Processing profiles

A processing profile stores the settings of the Pick processing and Origin processing panels, the database bar, the QC rule sets and the aggregation rules, so the same setup can be reused, for example one profile per network or region. Profiles are declared in the SeisComP application configuration (catalyst.cfg). Each one points to a .profile file that holds the actual key = value settings.

Declare profiles in catalyst.cfg

Put this in @SYSTEMCONFIGDIR@/catalyst.cfg ($SEISCOMP_ROOT/etc/catalyst.cfg) or in the user configuration @CONFIGDIR@/catalyst.cfg (~/.seiscomp/catalyst.cfg):

# Available processing profiles.
profiles = iceland, ukraine

# Profile applied at start-up. Default: the first one in the list.
defaultProfile = iceland

# Each profile points to a settings file. @SYSTEMCONFIGDIR@, @CONFIGDIR@,
# @DATADIR@ and @ROOTDIR@ are resolved by SeisComP.
profile.iceland.configFile = @SYSTEMCONFIGDIR@/iceland.profile
profile.ukraine.configFile = @SYSTEMCONFIGDIR@/ukraine.profile

At start-up Catalyst reads the profiles list, resolves each configFile path and fills the Profile dropdown in the toolbar. It then applies the profile named by defaultProfile. If that name is not in the list, Catalyst logs a warning and uses the first profile. The profile is applied at the end of start-up, after the locator and travel-time lists have been filled, so the dropdown never shows a profile whose settings are not in effect.

If no profiles are configured, the dropdown shows “(no profiles configured)” and the controls keep their built-in defaults.

Profiles shipped with Catalyst

Three profiles are installed with Catalyst and declared in the default configuration (etc/defaults/catalyst.cfg):

Profile	Content
infra	Infrasound arrays: Is picks from Lambda / autolambda (PMCC), back projection with EDT stacking, Azimuth locator, the iasp91_scanloc_icel026 Is table, the Infrasound tab and three QC rule sets on the array picks (Reject, Check, Confirm). Tested on Romanian, Dutch and German arrays at 60–800 km.
alaska	Regional earthquakes in Alaska and the Aleutians (AK/AT/AV): DBSCAN nucleation, LOCSAT iasp91, QC rules derived from analyst-reviewed events of the Alaska Earthquake Center, the spectra test within 200 km, QC zones Aleutians / mainland and a 0.5° grid for the grid search. It is the profile of the tutorial.
newmexico	Local and regional earthquakes in New Mexico and the Delaware Basin, tuned on 118 reviewed ComCat events: DBSCAN on P, LOCSAT with the iasp91_scanloc tables (installed with scanloc), QC rules that reject none of the reviewed events, the spectra test within 100 km and an adaptive 0.25° grid for the grid search.

The files are in @DATADIR@/catalyst/profiles/ together with the files they refer to (QC zones, grids). An update replaces them: to change a shipped profile, copy it to @SYSTEMCONFIGDIR@ and point its configFile there. A profiles list in etc/catalyst.cfg or ~/.seiscomp/catalyst.cfg replaces the default list; add infra, alaska or newmexico to it to keep them.

File paths inside a profile (qc.zones, nucleator.gridsearch.gridFile, nucleator.gridsearch.stationFile, nucleator.edtloc.stationFile, infra.arraysConfig) may use ~ and the SeisComP variables @DATADIR@, @CONFIGDIR@, @SYSTEMCONFIGDIR@ and @ROOTDIR@.

Other module settings

Settings that belong to the installation rather than to a profile, such as the score plugin, the 3D-view files (gui.*) or the runaway guard nucleator.maxOrigins, are set in catalyst.cfg only. See configuration.

