. Multipliers can be defined for deposition or air concentrations. Normally these values would default to 1.0, unless it is desired to change the output units (for instance, g/m3 to ug/m3 would require a multiplier of 106).

Contours and color fill can be specified as black and white or color. The none option eliminates the black line defining contours and only leaves the color fill. This option is incompatible with GIS output options, which require computation of the contour vector. Contours can be determined DYNamically by the program, changing with each map, or FIXed to be the same for all maps. A user can set the contour scaling (difference between contours) to be computed on an EXPonential scale or a LINear scale.

Concplot Command Line Options

The Postscript conversion program (concplot), found in the /exec directory with all other executables, reads the binary concentration output file, calculates the most optimum map for display, and creates the output file concplot.ps. Multiple pollutant species or levels can be accommodated. Most routine variations can be invoked from the GUI. More complicated conversions should be run from the command line using the following optional parameters:

concplot -[options (default)]

- -a[Arcview GIS: (0)-no dump, 1-ESRI (log10), 2-ESRI (decimal), 3-Google Earth]

  Selecting the ESRI Generate Format output creates an ASCII text file for each output time period that consists of the value and latitude-longitude points along each contour. This file can be converted to an ESRI Shapefile or converted for other GIS applications through the utility menu "GIS to Shapefile" ". The view checkbox would be disabled to do just the GIS conversion without opening the Postscript viewer. Selecting Google Earth will create a compressed file (*.kmz) for use in Google Earth; a free software package to display geo-referenced information in 3-dimensions. You must have the free Info-Zip file compression software installed to compress the Google Earth file and associated graphics.

- -b[Bottom display level: (0) m]

  = 0 - Represents the height (meters) below which no data will be processed for display. The level information is interpreted according to the display (-d) definition.

- -c[Contours: (0)]

  = 0 - Dynamic contour values (10x intervals) are optimized for each map.
  = 1 - Fixed contour values (10x intervals) are the same for all maps.
  = 2 - Dynamic contour values (constant interval) are optimized for each map.
  = 3 - Fixed contour values (constant interval) are the same for all maps.
  = 4 - The contours are set by the user in conjunction with -v option.
  =50 - Force contour interval x10 and set dynamically for each frame.
  =51 - Force contour interval x10 and set as fixed for all frames.
- -d[Display: (1)-by level, 2-levels averaged]

  = 1 - All output levels that fall between the bottom and top display heights are shown as individual frames. A single level will be displayed if both bottom and top heights equal the calculation level or they bracket that level. Deposition plots are produced if level zero data are available in the concentration file and the display height is set to 0.

  = 2 - The concentrations at all levels between the specified range are averaged to produce one output frame per time period. If deposition data is available and a plot is required in addition to the air concentrations, then the bottom height should be set to 0. Deposition is not averaged with air concentrations.

- -e[Exposure units flag: (0)-concentrations, 1-exposure, 2-threshold 3-special]

  = 1 - A custom output format in which all the air concentrations have been converted to time-integrated units and vertically averaged for all levels between the bottom and top heights.

- -f[Frames: (0)-all frames one file, 1-one frame per file]

  = 0 - All output frames (one per time period) in one file.
  = 1 - Each time period is written to a file: concplot{frame number}.ps

- -g[Graphic circle overlay: ( )-auto, 0-numb, numb:dist(50) km]

  = ( ) - Auto selection procedure draws four circles with the distance between them determined by the program algorithm.

  = # - Specifies the number of circles with the default (50 km) distance interval.

  = number:distance - specifies the number of circles and the distance interval between circles. For the special case of zero circles with a distance specified (e.g. -0:1500) the program will fix the map with the top and bottom edge at that distance from the center.

- -h[Hold map at center lat-lon: (source point), lat:lon]

  = lat:lon - Forces the center of the map to be at the specific latitude-longitude point rather than the default source location. This is normally used in conjunction with the -g option to get the same map each time or when there are multiple source locations.

- -i[Input file name: (cdump)]

  = Name of the binary concentration file for which the graphics will be produced. Default name {cdump} or user defined}.

- -j[Graphics map background file name: (arlmap)]

  The program first searches the local directory, then the ..\graphics directory for the name of the default map background file (arlmap). Set this parameter to select the directory/name of any map background file of compatible format or specify a special file of shape file file names.

- -k[Kolor: 0-B&W, (1)-Color, 2-No lines Color, 3-No lines B&W]
  = 0 - Uses gray shade patterns for the contour color fill.
  = 1 - Uses the default four color fill pattern.
  = 2 - Default color fill pattern but without black contour lines.
  = 3 - Black and white color fill but without black contour lines.
- -l[Label options: ascii code, (73)-open star]

  The default plot symbol over the source location is an open star. This may be changed to any value defined in the psplot ZapfDingbats library. For instance a blank, or no source symbol would be defined as -l32

- -L[LatLonLabels: 0=none, (1)=auto, 2=set:{value tenths}]

  = 0 - No latitude or longitude lines are drawn on the map
  = 1 - Latitude and longitude lines spacing is determined automatically
  = 2:tenths - line spacing is determined by the given value in tenths

- -m[Map projection: (0)-Auto, 1-Polar, 2-Lambert, 3-Mercator, 4-CylEqu]

  Normally the map projection is automatically determined based upon the size and latitude of the concentration pattern. Sometimes this procedure fails to produce an acceptable map and in these situations it may be necessary to force a map projection.

