Installation Guide

The ALG package is a GUI toolbox that facilitates the running of atmospheric radiative transfer models (RTM) and post-processing tools. ALG must be installed locally on a Windows™ environment. Make sure to have reading and writing permissions enabled.
In future, we aim to make ALG compatible to other platforms (Linux, Mac OS X).

Prerequisites for installing ALG

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The software package is developed in 64-bits Matlab™ 9.4 (R2018a), and is distributed as a compiled stand-alone software. Therefore, 64-bits Matlab™ Compiler Runtime for version R2018a (or higher version) must be locally installed to run the ALG software.

The Matlab Compiler Runtime (MCR) is a standalone set of shared libraries that enables the execution of compiled Matlab™ applications on computers that do not have Matlab™ installed. Therefore, users without a license of Matlab™ R2018a (64 bits) software, or with a lower version, can still use the ALG software package by installing the corresponding MCR.

The MCR can be freely downloaded from the official MathWorks® website https://www.mathworks.com/products/compiler/mcr.html. Follow the instructions of the MCR installer, which essentially consist on selecting the installation directory on your computer.

We aimed to develop ALG without additional Matlab toolboxes. However, for parallel processing functionalities, the Matlab Parallel Computing Toolbox is used.

Installing third-party software (RTMs)

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With the exception of 6SV, the ALG toolbox does not provide the compiled nor the source-code of the atmospheric RTM third-party software. Users are requested to download and install/compile these third-party software. The following links briefly describe the process to install/compile these third-party RTMs:

Note: These guidelines does not aim to replace the official installation procedures provided by the third-party software developers. We therefore not take any warranty of the correct performance of the installed/compiled RTMs. For any questions about their installation, it is recommended to contact the RTM developers.

Installing ALG

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The ALG software can be downloaded from the ARTMO website (http://ipl.uv.es/artmo) at the download section. For that, you should first log in with your username and password. Download the ALG software compressed file (.zip) and unzip it in the desired directory, e.g.: C:\ALG. The uncompressed folder should have the following sub-folders and files:

To run ALG just double-click on the ALG icon inside the folder C:\ALG\bin. This will show the following splash screen:

After a few seconds, the main window of the ALG will appear:

Starting up

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Once the ALG has been correctly installed, you need to configure the software so that it will run your installed atmospheric RTMs (MODTRAN v5.2, 6SV v2.1) and OPAC v3.1 aerosol database.

Configuring the Atmospheric RTMs

Start by opening the Preferences panel by clicking on the icon or alternatively on FilePreferences…. Click then on the RTM configuration to update the configuration of the RTMs:

Then select an atmospheric RTM from the Select RTM pop-up menu at the top-right of the RTM configuration panel. The current options are MODTRAN5 (for MODTRAN v5.2) and sixSV (for 6SV v2.1). Introduce the following information:

  • The RTM version number (e.g., 2.1 for 6SV v2.1) by filling the Version text box. This information is not needed to run the atmospheric RTM.
  • The path and name of the RTM source file by filling the corresponding text box. This can be done by typing the path and name of the atmospheric RTM executable (e.g., C:\ALG\third_party_sw\6SV2.1\sixsV2.1.exe) or by pressing on the button and select the executable file:

After introducing this information, click on the Apply button. This will update the RTM configuration file (RTMconf.xml) stored in the ALG Conf subfolder.

Repeat this process for any installed RTM that you wish to use.

Configuring the OPAC Aerosol Database

Start by opening the Preferences panel by clicking on the icon or alternatively on FilePreferences…. Click then on the OPAC configuration to update the configuration of the OPAC aerosol database:

Introduce the following information:

  • The OPAC version number (e.g., 3.1 for OPAC v2.1) by filling the Version text box. This information is not needed to run the OPAC.
  • The path and name of the OPAC source file by filling the corresponding text box. This can be done by typing the path and name of the OPAC executable (e.g., C:\Program Files (x86)\OPAC\opac31\opac.exe) or by pressing on the button and select the executable file.
After introducing this information, click on the Apply button. This will update the RTM configuration file (OPACconf.xml) stored in the ALG Conf subfolder.

Other Software Configuration

Start by opening the Preferences panel by clicking on the icon or alternatively on FilePreferences…. Click then on the Other configuration to update the configuration of the other software options:

You can modify the default number cores to be used in order to run an atmospheric RTM in parallel. For that, click on the Default # parallel runs pop-up menu and select your desired option (between 1 and the maximum cores detected on your PC).

You can also modify the default directory where to store your atmospheric look-up table (LUT) files. This can be done by typing the path of your desired folder (e.g., C:\ALG\LUTs_folder) or by pressing on the button and select the desired folder.

After introducing this information, click on the Apply button. This will update the other software configuration file (Otherconf.xml) stored in the ALG Conf subfolder.