WRPLOT_dos:A wind rose depicts the frequency of occurrence of winds in each of 16 direction sectors (north,north-northeast, northeast, etc.) and six wind speed classes for a given location and time period. WRPLOT Program Description Enclosed in this package are the IBM PC compatible files for the WRPLOT program, an interactive program that generates wind rose statistics and plots for selected meteorological stations for user- specified date and time ranges. A wind rose depicts the frequency of occurrence of winds in each of 16 direction sectors (north, north-northeast, northeast, etc.) and six wind speed classes for a given location and time period. Also included is the percent frequency of calm winds. This program uses the surface meteorological data files for National Weather Service (NWS) stations available on the SCRAM BBS of the OAQPS Technology Transfer Network. The data files can be used in either their compressed or uncompressed form. Wind roses can sometimes be used to depict graphically the dominant transport direction of the winds for an area. Due to the influences of local terrain, possible coastal effects, the exposure of the instruments, and the temporal variability of the wind, the wind rose statistics may not always be representative of true transport for an area. Other meteorological conditions may also be important for determining the formation and transport of certain atmospheric contaminants, particularly for reactive pollutants. The results of this program should therefore be used with caution. The WRPLOT program should not be confused with the WINDROSE utility program also available on the SCRAM BBS. WRPLOT was developed primarily to produce graphic plots of wind rose statistics, whereas the WINDROSE utility determines tables of wind frequency statistics but has no graphics capability. The WRPLOT program produces wind frequency statistics for 16 direction sectors (every 22.5 degrees), whereas the WINDROSE utility produces statistics for 36 directions (every 10 degrees). Since the NWS wind directions are reported to the nearest 10 degrees, the WINDROSE program uses these values directly. To avoid a bias in the wind rose plots toward the cardinal compass points (N, S, E, and W), WRPLOT randomizes the wind directions for each 10 degree sector to one degree increments based on the same random number set used by the RAMMET meteorological preprocessor. A bias would occur for the unrandomized wind directions because three 10-degree sectors would contribute to the N, S, E, and W sector statistics (e.g., 350, 360 and 10 degrees for the north sector), while only two 10-degree sectors would contribute to the other 22.5 degree sectors. Thus, the plots produced by WRPLOT represent the same statistics that would be generated from the randomized flow vectors in a RAMMET preprocessed meteorological data file. Program Installation The WRPLOT package consists of the following file: INSTALL.EXE - Compressed file containing all files needed to run the program. In order to minimize the number of disks needed for distribution, the 15 files needed to run the program and two sample files were compressed and combined into a self extracting archive file. The files must be expanded prior to being used. The following example will illustrate the data decompression process. 1. Assume that (a) you want to put the program in a subdirectory called WRPLOT, and (b) there is a 5¬ 1.2 megabyte disk drive designated as drive A. 2. Create a directory for this program (e.g. WRPLOT) and make it the current directory by typing the following: CD\ MD WRPLOT CD WRPLOT 3. Place the 5¬ inch distribution disk in the A drive. 4. Type the following at the DOS prompt (in your WRPLOT subdirectory, not in the A drive): A:INSTALL This file expands/decompresses as it copies the files onto the hard drive. Two years of meteorological data for Columbus, OH are included with the program for testing purposes. Program Operation The program operates through a series of interactive menus that can be accessed through either the keyboard or a mouse. To operate this program: 1. First select the data to be plotted. One or more years of data may be used in a single plot. Data may be selected in either of three ways: (a) The user can choose data by selecting a file or group of files from a list of files in the current directory. These files contain meteorological data in the ASCII format and must have the .DAT extension to appear on the file list. The data files obtained from SCRAM must be decompressed before accessing them in this manner. WRPLOT expects these files to be in the following format: Column Parameter Name Units 1-5 Station Identification Number 6-7 Year 8-9 Month 10-11 Day 12-13 Hour 17-18 Wind Direction Tens of Degrees 19-21 Wind Speed Knots (b) Data can also be selected from a list of meteorological stations for which data are available in the current directory in the archived format (e.g., filename.ARC, where filename is the meteorological station id number plus "-" plus the 2-digit year) or the zipped format (e.g., filename.ZIP) as available on SCRAM. First, a list of available states is presented. After the state is chosen, a list of the station names for that state is presented. Finally, a list of years for which data are available is presented. The user can then select the year(s) of interest. If data are selected in this manner, then the data are first decompressed. (c) The user can enter their own decompression program if the user has files that are compressed in a format other than the zip or archive format. First, a window appears requesting the name of the decompression program. This name must include the extension. The user must also enter the extension of the compressed files. The filename of the compressed files must follow the same convention as listed in part (b) (i.e., filename is the meteorological station id number plus "-" plus the 2- digit year.) After the decompression program and the compressed file extension has been entered in the data entry window, the user will exit from this window and proceed with the series of menus described in part (b). 2. After selecting the data, date and time ranges for plotting may be chosen. The user can choose the beginning date (i.e., month and day) and the ending date of interest. Also, a range of hours can be selected (e.g., 7AM - 6PM.) These range selections are made by choosing items from a series of lists. If more than one year of data is selected, then the same time and date range is used for each year. 3. Finally, an output device for the plot must be selected. The user can select from a list including the screen and various printers. In addition, the plot can be saved to a file in either the PCX or metafile (CGM) formats. The user can also select to save the frequency distribution in tabular form. The WRPLOT program makes every effort to utilize the user's printer to make the highest quality output possible. It is therefore important that the printer type and configuration be known. Sometimes the printer will require reconfiguration via the control panel as well. The types of output and their hardware requirements for the HP LaserJet are listed below: HP LaserJet Draft Quality - This common denominator will work on most printers compatible with Hewlett Packard's PCL standard. HP LaserJet High Quality - This driver may require expanded printer memory on some machines. HP LaserJet Series III - This Printer driver will only work on the Hewlett Packard Series III and compatible. If a "PRINTER OVERFLOW" error occurs consult the Printer User's Manual for information on the "Page Protection Mode." This is only available on printers with 2 megabytes or greater memory. For questions or comments on the WRPLOT program, contact Dennis Atkinson, EPA-OAQPS, (919) 541-0518.