AUSTAL View v6.4.0.en ReleaseNotes · 2016-02-17 · AUSTAL View Version 6.3.0 is now fully...

© 2001-2010 Lakes Environmental Software

AUSTAL View™ The Ergonomical-Intuitive User Interface for the Dispersion Model AUSTAL2000

Release Notes

AUSTAL View – Version 6.4 and 6.3

E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.webLakes.com

AUSTAL View™ Release Notes

Lakes Environmental Software • www.webLakes.com Argusoft • www.argusoft.de

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AUSTAL View™ Version 6.4

Release Notes May 12, 2010

New Features

Topic Issue Description

Variable Emissions

Code Optimization for Handling a Large Number of Variable Emissions and Parameters

AUSTAL View internal code for handling variable emission rates and variable source parameters for a large number of sources/pollutants was completely re-designed to improve speed. On the user side, nothing changed in the interface and in the accuracy of the calculations, however, if you use this option for a large number of sources and pollutants you will see on improvement in speed of about 60 times.

Variable Emissions

Buffer Parameter in zeitreihe.dmna/series.dmna File

Buffer overflow error messages from the AUSTAL2000 model occurred in case of many sources/pollutants with variable emissions written to the zeitreihe.dmna/series.dmna file. The AUSTAL2000 model can only handle zeitreihe.dmna/series.dmna files with a maximum of 4000 characters per row.

Although not documented, we found out from the AUSTAL2000 developers that a buffer parameter > 4000 can be specified on the first row of the zeitreihe.dmna/series.dmna file, allowing the AUSTAL2000 model to handle more than 4000 characters.



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Variable Emissions

Emissions in Terms of Wind Velocity by 1m/s Increments

Under the Variable Emissions dialog, an additional option is available for specifying emissions in terms of wind classes:

• TA Luft Wind Classes (Existing Option): 6x9 matrix of dispersion classes by TA Luft wind classes.

• 1 m/s Classes (New Option): 6x21 matrix of dispersion classes and wind classes in 1 m/s increments from 1 to 20m/s including <1m/s and the >20 m/s classes. This new option is only applicable for met files of type AKT or AKTERM.



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Source Inputs

Auto-Calculated Area for Volume, Area, and Cooling Tower Sources

The area, in square meters (m2), is auto-calculated for volume, area, and cooling tower sources and displayed in the Source Inputs dialog.

Building Inputs

Building Import/Export Format Options

In AUSTAL View, Buildings can be exported and/or imported to/from the following formats:

1) Blank format (*.BLN)

2) LASAT format (*.DEF)

3) Raster format (*.dmna)

Some of the above options (e.g., BLN) were already present in previous versions of AUSTAL View.

Import/Export buttons



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Graphical Tools

Default Color for Buildings Changed from Gray to Blue

The default color for buildings drawn in the graphical area was changed from gray to blue. The gray color was not visible when results and base maps were displayed in the drawing area.

The new blue color will be automatically applied to new project. If you want to have the buildings in exiting projects drawn in blue, then you have to manually change this in the Graphical Options dialog by clicking on the Default button in the Color Mappings page.

Press this button to apply the default blue color to buildings



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Graphical Tool

Additional Menu Options for Selected Grid Cells (Reference to the Show/Hide Shaded Cells Tool)

The following additional options are now available for the right-click menu that is displayed for the cells selected by the Show/Hide Shaded Cells graphical tool:

• Invert Selection: Option to invert current selection of grid cells

• Export Selected: Option to export the results for the selected grid cells to a CSV format. See example below:

New options:

Invert Selection and Export Selected

CSV file format generated using the

Export Selected option.



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Export Exporting Objects in Color to Google Earth

Objects are now exported to Google Earth using the same color as it appears in AUSTAL View drawing area.

General Project Related Path for Open/Save Dialogs

When specifying a file, for example to be imported or exported, the AUSTAL View interface will automatically open the project folder as the default location or destination.

Reports Advanced Filter for Monitor Point Results Report

The Advanced Filter option, available for most of the reports, is now also available for the “Monitor Point Results” report. This allows you to select which monitor points and pollutants should be displayed in report.

Project folder is displayed by default



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Reports Variable Emission Scenarios Reports Now Accounts for Inactive Sources

If a source is set to Inactive under the Source Inputs dialog, then the source will be excluded from the Variable Emission Scenarios report.

Reports Default Paper Format for Reports is A4

Default paper format for reports displayed in German language is now A4.

Export Function

Export Option of the Gridded Roughness Length Parameter

A new feature is now available that allows the user to export the surface roughness length parameter in a gridded file format (ArcInfo GridASCII format - *.grd).

In case of a project with a multi-tier grid, the exported roughness length parameter will be for the largest tier of the calculation grid.



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Import Shapefiles Option

Option to Specify Coordinate System for Imported Shapefiles

AUSTAL View can import shapefiles created in a coordinate system that is different from the project’s coordinate system. For example, if your project was setup in Gauss-Krueger (3-deg zones) coordinates, you will be able to import a shapefile that was created in UTM coordinates. You specify the coordinate system for the shapefile being imported by pressing the Select button within the Import ArcView Shapefile dialog.

Odor Module

Odor Frequencies in Relative Units [0 to 1]

The Annual Frequency of Odor Hours output (ODOR-J00z) can now be output in relative units [0 to 1] in addition to the percentage units [%].

Select option here: Annual frequency of odor hours [0-1]



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Wind Rose Tool

Evaluation of Wind Rose for AKT and AKS Met Files

For the AKT and AKTerm met files generated by the Wind Rose at

Location tool ( ), the Klug-Manier stability class parameter is set to “unknown” (value = 7) for all the hours.

For the AKS met files generated by the Wind Rose at Location tool, all statistics of wind direction and wind velocity are placed at the Klug-Manier dispersion class 1 (I) which is used as a placeholder only since the AKS met format does not support the “unknown” or dispersion class 7.

Note: Please note that the values placed at stability class I for the generated AKS files are just a placeholder and it does not indicate that the real stability class for the specified location is always very stable (Klug-Manier Class I). Therefore, these generated met files should only be used for analyzing wind speed and wind direction at the specified location.



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AUSTAL Meteo

Frequency Scaling Option for Wind Roses

The scaling option refers to the scaling display for the wind rose rings (circles). Five rings are displayed for the wind rose with an equal increment value. The user can control the frequency percentage value [%] or frequency count value [hrs] for the outer ring.

Frequency Percentage [%] Frequency Count [hours]



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AUSTAL Meteo

Petal Size for Wind Roses

This parameter specifies the percentage width of the wind rose petal. The range of values is from 50% to 100% as seen in image below.

50% 100%

Installation Updated HASP License Key Drivers for Windows 7

New updated drivers for the HASP license key are included in this new version. The new HASP drivers give full support for Microsoft Windows 7 (32-Bit and 64-Bit) operating system.



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Resolved Issues


User-Defined DMNA Utility


In some instances, when the new dmna output file created using the “User-Defined DMNA Files” utility contained 2 or more grid cells with large output values (equal or greater than F5.2), these values were not separated by a space (see image below). This prevented the import of the new dmna file into the AUSTAL View interface.

The utility now will always write a space between any number, no matter what size and number of digits the value contains.


Support for Pollutant ID with More than 4 Characters

The User-Defined DMNA Utility could not handle an ID of more than 4 characters long for the New Pollutant ID, although the interface would allow the user to type in up to 8 characters. This would trigger an error message (see below). This problem has been fixed to allow for a New Pollutant ID up to 8 characters long.



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Details Details Error Message for Projects in 2nd or 4th GK Meridian Strips

When using AUSTAL View Version 6.3.5 and opening projects created in the 2nd and 4th meridian strips (GK-x-values starting with 2 and 4), an error message was being displayed in the Details dialog when the model run was initiated. The message stated that z0-gk.dmna found under the Models folder was invalid and that the roughness length (z0) parameter could not be calculated. If the message was ignored by the user, the model run would finish successfully without any problems. This issue has been resolved.

AUSTAL Meteo

Contents of the Edit Menu Option Enabled

When displaying the wind rose directly from AUSTAL View - Met Options dialog, the Edit menu options were disabled until the user moved to another tab and back. This issue has been resolved.



