PCRaster Version 2 Manual

Table of Contents
1. Introduction to the PCRaster Package: Concepts, Package Layout
1.1. Introduction
1.2. GIS and Cartographic Modelling
1.3. Dynamic Modelling
1.4. gstat module: Geostatistical Modelling
1.5. ADAM module: error propagation
1.6. Hardware and software requirements, installation
2. The Database
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Concepts, kinds of data used in the database
2.3. PCRaster maps
2.3.1. Introduction
2.3.2. Location attributes, missing values
2.3.3. Data types
2.3.4. Legends
2.4. Tables
2.4.1. Introduction
2.4.2. Format
2.5. Time series
2.5.1. Introduction
2.5.2. Format
2.6. Point data column files
2.6.1. Introduction
2.6.2. Format
3. How to Import or Export Data, Display Maps, Global Options
3.1. Introduction
3.2. PCRaster maps: database management
3.2.1. Creation of a PCRaster map; data import
3.2.2. Data export from a PCRaster map
3.2.3. Cutting or joining maps; changing geographical location attributes or data types
3.2.4. Attaching a legend to a PCRaster map
3.2.5. Screen display, hard copy output of PCRaster maps
3.3. Tables: database management
3.3.1. Introduction
3.3.2. Creating and editing tables
3.4. Time series: database management
3.4.1. Introduction
3.4.2. Creating and editing time series
3.5. Point data column files: database management
3.5.1. Introduction
3.5.2. Creating point data column files, conversion to/from PCRaster maps
3.6. Global options and local options
3.6.1. Introduction, setting global options
3.6.2. Overview of global options
4. Cartographic Modelling
4.1. Introduction
4.2. General approach to Cartographic Modelling
4.3. Point operations
4.3.1. Introduction to point operations
4.3.2. Operators for point operations
4.4. Neighbourhood operations
4.4.1. Introduction
4.4.2. Window operations
4.4.3. Local drain direction operations
4.4.4. Friction paths
4.4.5. Transport of material over a ldd
4.4.6. Neighbourhood operations: visibility analysis
4.5. Area operations
4.5.1. Introduction
4.5.2. Operations over areas
4.6. Map operations
4.7. Command syntax and script files for cartographic modelling
4.7.1. Introduction
4.7.2. Command syntax
4.7.3. Script files
5. Dynamic modelling
5.1. Introduction
5.1.1. Concepts
5.1.2. The script
5.1.3. Timeinput and report in the script, running a script
5.1.4. How to make a dynamic model
6. Functional list of PCRaster operators
6.1. Point operators
6.1.1. Boolean operators
6.1.2. Comparison operators
6.1.3. Conditional statements
6.1.4. Missing value creation, detection, alteration
6.1.5. Relations in tables
6.1.6. Order
6.1.7. Maximize, minimize
6.1.8. Arithmic operators, trigonometric, exponential, logarithmic functions
6.1.9. Rounding
6.1.10. Data types: Conversion and assignment
6.1.11. Random number generation - cells
6.1.12. Coordinates, unique ID's
6.2. Neighbourhood operators
6.2.1. Windows operations
6.2.2. Derivatives of elevation maps
6.2.3. Spread operations
6.2.4. Operations with local drain direction maps
6.2.5. Operations for visibility analysis
6.3. Area operations
6.3.1. Operations over areas
6.3.2. Random number generation - areas
6.4. Map operations
6.4.1. Operations over maps
6.4.2. Random number generation - map
6.5. Time operations
6.5.1. Time operations
6.6. Data management
6.6.1. Random number generation - areas
6.6.2. Conversion of data
6.6.3. Cutting and joining together PCRaster maps
6.6.4. Generation of legends
6.6.5. Screen output
6.6.6. Hard copy output
Glossary
Reference Pages
I. List of PCRaster Operators
+ --  Addition
- --  Subtraction
/ or div --  Division
* --  Multiplication
** --  nth power of a first expression, where n is the value of a second expression
abs --  Absolute value
accucapacityflux, accucapacitystate --  Transport of material downstream over a local drain direction network
accuflux --  Accumulated material flowing into downstream cell
accufractionflux, accufractionstate --  Fractional material transport downstream over local drain direction network
accuthresholdflux, accuthresholdstate --  Input of material downstream over a local drain direction network when transport threshold is exceeded
accutriggerflux, accutriggerstate --  Input of material downstream over a local drain direction network when transport trigger is exceeded
acos --  Inverse cosine
and --  Boolean-AND operation
areaarea --  The area of the area to which a cell belongs
areaaverage --  Average cell value of within an area
areadiversity --  Number of unique cell values within an area
areamajority --  Most often occurring cell value within an area
areamaximum --  Maximum cell value within an area
areaminimum --  Minimum cell value within an area
areanormal --  Value assigned to an area taken from a normal distribution
areatotal --  Sum of cell values within an area
areauniform --  Value assignseds to area taken from an uniform distribution
asin --  Inverse sine
aspect --  Aspects of a map using a digital elevation model
atan --  Inverse tangent
boolean --  Conversion data type to boolean data type
catchment --  Catchment(s) of one or more specified cells
catchmenttotal --  Total catchment for the entire upstream area
cellarea --  Area of one cell
celllength --  Horizontal and vertical length of a cell
clump --  Contiguous groups of cells with the same value ('clumps')
cos --  Cosine
cover --  Missing values substituted for values from one or more expression(s)
defined --  Boolean TRUE for non missing values and FALSE for missing values
directional --  Data conversion to the directional data type
downstream --  Cell gets value of the neighbouring downstream cell
downstreamdist --  Distance to the first cell downstream
