Table of Contents - The Atmospheric Studies Group at TRC

Section 10: POSTPROCESSORS
10.6 Output Files
10.6.1 List File (CALPOST.LST)
The list file has four logical sections. The first section contains an image of the control file inputs; the
second section contains a summary of these inputs and it documents the content of the CALPUFF output
file that is processed; the third section contains the tabulations of CALPOST results requested by the user;
and the fourth section reports the peak value(s) obtained for each averaging time processed. An example
list file is shown in Table 10-20, with the first logical section removed (the image of the input control
file).
Each table contains specific reference to the averaging time, the pollutant species (CALPOST processes a
single species at a time), concentration/deposition units, receptor locations, and the date and time (marked
at the end of the averaging period). When visibility is assessed, the modeled extinction in inverse
megameters (1/Mm) is processed and reported just like concentration or deposition. In addition, the peak
daily average visibility reduction is reported for each day processed, characterized as either a percent
change in extinction (from background), or as a change in deciview.
10.6.2 Visibility File (DAILY_VISIB_VUNAM.DAT)
When visibility processing is selected and plot-files are requested, the peak daily average visibility
reduction tabulations written to the list file are written to disk as a visibility file as well. This facilitates
the use of subsequent analysis tools, such as spreadsheets. The record format is the same as that used in
the list file.
10.6.3 Plot-file(s)
CALPOST can generate a set of optional plot-files containing the "top N" highest
concentrations/deposition fluxes at each receptor, the number of exceedances of user-specified threshold
values at each receptor and averaging time, or the values of concentration/deposition flux for userspecified
time periods. Two formats are available for these plot-files. The first, called DATA format, is
of the form: receptor (X, Y), value1, ... , value4 as described in Table 10-21. This comma-delimited
format is suitable for both gridded and discrete receptor data. It is compatible with many of the popular
PC-based graphics and analysis packages. An example of this format is shown in Table 10-22. The
second format, called the GRID format is appropriate for gridded receptor fields only. It is directly
compatible with the contouring option of the Surfer plotting package (i.e., it bypasses the need to first
interpolate the data to a regular rectangular grid by the plotting package). Its record structure is described
in Table 10-23, and an example is shown in Table 10-24.
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