Interpolation sets file

This page is the generated field list for InterpolationSets.xml, used by the Interpolation module to either fill gaps in a single series (serial interpolation) or generate a spatial field from point observations (spatial interpolation, e.g. Kriging/IDW-style gridding).

Caution

The schema itself annotates the root <interpolationSets> element LEGACY. Newer configs generally do time-based gap-filling with a transformation instead, and spatial gridding with the region’s grid/transformation tooling. Check what your FEWS version and existing config actually use before adding a new InterpolationSets.xml — this page documents the schema as it exists, not a recommendation to build on it for a new system.

At a glance

Purpose : Serial: fill gaps in one series (default value, linear/block interpolation, extrapolation, capped by gapLength). Spatial: interpolate a value across locations (or generate a grid) using a chosen interpolation method, optionally with a variogram for geostatistical methods.

Folder : Config/RegionConfigFiles/

Root element : <interpolationSets> (version="1.1", required)

References : The timeSeriesSet(s) it reads/writes; a spatial set may also reference a basinGroup/basin for the interpolation area.

Minimal example

Config/RegionConfigFiles/InterpolationSets.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<interpolationSets xmlns="http://www.wldelft.nl/fews" version="1.1">
  <interpolationSet interpolationId="FillGaugeGaps">
    <serialInterpolation>
      <serialInterpolationOption>linear</serialInterpolationOption>
      <gapLength>6</gapLength>
    </serialInterpolation>
    <timeSeriesSet>
      <moduleInstanceId>ImportObservations</moduleInstanceId>
      <valueType>scalar</valueType>
      <parameterId>Q.obs</parameterId>
      <locationSetId>AllDischargeGauges</locationSetId>
      <timeSeriesType>external historical</timeSeriesType>
      <timeStep unit="hour" multiplier="1"/>
      <readWriteMode>read only</readWriteMode>
    </timeSeriesSet>
  </interpolationSet>
</interpolationSets>

Field reference

Auto-generated from interpolationSets.xsd. Descriptions are the schema's own annotations.

Element <interpolationSets>

Collection of one or more Interpolation Set

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
version	required	fixed: 1.1.

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
interpolationSet	InterpolationSetComplexType	required · repeats
basinGroup	BasinGroupComplexType	optional · repeats

InterpolationSetComplexType

For serial or spatial filling the output is optional. When the first interpolation action is serial or spatial filling the input is copied to the output before starting the actions. In this case the locations and value types of the output series should be the same as the locations and type of the input series. For spatial generation you can transform between grids and scalars. When you specify multiple input grids you have to specify the same number of output grids

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
interpolationId	required

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
serialInterpolation	SerialInterpolationComplexType	required
spatialInterpolation	SpatialInterpolationComplexType	required
timeSeriesSet	TimeSeriesSetComplexType	required · repeats	When the input is the same as the output only specify the time series set. This is not allowed for spatial series creation
timeSeriesInputSet	TimeSeriesSetComplexType	required · repeats
timeSeriesOutputSet	TimeSeriesSetComplexType	required · repeats	For backwards compatibility the output equals the input when the output is not specified. When the input is the same as the output it is better to specify timeSeriesSet instead of timeSeriesInputSet
outputSet	OutputSetComplexType	required	obsolete, output set including grid geometry, it is better to specify the grid geometries in the region config

BasinGroupComplexType

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
gridLocationId	required
description	optional

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
basin	BasinComplexType	required · repeats

SerialInterpolationComplexType

Settings for Serial Interpolation

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
serialInterpolationOption	serialInterpolationOptionEnumStringType	required	fill with default value, linear and block interpolation. extrapolation. One of: defaultvalue, linear, block, extrapolate, extrapolatetobase
gapLength	int	optional
defaultValue	float	optional
window	TimeSpanComplexType	optional
baseValue	float	optional
extrapolateDirection	extrapolateDirectionEnumStringType	optional	One of: none, start, end, both

