TRITON Setup

Project Layout

The TRITON source tree contains the following top-level directories and files:

triton/
├── doc/
├── src/
├── external/
├── input/
│   ├── allatoona/
│   └── ...
├── test/
├── cmake/
├── Makefile
└── README.md

Key directories:

  • input/ – Case data and sample configuration files (e.g., allatoona.cfg).

  • src/ – Core TRITON simulation source code.

  • doc/ – Documentation and API reference.

  • external/ – Third-party dependencies (e.g., Kokkos).

  • test/ – Regression test suite.

  • cmake/ – Build modules and machine files.

  • Makefile / README.md – Build helpers and project overview.

Tip

For running your own cases, focus on the input/ directory. Other folders (src/, test/, cmake/) are primarily for developers.

Input File Types

TRITON uses two main categories of input data:

  • Raster grids – spatial data for the computational domain (e.g., DEM, Manning’s roughness, runoff zones). Formats: Esri ASCII (.asc) or TRITON binary (.bin).

  • Tabular text files – plain text time series or coordinate lists (e.g., hydrographs, inflow locations, boundary conditions). Common extensions: .hyg, .src, .extbc, .txt.

The table below summarizes supported input files and their purpose:

File Type

Formats / Extensions

Purpose

Digital Elevation Model

.asc, .bin (DEM)

Defines topography of the domain

Manning’s n map

.asc, .bin (MANN)

Surface roughness coefficients per grid cell

Runoff map

.asc, .bin (RMAP)

Partition of domain into runoff areas

Streamflow hydrograph

.hyg

Time–discharge input at inflow points

Runoff hydrograph

.hyg

Time–runoff rate per runoff area

Inflow locations

.src

Cartesian coordinates of inflow sources

External boundaries

.extbc

Defines open/closed boundaries and conditions

Observation locations

.txt

Points where hydrographs are extracted

Important

All raster files must share the same extent, resolution, and grid alignment as the DEM. Any mismatch will cause TRITON to fail at startup.

Note

The DEM (.asc) file requires the six header lines (refer to Topography section for more detail), while MANN and RMAP file should not include the header.

Note

TRITON can write outputs in GeoTIFF (``.tif``) format for easy GIS visualization, but GeoTIFF is not accepted as input.

Input Overview (Visual)

TRITON input overview

Data Standards

  • Use a projected coordinate system.

  • SI units (meters, seconds, m³/s).