# Makes new file with blocks Produces a DeponsRaster object of type='blocks' for use in DEPONS simulations. This allows animals to be counted within specific regions (blocks) of the landscape during the simulation. The new blocks can be specified as either matrices or SpatialPolygons objects. For matrices, the blocks are defined as the smallest rectangle that includes all the specified positions. ```r ## S4 method for signature 'DeponsRaster' make.blocksraster( template, blocks = NA, blockvals = NULL, NAvalue = -9999, plot = FALSE, fname = NULL, overwrite = FALSE ) ``` ## Arguments - `template`: DeponsRaster object used as template for new blocks file - `blocks`: list of areas to be used for new blocks. Each item in 'blocks' should be a matrix (with two columns, corresponding to x- and y-coordinates) or a SpatialPolygons object - `blockvals`: Vector of integer values defining the labels of the new blocks. The first value defines the background value, so the length of 'blockvals' should equal the number of blocks plus 1 - `NAvalue`: Value used for missing data in the output object - `plot`: If TRUE, the raster block is plotted - `fname`: Name of the output raster file (character string ending with '.asc'). No file is written to disk if fname is not provided. - `overwrite`: Whether to replace existing file. ## Returns `RasterLayer` object defining different subregions of the landscape where animals should be counted. ## Note The blocks file should not be modified when running DEPONS simulations using the 'Kattegat' landscape. In this landscape the simulated animals use the blocks file for navigation. Also note that blocks are added to the new blocks raster in the order they are file in the order in which they are listed in 'blocks', so the order mattes if the blocks overlap. ## Examples ```r #Load file to use as template for new blocks file data("bathymetry") # Make list of blocks to create new.blocks <- list() x <- runif(8, 700000, 760000) y <- runif(8, 6200000, 6300000) new.blocks[[1]] <- cbind(x,y) x <- c(600000, 635000, 670000, 635000) y <- c(6150000, 6200000, 6150000, 6100000) library(sp) srl <- list(Polygon(cbind(x,y))) Srl <- list(Polygons(srl, ID=as.vector("p"))) new.blocks[[2]] <- SpatialPolygons(Srl, proj4string=crs(bathymetry)) make.blocksraster(bathymetry, new.blocks, plot=TRUE) points(new.blocks[[1]]) plot(new.blocks[[2]], add=TRUE) the.dir <- tempdir() make.blocksraster(bathymetry, new.blocks, fname=paste0(the.dir, "/test.asc")) ```

make.blocksraster function