2. General usage

readgssi can be run straight from a bash console, using a python interpreter like ipython or the python console, or scripted in a development environment like Jupyter Notebook, Spyder, or Pycharm. Usage of bash is covered in bash usage, while usage in python is covered below in Python usage.

Note

In the first part of this tutorial, I will separate bash and python operations, but towards the end I will bring them together, as they will produce nearly identical outputs. However, I felt it pertinent to separate the two at the start, since some may know either bash or python but not both. Newcomers to either one will note that both have different benefits over the other, which is why I develop most of the functionality of this program to be accessible from both.

bash is useful for coordinating calls to multiple files in a directory in for loops, which has distinct uses for processing large amounts of files in a much shorter amount of time than RADAN. bash’s range of interoperability is much narrower, but it is very good at processing a number of things in a row using similar patterns of parameters.

Python is useful for its ability to hold objects in memory, and to pass objects to and from various functions. Python’s range is broader in terms of array manipulation and object passing.

2.1. Python usage

Most python functionality is covered under the modules in the left panel, and in the following sections. I will cover the very basics here.

The readgssi.readgssi.readgssi() covers a large portion of the use cases you are likely to want out of readgssi. A properly formulated command is long but should return what you want. In the future, radar arrays will be python classes, which will make things easier.

Simply printing a file’s header information to output is easy:

>>> from readgssi import readgssi
>>> readgssi.readgssi(infile='DZT__001.DZT', frmt=None, verbose=True)
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - reading...
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - input file:         DZT__001.DZT
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - WARNING: no time zero specified for channel 0, defaulting to 2
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - success. header values:
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - system:             SIR 4000 (system code 8)
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - antennas:           ['3207', None, None, None]
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - time zeros:         [2, None, None, None]
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - ant 0 center freq:  100 MHz
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - date created:       2017-07-25 18:21:24+00:00
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - date modified:      2018-08-06 17:02:24+00:00
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - gps-enabled file:   yes
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - number of channels: 1
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - samples per trace:  2048
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - bits per sample:    32 signed
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - traces per second:  24.0
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - traces per meter:   300.0
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - epsr:               80.0
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - speed of light:     3.35E+07 m/sec (11.18% of vacuum)
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - sampling depth:     33.5 m
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - "rhf_top":          3.4 m
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - offset to data:     131072 bytes
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - traces:             28343
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - seconds:            1180.95833333
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - array dimensions:   2048 x 28343
2019-07-22 16:56:20 - beginning processing for channel 0 (antenna 3207)
>>>

Note here that there is a warning regarding the time-zero. That can be set using zero=[int], but won’t really come into play until the next section.

See Reading radar data for next steps.

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2.2. bash usage

readgssi comes with a UNIX command line interface, for easy bash scripting. This is very useful when processing folders full of many files. If you’d like a full description of all options, enter:

readgssi -h

You should see readgssi output its help text, which will display options like those below, but in a more condensed form.

Note

Each option flag here below passed to readgssi.readgssi.readgssi() after the command has been processed by readgssi.readgssi.main().

Usage:

readgssi -i input.DZT [OPTIONS]

2.2.1. Required flags

-i file, --infile=file

Input DZT file.

2.2.2. Optional flags

-o file, --outfile=file

Output file. If not set, the output file will be named similar to the input. See readgssi.functions.naming() for naming convention details.

-f str, --format=str

Output file format (eg. “csv”, “numpy”, “gprpy”). See readgssi.translate.

-p int, --plot=int

Tells readgssi.plot.radargram() to create a radargram plot <int> inches high (defaults to 7).

-D int, --dpi=int

Set the plot DPI in readgssi.plot.radargram() (defaults to 150).

-T, --titleoff

Tells readgssi.plot.radargram() to turn the plot title off.

-x m, --xscale=m

X units for plotting. Will attempt to convert the x-axis to distance, time, or trace units based on header values. See readgssi.plot.radargram() for scale behavior. Combine with the -N option to enable distance normalization, or -d int to change the samples per meter.

-z m, --zscale=m

Z units for plotting. Will attempt to convert the x-axis to depth, time, or sample units based on header values. See readgssi.plot.radargram() for scale behavior. Combine with the -E int option to change the dielectric.

-n, --noshow

Suppress matplotlib popup window and simply save a figure (useful for multi-file processing).

-c str, --colormap=str

Specify the colormap to use in radargram creation function readgssi.plot.radargram(). For a list of values that can be used here, see https://matplotlib.org/users/colormaps.html#grayscale-conversion

-g int, --gain=int

Gain constant (higher=greater contrast, default: 1).

-r int, --bgr=int

Horizontal background removal (useful to remove ringing). Specifying 0 as the argument here sets the window to full-width, whereas a positive integer sets the window size to that many traces after stacking.

-R, --reverse

Reverse (flip array horizontally) using readgssi.arrayops.flip().

-w, --dewow

Trinomial dewow algorithm (experimental, use with caution). For details see readgssi.filtering.dewow().

-t int-int, --bandpass=int-int

Triangular FIR bandpass filter applied vertically (positive integer range in megahertz; ex. 70-130). For details see readgssi.filtering.triangular().

-b, --colorbar

Adds a matplotlib.colorbar.Colorbar to the radar figure.

-a, --antfreq=int

Set the antenna frequency. Overrides header value in favor of the one set here by the user.

-s, --stack=int

Set the trace stacking value or “auto” to autostack, which results in a ~2.5:1 x:y axis ratio.

-N, --normalize

Distance normalize. readgssi.gps.readdzg() reads the .DZG NMEA data file if it exists, otherwise tries to read CSV with lat, lon, and time fields. Then, the radar array and GPS time series are passed to readgssi.arrayops.distance_normalize() where the array is expanded and contracted proportional to the distance traveled between each GPS distance mark. This is done in chunks to save memory.

-d float, --spm=float

Specify the samples per meter (SPM). Overrides header value. Be careful using this option on distance-naive files, and files in which “time” was used as the main trigger for trace shots!

-m, --histogram

Produces a histogram of data values for each channel using readgssi.plot.histogram().

-E float, --epsr=float

User-defined epsilon_r (sometimes referred to as “dielectric”). If set, ignores value in DZT header in favor of the value set here by the user.

-Z int, -Z list, --zero=int, --zero=list

Timezero: skip this many samples before the direct wave arrives at the receiver. Samples are removed from the top of the trace. Use a four-integer list format for multi-channel time-zeroing. Example: -Z 40,145,233,21.

Command line functionality is explained further in the following sections.

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