TauP TimeΒΆ
TauP Time takes a either a .taup file generated by TauP Create or a velocity model in .nd or .tvel format and generates travel times for specified phases through the given earth model.
The modelname is from modelname.taup, a previously created file
from TauP Create or a modelname.nd or modelname.tvel velocity model file.
The phases are specified on the command line with the -p option,
in a phase file with the --phasefile option, or in a properties file.
For example:
taup time --mod prem -h 200 -p S,P --deg 57.4
gives you arrival times for S and P for a 200 kilometer deep source at a distance of 57.4 degrees.
Model: prem Dist: spherical
Distance Depth Phase Travel Ray Param Takeoff Incident Station Purist Purist
(deg) (km) Name Time (s) p (s/deg) (deg) (deg) (km) Distance Name
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
57.40 200.0 P 566.77 6.969 31.18 21.31 0.0 57.40 = P
57.40 200.0 S 1028.61 13.018 32.34 22.00 0.0 57.40 = S
If you have a QuakeML file for earthquakes or a StationXML file for stations
and channels, you can use those to calculate the distances directly. It is
often useful to use the --geodist geodetic or --geodist geocentric
when using latitudes and longitudes
so that the distance calculation is more accurate. For
example:
taup time --quakeml my_midatlantic.qml --staxml my_stations.staml --geodist geodetic -p P,S
gives you arrival times for S and P for these earthquakes at those stations.
Model: iasp91 Dist: geodetic
Distance Depth Phase Travel Ray Param Takeoff Incident Station Purist Purist Description
(deg) (km) Name Time (s) p (s/deg) (deg) (deg) (km) Distance Name
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30.56 10.0 P 373.66 8.827 27.46 27.42 0.0 30.56 = P 2024-08-30T09:32:19 5.6 mww 52.61/-33.27 10.00 km to IU_KBS 78.92/11.94
38.51 10.0 P 442.28 8.401 26.03 25.99 0.0 38.51 = P 2024-08-30T09:32:19 5.6 mww 52.61/-33.27 10.00 km to CO_JSC 34.28/-81.26
57.74 10.0 P 590.96 7.038 21.57 21.54 0.0 57.74 = P 2024-08-30T09:32:19 5.6 mww 52.61/-33.27 10.00 km to IU_TUC 32.31/-110.78
30.56 10.0 S 676.37 15.641 28.25 28.21 0.0 30.56 = S 2024-08-30T09:32:19 5.6 mww 52.61/-33.27 10.00 km to IU_KBS 78.92/11.94
38.51 10.0 S 798.71 15.084 27.16 27.12 0.0 38.51 = S 2024-08-30T09:32:19 5.6 mww 52.61/-33.27 10.00 km to CO_JSC 34.28/-81.26
57.74 10.0 S 1070.65 13.115 23.39 23.35 0.0 57.74 = S 2024-08-30T09:32:19 5.6 mww 52.61/-33.27 10.00 km to IU_TUC 32.31/-110.78
Even more fun is to give a station id,
like --sid CO_HAW or a
USGS event id, like --eid us7000pn9s, and TauP will use the
IRIS FedCat and
USGS FDSN Event
web services to get the station and event locations and depth. For example:
taup time --geodist geodetic --sid CO_HAW --eid us7000pn9s -p SKS
gives you arrival times for SKS for this earthquake at station CO_HAW. Note this should not be called repeatedly as it is slow and puts undo strain on these web services.
Model: iasp91 Dist: geodetic
Distance Depth Phase Travel Ray Param Takeoff Incident Station Purist Purist Description
(deg) (km) Name Time (s) p (s/deg) (deg) (deg) (km) Distance Name
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
124.74 10.0 SKS 1562.57 3.168 5.50 5.49 0.0 124.74 * SKs 2025-03-28T06:20:52 7.7 mww 22.01/95.94 10.00 km to CO_HAW 33.36/-81.61
The usage is:
Usage: taup time [--amp] [--debug] [--derivative] [--first] [--geodetic]
[--geodetic] [--help] [--rayp] [--time] [--verbose]
[--attenuationfreq=<attenuationFreq>] [--az=<azimuth>]
[--az=<azimuth>] [--baz=<backAzimuth>] [--baz=<backAzimuth>]
[--equitorialradius=m] [--equitorialradius=m]
[--invflattening=f] [--invflattening=f] [--mw=<mw>]
[--numattenuationfreq=<numFrequencies>] [-o=<outFile>]
[--planet=<planet>] [--planet=<planet>]
[--prop=<toolPropsFilename>] [--qml=<quakemlFilename>]
[--staxml=<stationxmlFilename>] [--eid=evt[,evt...]]...
[--rel=phase[,phase...]]... [--sid=sta[,sta...]]... [--evt=lat
lon]... [--evt=lat lon]... [--sta=lat lon]... [--sta=lat
lon]... [--strikediprake=strike dip rake]...
[--geodist=<geoDistTypes>...]...
[--geodist=<geoDistTypes>...]... [[--mod=<modelName>] [-h=depth
[,depth...]]... [--stadepth=depth[,depth...]]... [--scat=depth
deg]...] [[-p=phase[,phase...]]...
[--phasefile=<phaseFiles>]...] [[--allindex] [--deg=d[,
d...]]... [--exactdegree=d[,d...]]... [--exactkilometer=km[,
km...]]... [--incident=deg[,deg...]]... [--km=km[,km...]]...
[--rayparamdeg=s/deg[,s/deg...]]... [--rayparamidx=i[,
i...]]... [--rayparamkm=s/km[,s/km...]]... [--rayparamrad=s/rad
[,s/rad...]]... [--seconds=s[,s...]]... [--takeoff=deg[,
deg...]]... [--degreerange=[step][min max][min max step]]...
[--exactdegreerange=[step][min max][min max step]]...
[--exactkilometerrange=[step][min max][min max step]]...
[--incidentrange=[step][min max][min max step]]...
[--kilometerrange=[step][min max][min max step]]...
[--takeoffrange=[step][min max][min max step]]...]... [--csv |
--html | --json | --text]
Calculate travel times for seismic phases in an earth model.
Options:
--amp show amplitude factor for each phase
--attenuationfreq=<attenuationFreq>
attenuation frequency for amplitude calculations,
default is 1.0
--debug enable debugging output
--derivative include derivative calculations
--eid=evt[,evt...] event id, like us7000pn9s, for lookup via USGS
fdsn event web service. Creates a distance if
station is also given.
--first, --onlyfirst only output the first arrival for each phase, no
triplications
--help display this help message
--mw=<mw> scale amplitude by source moment magnitude,
default is 4.0
--numattenuationfreq=<numFrequencies>
number attenuation frequencies for amplitude
calculations, default is 64
-o, --output=<outFile> output to file, default is stdout.
--prop=<toolPropsFilename>
load defaults from properties file
--qml, --quakeml=<quakemlFilename>
QuakeML file to load for earthquake origins to use
--rayp, --onlyrayp only output the ray parameter
--rel=phase[,phase...] times relative to the first of the given phases
--sid=sta[,sta...] station id, like CO.HAW or FDSN:CO_HAW, for lookup
via fedcat web service. Creates a distance if
event is also given.
--staxml=<stationxmlFilename>
StationXML file to extract station latitudes and
longitudes from
--strikediprake=strike dip rake
fault strike, dip and rake for amplitude
calculations. If not given radiation pattern is
unity in all directions.
--time, --onlytime only output travel time
--verbose enable verbose output
Model Args
-h, --evdepth, --sourcedepth=depth[,depth...]
source depth in km
--mod, --model=<modelName>
use velocity model "modelName" for calculations.
Default is iasp91. Other builtin models include
prem, ak135, ak135fcont, and ak135favg.
--scat, --scatter=depth deg
scattering depth and distance in degrees, which
may be negative. Only effects phases with 'o' or
'O' in the phase name.
--stadepth, --receiverdepth=depth[,depth...]
the receiver depth in km for stations not at the
surface
Phase Names
-p, --ph, --phase=phase[,phase...]
seismic phase names
--phasefile=<phaseFiles>
read list of phase names from file
Distance is given by:
--allindex all arrivals at sampling of model
--deg, --degree=d[,d...]
distance in degrees
--degreerange=[step][min max][min max step]
regular distance range in degrees, one of step;
min max or min max step. Default min is 0, max
is 180 and step is 10.
--exactdegree=d[,d...] exact distance traveled in degrees, not 360-d
--exactdegreerange=[step][min max][min max step]
regular distance range in exact degrees, not
360-deg, one of step; min max or min max step.
Default min is 0, max is 180 and step is 10.
--exactkilometer=km[,km...]
exact distance traveled in kilometers, not 360-k
--exactkilometerrange=[step][min max][min max step]
regular distance range in kilometers, not 360-k,
one of step; min max or min max step. Default
min is 0, max is 1000 and step is 100.
--incident=deg[,deg...]
incident angle in degrees at the receiver, zero is
down, 90 horizontal, 180 is up.
--incidentrange=[step][min max][min max step]
regular range in incident angle in degrees, one of
step; min max or min max step. Default min is 0
and step is 10.
--kilometerrange=[step][min max][min max step]
regular distance range in kilometers, one of step;
min max or min max step. Default min is 0, max
is 1000 and step is 100.
--km, --kilometer=km[,km...]
distance in kilometers along surface.
--rayparamdeg=s/deg[,s/deg...]
ray parameter from the source in s/deg, up or down
is determined by the phase
--rayparamidx=i[,i...] ray parameter from the source as index into model
sampling, up or down is determined by the phase
--rayparamkm=s/km[,s/km...]
ray parameter from the source in s/km, up or down
is determined by the phase
--rayparamrad=s/rad[,s/rad...]
ray parameter from the source in s/rad, up or down
is determined by the phase
--seconds=s[,s...] arrival time in seconds
--takeoff=deg[,deg...] takeoff angle in degrees from the source, zero is
down, 90 horizontal, 180 is up.
--takeoffrange=[step][min max][min max step]
regular range in takeoff angle in degrees, one of
step; min,max or min,max,step. Default min is 0
and step is 10.
Lat,Lon influenced by:
--az=<azimuth> azimuth in degrees, source to receiver
--baz=<backAzimuth> backazimuth in degrees, receiver to source
--equitorialradius=m Equitorial radius in meters for distance
calculations when geodetic or geocentric,
defaults to WGS84 ~ 6378137 meters.
--evt, --event=lat lon event latitude and longitude. Creates a distance
if station is also given.
--geodetic use geodetic latitude for distance calculations,
which implies an ellipticity. Default is
spherical. Note this only affects calculation of
distance from lat/lon pairs, all travel time
calculations are done in a purely spherical
model.
--geodist=<geoDistTypes>...
Type of distance calculation to use for lat,lon
distance calculation, one of spherical,
geocentric, geodetic. Default is spherical. Note
this only affects calculation of distance from
lat/lon pairs, all travel time calculations are
done in a purely spherical model.
--invflattening, --geodeticflattening=f
Inverse Elliptical flattening for distance
calculations when geocentric or geodetic,
defaults to WGS84 ~ 298.257. The distance
calculation uses 1/x.
--planet=<planet> Geodesic for planets, for distance calculations
when --geodetic, one of: EARTH, MOON, MARS,
VENUS, MERCURY, CERES, JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS,
NEPTUNE.
--sta, --station=lat lon
station latitude and longitude. Creates a distance
if event is also given.
Output Type:
--csv outputs as CSV
--html outputs as HTML
--json outputs as JSON
--text outputs as Text