The .profile files

A .profile file is a plain key = value list. Lines starting with # are comments. The keys are grouped by namespace: the nucleator settings use the parameter names of the nucleator plugins (nucleator.<plugin>.<name>, the same names as in catalyst.cfg), the other settings are grouped by panel (locator.*, association.*, merge.*, qc.*, picks.*, spectra.*, infra.*, swarm.*, database.*, gui.*). Save as… writes the keys sorted, so each namespace forms a block. Shortened example:

# Catalyst processing profile - Iceland (IMO)
association.maxDistance       = 100
association.tolerance         = 2
association.tttInterface      = LOCSAT
association.tttModel          = sil
gui.cities                    = "Reykjavik, Grindavík, Húsavík, Akureyri, Selfoss"
locator.interface             = LOCSAT
locator.profile               = sil
merge.distance                = 0.05
merge.minSharedPicks          = 3
merge.pickMatch               = 0.2
merge.time                    = 1
nucleator.dbscan.maxDistP     = 12
nucleator.dbscan.maxDistS     = 15
nucleator.dbscan.maxPickDelay = 90
nucleator.dbscan.minPts       = 6
nucleator.dbscan.phaseType    = P+S
nucleator.dbscan.velP         = 7
nucleator.dbscan.velS         = 4
nucleator.method              = dbscan
picks.aggregation.window      = 1
qc.zones                      = ~/SC_configs/IMO/zones.geojson

Rules for loading:

• A key that is missing keeps the control’s current value.

• Unknown keys are ignored. This includes the flat keys of versions before the namespaces (nucMethod, dbscanMaxDistP, qcProfiles, …): convert such a profile with apps/catalyst/docs/profile_keys.py from the source tree (see Converting old profiles).

• Combo values (nucleator.dbscan.phaseType, locator.interface, locator.profile, association.tttInterface, association.tttModel) are applied only if the option exists in that dropdown on this installation. Otherwise the field is left unchanged, a warning is logged, and a dialog lists the settings that could not be applied.

• Booleans accept true or 1. Everything else counts as false.

• A leading ~/ in qc.zones is expanded to the home folder.

Using profiles in the GUI

• The Profile dropdown in the toolbar lists the configured profiles.

• Load applies the selected profile. Nothing runs automatically, except that the QC zone file and the bearing catalogue are loaded if their paths are set and the files exist.

• Save as… writes the current settings to a .profile file. The dialog starts with the selected profile’s configFile, so pressing Enter overwrites it. If you don’t have write access to @SYSTEMCONFIGDIR@, save under ~/.seiscomp/ instead. When the target file already exists, keys the GUI does not manage (for example gui.cities) are kept. After creating a new file, add profiles and profile.<name>.configFile entries for it to catalyst.cfg so it appears in the dropdown next time.

Settings keys

Nucleation

The names after nucleator.<plugin>. are the parameter names of the nucleator plugins, as in catalyst.cfg. .velS stands for nucleator.dbscan.velS, and so on.

