blockmean — GMT 5.1.1 documentation

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# blockmean

blockmean - Block average (x,y,z) data tables by L2 norm

## Synopsis

blockmean [ table ] -Ixinc[unit][=|+][/yinc[unit][=|+]] -R[unit]xmin/xmax/ymin/ymax[r] [ -C ] [ -E[p] ] [ -S[m|n|s|w] ] [ -V[level] ] [ -W[i|o] ] [ -b[i|o][ncol][type][w][+L|+B] ] [ -f[i|o]colinfo ] [ -h[i|o][n][+c][+d][+rremark][+rtitle] ] [ -icols[l][sscale][ooffset][,...] ] [ -ocols[,...] ] [ -r ] [ -:[i|o] ]

Note: No space is allowed between the option flag and the associated arguments.

## Description

blockmean reads arbitrarily located (x,y,z) triples [or optionally weighted quadruples (x,y,z,w)] from standard input [or table] and writes to standard output a mean position and value for every non-empty block in a grid region defined by the -R and -I arguments. Either blockmean, blockmedian, or blockmode should be used as a pre-processor before running surface to avoid aliasing short wavelengths. These routines are also generally useful for decimating or averaging (x,y,z) data. You can modify the precision of the output format by editing the FORMAT_FLOAT_OUT parameter in your gmt.conf file, or you may choose binary input and/or output to avoid loss of precision.

## Required Arguments

-Ixinc[unit][=|+][/yinc[unit][=|+]]
  x_inc [and optionally y_inc] is the grid spacing. Optionally, append a suffix modifier. Geographical (degrees) coordinates: Append m to indicate arc minutes or s to indicate arc seconds. If one of the units e, f, k, M, n or u is appended instead, the increment is assumed to be given in meter, foot, km, Mile, nautical mile or US survey foot, respectively, and will be converted to the equivalent degrees longitude at the middle latitude of the region (the conversion depends on PROJ_ELLIPSOID). If /y_inc is given but set to 0 it will be reset equal to x_inc; otherwise it will be converted to degrees latitude. All coordinates: If = is appended then the corresponding max x (east) or y (north) may be slightly adjusted to fit exactly the given increment [by default the increment may be adjusted slightly to fit the given domain]. Finally, instead of giving an increment you may specify the number of nodes desired by appending + to the supplied integer argument; the increment is then recalculated from the number of nodes and the domain. The resulting increment value depends on whether you have selected a gridline-registered or pixel-registered grid; see B. GMT File Formats for details. Note: if -Rgrdfile is used then the grid spacing has already been initialized; use -I to override the values.

-R[unit]xmin/xmax/ymin/ymax[r] (more ...)
  Specify the region of interest.

## Optional Arguments

table
  3 [or 4, see -W] column ASCII data table file(s) [or binary, see -bi] holding (x,y,z[,w]) data values. [w] is an optional weight for the data. If no file is specified, blockmean will read from standard input.
-C
  Use the center of the block as the output location [Default uses the mean location].
-E[p]
  Provide Extended report which includes s (the standard deviation about the mean), l, the lowest value, and h, the high value for each block. Output order becomes x,y,z,s,l,h[,w]. [Default outputs x,y,z[,w]. See -W for w output. If -Ep is used we assume weights are 1/(sigma squared) and s becomes the propagated error of the mean.
-S[m|n|s|w]
  Use -Sn to report the number of points inside each block, -Ss to report the sum of all z-values inside a block, -Sw to report the sum of weights [Default (or -Sm reports mean value].

-V[level] (more ...)
  Select verbosity level [c].
-W[i|o]
  Weighted modifier[s]. Unweighted input and output has 3 columns x,y,z; Weighted i/o has 4 columns x,y,z,w. Weights can be used in input to construct weighted mean values in blocks. Weight sums can be reported in output for later combining several runs, etc. Use -W for weighted i/o, -Wi for weighted input only, -Wo for weighted output only. [Default uses unweighted i/o].

-bi[ncols][type] (more ...)
  Select binary input. [Default is 3 (or 4 if -Wi is set)].

-bo[ncols][type] (more ...)
  Select binary output. [Default is 3 (or 4 if -Wo is set)]. -E adds 3 additional columns.

-f[i|o]colinfo (more ...)
  Specify data types of input and/or output columns.

-h[i|o][n][+c][+d][+rremark][+rtitle] (more ...)
  Skip or produce header record(s).

-icols[l][sscale][ooffset][,...] (more ...)
  Select input columns.

-ocols[,...] (more ...)
  Select output columns.

-r (more ...)
  Set pixel node registration [gridline]. Each block is the locus of points nearest the grid value location. For example, with -R10/15/10/15 and -I1: with the -r option 10 <= (x,y) < 11 is one of 25 blocks; without it 9.5 <= (x,y) < 10.5 is one of 36 blocks.

-:[i|o] (more ...)
  Swap 1st and 2nd column on input and/or output.

-^
  Print a short message about the syntax of the command, then exits (NOTE: on Windows use just -).
+
  Print an extensive usage (help) message, including the explanation of any module-specific option (but not the GMT common options), then exits.
-?
  Print a complete usage (help) message, including the explanation of options, then exits.
--version
  Print GMT version and exit.
--show-datadir
  Print full path to GMT share directory and exit.

## Ascii Format Precision

The ASCII output formats of numerical data are controlled by parameters in your gmt.conf file. Longitude and latitude are formatted according to FORMAT_GEO_OUT, whereas other values are formatted according to FORMAT_FLOAT_OUT. Be aware that the format in effect can lead to loss of precision in the output, which can lead to various problems downstream. If you find the output is not written with enough precision, consider switching to binary output (-bo if available) or specify more decimals using the FORMAT_FLOAT_OUT setting.

## Examples

To find 5 by 5 minute block mean values from the ASCII data in hawaii.xyg, run

>     gmt blockmean hawaii.xyg -R198/208/18/25 -I5m > hawaii_5x5.xyg

## See Also

blockmedian, blockmode, gmt, gmt.conf, greenspline, nearneighbor, sphtriangulate, surface, triangulate

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