Getting Started¶

The configuration parameters are described in the technical description. Read below for the details. VORTEX also requires bindings.

Minimum Configuration¶

Use the module and bindings configuration of VORTEX to set the required configuration parameters. A minimum VORTEX configuration includes:

Module configuration: The data source (RecordStream),
Binding configuration: Definition of stations and streams.

Data source¶

The data source is configured to the global parameters of the VORTEX module configuration (vortex.cfg).

Add the RecordStream plugin rsspec to receive the spectra of miniSEED data:
```
plugins = ${plugins},rsspec
```
Note

For reading data from a CAPS server [1] using the caps or the capss RecordStream in a system with SeisComP in version < 4.5.0 the rsas RecordStream plugin must be added as well. In all newer versions of SeisComP, these RecordStreams are automatically available without configuration.
Configure the RecordStream to set the data source. While the standard RecordStreams of SeisComP supports miniSEED, the caps RecordStream supports basically any format including camera, meteorological or chemical data. Use the caps RecordStream to read these and other auxiliary data from a CAPS server. Examples for different data sources:
```
recordstream = caps://localhost:18002
recordstream = slink://localhost:18000
recordstream = combined://slink/localhost:18000;sdsarchive//home/data/archive
```

Station and stream definition¶

Stations and streams are primarily configured by VORTEX bindings.

Create VORTEX bindings to all stations which shall be considered by VORTEX. Consider binding profiles for sharing identical parameters for a set of stations and station bindings for unique configurations.
In the bindings configuration set the streams parameter to define location and the stream of a station. You may use wildcards and define multiple streams in a comma-separated list. Example:
```
# Comma-separated list of location and channel codes to use as primary streams,
# e.g. BH or BH? or BHZ,BHN,BHE or 00.ENZ,00.EHN.
streams = 00.BH?,HH?
```
Hint

The definition of streams can be further narrowed by the module configuration parameters streams.codes or on the command line, e.g.
```
vortex --streams.codes=IU.*.00.BHZ
```

Recommended Configuration¶

Module configuration¶

Apply further module configurations in vortex.cfg.

Data streams and time windows¶

Streams: While the stations and streams to be considered are set in the bindings, the streams can be further filtered by configuring streams.codes.
Duration: By default, VORTEX loads and display 1 hour data until current time (GMT). Adjust bufferSize to alter the duration.
End time: Adjust endTime to control the end of the time window. Use the usual time format for SeisComP. Example:
```
endTime = "2021-05-01 12:00:00"
```

GUI Interactions¶

VORTEX allows to create artificial origins which can be processed in other GUIs.

Interaction: Configure the global parameter commands.target allowing to send artificial origins by VORTEX and to receive them by other GUIs:
```
commands.target = ".*$"
```

Overview layout¶

The widget layout of the Overview tab can be configured.

Rows and columns: Adjust the number of rows and columns by trace.overview.matrixLayout, e.g. for 3 columns and 2 rows:
```
trace.overview.matrixLayout = "3x2"
```

Spectrograms¶

In the spec section the time window parameters for computing the spectrograms as well as a custom gradient can be configured.

Spectrograms: Configure length (spec.length), overlap (spec.overlap) and number of samples (spec.samples) of time windows:
```
spec.length = 5
spec.overlap = 0.5
spec.samples = 512
```

After configuring the gradient, they can be adjusted interactively in the Overview and the Detail tabs.

A variety of pre-defined gradients is available by default.

Bindings configuration¶

In binding profiles or station bindings configure also:

Streams: Comma-separated list of location and channel codes to use as primary streams.

Examples: BH or BH? or BHZ,BHN,BHE or 00.ENZ,00.EHN

Set streams to the desired code selector. Or leave it empty.
```
streams = BH?
```
Note

Strictly only up to one vertical and two horizontal components will be considered.
Gain multipliers: Convert the gain-corrected data values from the fundamental SI units to another derived unit, e.g. m to km, Pa to hPa. Set gainMultiplier to the respective power of 10, e.g. 3 for units of km.
```
gainMultiplier = 3
```

Auxiliary Data¶

It is possible to configure vortex to display arbitrary time-series data as auxiliary streams.

Auxiliary streams: Up to 3 auxiliary streams, e.g. non-seismic data like air pressure can be fetched from the configured RecordStream. Non-miniSEED auxiliary streams can be served by a CAPS server [1].

Example:
```
auxStream1.stream = 30.HDF
auxStream1.gainMultiplier = 2
```

Video data configuration¶

Video data source and stream ID: Set videoStreams.videoURL and videoStreams.videoStreamID.

Video streams can be served by a CAPS server [1]:
```
videoStreams.videoURL = video.agency.de:18008
videoStreams.videoStreamID = NZ.RUAP.NORTH.CAM
```
Set videoStreams.liveVideo to any web-video source like youtube:
```
videoStreams.liveVideo = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDA9Bsvjwdk
```
Note

Usually the whole website will be displayed.

Youtube links are put in an iframe to strip some parts of the website.

Other web players may offer options for minimal overhead.

INSAR data configuration¶

INSAR data is loaded from a CAPS server [1]. It can be imported into the CAPS server using the CAPS plugin licsar2caps [7].

licsar2caps fetches data from JASMIN: LICSAR products [4] and pushes it into the CAPS server.

Example configuration for licsar2caps:

input.baseUrl = https://gws-access.jasmin.ac.uk/public/nceo_geohazards/LiCSAR_products.public
input.streamsFile = @DATADIR@/licsar2caps/streammap
input.products = geo.unw.tif:UNW
input.pollInterval = 3600
input.startTime = 2025-07-01

Configure the insar.products (streams) and the insar.caps-server (data source):

insar.products = 124A.06996.091406, 073D.12785.121717, 081A.12528.140900
insar.caps = localhost:18000

In the Map tab, the INSAR layer is toggled with F6. Hovering over a sensor in the INSAR legend highlights the sensor area. Double-clicking on sensor loads the INSAR data. A green bar indicates availability, vertical lines separate frames.

GNSS data configuration¶

GNSS data is loaded from a CAPS server [1]. It can be imported into the CAPS server using the CAPS plugin gnssneu2caps [6].

gnssneu2caps fetches data from GNSS Data, Iceland [3] and imports it into the CAPS server.
For GNSS data to be loaded into VORTEX, an inventory, defining the GNSS stations needs to be imported.

A minimal example can be found in SMP [5]: inventory example.

Note

When storing uncertainties, additional channels will be created internally. The channels will be append with the character p eg.:PXEd. And these additional channels will show up in the CAPS server and archive.

These GNSS stations then need bindings for their streams. The auxiliary streams are used for that.

Example profile:

auxStream1.stream = PXN
auxStream1.gainMultiplier = -3
auxStream2.stream = PXE
auxStream2.gainMultiplier = -3
auxStream3.stream = PXZ
auxStream3.gainMultiplier = -3

Aliases¶

vortex supports separate configuration and execution of multiple instances by aliases. Aliases can be created using the seiscomp command. Example:

seiscomp alias create l1vortex vortex