Key	Setting
nucleator.method	Nucleation tab: dbscan, backprojection, gamma, gridsearch or edtloc
nucleator.dbscan.phaseType	DBSCAN: Phase (P, S, P+S or Is). The grid search also uses only the picks of this phase.
nucleator.dbscan.velP / .velS / .velIs	DBSCAN: Vel P / Vel S / Vel Is [km/s]
nucleator.dbscan.maxDistP / .maxDistS / .maxDistIs	DBSCAN: Max dist P / S / Is [s]
nucleator.dbscan.minPts	DBSCAN: Min size (picks)
nucleator.dbscan.minStations	DBSCAN: Min sta
nucleator.dbscan.maxPickDelay	DBSCAN: Window [s]
nucleator.dbscan.use3D	DBSCAN: Use 3D distances
nucleator.dbscan.autoDistPercentile	DBSCAN: Dist pctl [%] used by Auto dist.
nucleator.dbscan.autoVelMaxDist	DBSCAN: Pg max [km] for the apparent-velocity fit of Auto vel. (0 = all picks)
nucleator.backprojection.gridKm	Back projection: Grid [km]
nucleator.backprojection.depth	Back projection: Depth [km]
nucleator.backprojection.maxRange	Back projection: Max range [km]
nucleator.backprojection.minPts	Back projection: Min size
nucleator.backprojection.phaseP / .phaseS / .phaseIs	Back projection: phases used (several = joint search)
nucleator.backprojection.t0Tol	Back projection: t0 tol [s]
nucleator.backprojection.azTol	Back projection: Az tol [deg]
nucleator.backprojection.maxAzGap	Back projection: Max az gap [deg] (360 = off)
nucleator.backprojection.useEDT	Back projection: EDT stacking
nucleator.backprojection.edtSigma	Back projection: EDT σ [s]
nucleator.backprojection.windowSec	Back projection: Window [s] (currently has no effect)
nucleator.gamma.gridKm	GaMMA-lite: Grid [km]
nucleator.gamma.coarseWin	GaMMA-lite: Coarse window [s]
nucleator.gamma.otTol	GaMMA-lite: OT tol [s]
nucleator.gamma.windowSec	GaMMA-lite: Processing window [s]
nucleator.gamma.minPts	GaMMA-lite: Min size
nucleator.gamma.depth	GaMMA-lite: Depth [km]
nucleator.gamma.maxRange	GaMMA-lite: Max range [km]
nucleator.gamma.maxSpread	GaMMA-lite: Max OT spread [s]
nucleator.gridsearch.gridFile	Grid search: Grid file (grid.conf, scautoloc format)
nucleator.gridsearch.stationFile	Grid search: Station file (station.conf, scautoloc format)
nucleator.gridsearch.minStations	Grid search: Min. stations
nucleator.gridsearch.dmax	Grid search: Max. distance [deg]
nucleator.gridsearch.dt0	Grid search: Agreement offset [s]
nucleator.gridsearch.defaultDt	Grid search: Projected window [s]
nucleator.gridsearch.maxRadiusFactor	Grid search: Max. radius factor
nucleator.gridsearch.windowSec	Grid search: Processing window [s]
nucleator.edtloc.windowSec	EDT location: Window [s]
nucleator.edtloc.minPts	EDT location: Min. picks
nucleator.edtloc.sigma	EDT location: Pick sigma [s]
nucleator.edtloc.missProb	EDT location: Miss prob.
nucleator.edtloc.searchRadius	EDT location: Search radius [km]
nucleator.edtloc.maxDepth	EDT location: Max. depth [km]
nucleator.edtloc.maxResidual	EDT location: Max. residual [s]
nucleator.edtloc.maxRMS	EDT location: Max. RMS [s]
nucleator.edtloc.useSilent	EDT location: Use stations that have not picked (true/false)
nucleator.edtloc.exemptOverdetecting	EDT location: Ignore the silence of over-detecting stations
nucleator.edtloc.exempt	EDT location: Exempt stations (NET.STA, NET.*, *.STA)
nucleator.edtloc.stationFile	EDT location: Station file (station.conf, scautoloc format)

Pick aggregation and filters

Key	Setting
picks.aggregation.window	Aggregation: Dup. win [s]
picks.aggregation.mode	Aggregation: Mode (0 = Generate virtual pick, 1 = Keep preferred pick)
picks.aggregation.acrossPhases	Aggregate picks of different phases together (no GUI control)
picks.aggregation.preferRules	Aggregation: preferred-pick priority list (format below)
picks.isolated.minStations	Isolated-pick filter: minimum stations (no GUI control)
picks.isolated.window	Isolated-pick filter: time window [s] (no GUI control)
picks.isolated.overdetectingOnly	Isolated-pick filter: apply only to over-detecting stations (no GUI control)
picks.traceVelocity.filter	Pick filter: trace-velocity filter for Is picks on/off
picks.traceVelocity.min / .max	Pick filter: trace-velocity range [km/s]

