P&K AST (TA Luft 2021 / AUSTAL)

Getting Started

In case an existing project is to be opened, this can be done in File / Open. In the case it is an AUSTAL-Project, Files Of Type (in the open dialog) has to be set to AUSTAL-Project.

We suggest to begin in the menu Edit. The forms under Edit should be filled from the top to the bottom. Depending on the kind of project, not all forms need to be filled in. The data can be entered in any order, but in some cases forms have to be opened multiple times, because entry fields availability might change.

Objects can also be defined / placed in Graphical Tools for drawing objects. This form can be found under the menu View.

In the form Edit / Parameter at least the coordinates of the origin have to be entered. In case the origin is not in Germany, the roughness length (Z0) has to be entered too. Additional parameter are available, if the button Advanced is pressed. Further information about these parameters can be found in Project Parameter.

Under Edit / Weather Data Import meteorology data can be imported. Further information about this in 2.2 Weather data.

In Edit / Sources the data of the sources are to be entered. Point, line and area source can be entered by leaving one or more zeros in the volume source dimension. Some parameters can be defined as time or situation-dependent, if an appropriate weather data file was imported. The number of parameters can be reduced through the Source Wizard. Further information in Sources.

In case the terrain shape is to be taken into account, a terrain height raster can be defined in Define Terrain Raster, which then can be modified in the forms under Edit / Terrain. Further information in 2.4 Terrain.

Monitor points or evaluation points (according to TA Luft 2021) can be defined under Edit / Monitor-Points. Further information in Monitor-Points.

In the form Edit / Substances various substances can be defined. Under Name, the substances defined in the TA Luft can be selected. The emission rate can be entered only, if at least one source is defined. Important information can be found in Substances.

In case a dispersion category statistic has been imported and at least one component in Sources or Substances has been defined as situation-dependent, the form Edit / Situation will be available and data to the situations (wind speed versus dispersion category) can be entered. Further information in Situations.

In case a weather data timeline has been imported the form Edit / Timeline will be available. If in addition at least one component in Sources or Substances has been defined as time-dependent, extra columns for the time-dependent data will be available in which data for the hours can be entered. Also see Edit Timeline.

Under Edit / Computation Grids the same can be defined, in case AUSTAL should not evaluate these automatically. See Computation Grids for more information.

The illustration of results and the area map can be enhanced with a few objects. The objects can be defined in Edit / Extra Objects. Also see Graphical illustrations.

In Prognosis / Area Map the location of objects can be verified. Also see Graphical illustrations.

Under Prognosis / Report a HTML document will be generated and displayed in which the inputs and results are listed. By default, not all of the information is displayed. This can be changed in Report Settings. Further information in Report Display.

After all necessary data have been entered, the actual calculation can be started under Prognosis / Calculation. In case no calculation was committed, only limited data will be available under Prognosis and Tools. Also see Computing Times.

Under Prognosis / Graphic the characteristics can be indicated on an area map along with Extra Objects. Also see Graphical illustrations.

Here under is a collection of tools.

Tools / Export invokes the form Export data interface to other programs, in which data out of the tables can be formatted and exported for use in other programs.

Under Tools / Bar Diagrams various bar and line charts can be produced from the data out of the tables. Further information in Bar and Line Diagrams

Under Tools / 3D-Diagrams rotatable illustrations can be generated from the result tables, which can ease the analysis of the results. See 3D illustrations.

For easy start-up samples are included in the program package. The program is written to show initially the folders Beispiele and Samples on file open. This feature doesn't work in all Windows Versions. In such cases P&K AST's program folder has to be located manually in "\Program Files".