SpatialInterpolationComplexType

Settings for Spatial Interpolation

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
interpolationOption	spatialInterpolationOptionEnumStringType	required	One of: kriging, bilinear, gridcellaveraging, gridCellAveragingUsingXMLData, inversedistance, closestdistance, sum, average, inputAverageTimesOutputArea, renkaClineTriangulation
interpolationType	interpolationEnumStringType	required	Option to choose between the filling of missing values or the generation of new series. One of: seriesfilling, seriesgeneration
valueOption	valuesEnumStringType	optional	One of: normal, residuals, splitwithelevation
variogram	VariogramComplexType	optional	Variogram information
numberOfStations	int	optional	Number of stations in interpolation computation, when distance function is used the closest number of stations is used. If not used then 8
regressionElevation	float	optional	Elevation above which regression is required
minimumValue	float	optional	Minimum value allowed, if not used then -999.99
distanceParameters	DistanceGeographicComplexType	optional	Coefficients G1 to G4 of function DistanceGeographic. Defaults to (1,1,0,0)
debug	DebugComplexType	optional	Debug information for interpolation model
extrapolationOption	spatialExtrapolationOptionEnumStringType	optional	One of: disabled, use splines, nearest neighbour
coordinateScalingFactor	float	optional	The coordinates are multiplied by the scaling factor before they are passed to a interpolation routine. This is especially useful for for the renka and cline triangulation in combination with splines. To calculate the splines correctly the z values should have the same scale as the x, y values
coordinateFile	fileStringType	optional	NOT USED ANY MORE -DEPRECATED Use instead basinCoordinateGroupId Location of coordinate file.
coordinateSytem	int	optional	NOT USED ANY MORE -DEPRECATED, redundant configuration
inversDistancePower	float	optional
searchCriteria	int	optional	option to specify how to select the stations in interpolation computation. For backward compatibility, searchCriteria = 1 (default) or nothing specified means search for stations nearest to the interpolated point. SearchCriteria = 2, search for number of stations/4 per quadrant. i.e. if number of stations=8, then search for 2 stations +x+y quadrant, 2 stations +x-y quadrant etc. searchCriteria = 3, same as 1 but now the height is ignored in the distance calculation. Pur java implementation is used, up to 6 times faster.
searchRadius	float	optional	meters. option to specify the search radius for the support locations. Default = 100000000.

