1.4 HYSPLIT directories

Installation of the HYSPLIT package for computing trajectories and plume dispersion consists of a group of subdirectories under the main hysplit4 directory. The contents of these directories are discussed in more detail below.

• cluster - The default location for clustering trajectories.


• data2arl - The source code for programs not already available through the GUI that can be used to convert meteorological data files from models such as MM5 and WRF-ARW to the HYSPLIT compatible format.


• datem - Contains sample HYSPLIT input files for various experiments available from the DATEM repository and experimental data for CAPTEX


• document - Contains the technical manual (arl-224), user's guide, and various README files. Note that ARL-224.pdf contains a complete description of all the model equations and should be used as a reference guide to the various sections in this tutorial.


• examples - A collection of different examples can be found here such as converting HYSPLIT output to GrADS and sample scripts to perform different tasks in Tcl, Windows batch, or UNIX shell scripts.


• exec - Contains all the HYSPLIT executables. Note that the directory contains additional programs that are not available through the GUI but can be run through the command line prompt.


• graphics - This directory contains the default ASCII map background file (arlmap) that is used by all the HYSPLIT graphical display programs. Other more detailed ASCII and binary shapefile map background files are also available in this directory.


• guicode - This directory contains all the TCL scripts required for the GUI. The root script is hysplit4.tcl which is also the target of the desktop icon.


• html - This directory contains all the context sensitive help files that are individually invoked from the GUI menus from the Help button. The index.htm and all other help pages can be opened in any browser.


• testing - This directory contains the xrun.bat batch file which can be used to test various model simulations. The script can be used as a template to develop other customized scripts.


• working - The working directory is the root directory for running HYSPLIT. By default the model looks for input files here and writes all the output files to this directory unless other paths are set in the simulation setup. Some tutorial sections will require you to manually copy files to the working directory because that particular application does not have an option to specify a different directory.

Although HYSPLIT can be run from the command line, directly accessing these programs, the HYSPLIT package of programs are integrated through a number of different scripts, all invoked through a Graphical User Interface (GUI). An overview of the GUI follows in the next section and will be the primary focus of the Tutorial. However, for more advanced users, sample batch and bash shell scripts are provided for most examples.