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AUSTAL View™ Version 6.3

Release Notes February 4, 2010

New Features

Topic Feature Description

Install Microsoft® Windows 7 - Installation Compatible

AUSTAL View Version 6.3.0 is now fully compatible with Microsoft Windows 7.

Install Microsoft® Windows Vista - Installation Compatible

Several improvements were implemented in the installation to eliminate problems when installing AUSTAL View under Windows Vista. These problems were related to the installation of the Firebird Database and the HASP License Key Drivers. Also, for this update, it is no longer necessary to turn off the UAC (User Access Control).

Graphical Tool

Wind Rose Tool

A new Wind Rose tool is now available under the Annotation Toolbar for projects with a wind field library (lib folder). This graphical tool allows you to point and click a location within the calculation grid, for which you would like to visualize a wind rose.

The Wind Rose tool will generate a file in the same format as the project’s met data file (e.g., *.akterm, *aks, etc.). This file contains the data extracted from the wind field library for the selected vertical layer which can then be visualized using Meteo View.



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Graphical Tool

Zoom to Location Tool

The Zoom to Location tool was introduced to the Annotation Toolbar which allows you to specify the X, Y coordinates of a point and a zoom radius.

3D View Button

Short-Cut to Google Earth from the 3D View Menu Button

A short-cut to the Export | Google Earth menu option was introduced under the 3D View menu toolbar button. When pressing the 3D View button, you have now the option to view your project with 3D View or with Google Earth.



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Buildings User-Defined Building Colors and Shade Styles

You can now define color and shade style for buildings to be represented in the 2-D Drawing Area. Building colors and shade styles can be defined by building type under the Graphical Options dialog. When exporting to Google Earth, these selected colors will be applied to the 3D building shapes.



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Calculation Results

Select Grid Tier for Visualization of Calculation Results

The Select Grid Tiers button is now available on the Graphical output Toolbar located at the bottom of the Graphical window. This option allows you to turn on/off the display of the calculation results (shaded cells and posting) for specific tiers. The Select Grid Tiers button is only available for projects using nested grids.

When using a nested grid, the AUSTAL2000 model will calculate results for each tier separately but when results are shown in the graphical area, they are displayed for all tiers with the results for the finer mesh size being used.

In some situations, the user may need to inspect the results for the coarser mesh grid tier, in which case the tiers with finer mesh size can be turned off.

Display of Results for All 3 Tiers Display of Results for Tier 3 Only



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Import Base Maps

Additional Options to Geo-Reference Raster Base Maps

When geo-referencing base maps in raster format (e.g., Bitmap, JPEG), you now have the option of specifying the coordinates of the two reference points (1st and 2nd Point) in Latitude/Longitude or in the project’s coordinate system (e.g., Gauss-Krueger, UTM).

Reports New Reports for Variable Emissions & Emission Scenarios

The following reports were introduced:

§ Emission Scenarios

§ Variable Emission Scenarios

§ Variable Emissions



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Evaluation Points

Option to Copy/Paste Selected Monitor Points

You can now use the Copy/Paste buttons to copy selected records from the Monitor Points table to the Analysis Points table.

Annotation Tools

Number of Decimal Points Reduced to 2

The formatting of the numerical fields for all Annotation Tools was reduced to 2 decimal places. In previous versions of AUSTAL View, the number of decimal places for a coordinate field, while in edit mode, was more then 2.



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Calculation Grid

Max Number of Tier Levels for User-Defined Grids Increased

The maximum number of tier levels for user-defined grids was increased from 6 to 10.

Import Import AUSTAL2000 Results from Network Drive

You can now import AUSTAL2000 results from network drives (\\server\\path\) or UNC defined paths.



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Odor Module Odor Evaluation Log File

A Log file is now available for the Odor Evaluation option. A file named odor_eval_#.log is generated by AUSTAL View to document the input and output of the odor evaluation averaging process. If several odor evaluation grids exist, the log file name is indexed with the number of the evaluation grid (#). The generated log files are located in the Project folder.