eq or == --  Relational-equal-to operation on two expressions
exp --  Basee exponential
fac --  Faculty or factorial of a natural positive number
ge or >= --  Relational-greater-than-or-equal-to operation
gt or > --  Relational-greater-than operation
idiv --  Quotient of integer division of values on first expression by values on second expression
if then --  Boolean condition determining whether value of expression or missing value is assigned to result
if then else --  Boolean condition determining whether value of the first or second expression is assigned to result
kinematic --  Dynamic calculation of streamflow through a channel
ldd --  Data conversion from specific data types to local drain direction data type
lddcreate --  Local drain direction map with flow directions from each cell to its steepest downslope neighbour
lddcreatedem --  Modified digital elevation model
ldddist --  Friction-distance from the cell under consideration to downstream nearest TRUE cell
lddmask --  Local drain direction map cut into a (smaller) sound local drain direction map
lddrepair --  Reparation of unsound local drain direction map
le or <= --  Relational-less-than-or-equal-to operation
ln --  Natural logarithm (e)
log10 --  Log 10
lookup --  Compares cell value(s) of one or more expression(s) with the search key in a table
lt or < --  Relational-less-than operation
maparea --  Total map area
mapmaximum --  Maximum cell value
mapminimum --  Minimum cell value
mapnormal --  Cells get non spatial value taken from a normal distribution
maptotal --  Sum of all cell values
mapuniform --  Cells get non spatial value taken from an uniform distribution
max --  Maximum value of multiple expressions
min --  Minimum value of multiple expressions
mod --  Remainder of integer division of values on first expression by values on second expression
ne or != --  Relational-not-equal-to operation
nodirection --  Expression of directional data type
nominal --  Data conversion data type nominal data type
normal --  Boolean TRUE cell gets value taken from a normal distribution
not --  Boolean-NOT operation
or --  Boolean-OR operation
order --  Ordinal numbers to cells in ascending order
ordinal --  Data conversion to the ordinal data type
path --  Path over the local drain direction network downstream to its pit
pit --  Unique value for each pit cell
plancurv --  Planform curvature calculation using a DEM
pred --  Ordinal number of the next lower ordinal class
profcurv --  Profile curvature calculation using a DEM
rounddown --  Rounding down of cellvalues to whole numbers
roundoff --  Rounding off of cellvalues to whole numbers
roundup --  Rounding up of cellvalues to whole numbers
scalar --  Data conversion to the scalar data type
sin --  Sine
slope --  Slope of cells using a digital elevation model
slopelength --  Accumulative-friction-distance of the longest accumulative-friction-path upstream over the local drain direction network cells against waterbasin divides
spread --  Total friction of the shortest accumulated friction path over a map with friction values from source cell to cell under consideration
spreadldd --  Total friction of the shortest accumulated friction downstream path over map with friction values from an source cell to cell under consideration
spreadlddzone --  Shortest friction-distance path over map with friction from a source cell to cell under consideration, only paths in downstream direction from the source cell are considered
spreadmax --  Total friction of the shortest accumulated friction path over a map with friction values from a source cell to cell under consideration
spreadzone --  Shortest friction-distance path over a map with friction from an identified source cell or cells to the cell under consideration
sqr --  Square
sqrt --  Square root
streamorder --  Stream order index of all cells on a local drain direction network
subcatchment --  (Sub-)Catchment(s) (watershed, basin) of each one or more specified cells
succ --  Ordinal number of the next higher ordinal class
tan --  Tangent
time --  Timestep
timeinput... --  Cell values per timestep read from a time series that is linked to a map with unique identifiers
timeinput --  Set of output maps per timestep with an extension that refers to the time at the timestep
timeoutput --  Expression value of an uniquely identified cell or cells written to a time series per timestep
timeslice --  Timeslice
uniform --  Boolean TRUE cell gets value from an uniform distribution
uniqueid --  Unique whole value for each Boolean TRUE cell
upstream --  Sum of the cell values of its first upstream cell(s)
view --  TRUE or FALSE value for visibility from viewpoint(s) defined by a digital elevation model
windowaverage --  Average of cell values within a specified square neighbourhood
windowdiversity --  Number of unique values within a specified square neighbourhood
windowhighpass --  Increases spatial frequency within a specified square neighbourhood
windowmajority --  Most occurring cell value within a specified square neighbourhood
windowmaximum --  Maximum cell value within a specified square neighbourhood
windowminimum --  Minimum value within a specified square neighbourhood
windowtotal --  Sum of values within a specified square neighbourhood
xcoordinate --  X-coordinate of each Boolean TRUE cell
xor --  Boolean-XOR operation
ycoordinate --  Y-coordinate of each Boolean TRUE cell
II. PCRaster applications
asc2map --  Converts from ascii file format to PCRaster map format
col2map --  Converts from column file format to PCRaster map format
legend --  Attaches a legend to or changes the legend of one or more maps.