Relocation, association and merging

Key	Setting
locator.interface	Locator Interface
locator.profile	Locator Profile
locator.fixDepth	Fix depth on/off
locator.fixDepthValue	Fix depth [km]
locator.ignoreInitial	Ignore initial location
locator.dropDuplicateStations	Drop duplicate stations
locator.monteCarlo.draws	Monte Carlo rescue: MC draws
locator.monteCarlo.minSet	Monte Carlo rescue: min set (smallest number of picks in a subset)
locator.smartLocate.minPhases	Smart-locate: min phases of a result (default 5, at least 4)
locator.smartLocate.fast	Fast smart-locate (true/false)
locator.considerVirtualPicks	Consider virtual picks: add the source picks of a virtual pick with weight 0 when locating (true/false)
association.tttInterface	Association: TTT interface
association.tttModel	Association: TTT model
association.tolerance	Association: Assoc. tol [s]
association.maxDistance	Association: Max distance [km] (0 = no limit)
merge.distance	Merge: Merge dist [km]
merge.time	Merge: Merge time [s]
merge.pickMatch	Merge: Pick match [s]
merge.minSharedPicks	Merge: Min shared picks
merge.preferRules	Preferred-origin ranking used when merging (format below)

QC, references and display

Key	Setting
qc.ruleSets	Named QC rule sets (format below)
qc.zones	GeoJSON file with the QC zones, loaded with the profile
swarm.bearingCatalog	Slow/baz source catalogue (CSV), loaded with the profile
swarm.templateTimeTol	Template match time tolerance [s]; 0 = association tol.
gui.cities	Reference cities in the 3D view, comma-separated in quotes. Overrides gui.cities in catalyst.cfg.
gui.columns.origins	Shown columns of the origin table, in display order
gui.columns.picks	Shown columns of the pick table, in display order
gui.columns.arrivals	Shown columns of the arrival table, in display order
gui.moveout.phase	Phase family of the Move-out plot: P, S or Is

Spectra tab

See Spectra. Only keys present in the profile change the settings.

Key	Setting
spectra.enabled	Show the Spectra tab (true / false)
spectra.stations	Number of nearest stations (an array counts as one); the Stations box of the Spectra tab
spectra.maxDistance	Stations farther away [km] are left out. 0 = no limit. The within box of the Spectra tab.
spectra.threshold	Arch [dB] above which a station counts as event
spectra.scan / spectra.scanRange	Shift P and S around the predicted times / by up to this many s
spectra.postGap	Gap before the window after S, in units of S−P
spectra.splitHz	Centre frequency of the mirrored plot axis [Hz]
spectra.timeout	Waveform request timeout [s]
spectra.parallel	Origins analysed in parallel by Calculate spectra (1–8)
spectra.isLead / spectra.isLength	Is window: start before the Is pick / length [s] (default 5 / 30)
spectra.isBand	Band of the Is height [Hz], min,max (default 1,10)
spectra.pMaxIs	Longest P window when Is is the right half [s] (default 30)
spectra.suspect	Array element suspect when this many dB below the others (default 6)

Infrasound tab

See Infrasound. Only keys present in the profile change the settings.

Key	Setting
infra.enabled	Show the Infrasound tab (true / false)
infra.arrays	Array names, comma-separated, as in the Lambda configuration (for example LISA, DBN). Empty: every station whose picks carry a back-azimuth counts as one array.
infra.arraysConfig	Lambda configuration files that define the arrays (arrays.<name>.channels), comma-separated. ~ and the SeisComP variables are resolved, for example @SYSTEMCONFIGDIR@/autolambda.cfg.
infra.celerity	Celerity band [km/s], min,max. Default 0.25,0.35; the infra profile uses 0.22,0.35.
infra.appVel	Apparent-velocity band [km/s], min,max. Default 0.3,0.45.
infra.bazNSigma	Back-azimuth tolerance as a multiple of the pick’s uncertainty. The tolerance is the larger of this and the back projection Az tol. Default 3.
infra.celSpread	Allowed difference [km/s] from the celerity of the other arrays. Default 0.015; 0 = band only.
infra.maxDistance	Arrays farther away [km] are left out. 0 = no limit.
infra.seasonal	Apply the seasonal up/downwind rule (true / false). Default true.

