# velo¶

Plot velocity vectors, crosses, and wedges

## Synopsis¶

gmt velo [ table ] -Jparameters -Rregion [ -Aparameters ] [ -B[p|s]parameters ] [ -Efill ] [ -Gfill ] [ -L ] [ -N ] [ -S<format><args>[+ffont] ] [ -U[stamp] ] [ -V[level] ] [ -Wpen ] [ -X[a|c|f|r][xshift] ] [ -Y[a|c|f|r][yshift] ] [ -dinodata ] [ -eregexp ] [ -hheaders ] [ -iflags ] [ -pflags ] [ -qiflags ] [ -ttransp ] [ -:[i|o] ] [ --PAR=value ]

Note: No space is allowed between the option flag and the associated arguments.

## Description¶

Reads data values from files [or standard input] and will plot velocity arrows on a map. Most options are the same as for plot, except -S.

## Required Arguments¶

table

One or more ASCII (or binary, see -bi[ncols][type]) data table file(s) holding a number of data columns. If no tables are given then we read from standard input.

-Jparameters (more …)

Select map projection.

-Rwest/east/south/north[/zmin/zmax][+r][+uunit]

west, east, south, and north specify the region of interest, and you may specify them in decimal degrees or in [±]dd:mm[:ss.xxx][W|E|S|N] format Append +r if lower left and upper right map coordinates are given instead of w/e/s/n. The two shorthands -Rg and -Rd stand for global domain (0/360 and -180/+180 in longitude respectively, with -90/+90 in latitude). Set geographic regions by specifying ISO country codes from the Digital Chart of the World using -Rcode1,code2,…[+r|R[incs]] instead: Append one or more comma-separated countries using the 2-character ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 convention. To select a state of a country (if available), append .state, e.g, US.TX for Texas. To specify a whole continent, prepend = to any of the continent codes AF (Africa), AN (Antarctica), AS (Asia), EU (Europe), OC (Oceania), NA (North America), or SA (South America). Use +r to modify the bounding box coordinates from the polygon(s): Append inc, xinc/yinc, or winc/einc/sinc/ninc to adjust the region to be a multiple of these steps [no adjustment]. Alternatively, use +R to extend the region outward by adding these increments instead, or +e which is like +r but it ensures that the bounding box extends by at least 0.25 times the increment [no extension]. Alternatively for grid creation, give Rcodelon/lat/nx/ny, where code is a 2-character combination of L, C, R (for left, center, or right) and T, M, B for top, middle, or bottom. e.g., BL for lower left. This indicates which point on a rectangular region the lon/lat coordinate refers to, and the grid dimensions nx and ny with grid spacings via -I is used to create the corresponding region. Alternatively, specify the name of an existing grid file and the -R settings (and grid spacing and registration, if applicable) are copied from the grid. Appending +uunit expects projected (Cartesian) coordinates compatible with chosen -J and we inversely project to determine actual rectangular geographic region. For perspective view (-p), optionally append /zmin/zmax. In case of perspective view (-p), a z-range (zmin, zmax) can be appended to indicate the third dimension. This needs to be done only when using the -Jz option, not when using only the -p option. In the latter case a perspective view of the plane is plotted, with no third dimension.

-S

Selects the meaning of the columns in the data file and the figure to be plotted. In all cases, the scales are in data units per length unit and sizes are in length units (default length unit is controlled by PROJ_LENGTH_UNIT unless c, i, or p is appended).

-Sevelscale/confidence[+ffont]

Velocity ellipses in (N,E) convention. velscale sets the scaling of the velocity arrows. The confidence sets the 2-dimensional confidence limit for the ellipse, e.g., 0.95 for 95% confidence ellipse. font sets the font and size of the text [9p,Helvetica,black]. The ellipse will be filled with the color or shade specified by the -G option [default transparent]. The arrow and the circumference of the ellipse will be drawn with the pen attributes specified by the -W option. Parameters are expected to be in the following columns:

1,2: longitude, latitude of station (-: option interchanges order) 3,4: eastward, northward velocity (-: option interchanges order) 5,6: uncertainty of eastward, northward velocities (1-sigma) (-: option interchanges order) 7: correlation between eastward and northward components 8: name of station (optional).

-Snbarscale

Anisotropy bars. barscale sets the scaling of the bars. Parameters are expected to be in the following columns:

1,2: longitude, latitude of station (-: option interchanges order) 3,4: eastward, northward components of anisotropy vector (-: option interchanges order)

-Srvelscale/confidence[+ffont]

Velocity ellipses in rotated convention. velscale sets the scaling of the velocity arrows. The confidence sets the 2-dimensional confidence limit for the ellipse, e.g., 0.95 for 95% confidence ellipse. font sets the font and size of the text [9p,Helvetica,black]. The ellipse will be filled with the color or shade specified by the -G option [default transparent]. The arrow and the circumference of the ellipse will be drawn with the pen attributes specified by the -W option. Parameters are expected to be in the following columns:

