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ASC files

ASC files can be used to store cell-based information that can be loaded into a raster layer of a MARS model. For example, a temperature layer can be created using information from an .asc file to define different temperatures across the simulation environment.

Here is an example of a .asc file with a four-by-four grid (ncols x nrows). xllcorner and yllcorner define the x- and y-coordinate of the lower-left corner of the grid-cell array that is to stretch across the layer. cell size defines the incremental size of a single cell. At the bottom of the file, the values of each cell are explicitly defined and separated by spaces.

ncols 4
nrows 4
xllcorner 30.5
yllcorner -26
cellsize 0.5
nodata_value -9999
17 20 23 25
16 21 24 25
16 22 24 25
21 23 24 24

For more information on .asc files: