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HYSPLIT Graphical Utilities

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HYSPLIT Utilities Download Page


What is available for downloading

A Windows executable registered version of HYSPLIT is available as a self installing file for registered HYSPLIT users. The package is complete in that it contains all the documentation and test data. However, the utility programs such as Tcl/Tk, Ghostscript, and ImageMagick must be independently downloaded and installed to be able to use all the features of the HYSPLIT Graphical User Interface (GUI). Versions of these auxilary programs that have been tested with the HYSPLIT GUI are available to download here for convenience. More recent versions, including registration information, may be obtained from each of the Home Page sites listed below. However, HYSPLIT has not been tested with any of the newer versions of these programs.

Utilities Package Download

For convenience a self-installing file is provided that contains all three packages required to run the GUI: Tcl/Tk, Ghostscript, and ImageMagick. These have been tested with the current version of HYSPLIT using Windows XP and Vista. Once installed the remaining downloads are not required.



Installing the Tcl/Tk graphical user interface

Although not required to run the PC version of HYSPLIT, various GUI scripts are provided that use Tcl/Tk. The model can also be run from a DOS window using a command line interface. However, it is easier for novice users to use the Tcl/Tk interface. The standard HYSPLIT installation includes all the GUI scripts, but the Tcl/Tk interpreter is not part of the distribution. It should be downloaded and installed prior to HYSPLIT.



Installing the Ghostscript/Ghostview Postscript viewer

The HYSPLIT trajectory and concentration programs create high resolution publication quality graphics files in Postscript format. These can be printed directly on any Postscript printer or viewed on the standard PC display and printed on any printer (even non-Postscript) if Ghostscript has been installed. Ghostscript and Ghostview are not part of the standard distribution and should be obtained and installed prior to HYSPLIT. Installation to directories different from their suggested defaults may require editing the HYSPLIT GUI launch script: \guicode\hysplit4.tcl.



Installing ImageMagick Graphics File Converter

One feature of the GUI is the ability to convert the Postscript graphics output file to other graphical formats. This capability is enabled through the installation of ImageMagick, which requires the prior installation of Ghostscript. ImageMagick is not part of the distribution and should be obtained and installed prior to HYSPLIT.



Predefined customized map background files

All HYSPLIT Postscript output files were created using the PSPLOT graphics library. Maps are created from customized programs which all use the same ASCII map background file called Arlmap which can be found in the /graphics directory. This is a coarse resolution global file of political boundaries and coastlines. This file can be replaced by higher resolution customized files, either created by the user, or taken from our library of existing regional data files. The files are stored in ZIP format and when decompressed will create a new Arlmap file. Either rename the original file and place the new file in the /graphics directory, or if you want to maintain both files, put the new file in the /working directory. All graphical programs first look for the map background file in the local startup directory before looking in the /graphics directory. Map background files can also be selected through the GUI. If you create your own map background file and would like to share it here with other users, please contact the ARL webmaster at arl.webmaster@noaa.gov.

The following existing map background extracts are available for downloading:

Starting with HYSPLIT version 4.9, most Postscript mapping programs support the use of Shapefiles to draw map backgrounds. See the model User's Guide for more information on how to define these files to be used by the graphical programs. Shapefiles must be supplied by the user.