4.2 - Remarks

The naming convention presented in each section (e.g. Model Control File *.ccu, Crop Distribution File *.cds, etc. where * refers to a basin or simulation) is recommended for simulation management but is not required. The only exception is the StateCU Response File (*.rcu). This file must have a *.rcu extension for StateCU to recognize it as the scenario control file. The list of filenames in the StateCU Response File (*.rcu) must be identified by a defined file description. The number of input files will vary depending on the type of analysis that will be simulated. When naming scenario input files, avoid special characters, spaces, or periods (excluding periods before an extension). Additional information is provided below.

In general, the top of each dataset contains a variable number of comment cards identified by a ‘#’ in column 1. Monthly time series data contain values for each month of the study period, or must contain a –999 place holder which indicates a value is not available. StateCU will accept missing values in the time series files. When temperature, frost date, precipitation, or water supply information is missing for any month during a year, consumptive use will not be calculated for that year. The output reflects this with –999 place holder in the affected output files.

StateCU calculations are based on individual irrigation structures or climate station locations identifiers and their associated crop distribution, acreage, nearby climate stations and, potentially, water supply, water rights, soil moisture capacities, and return flow patterns. Therefore, if simulation files are prepared outside of the CDSS database management environment, care must be taken to assure that structure or climate station identifiers are consistent between files.

During execution, StateCU creates a log file (*.log) that stamps information regarding model steps, warnings when defaults are used, and error messages describing problems encountered.