This quick tutorial is based on the Read Fixed Format Data... dialog. In this tutorial we are going to use some example fixed format ASCII data which the Weather Tool does not automatically recognise. You can obtain the files you will need as a zipped archive using the link immediately below. Simply unzip them to a directory on your local hard disk and continue the tutorial.
Files Required for this Tutorial:
1. Open ReadMe File
To begin, open the WeatherDataFixedFormatReadMe.txt file. You can do this directly from the files you just unzipped or by simply clicking on the above link. If you open it in NotePad, it should look like that displayed in the following image.
You will usually get either a text file like this one included with any custom weather data to explain what the values in the file are and their units. Alternatively you may have to search on the internet for details on the exact data format.
2. Opening the Data File
With this file still open, run the Weather Tool. When it has started, select the File » Open... item in the main menu. In the Open Data File dialog, change the Files of Type to Fixed Format Weather Files, then navigate to the directory you unzipped your files to and open the WeatherDataFixedFormat.dat file. The following dialog should be displayed.
The reason for choosing Fixed Format Weather Files is because the format of the data is determined by a fixed set of columns. That is, each value (regardless of whether the data is complete or not) will always start in a fixed column.
3. Assigning Columns and Spans
With the dialog box shown above open, you now need to go through each set of values and specify what they are and their units.
This is where the WeatherDataFixedFormatReadMe.txt file comes in, as you will need to refer to it for what each set of values are. Starting with the Month of the Year, make sure it's checkbox is ticked then left click and drag across columns 2 and 3 in the table above.
As the columns in the Weather Tool begin at 0 instead of 1, you have to consciously subtract 1 from the character indexes in the description.
You should also notice that the entire 2nd and 3rd columns become highlighted when you release the mouse button. With these selected click the Assign button, to assign the 2nd and 3rd columns to the Month of the Year field.
Continue doing this for each successive data component. You can see that the first month value in the file is '1'. Thus you need to left-click in the Units column and select the 'Start at 1' option.
When you get to Dry Bulb Temperature, you will notice that the text file states the columns run from 9 to 13, but there is only numbers in 10 to 12.
Quite often data will be slightly mismatched or inconsistent. If this is the case you will need to exercise a bit of judgement as to which is correct (this may involve several attempts at importing).
In this instance choose columns 10 to 12 anyway.
4. Specifying the Correct Units
Once the columns have been assigned it is important to specify the correct units. In this instance the value for Dry Bulb Temperature has three characters/components and the WeatherDataFixedFormatReadMe.txt file says their units are in °C. The Weather Tool uses SI units, therefore Celsius is oaky, we just need to reduce the value by one decimal point. You can always tell what units the Weather Tool is going to convert to as they are written next to the name of each component - in this case (°C). To change the scale for Dry Bulb Temperature, left click the units cell next to Dry Bulb Temperature. Then choose the Custom... item from the list. In the Custom Units Conversion dialog, type in a value of 0.1
This specifies that the Dry Bulb Temperature component must be multiplied by a value of 0.1 to give it in degrees, resulting in a temperature of 19.0°C rather than 190°C for example. Continue specifying columns for each of the data components based on the information in the WeatherDataFixedFormatReadMe.txt file.
5. Completing all Components
The dialog box should eventually look similar to the image shown immediately below.
You will notice in this set of data there is no rainfall component. When a particular component doesn't exist in the data then you just need to make sure that it's check box is not ticked.
6. Importing the File
Once all the columns and units have been defined, click the Import File button. Once imported, select the Hourly Data button on the left of the left panels. This should display something similar to the following:
You can now save this data as a WEA file using the File » Save As... menu item 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.