- -n[Number of time periods: (0)-all, number, min:max,-increment]

  = 0 - All time periods in the input file are processed.
  = # - Sets the number of time periods to be processed starting with the first.
  = #1:#2 - Processes time periods, including and between #1 and #2.
  = [-#] - Sets the increment between time periods to be processed. For instance, -n-6 would only process every 6th time period.

- -o[Output file name: (concplot.ps)]

  The name of the Postscript output file defaults to concplot.ps unless it is set to a {user defined} value.

- -p[Process file name suffix: (ps) or process ID]

  The suffix defines the character string that replaces the default "ps" in the output file name. A different suffix does not change the nature of the file. It remains Postscript. The suffix is used in multi-user environments to maintain multiple independent output streams.

- -q[Quick data plot: ( )-none, filename]

  By defining a text file with a comma or space delimited format consisting of one or more records of the four real numbers, identity, latitude, longitude, and value, the program will plot the values at the given locations. The same values are plotted on all maps.

- -r[Removal: 0-none, (1)-each time, 2-sum, 3-total]

  = 0 - No deposition plots are produced even if the model produced deposition output.
  = 1 - One deposition plot is produced for each time period.
  = 2 - The deposition is summed such that each new time period represents the total accumulation.
  = 3 - Similar to =2, deposition is accumulated to the end of the simulation and but only one plot is produced at the end.

- -s[Species: 0-Sum (1)-Single Pollutant {N}-Species Number]

  = {Species Number} - Only one pollutant species may be displayed per plot sequence if multiple species were created during a simulation. However, an entry of "0" will cause all species concentrations to be summed for display.

- -t[Top display level: (99999) m]

  = 99999 - Represents the height (m) above which no data will be processed for display. The level is interpreted according to the display definition.

- -u[Units label for mass: (mass), also see "labels.cfg" file]

  Defines the character string for the units label. Can also be modified using the labels.cfg file.

- -v[Values for fixed contours: val1+val2+val3+val4]

  If the contour values are user set (-c4), then it is also possible to define the four individual contours explicitly through this option. For instance -v4+3+2+1, would define the contours 4, 3, 2, and 1.

- -w[Grid point scan for contour smoothing (0)-none 1,2,3, ... grid points]

  Defines if the gridded concentration data are to be smoothed prior to contouring. For instance, a value of 1 means that each grid point value is replaced by the average value of 9 grid points (center point plus 8 surrounding).

- -x[Concentration multiplier: (1.0)]

  = 1.0 - No units conversion.
  = X - where {X} is the multiplier applied to the air concentration input data before graphics processing.

- -y[Deposition multiplier: (1.0)]

  = 1.0 - No units conversion.
  = X - where {X} is the multiplier applied to the deposition input data before processing.

- -z[Zoom factor: 0-least zoom, (50), 100-most zoom]

  = 50 - Standard resolution.
  = 100 - High resolution map (less white space around the concentration pattern)

  Additional Map Label Customization

  Many of the Postscript graphics programs have label information that can be customized to some extent. This is accomplished by placing a file called Labels.cfg in the startup directory which contains the following valid entries (all in single quotes terminated by &) replacing the new string with the desired text. A sample file called Labels.bak may be found in the relevant directory. Not all label strings are valid with every plotting program.

  'TITLE&','NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE&'
  'MAPID&','PROBABILITY&'
  'LAYER&','BOUNDARY LAYER AVERAGE&'
  'UNITS&','BQ&'
  'VOLUM&','/M3&'

  Additional supplemental text may be added at the bottom of the graphic by creating a file called MAPTEXT.CFG, also to be located in the startup directory. This is a generic file used by all plotting programs but each program will used different lines in its display. The file can be created and edited through the Advanced menu tab.

  ESRI Shapefile Map Background Files

  Another mapping option would be to specify a special pointer file, always called shapefiles.txt to replace the map background file arlmap in the -j command line option (see above). This file would contain the name of one or more shapefiles that can be used to create the map background. The line characteristics (spacing, thickness, color) can be specified for each shapefile following the format specified below:

  Record format: 'file.shp' dash thick red green blue
  file.shp = /dir/name of input shapefile in quotes
  dash = {0} for solid; {dashes}/in; <0 color fill
  thick = line thickness in inches (default = 0.0)
  Red Green Blue = RGB values (0.0 0.0 0.0 is black)
  Record example for default: 'arlmap.shp' 0 0.005 0.4 0.6 0.8

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