This quick tutorial is based on the Read Column Separated Hourly Data... dialog. In this tutorial we are going to use some example coma separated ASCII data. You can obtain the files you will need as a zipped archive using the limk immediately below. Simply unzip them to a directory on your local hard disk and continue the tutorial.
Files Required for this Tutorial:
Importing Meteonorm Data into The Weather Tool
This example data was exported from the Meteonorm program, available from METEOTEST in Switzerland. This is a commercial program that contains an extensive database of world climate data from which it can interpolate average data for any location. The first step is to set up Meteonorm to export hourly output in you own custom format Unless you own Meteonorm, a description of exactly how to do this would be quite pointless. If you do own the software, then it's pretty obvious how to do this using the Output Format item in the Format menu and choosing User Defined. This will display the following dialog box.
The main point is that you need to know what each data field is and the units it is in before you can import it. Whilst you can use some trial and error, it is usually possible to trace the original data source and obtain the actual data format. We are using Meteonorm in this example so you can clearly see where the original data format came from.
If you are using Meteonorm, set up the output format and user defined units as shown above and then generate and save an hourly data. Some example output is included in the unzippped files as Meteonorm.dat.
1. Opening the Data File
Run the Weather Tool and then click the File » Open menu item. In the File Open dialog, set the type of file to Separated Data File and select the Meteonorm.dat file in the directory you unzippped the archived files to. This should display the following dialog box.
You may need to check that they look the same in order to verify your output units.
2. Adding the First Column
Start at the top of the list and drag Hour of the Day (1-24) from the left hand list into the Column Value list. You can also do this by selecting any value in the left list and choosing the Add » button, but dragging allows you to see where in the list the item will be inserted. If you wish to overwrite a value instead of inserting, simply hold the Control key down as you drag.
3. Setting its Units
After adding the first value, you have to set its units. You can see from the file that the first hour is given a value if '1'. Thus, you have to left-click in the Units column and choose the 'Start at 1' option.
4. Adding Further Columns
Continue dragging and setting the units of each field until your dialog box looks like the following. Note that the Global Radiation value is ignored. If you do not put in an <Ignore Value> item in this field, the diffuse will become global, wind speed will be come diffuse, etc...
5. Type of Separator Character
The other issue to note is the type of separator characters to use. By default, a range of characters are shown, meaning that fields can be separated by either a coma, a semi-colon, a vertical bar, a full colon, a tab character (shown as a solid block) and a space (invisible in the text field but there at the end. In most cases leaving these characters as is will be fine - in our case we selected a coma in the Meteonorm output so we are okay too. However, if your data contains colons in a time value for example, you probably don't want those values considered as two separate fields so you can simply delete the colon character from the Separator Characters edit box in the dialog.
6. Saving Your Import Settings
Once you added and ordered the fields as above, you can save these settings for use later. To do this simply select the Save button at the bottom-right of the dialog, select your own user directory in the File Save dialog that appears and create a new file called WeatherDataTutorial.ccf, or whatever name you feel is appropriate.
7. Importing the Data
Once saved, select the Import File button at the bottom of the dialog to import the data. If you have selected the HOURLY DATA button on the left of the main application window, you should see something very similar to the following.
You can now save this data as a WEA file and load it into ECOTECT for use in the thermal and solar analysis of your models. You can also use the data analysis and visualisation features of the Weather Tool to gain a real understanding of what is going on in that climate.