TimeSeriesSetComplexType

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
id	optional
name	optional

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
description	string	optional
valueType	timeSeriesValueTypeStringType	required
parameterId	idStringType	required
domainParameterId	idStringType	optional · repeats	For a spectrum specify the frequency / wave length parameter. For a directional spectrum specify first the frequency parameter and secondly the directional parameter
qualifierId	idStringType	optional · repeats	Id that references an qualifier listed in the regionConfigFiles/Qualifiers.xsd
timeSeriesType	timeSeriesTypeStringType	required
timeStep	TimeStepComplexType	required
aggregationPeriod	RelativePeriodComplexType	optional	The value at a time represents the aggregated value over the aggregation period e.g when the aggregation period is -6 to 0 hour the value at 13:00 represents an aggregation (e.g. moving average) from 7:00 till 13:00 (including)
cycle	CalendarTimeSpanComplexType	optional	If cycle specified, then the data is repeated periodically with this cycle as the period length. There is original data for only one cycle. After that cycle the data will be repeated periodically. In other words, when cycle is defined, then a missing value is filled up with a value from the last available cycle before the missing value.
externalForecastSearchTimeStep	TimeStepComplexType	optional	Since 2024.01. Only time series with an external forecast time that match this time step are visible while searching
externalForecastTimeCardinalTimeStep	TimeStepComplexType	optional	When no external forecast exists in the data store younger that the specified age a new external forecast is returned with a minimum age that applies to the specified cardinal time step
qualifierAggregation	qualifierAggregationStringType	optional	When specified all the time series that have ALL the specified qualifiers are aggregated to a single time series on read. Can not be specified when this time series set is meant for writing
readWriteMode	timeSeriesReadWriteModeStringType	required	Note: this readWriteMode is only used in the TimeSeriesDisplay. Other modules ignore this readWriteMode.
synchLevel	intStringType	optional
expiryTime	CalendarTimeSpanComplexType	optional
delay	TimeShiftComplexType	optional
multiplier	floatStringType	optional
divider	floatStringType	optional
incrementer	floatStringType	optional
ensembleId	idStringType	optional	Optional field for running ensembles. Ensemble id's in a time series set will override ensemble id's defined in the workflow.
visibilityControllingFlagSourceColumnId	idStringType	optional	All values that not passed this validation step are removed on read. Set to missing for equidistant and removed for non-equidistant
onlyReliableFlagSourceColumnId	idStringType	optional	Since 2022.02. All values that passed this validation step and are reliable will be included other will be set to missing for equidistant and removed for non-equidistant. This will work as an "or" operation together with "visibilityControllingFlagSourceColumnId", so data should either have passed "visibilityControllingFlagSourceColumnId" or "onlyReliableFlagSourceColumnId".
locationRelationId	idStringType	required	Relation id to map the time series set locations to related locations. Instead of the time series set locations the related locations are used to read/write the time series.
skipLocationsWithoutRelation	boolean	optional	Since 2020.01 When true locations that do not have a related location will be skipped, when false all location must have a related location. Default is false
moduleInstanceId	idStringType	required · repeats
moduleInstanceSetId	idStringType	required	Query a single module instance in the data store that is available for this time series set
filterModuleInstanceSetId	idStringType	required	Query all module instances in the data store that are available for this time series set
locationId	idStringType	required · repeats
locationSetId	idStringType	required
chainageLocationSetId	idStringType	required	Id of location set which represents a chainage of locations. This can only be used in combination with readWriteMode readOnly
relativeViewPeriod	TimeSeriesSetRelativePeriodComplexType	optional	Period relative the time 0 of the workflow or the system time of the fews explorer
relativeForecastPeriod	TimeSeriesSetRelativePeriodComplexType	optional	Period relative to first time of a simulated or external forecast time series
ensembleMemberId	nonEmptyStringType	required · repeats	Optional field used for reading or writing one or more particular ensemble member
ensembleMemberIndex	nonNegativeIntegerStringType	required	Optional field used for reading or writing one particular ensemble member
ensembleMemberIndexRange	EnsembleMemberIndexRangeComplexType	required	Optional field used for reading or writing one particular sub set of the ensemble
relativeForecastSearchPeriod	TimeSeriesSetRelativePeriodComplexType	required	Since 2015.02. The latest available external forecast in this period will be read. By default the latest before time0 is returned
externalForecastTimeId	idStringType	required	Since 2018.01. Forecast time reference id configured in the forecast length estimator config. Can only be used in workflows and only after the forecast length estimator.
externalForecastMinAge	TimeSpanComplexType	optional	Since 2014.02. By default is there is no minimum age. All external forecasts after the time0 are ignored. The age of an external forecast is defined as the time span between the external forecast time and the time 0
externalForecastMaxAge	TimeSpanComplexType	optional	By default is there is no maximum age so the returned external forecast can be very old when there is no recent forecast available. All external forecasts after the time0 are ignored. The age of an external forecast is defined as the time span between the external forecast time and the time 0

OutputSetComplexType

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
timeSeriesOutputSet	TimeSeriesSetComplexType	required
gridDefinition	GridDefinitionComplexType	optional

BasinComplexType

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
locationId	required
name	optional

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
cellPoints	PointPositionComplexType	required · repeats	give the cell points locations (which refers to the exact row and col of the grid

TimeSpanComplexType

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
unit	required
divider	optional
multiplier	optional

VariogramComplexType

Variogram options

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
type	variogramEnumStringType	required	Type of variogram One of: spherical, exponential, gaussian, power, linear
nugget	float	required	Nugget of variogram (C0)
range	float	required	Range of variogram in meters (a)
slope	float	required	Slope of variogram (C1)
sill	float	required	Sill of variogram to be used in case of all variograms except Linear (C1)

DistanceGeographicComplexType

The coefficients G1 to G4 of function DistanceGeographic. Defaults (1,1,0,0)

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
g1	float	required
g2	float	required
g3	float	required
g4	float	required

DebugComplexType

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
level	int	required	Number for setting the level of debug generation, 0 = no debug information, 1 = some information, 2 ..etc = more information
file	fileStringType	required	Debug file

TimeStepComplexType

Time step, There are 5 valid combinations of attributes. id, unit+[multiplier]+[divider]+[timeZone], times+[timeZone] + monthDays+[timeZone] ([]=optional)

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
id	optional	Id of the time step. You can reference time steps defined in the regionConfig/timeSteps.xml. Only specify the id attribute when referring to a predefined time step. In the regionConfig/timeSteps.xml the time steps list both the id and the attributes that define the time step
label	optional	Short name for the time step which is shown to the user when he can choose one from a list.
unit	optional
divider	optional
multiplier	optional
times	optional	Defines the time step by a list of times without dates, e.g. "10:00 23:00"
minutes	optional	Since 2017.02. Defines the time step by a list of minutes (with prefix 0 for single digits), e.g. "05 25" which results in times 0:05, 0:25, 1:05, etc.
daysOfMonth	optional	Defines the time step by a list of days of month, use "01 11 21" for a decade time step
monthDays	optional	Defines the time step by a list of dates, e.g. ""--03-01 --06-01 --09-01 --12-01" for the meteorological seasons
timeZone	optional

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
description	string	optional	Optional description of this timeStep. This is not used and is only present for convenience.

RelativePeriodComplexType

Defines a moving period in time. The start and end time are relative time to a certain time.

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
start	required
end	required
startOverrulable	optional	default: false. When the running module (e.g. general adaptor) has exported a state the state time is used instead of the specified start time. This option is only available during a (forecast) run.
endOverrulable	optional	default: false. When a forecast length is specified (e.g. in the manual forecast dialog) the time 0 + forecast length is used instead of the specified end time This option is only available during a (forecast) run.
unit	required

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
description	string	optional

CalendarTimeSpanComplexType

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
unit	required
divider	optional
multiplier	optional

TimeShiftComplexType

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
unit	required
divider	optional
multiplier	optional

TimeSeriesSetRelativePeriodComplexType

Defines a moving period in time. The start and end time are relative time to a certain time. When the start time is not specified it is determined by the start time of the state of the current run. When the start is overrulable the time is overruled by the start of search period or the start of cold state run when one of two is specified When the end is overrulable this time is overruled by the end of the forecast when specified

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
unit	required
start	optional	e.g. -1 hour means one before time 0
end	required	e.g. 1 hour means one hour after time 0
startOverrulable	optional	default: false. When the running module (e.g. general adaptor) has exported a state the state time is used instead of the specified start time. This option is only available during a (forecast) run.
endOverrulable	optional	default: false. When a forecast length is specified (e.g. in the manual forecast dialog) the time 0 + forecast length is used instead of the specified end time This option is only available during a (forecast) run.

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
description	string	optional

EnsembleMemberIndexRangeComplexType

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
start	required
end	optional

GridDefinitionComplexType

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
geoDatum	geoDatumStringType	required	Type of coordinate system.
upperLeftCorner	GeoPointComplexType	required	Coordinates of the upper left corner of the upper left grid cell.
rows	int	required	Number of rows in grid
columns	int	required	Number of columns in grid
cellwidth	float	required	Width of the grid cells
cellheight	float	required	Height of the grid cells

PointPositionComplexType

Each point element has two required attributes, X and Y that point to a Row and Col of the a Grid.

Attributes

Attribute	Use	Notes
col	required
row	required

GeoPointComplexType

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
x	double	required	X coordinate of the point (Easting)
y	double	required	Y coordinate of the point (Northing)
z	double	optional	Z coordinate of the point (altitude)

Gotchas

• gapLength bounds how large a gap serial interpolation will bridge (in time steps) — without it, an arbitrarily long stretch of missing data gets filled, which usually isn’t what you want.
• timeSeriesInputSet/timeSeriesOutputSet default the output to the input when omitted; for anything other than in-place gap-filling, set them explicitly rather than relying on the default.
• outputSet (grid-geometry output) and coordinateFile are marked obsolete/deprecated in the schema’s own annotations — prefer configuring grid geometry in the region config instead.

See also

• Task guide: Transformations (the non-legacy path for most gap-filling today)
• Schema: interpolationSets.xsd