Database bar

Key	Setting
database.picks / database.origins	picks / origins: load all picks / all origins in the window
database.prefOrigins / database.prefPicks	pref. origins / pref. picks: load only each event’s preferred origin / only the picks associated with it
database.aggregate	aggregate: aggregate the picks after every load
database.keepPicks / database.keepOrigins	keep picks / keep origins: add to what is loaded instead of replacing it
database.start / database.end	Time window, ISO 8601 (for example 2025-11-01T00:00:00Z)

Rule formats

qc.ruleSets

Rule sets are joined with |. Each one is name=chain, and a chain is a ;-separated list of conditions:

qc.ruleSets = Gap zones=0,2,2,180,0;0,14,4,1,0|Weak=0,1,0,6,0;1,3,2,1,0

Each condition is conn,field,op,threshold,indent:

• conn: how the condition joins the one above. 0 = AND, 1 = OR. AND binds more tightly than OR. Ignored for the first condition.

• field:

  Code	Field	Code	Field
  0	Depth [km]	9	S cov (0 = good)
  1	Phase count	10	Fault Q (0 = good)
  2	Azimuthal gap [deg]	11	Min sta dist [km]
  3	RMS [s]	12	Mode (0 = automatic, 1 = manual, -1 = not set)
  4	Mismatch	13	Status (0 = preliminary, 1 = confirmed, 2 = reviewed, 3 = final, 4 = rejected, 5 = reported, -1 = not set)
  5	Move-out 0–1	14	Zone
  6	DD ref ties	15	Clean Q (0 = good)
  7	DD residual [s]	16	Score
  8	DD qual (0 = good)

• op: 0 <, 1 ≤, 2 >, 3 ≥, 4 =, 5 ≠

• threshold: number

• indent: grouping depth (0 = top level)

The custom (“(custom)”) query is scratch space and is not saved. It always starts empty when a profile is loaded. Loading a profile that contains qc.ruleSets replaces all named rule sets. The built-in defaults are added back if they are missing.

merge.preferRules

Preferred-origin ranking, ;-separated, in priority order. Each rule is field,value. For numeric fields (the QC field codes above), value is 1 to prefer higher values or 0 to prefer lower ones. For Author (1000) and Method (1001), value is the author or method name to prefer.

merge.preferRules = 12,1;3,0;1000,scautoloc

picks.aggregation.preferRules

Preferred-pick priority list for “Keep preferred pick”, in the same field,value format:

Code	Field
2000	Manual (manual beats automatic)
2001	Status (more vetted wins)
2002	Time uncertainty [s]
2003	Time (earliest / latest)
2004	Author (value = author name)
2005	Method (value = methodID)

Not stored in profiles

These settings currently live only in the GUI session: the aggregation time mode, cell size and carried measurements, the swarm, template and fingerprint matching parameters (except the template match time tolerance, swarm.templateTimeTol), the map clustering settings, and the pick and origin filters except the trace-velocity filter.

Converting old profiles

Profiles written before the namespaced keys use flat names such as nucMethod, dbscanMaxDistP or qcProfiles, which are no longer read. Convert them with the script in the source tree:

# print the converted profile
python3 apps/catalyst/docs/profile_keys.py old.profile > new.profile

# convert in place; --sort groups the keys by namespace as Save as... does,
# --align lines up the values of hand-written files
python3 apps/catalyst/docs/profile_keys.py --in-place --sort my.profile

Comments are kept. Keys the script does not know are kept unchanged and reported; obsolete keys (avgVelocity, maxDist, qcRules, confidence) are dropped. The script also holds the complete table of old and new names.