Altimetry or Bathymetry File
The format is the same for top altimetry or bottom bathymetry. Only
BELLHOP uses these files.
Syntax:
TYPE
NPOINTS
R(1) Z(1)
R(2) Z(2)
.
.
.
R(NPOINTS) Z(NPOINTS)
Description:
TYPE
'L' for piecewise linear
'C' for curvilinear
NPOINTS: Number of r-z
points to follow.
R(): Range
(km)
Z(): Depth
(m).
Example:
'L'
5
0 3000
10 3000
20 500
30 3000
100 3000
Generally the piecewise linear option should be selected. However, if
the boundaries are sampled on a very fine scale (a few wavelengths)
then the curvilinear option produces a smoother fit. That in turn
improves the results obtained with geometric ray tracing. The
curvilinear option was implemented to treat fine scale scattering
effects.
Note that depths, z, are positive downward, following a
convention used throughout the models. This is a bit counter-intuitive
for altimetry; however, a different convention for that would also have
been counter-intuitive for others.