Data file formats

This section provides an overview of the file formats supported by Source. Table 5 lists the supported time-series data file formats. Raster data file formats are listed in Table 6. Several GIS, graphics and other formats that are also recognised by Source are listed in Table 7 but are not otherwise described in this guide. 

Table 5. Text-based time-series data file formats

Table 6. Text-based raster data file formats

Table 7. Other supported file formats

Annual stochastic time series

The .AR1 format contains replicates of annual time-series data generated using the AR(1) stochastic method. The file format is shown in Table 8. This format is not the same as the AR(1) format (.GEN) generated and exported by the Stochastic Climate Library.

Table 8. AR1 data file format

where:

desc is a title describing the collection site

nypr is the number of years per replicate

nr is the number of replicates

rn is the replicate number in the range 1..nr

value is one of the nypr data points per row for the replicate, to three decimal places.

ESRI ASCII grids

The .ASC format is a space delimited grid file, with a 6 line header as shown in Table 9. Values are not case sensitive and arranged in space delimited rows and columns, reflecting the structure of the grid. Units for cell size length depend on the input data, and could be either geographic (eg degrees) or projected (eg metres, kilometres). Units are generally determined by the application, with metres (m) being common for most TIME-based applications. For a file format description, refer to:

http://resources.esri.com/help/9.3/arcgisengine/com_cpp/gp_toolref/spatial_analyst_tools/esri_ascii_raster_format.htm

Arcinfo grid coverages can be converted to .ASC files using ESRI’s GRIDASCII command. ASC files can be imported into ArcGIS using the ASCIIGRID command.

Table 9. .ASC data file format

where: