VCasT Plotting YAML Configuration

This page describes the structure and fields of the YAML file used to configure the Plotting module in VCasT. This file controls how statistical outputs are visualized through line plots, performance diagrams, or reliability diagrams.

Example YAML File

Sample Plotting Configuration YAML

plot_type: line

start_date: "2024-04-01_02:00:00" 
end_date: "2024-07-30_00:00:00"    
interval_hours: "1"                

average: false                    
scale: 1                           

unique:                          
fcst_var:                         

legend_style: true                

vars:
  - rmse: "/path/to/input_stats.data"  
  - mae: "/path/to/input_stats.data"   

plot_title: "Temperature at 2m"   
legend_title: "Model"             

labels:
  - "Model A"                   
  - "Model B"                  

line_color:
  - "red"                       
  - "green"                

line_marker:
  - "o"                         
  - "x"                         

line_type:
  - "-."                        
  - "-"                        

line_width:
  - 1                          
  - 1                           

output_filename: /path/to/output.png  

x_label: "Lead Time"            
y_label: "RMSE"                 

ylim: [-0.5, 0.5]               
xlim: [0, 36]                  

grid: true                      

yticks:                        
xticks: [0,3,6,9,12,15,18,21,24,27,30,33,36] 

significance: true            
ci: ['rmse','mae']                      

Configuration Sections

The YAML file is divided into several sections:

General Plot Settings

plot_type: Type of plot to generate. Options include: - line: for standard line plots - performance_diagram: for categorical skill scores (POD vs. Success Ratio) - reliability: for probabilistic reliability diagrams
plot_title: Custom title to appear at the top of the plot.
x_label / y_label: Axis labels. Optional; inferred from data if omitted.
output_filename: Path where the generated plot will be saved. File types like .png, .pdf, or .svg are supported.

Data Settings

vars: A list mapping metrics to input data paths. Each item maps a stat_name to a file containing the associated values.

Example:
```
vars:
  - rmse: "/path/to/input_stats.data"
  - mae: "/path/to/input_stats.data"
```
start_date, end_date: Optional date range filter in YYYY-MM-DD_HH:MM:SS format.
interval_hours: Forecast lead interval spacing (e.g., “1” for hourly).
average: [true, false] Whether to average over the x-axis dimension (e.g., across lead times).
scale: Numerical factor to multiply y-axis values (e.g., 100 to convert from fractional to percent).

Grouping and Filtering

unique: Column used to distinguish separate series on the plot (e.g., model, fcst_var).
fcst_var: Optionally used to restrict plotting to specific forecast variables.
ci: List of statistical variables for which confidence intervals should be drawn (e.g., [‘rmse’, ‘mae’]).
significance: [true, false] Whether to highlight statistically significant differences (requires pre-computed significance column).

Appearance and Style

legend_style: [true, false] Whether to draw a legend inside or outside the plotting area.
legend_title: Title displayed above the legend box.
labels: List of labels to use in the legend for each line/series.
line_color: Color names or codes for each series.
line_marker: Marker styles for each series (e.g., o, x, ^).
line_type: Line styles (e.g., -, –, -.).
line_width: Line thickness values for each series.

Axis and Grid Settings

xlim / ylim: Set manual axis limits. Use a 2-element list format, e.g., [0, 36].
xticks / yticks: Custom tick marks along x or y axes.
grid: [true, false] Whether to show grid lines in the background.

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For examples of plotting configuration files and output images, see the following use cases.