map2asc --  Converts from PCRaster maps format to ascii file format
map2col --  Converts from PCRaster map format to column file format
mapattr --  Create a new PCRaster map, change or display location attributes of existing PCRaster map
resample --  Cuts one map or joins together several maps by resampling to the cells of the result map.
table --  Creates on basis of one or more maps a table with a score for each key in the table.
timeplot --  Plots timeseries in a x,y lineplot on the computer screen.
Index
List of Tables
2-1. List of data types, domaines for default cell representation, without legends
2-2. Example of a column table. The first, second and third column give the values of expression1, expression2 and expression3 respectively; the fourth column contains the value fields.
2-3. Example of a matrix table. The fields in the first row contain values of expression1; the fields in the first column contain values of expression2. The field in the top left corner is a dummy field. The remaining fields are value fields.
1. Cross table of the AND operator.
1. Cross table of the OR operator.
1. Cross table of the XOR operator.
List of Figures
1-1. The cell: relations between attributes within the cell and relations in lateral directions with attributes stored in neighbouring cells.
2-1. A stack of PCRaster maps resulting in a 2.5 D representation of the landscape. One cell is shown; its property is defined by the attribute values stored in map layers Map1, Map2, Map3,...
2-2. A table defining relations between PCRaster map layers; using these conditions a NewMap is generated, on a cell by cell basis
2-3. Location attributes used to define the spatial characteristics of a PCRaster map. For explanation, see text.
2-4. Directions of ldd codes. A value 5 (not shown) defines a cell without local drain direction (a pit).
4-1. Generation of a NewMap as a result of maplayers Map1, Map2, Map3,..
4-2. Point operation. A new map is generated on a cell-by-cell basis. No lateral relations between cells are included.
4-3. Neighbourhood operations within a window.
4-4. Neighbourhood operations over a path. For each cell the NewMap value is calculated on the basis of Map1, Map2, Map3,... values on a path from a source cell.
4-5. Neighbourhood operations within the catchment of a cell. For each cell the NewMap value is calculated on the basis of Map1, Map2, Map3,... values in the catchment of the cell, defined by the local drain direction network.
4-6. Path from a source cell to a target cell, crossing cell A.
4-7. Material transport over a local drain direction network. Bottom: Local drain direction map defining pattern of transport through neighbouring cells. Top: system diagram of an open system representing one cell.
4-8. Area operations. The cell value is determined on basis of values of cells which are in the same area as the cell under consideration.
4-9. Map operations. A non spatial value is calculated on basis of an aggregate value of a map or maps.
5-1. Schematic representation of a dynamic model.
5-2. Change of Soil moisture content (mm) with time, timestep one day. Included process: evapotranspiration. MoistInit: moisture content at start of model run (mm); MoistCrit: critical moisture content (mm); Eact: actual evapotranspiration (mm/day).
5-3. Change of Soil moisture content (mm) with time, timestep one day. Included process: evapotranspiration and rain. MoistInit: moisture content at start of model run (mm); MoistCrit: critical moisture content (mm); Eact: actual evapotranspiration (mm/day). Rain falls at time = 6 and 7 days.
1. Direction of ldd values. A value 5 (not shown) defines a cell without a local drain direction (a pit)
2. A sprinkling of the few definitions used in theory of pit removing.
List of Examples
2-1. Example of a time series file with a header. It gives the temperature at three weather stations, meant for input or the output of a model with starttime 1, endtime 8 and timeslice 1.
2-2. Example of a point data column file in simplified Geo-EAS format.
4-1. Example of a cartographic modellinge script file
5-1. Example of a dynamic model.
5-2. Dynamic modelling script for change in soil moisture content; included process evapotranspiration.
5-3. Dynamic modelling script. Included processes: evapotranspiration and infiltrating rain.
5-4. Time series Rain.tss: rain at the study site.
1. Example of a column table. The first, second and third column give the values of expression1, expression2 and expression3 respectively; the fourth column contains the value fields.
2. Example of a matrix table. The fields in the first row contain values of expression1; the fields in the first column contain values of expression. The field in the top left corner is a dummy field. The remaining fields are value fields.
1. Example of a time series file with header
1. Example of a column table generated with the table operation with two input maps and the setting -n 4. The first and second column give the values of PCRmap1 (data type scalar) and PCRmap2 (data type nominal) respectively; the third column contains the score fields.
2. Example of a matrix table generated with the table operation with the settings --matrixtable and -n 4. Same input maps were used as in the first table (shown above). The fields in the first row contain ranges of PCRmap1; the fields in the first column contain values of PCRmap2. The field in the top left corner is a dummy field. The remaining fields are score fields.
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  Introduction to the PCRaster Package: Concepts, Package Layout