The Odor Evaluation Log file contains the following information:

• Odor data file(s) being used as input (e.g., odor-j00z.dmna)

• Odor evaluation grid input parameters: center coordinate (X,Y), radius, number of cells, and mesh size

• File name and location for the odor evaluation files created (e.g., odor-d250r1000x0y0-z.dmna)

• Maximum odor value in % and its location



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MPI – Extended Pollutant Module

MPI – Extended Pollutant Module

A new module, the MPI-Extended Pollutant, is now available for purchase. This new module supports an extended list of pollutants. Over 120 components were added to the existing AUSTAL2000 list. With this new module, a maximum number of 100 pollutants can now be specified per project run.

An example of some of the additional pollutants is listed below:

Gases: benzo(a)pyrene and polychlorated dioxins

Particles: beryllium, cobalt, chromium, copper, manganese, antimony, selenium, stannous, vanadium, and zinc.

Each chemical of type “Particle” includes the following options:

§ Particle (Class 1)




§ Particle (unknown)

Note: This extended pollutant list is exclusively available with the new MPI-Extended Pollutant module.



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Additional Checks and Resolved Issues


Decimal Delimiter in Windows 7

Using Comma as the Decimal Delimiter in Microsoft® Windows 7

AUSTAL View was not accepting comma as the decimal delimiter under the new operating system, Windows 7. Microsoft introduced a new API method to read the “Locale” under Windows 7 and we now have fixed our routines to work with this new API.

Source Inputs

Import Sources from Excel - Checks for Duplicated Source IDs

Checks were introduced to detect duplicated source IDs when importing Sources from an Excel file. You must have unique Source IDs in the Excel file to be able to successfully import source parameters from an Excel file in AUSTAL View.

Source Inputs

Blank/Space Not Allowed for Source IDs

Blanks are no longer allowed for Source IDs. When pressing the keyboard space bar to add space to the ID field, the underscore "_" character is automatically replaces the space.

Source Inputs

Requesting Discharge Velocity for Point Source

On a project involving a cooling tower source and a point source, AUSTAL View was requesting that the “Discharge Velocity” parameter be specified for the Point Source instead of the cooling tower source. This issue has been fixed.

Odor Module

Odor Evaluation Averaging for Projects with Buildings

The Odor Evaluation averaging calculation for projects with buildings was fixed. Cells inside buildings were mistakenly being taken into account when the averaging was calculated deriving lower values.

Odor Module

Odor Evaluation for Projects with GK Reference Point

The odor evaluation was not working properly for projects with a reference point in GK. The error message says "no overlapping". This error was corrected.



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Combine DMNA Files

Combining DMNA Files with More Than 6 Tiers

An error was detected in a 7-tier nested grid project when attempting to combine results. The 6th and 7th tiers were not handled separately. This problem was fixed.

Calculation Results

Visualization of Calculation Results – Max Not Detected

In certain instances (e.g., projects with results in scientific notation with very small numbers), the maximum calculated value was not properly displayed as the value being rounded up. For example, the maximum model calculated value was 2.419e-003 and when results were displayed as shaded cells, the cell with maximum value was not being colored with its own color (e.g., orange) since the maximum value for display was being rounded up under the Graphical Options (e.g., 0.00242 instead of 0.002419). This

Terrain Processor

Generating GridASCII Terrain Data File from XYZ Data File

The algorithm for the creation of the terrain data file in GridASCII format from a given XYZ format was improved to detect that if the XYZ file contains a constant mesh size, this mesh size is used as is in the new file format without any additional interpolation.

Reports Differences Between Report and Log File for Statistical Uncertainties

A small difference was detected between results from the Monitor Points Report and the AUSTAL2000 log file. While the concentration/deposition results are identical, there existed differences for the statistical uncertainties given for each value (in percent).



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Meteo View Wind Rose Using the AKTERM Met File Format

The following issues were fixed in Meteo View regarding the AKTERM (*.akterm) met file format:

• The value zero (0) for wind direction was being taken as missing for that hour. The “0“ for wind direction in the AKTERM-format is an allowed value as stands for the rotating direction in case of low wind speeds.

• The maximum wind speed was being computed wrong for AKTERM-format. This occurred when there was a record with missing parameters (999 values for direction and wind speed). In this case, the value “99.90 m/s” was being displayed as the maximum wind speed.

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