Note: At this time Hydro-Plot runs on MS Windows and Linux-x86.
With Hydro-Plot you can plot data from various GEODAS CD/DVD sets. If you want to plot grids from the
GEODAS Gridded Database CD/DVDs, you can plot directly from the CD, or you can create custom grids.
For Marine Trackline Geophysics or
NOS Hydrographic Surveys, you use GEODAS Data Search and Retrieval application
to Search and then download the data to your hard drive.
Creating GEODAS Grid Files: Use GEODAS Grid Translator application to create grids
on your hard drive, either running the application as a stand alone application, or running it from the
GEODAS Gridded Database Web Browser Interface.
Hydro-Plot will handle all of the GEODAS grided output formats, including Binary GRD98 Grid Format,
ArcInfo/ArcView ASCII Grid Format and grids output in Delimited XYZ ASCII Format.
Hydro-Plot may also be used to plot data density grid files and grid radius files (see below).
Downloading data using the GEODAS Data Search and Retrieval application: In most cases, once you are satisfied with your GEODAS Search, you will want to use the GEODAS Search application Download Task to transfer the desired data from the GEODAS CD/DVD to your hard drive. If you wish to use Hydro-Plot to view the combined data of all the Search surveys together you must use the option Save Data As: Single File of all Data in Search Area. If you wish to plot the surveys independently you should choose Save Data As: Multiple Survey Files. Hydro-Plot will handle all of the GEODAS output Formats: MGD77 ASCII Exchange, Binary HYD93 CD/DVD, HYD93 ASCII Exchange and Delimited XYZ ASCII Format. If you choose MGD77 or HYD93 ASCII Format, you must Select All Fields.
For Hydrographic Surveys Data only, you do not have to Download data; Hydro-Plot can plot individual surveys (in Binary HYD93 Format) from a Search directly from the GEODAS CD/DVD's.
For a given Search, you may download data in as many format/file type combinations as you like.
MS Windows:
Start -> Programs -> GEODAS -> Hydro-Plot
Linux-x86 Xwindows:
Type geodas at the xterm prompt to start GEODAS Launch Pad. Then click
on the GEODAS Hydro-Plot icon.
The File menu and the Speed Buttons at the top of the Hydro-Plot Control Panel allow you to Open the data from your GEODAS Search or from GEODAS Gridded Database grids.
You use the Open Data dialog to locate the data. This may be Search data which you downloaded in your GEODAS Search, grid data from GEODAS Gridded Databases (data, data density or grid radius grids). For data downloaded from GEODAS Data Search and Retrieval application, simply find and open the ([key].mgn) file named with your Search Key. Or open any GEODAS formatted file (including grid files) directly.
Only if you are plotting GEODAS Data Search and Retrieval data files, use the Choose Search Data to Plot dialog to plot either All Search Data, meaning the combined values from all the surveys found by the Search, or plot an individual survey, selected by NGDC Number and Survey ID. Remember that in order to plot All Search Data you must have downloaded your Search data using the option Save Data As: Single File of all Data in Search Area. If you choose to plot an individual survey, you will have chosen the option: Save Data As: Multiple Survey Files, Complete Surveys or Multiple Surveys Files, data in Search Area. (In the case of Hydrographic Surveys data you do not have to download data to plot individual surveys; Hydro-Plot can find the surveys on your CD/DVD set.)
For GEODAS Data Search and Retrieval files only, if you have Downloaded data with the standardized name and location, a dialog will present the file(s). (If you have downloaded to multiple formats there will be more than one choice.) If you don't get a dialog, or if your Downloaded file does not appear, simply browse to the file you wish to open.
Use the Plot Parameters dialog to adjust plotting parameters such as contour interval, color spectrum to use, etc.
Hit the OK button and the data will plot, color coding the data points according to their value. For specific
information on the various options see Plot Parameters Dialog .
Once your soundings (or other data) are plotted you can check out values for each point, or a description of each Hydrographic Feature, simply by clicking the mouse on the individual plotted point. A small box with the information will pop up next to the selected point. The information displayed includes the data value, the record number in the file (Rec#), the Survey ID for ASCII HYD93 formatted data, and the feature name when a cartographic feature is clicked. You can move this box with your mouse. Be aware that this option is only enabled when there are 10000 or fewer point values displayed on your plot. Use the Zoom-In feature to generate a plot with less points, or to otherwise change the limits of the plot.
Once you have Data Information displayed for a point (see above) you can edit the actual data record. Click the Right (Secondary) mouse button on the map to bring up a popup menu. You may edit, delete or add data records or, for gridded data you can change the value at a grid cell to the "Empty Grid Cell Value" (NaN). For more information see Editing Your Data .
While your data is open you can also open a second file of data for reference comparisons. Use the File -> Open Refernece Data menu option to open the second data set. The reference data will be plotted as small (color-contoured) x's. Individual reference points can be displayed in the same way as the main data points, but cannot be edited.
You can print your maps using utilities such as Windows Screen Capture and Microsoft Paint. See Printing Hydro-Plot Maps for more details.