1,2: longitude, latitude, of station (-: option interchanges order) 3,4: eastward, northward velocity (-: option interchanges order) 5,6: semi-major, semi-minor axes 7: counter-clockwise angle, in degrees, from horizontal axis to major axis of ellipse. 8: name of station (optional)

-Swwedgescale/wedgemag

Rotational wedges. wedgescale sets the size of the wedges. Values are multiplied by wedgemag before plotting. For example, setting wedgemag to 1.e7 works well for rotations of the order of 100 nanoradians/yr. Use -G to set the fill color or shade for the wedge, and -E to set the color or shade for the uncertainty. Parameters are expected to be in the following columns:

1,2: longitude, latitude, of station (-: option interchanges order) 3: rotation in radians 4: rotation uncertainty in radians

-Sxcross_scale

gives Strain crosses. cross_scale sets the size of the cross. Parameters are expected to be in the following columns:

1,2: longitude, latitude, of station (-: option interchanges order) 3: eps1, the most extensional eigenvalue of strain tensor, with extension taken positive. 4: eps2, the most compressional eigenvalue of strain tensor, with extension taken positive. 5: azimuth of eps2 in degrees CW from North.

## Optional Arguments¶

-Aparameters

Modify vector parameters. For vector heads, append vector head size [Default is 9p]. See Vector Attributes for specifying additional attributes.

-B[p|s]parameters (more …)

Set map boundary frame and axes attributes.

-DSigma_scale

can be used to rescale the uncertainties of velocities (-Se and -Sr) and rotations (-Sw). Can be combined with the confidence variable.

-Efill (more …)

Sets the color or shade used for filling uncertainty wedges (-Sw) or velocity error ellipses (-Se or -Sr). [If -E is not specified, the uncertainty regions will be transparent.]

-Gfill (more …)

Select color or pattern for filling of symbols or polygons [Default is no fill].

-L

Draw lines. Ellipses and fault planes will have their outlines drawn using current pen (see -W).

-N

Do NOT skip symbols that fall outside the frame boundary specified by -R. [Default plots symbols inside frame only].

-U[label][+c][+jjust][+odx/dy] (more …)

Draw GMT time stamp logo on plot.

-V[level] (more …)

Select verbosity level [w].

-W

Set pen attributes for velocity arrows, ellipse circumference and fault plane edges. [Defaults: width = default, color = black, style = solid].

-X[a|c|f|r][xshift]

-Y[a|c|f|r][yshift] (more …)

Shift plot origin.

-dinodata (more …)

Replace input columns that equal nodata with NaN.

-e[~]“pattern” | -e[~]/regexp/[i] (more …)

Only accept data records that match the given pattern.

Skip or produce header record(s).

-icols[+l][+sscale][+ooffset][,][,t[word]] (more …)

Select input columns and transformations (0 is first column, t is trailing text, append word to read one word only).

-p[x|y|z]azim[/elev[/zlevel]][+wlon0/lat0[/z0]][+vx0/y0] (more …)

Select perspective view.

-qi[~]rows[+ccol][+a|f|s] (more …)

Select input rows or data range(s) [all].

-t[transp] (more …)

Set transparency level in percent.

-:[i|o] (more …)

Swap 1st and 2nd column on input and/or output.

-^ or just -

Print a short message about the syntax of the command, then exit (NOTE: on Windows just use -).

-+ or just +

Print an extensive usage (help) message, including the explanation of any module-specific option (but not the GMT common options), then exit.

-? or no arguments

Print a complete usage (help) message, including the explanation of all options, then exit.

--PAR=value

Temporarily override a GMT default setting; repeatable. See gmt.conf for parameters.

## Vector Attributes¶

Vector attributes are controlled by options and modifiers. We will refer to this figure and the labels therein when introducing the corresponding modifiers. All vectors require you specify the begin point $$x_b, y_b$$ and typically direction d and length L, but for map projections we usually specify the azimuth $$\alpha$$ instead.

Several modifiers may be appended to vector-producing options for specifying the placement of vector heads, their shapes, and the justification of the vector. Below, left and right refers to the side of the vector line when viewed from the beginning point (b) to the end point (e) of a line segment:

+aangle sets the angle $$\theta$$ of the vector head apex [30].

+b places a vector head at the beginning of the vector path [none]. Optionally, append t for a terminal line, c for a circle, a for arrow [Default], i for tail, A for plain open arrow, and I for plain open tail. Further append l|r to only draw the left or right half-sides of this head [both sides].

+e places a vector head at the end of the vector path [none]. Optionally, append t for a terminal line, c for a circle, a for arrow [Default], i for tail, A for plain open arrow, and I for plain open tail. Further append l|r to only draw the left or right half-sides of this head [both sides].

+g[fill] sets the vector head fill [Default fill is used, which may be no fill]. Turn off vector head fill by not appending a fill. Some modules have a separate -Gfill option and if used will select the fill as well.

+hshape sets the shape of the vector head (range -2/2). Default is controlled by MAP_VECTOR_SHAPE [0]. A zero value produces no notch (e.g., the dashed line in the figure). Positive values moves the notch toward the head apex while a negative value moves away. The example above uses +h0.5.

