• OpenALAQS

  • Table of contents

  • Installation

    • Install QGIS
    • Install dependencies
    • Install OpenALAQS

  • Quick start

    • Example Files
    • EHRD Example Study
    • Beta: Standalone Emissions + AUSTAL Inputs Exports Script

  • GSE Application

  • Development

    • Debugging
    • Updating the OpenALAQS database templates

  • Contribute

  • License

  • Contact

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To use OpenALAQS you need to install QGIS, as well as a couple of Python libraries for the proper functioning of the plugin.

Download and install QGIS on your operating system following the official QGIS documentation.

If you are running on Windows, you should install via OSGeo4W installer following the Advanced Install route.

Note: If not installed using the OSGeo4W Network Installer, please uninstall the old version and install the new version using the OSGeo4W Network Installer or follow the installation guide from QGIS. During the installation process, accept the unmet dependencies and license agreements.

OpenALAQS is built on top of QGIS and a few external libraries that require separate installation.

You can find the list of libraries in the file requirements.txt.

Primary method: Use QPIP (Python Dependency Manager for QGIS Plugins) to check and install the required dependencies directly in the QGIS UI. See the Install OpenALAQS section for details.

Alternative method: Install the libraries manually using pip install in the Python environment used by QGIS:

pip install -r requirements.txt

You can download OpenALAQS latest release from GitHub, or browse previous releases.

Once you download the .zip file, go to QGIS, open the "Plugins", then "Manage and Install Plugins...". In the newly opened window, select the "Install from ZIP" on the left sidebar. Then select the recently downloaded .zip file and click "Install Plugin".

While installing OpenALAQS:

• QGIS will first ask you to install its plugin dependency, called QPIP. Click OK.

  

• Once QPIP is installed, QPIP asks to install the Python dependencies of OpenALAQS. If there is any conflicted dependency (marked in yellow), make sure you select a proper Action that allows OpenALAQS to find the required dependency version, like in the image below. Then click OK.

  

After that, QGIS will automatically install OpenALAQS in the appropriate location.

At this point the OpenALAQS toolbar is visible below the default QGIS toolbars. If this is the case then the installation has been successful.

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Example study files are provided to help you get started with OpenALAQS:

• For OpenALAQS v4.0.0: Use the training example from documents/Example-Training.zip
• For OpenALAQS v4.0.1+: Use the example files from the example/EHRD folder, which includes 3D aircraft profiles support

Find an example study in the example/EHRD folder.

Here you can find the following files and directories:

• ./EHRD.alaqs - the main ALAQS database, containing spatial and statistical information for a study of the Rotterdam The Hague airport.
• ./EHRD_out.alaqs - the processed ALAQS database, containing spatial and statistical information for a study of the Rotterdam The Hague airport.
• ./EHRD_movements.csv - the movements data in the study, used to generate ./EHRD_out.alaqs.
• ./EHRD_meteo.csv - the meteorological data in the study, used to generate ./EHRD_out.alaqs.
• ./EHRD_AUSTAL/* - a directory containing all files generated using OpenALAQS to be used as ALAQS input files.
• ./EHRD_AUSTAL/austal.txt - the file containing all main input parameters except for time-dependent parameters.
• ./EHRD_AUSTAL/series.dmna - the file containing all time-dependent parameters.
• ./EHRD_AUSTAL/01/e0001.dmna - input grid file, with information on the user-defined grid and on the corresponding data.

For more detailed information on how to use OpenALAQS, the project files and expected outputs, read the User Guide.

This repository contains a beta standalone script that can generate emissions exports (CSV/GeoJSON) and AUSTAL input files. The script is experimental and may contain bugs or incomplete features.

• Script location: open_alaqs/scripts/individual_script/run_emissions_austal.py. A dedicated README file with detailed instructions with how to use the script is provided in the same folder.

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The GSE (Ground Support Equipment) Application is a standalone desktop tool for assigning GSE to aircraft movements and calculating emissions. Results can be exported as CSV files or saved back to OpenALAQS database files (.alaqs).

From the gse_application directory, run:

python gse.py

For detailed information on installation, usage, and features, see the GSE Application README.

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1. Clone this repository.
2. Optionally, create a soft link between the local checkout and the QGIS plugin directory for easier developepment. (Linux instructions: ln -s ${PWD} ${HOME}/.local/share/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/open_alaqs/).
3. Install pre-commit.
4. Develop a new feature.
5. Open a PR.
6. Wait for the CI to succeed.
7. Ensure you have a PR approval from another reviewer.
8. Merge the PR.

Use pre-commit locally:

pip install pre-commit
pre-commit install

Use pre-commit-ci autofix in a Pull Request (if the pre-commit-ci check detected some issues):

• Add the following comment to the PR:

  pre-commit.ci autofix
  

  Which will create a commit with formatting fixes by pre-commit-ci.

Debugging can be done via QGIS VSCode Debug plugin and VSCode.

{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Python: Remote Attach",
            "type": "python",
            "request": "attach",
            "port": 5678,
            "host": "localhost",
            "pathMappings": [
                {
                    "localRoot": "${workspaceFolder}/open_alaqs",
                    "remoteRoot": "${HOME}/.local/share/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/open_alaqs/"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

The plugin produced .alaqs files are cloned from a template databases, that are in ./open_alaqs/core/templates/*.alaqs. The template databases are generated from SQL and CSV files in the ./open_alaqs/database directory. All source files (.sql and .csv) needed for the build are inside the ./open_alaqs/database/sql and ./open_alaqs/database/data folder. Other scripts and files supporting the creation of the SQL and CSV files are located in ./open_alaqs/database/scripts and ./open_alaqs/database/src.

Copy-pastable way to generate the template databases:

pipenv run pip install -r requirements.txt
pipenv run python -m open_alaqs.database.generate_templates --full-recreate

To generate the CAEP examples, run the following command in the Python console in QGIS:

from open_alaqs.database.create_caep_examples import create_caep_examples
create_caep_examples()

To run the tests inside the same environment as they are executed on GitHub, you need a Docker installation.

Once you've installed Docker, go the root of the local repo and run the following commands, which will remove all containers after running the tests:

export QGIS_TEST_VERSION=3.40.11 # See https://hub.docker.com/r/qgis/qgis/tags/
docker run --rm -e PYTHONPATH=/usr/share/qgis/python/plugins -v $PWD:/usr/src -w /usr/src qgis/qgis:${QGIS_TEST_VERSION} sh -c 'pip3 install -r requirements.txt || pip3 install -r requirements.txt --break-system-packages;xvfb-run pytest'

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OpenALAQS welcomes all contributions - code or documentation wise.

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This software is published under European Union Public Licence v. 1.2. LICENSE with certain amendments described in the AMENDMENT_TO_EUPL_license.md file, reflecting EUROCONTROL's status as an international organisation.

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We'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions, feedback, or inquiries about OpenALAQS, feel free to reach out to us: open-alaqs@eurocontrol.int

Alternatively, you can visit our website for more information or to fill out our contact form.