SELES Interface

This page covers the menu system and mouse/keyboard controls of the SELES10 application. Only features relevant to most users are described here.

:::note System requirement SELES10 and LSEditor10 are best run on Windows 10 or later. :::

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1. SELES Menus

After starting the SELES executable (seles10.exe), you will be presented with a blank interface — no raster views or models loaded. A more complete set of menu options becomes available after at least one raster is created or loaded.

SELES can also be launched from a command line with an optional scenario (.scn) file to load.

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1.1 File Menu

• New (also 1st toolbar icon) — Creates a new view window. Default dimensions are taken from a current view; parameters for rows/columns, value range (max/min), and whether the layer is floating point can be set. Use the "Get Size From Layer" drop-down to copy dimensions and georeferencing from an existing layer.

• Open (also 2nd toolbar icon) — Opens an existing file. File type is determined from file contents (not the extension). Two main types:

  • GIS raster files — Supported formats: GeoTiff (preferred), GRASS (binary, compressed, ASCII), ERDAS (8- and 16-bit), ARC ASCII. The raster will open in a new view of the same name (without suffix). To open a GRASS raster, select the file in the cell directory.
  • SELES Scenario Files (.scn) — Execute a sequence of commands: loading rasters and dynamic model files, changing parameters, running simulations.

• DryRun — Opens and dry-runs a scenario file. Performs all tasks except actually running a simulation.

• Close (also 3rd toolbar icon) — Close the currently selected raster view. Also accessible via the "X" icon on the view window.

• CloseAll (also 4th toolbar icon) — Close all views and documents.

• Save / Save As (also 5th toolbar icon) — Save the raster in the currently active view. The "Save as type" drop-down selects the output format (GeoTiff, GRASS, ARC ASCII, Erdas). For GRASS, save to the cell directory of the GRASS mapset — header and associated files are created automatically.

• Exit — Exit the SELES application.

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1.2 View Menu

Main options: Raster View Properties, Show Legend, and Histogram.

Raster View Properties

Controls the raster display:

• Colour Display — Toggle colour vs. greyscale display.
• Fit Colours to Max/Min — Rescale the colour lookup table to the actual value range in the raster (which may differ from the raster's nominal bounds for dynamic rasters).
• Raster Number — Only used for multi-layer (interleaved) rasters.
• Use Image as Mask — Select another view to use as a visual mask. Cells with values in the range [Minimum, Maximum] from the mask image will be drawn over the current layer.
• Use Image as Hue — Use a selected image as a hue modifier. Higher values in the hue image cause corresponding pixels in the current view to display brighter.
• Use Image as Height — Display the raster as a 3-D map, with a selected image providing elevation. Two rendering methods:
  • Continuous — for continuous variables (e.g. elevation); neighbouring values are interpolated.
  • Discrete — for categorical variables; neighbouring height values are not assumed to be related.

Show Legend

Displays legend information for the currently selected view, including the colour, value, and label under the mouse position.

Histogram / Histogram2

Histogram — Simple histogram dialog for selected layers, optionally masked by other layers. Options include mask min/max, class size, and displayed value range.

Histogram2 — More detailed histogram dialog; classes can be specified using a value summary model approach (advanced).

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1.3 Window Menu

• New Window — Creates a new window of the currently active raster view (useful for display comparisons).
• Cascade / Tile — Arrange raster view windows.
• Arrange Icons — No effect.
• Minimize All (also 8th toolbar icon) — Minimize all raster views.
• Minimize Initial State (also 9th toolbar icon) — Minimize all views containing initial state information for the currently loaded dynamic model.
• Minimize Static (also 10th toolbar icon) — Minimize all views containing static information for the currently loaded dynamic model.
• Name Document — Rename the currently active view (rarely used).
• Window list — The bottom of this menu lists all open raster views. The active view has a checkmark; click a name to activate that view.

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1.4 Help Menu

Not functional (other than "About SELES").

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1.5 Static Models Menu

Static models produce a single output (a raster view or a value).

• Neutral Model — Generates random spatial patterns. Rarely used for applied models.
• Fractal Model — Generates spatial fractal patterns. Rarely used for applied models.
• Site (Specific) Model — Generates stochastic, static patterns based on relative probabilities from other rasters at each cell. Rarely used for applied models.

d) Value Model

Value models produce a single value by summarising a cell expression computed over a region. The result is shown in the dialog when Run Edits is pressed.

Two main uses:

• Queries — Calculate a summary value from one or more rasters (e.g. maximum stand age), over all cells or a selected sub-region with a filtering condition.
• Edit rasters — Use expressions to assign values in selected cells (e.g. to create new layers or fix minor grid errors). Modified grids are not saved to disk until the user presses Save.

Parameters:

Parameter	Description
Operation	Summary function applied to the main cell expression: mean, min, max, sum, product, nth root, or single evaluation (runs once, not per cell).
Region	By default, the entire landscape. Can be set manually (row/column bounds) or via the selection box (press [] to refresh). The region decision edit box filters cells — must evaluate to true/false; defaults to TRUE.
Variables	Drop-down list of raster view names usable as spatial variables in the expressions.
Main Cell Expression	Arbitrary cell expression with three sub-sections: (1) Preliminary expressions — evaluated before the main function; (2) Main function — starts with =, must evaluate to a number, exactly one required; (3) Consequent expressions — evaluated after the main function.

Example — using the region mgmtUnit EQ 1 AND ProductiveForest > 0 AND projAge_2012 >= 250 with the Sum operation:

= 1
projAge_2012 = 249

Pressing Run Edits will: (a) count the cells meeting the region condition (sum of 1 per qualifying cell), and (b) set projAge_2012 = 249 in all qualifying cells. If run again, the result will be 0 since no cells will meet the updated condition.

Any expression from the SELES landscape event expression language can be used (see Expression Syntax). Comments can be included in the edit boxes.

e) Align Layer

Aligns the currently selected raster view to match the georeferencing of a chosen layer, ensuring the same number of rows and columns.

• If layers are already aligned, no action is performed and a message is shown.
• If not aligned, a new view is created with the prefix aligned_.
• Contents of the new view are the original clipped to the new georeferencing. Cells within the clip region but not covered by the original layer will have value zero.

Once an Align with Layer is selected, the top-left and bottom-right bounds of the original layer are shown relative to the target georeferencing. Press OK to create the aligned view.

tip

To use a Value model on the newly aligned layer, close the original unaligned layer first — Value models require all layers to match.

f) Resize Layer

Changes the number of rows and columns without changing cell resolution. Enter bounds (top, left, bottom, right) relative to the current raster. Default bounds are those of the current selection box. Press OK to create a new view with the prefix resized_.

g) Rescale Layer

Changes the cell resolution (cell size) of the currently selected raster view.

To increase cell size (Scale Factor > 1): specify how multiple cells are combined into one:

Method	Description
Mode	Dominant (most frequent) value of the smaller cells
Minimum	Minimum value
Maximum	Maximum value
Random	Value of a randomly selected smaller cell
Lower left corner	Value of the small cell at the lower-left corner of the new larger cell
Mean	Average value, excluding cells below "Min. Value for Mean"

tip

When rescaling multiple rasters in a dataset, use Lower left corner to preserve the consistency of the underlying polygons. Other options may mix values from different polygons.

To decrease cell size (Scale Factor < 1): values from the original larger cells are simply transferred to the new smaller cells. The rescaled layer looks identical to the original but has more, finer cells. The rescale aggregation functions are not applied when decreasing cell size.

Recommended scale factors: use integer multiples when increasing cell size; use rational numbers (e.g. 1/2, 1/4) when decreasing cell size.

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1.6 Dynamic Models Menu

Dynamic models are related to temporal dynamics in a simulation.

• Dynamic Site Model — Generates stochastic, dynamic pattern sequences based on relative probabilities. Rarely used for applied models.
• Dynamic Value Model — Like a Value Model, but re-computed periodically during a simulation. Requires a scheduling time period. Rarely used for applied models.
• Model Output — Saves intermediate states of dynamic layers during a simulation. Usually scheduled in a scenario or dynamic model file. Rarely used for applied models.
• Seles Model — Specifies the dynamic model setup (landscape events, spatial state, global variables, etc.). Usually specified in a .sel file. Rarely used for applied models.

e) Simulate (also 3rd-to-last toolbar icon — downward arrow)

Opens the main simulation control dialog. Simulations can only be run after the dynamic model and its inputs are loaded.

Control	Description
Simulation Length	Duration to run the simulation. Time unit names are defined in the .sel file (default unit: day; meta-unit: year = 365.25 days). "Current Time" shows the running simulation time.
Runs: Total	Number of Monte Carlo replicate runs. Can only be set before a simulation starts. "Runs: Current" shows the current run number.
Output Frequency	How often the active raster view display is refreshed.
Step Size	Number of time steps to advance per "Step" press.
Slowdown	Seconds to pause after each time step (useful for debugging).
Simulate	Starts the simulation (or a series of replicates). Changes to "Stop" while running.
Pause / Continue	Pauses/resumes the simulation. The pause takes effect at the next opportunity and cannot interrupt partially complete functions.
Step	Steps the simulation by "Step Size" time units. Can be pressed at any time during a simulation.
Cancel	Stops the running simulation, or closes the dialog if no simulation is running.

External Global Variables — Shows all global variables defined in the loaded .sel file and their current values.

• Before simulation starts: change the initial value by entering a new value and pressing Set Initial State.
• While simulation is running: change the current value by entering a new value and pressing Set. The model may override this. The value reverts to the initial state when a new simulation starts.

f) Reload current dynamic model (2nd-to-last toolbar icon)

Reloads the currently loaded .sel file. Useful during model development after minor changes. Only press when a simulation is not running.

g) Simulation Probe (last toolbar icon — stethoscope)

Probes internal values in landscape events during a simulation. Select the desired landscape event and property context from drop-down menus. Cell, cluster, event, and global variable values are shown in different areas of the dialog.

caution

The probe must modify events to operate. Making too many changes in the dialog during a running simulation risks crashing it due to timing issues between the UI and the simulation engine.

h) Model Report

Saves a model report to SelesModelReport.txt and SelesModelReport2.txt in the current directory. Lists all spatial and global variables and constants by type, along with the landscape events that reference them. Indicates whether each variable appears on the left-hand side (LHS, modified) or right-hand side (RHS, read) of expressions in each event. Useful for model verification.

i) Simulation Priority

Sets the priority level for the simulation engine. Not needed on modern multi-processor machines.