+l draws half-arrows, using only the left side of specified heads [both sides].

+m places a vector head at the mid-point the vector path [none]. Append f or r for forward or reverse direction of the vector [forward]. Optionally, append t for a terminal line, c for a circle, a for arrow [Default], i for tail, A for plain open arrow, and I for plain open tail. Further append l|r to only draw the left or right half-sides of this head [both sides]. Cannot be combined with +b or +e.

+nnorm scales down vector attributes (pen thickness, head size) with decreasing length, where vector plot lengths shorter than norm will have their attributes scaled by length/norm [arrow attributes remains invariant to length]. For Cartesian vectors specify a length in plot units, while for geovectors specify a length in km.

+o[plon/plat] specifies the oblique pole for the great or small circles. Only needed for great circles if +q is given. If no pole is appended then we default to the north pole.

+p[pen] sets the vector pen attributes. If no pen is appended then the head outline is not drawn. [Default pen is half the width of stem pen, and head outline is drawn]. Above, we used +p2p,orange. The vector stem attributes are controlled by -W.

+q means the input direction, length data instead represent the start and stop opening angles of the arc segment relative to the given point. See +o to specify a specific pole for the arc [north pole].

+r draws half-arrows, using only the right side of specified heads [both sides].

+t[b|e]trim will shift the beginning or end point (or both) along the vector segment by the given trim; append suitable unit (c, i, or p). If the modifiers b|e are not used then trim may be two values separated by a slash, which is used to specify different trims for the beginning and end. Positive trims will shorted the vector while negative trims will lengthen it [no trim].

In addition, all but circular vectors may take these modifiers:

+jjust determines how the input x,y point relates to the vector. Choose from beginning [default], end, or center.

+s means the input angle, length are instead the $$x_e, y_e$$ coordinates of the vector end point.

Finally, Cartesian vectors may take these modifiers:

+zscale expects input $$\Delta x, \Delta y$$ vector components and uses the scale to convert to polar coordinates with length in given unit.

Note: Vectors were completely redesigned for GMT5 which separated the vector head (a polygon) from the vector stem (a line). In GMT4, the entire vector was a polygon and it could only be a straight Cartesian vector. Yes, the old GMT4 vector shape remains accessible if you specify a vector (-Sv|V) using the GMT4 syntax, explained here: size, if present, will be interpreted as arrowwidth/headlength/headwidth [Default is 0.075c/0.3c/0.25c (or 0.03i/0.12i/0.1i)]. By default, arrow attributes remain invariant to the length of the arrow. To have the size of the vector scale down with decreasing size, append +nnorm, where vectors shorter than norm will have their attributes scaled by length/norm. To center the vector on the balance point, use -Svb; to align point with the vector head, use -Svh; to align point with the vector tail, use -Svt [Default]. To give the head point’s coordinates instead of direction and length, use -Svs. Upper case B, H, T, S will draw a double-headed vector [Default is single head].

## Examples¶

Note: Since many GMT plot examples are very short (i.e., one module call between the gmt begin and gmt end commands), we will often present them using the quick modern mode GMT Modern Mode One-line Commands syntax, which simplifies such short scripts.

The following should make big red arrows with green ellipses, outlined in red. Note that the 39% confidence scaling will give an ellipse which fits inside a rectangle of dimension Esig by Nsig:

gmt velo << END -R-10/10/-10/10 -W0.25p,red -Ggreen -L -Se0.2i/0.39+f18p -B1g1 -Jx0.4/0.4 -A1c+p3p+e -V -pdf test
#Long. Lat. Evel Nvel Esig Nsig CorEN SITE
#(deg) (deg) (mm/yr) (mm/yr)
0. -8. 0.0 0.0 4.0 6.0 0.500 4x6
-8. 5. 3.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.500 3x3
0. 0. 4.0 6.0 4.0 6.0 0.500
-5. -5. 6.0 4.0 6.0 4.0 0.500 6x4
5. 0. -6.0 4.0 6.0 4.0 -0.500 -6x4
0. -5. 6.0 -4.0 6.0 4.0 -0.500 6x-4
END


This example should plot some residual rates of rotation in the Western Transverse Ranges, California. The wedges will be dark gray, with light gray wedges to represent the 2-sigma uncertainties:

gmt velo << END -Sw0.4i/1.e7 -W0.75p -Gdarkgray -Elightgray -D2 -Jm2.2i -R240./243./32.5/34.75 -Baf -BWeSn -pdf test
241.4806 34.2073 5.65E-08 1.17E-08
241.6024 34.4468 -4.85E-08 1.85E-08
241.0952 34.4079 4.46E-09 3.07E-08
241.2542 34.2581 1.28E-07 1.59E-08
242.0593 34.0773 -6.62E-08 1.74E-08
241.0553 34.5369 -2.38E-07 4.27E-08
241.1993 33.1894 -2.99E-10 7.64E-09
241.1084 34.2565 2.17E-08 3.53E-08
END


Kurt L. Feigl, Department of Geology and Geophysics at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA