A MATLAB based graphical user interface (GUI) for quickly producing widely used hydrogeochemical diagrams

Hydrogeochemical diagrams are powerful tools facilitating hydrogeochemical research, among which Piper diagram, Gibbs diagrams, USSL diagram, Wilcox diagram and PI classification diagram are widely applied. However, it is usually tedious and time-consuming to draw these diagrams, not only because of the complex procedures to treat input data, but also due to the different software used. It is always required that several pieces of software should be used for a single hydrochemical study. Therefore, this study reported a MATLAB based graphical user interface (GUI) to overcome these shortages. Three simple steps are included in the GUI to draw a diagram. The frame of the diagram to be drawn is first selected from the database of the GUI, after which the input data (water sample data) are imported into the GUI and the properties of the points such as the sizes, colors and shapes are set. Finally, the diagrams produced can be exported from the GUI as images. This MATLAB based GUI is capable of generating quickly five types of diagrams that are commonly used in hydrogeochemical research. The codes of the GUI and related functions can be adjusted according to the user's needs. It is helpful to reduce the time spent in drawing these hydrochemical diagrams.