Rotate Data

The Rotate Data option allows you to apply a 3D rotation to your discontinuity data (poles) and user planes around a specified axis. This option can be used to adjust structural data in a folded domain, or to create "inclined" hemisphere projections.

To use Rotate Data:

1. Select Analysis > Rotate Data from the Home ribbon.
2. Enter the Trend and Plunge of the Rotation Axis.
3. Enter the Angle of Rotation as an angle Clockwise About Axis (i.e., the Rotation Axis).
4. To rotate all data in the current file, use the Rotate All Poles option.
5. If you have defined Sets, then you may rotate data in one or more sets by selecting the Rotate Poles Inside Sets option and selecting the desired Sets using the checkboxes. Only data in the selected Sets will be rotated. All other data will be unaffected by the rotation.
6. If you have defined planes with the Add User Plane option, you may also rotate these user-defined planes with the data by selecting the Rotate User Planes checkbox and ticking the checkboxes for the desired User Planes.
7. Click Create New File, and a new file will be generated, with the desired rotation performed.

Output

After clicking Create New File, a new Dips project is created with a single "Rotated Data" dataset added to the Orientation Data as a Spot Mapping traverse containing a cumulation of all selected rotated poles in the Discontinuities tab of the Orientation Data dialog.

• Name: "Rotated Joints"
• Traverse Type: Spot Mapping
• Orientation Convention: Trend/Plunge
• Declination: Reset to 0° (since rotated data uses processed poles that already account for declination)
• Extra Column: "Synthetic Set" — Contains the joint set ID (1, 2, 3...) or empty for random joints
• Quantity: Quantity is preserved from the original poles

TRAVERSE COLUMN

The Traverse column will be preserved in the rotated file as an Extra Column only! This is because Rotate Data does not rotate Traverse orientations, therefore weighted Contour Plots (for example) are meaningless after rotating data. The rotated file, therefore, does not preserve original traverses. Only the Traverse Name in the "TRAVERSE ID" column are saved for identification purposes.

SET COLUMN

If the original file had Sets defined, the Set column can be preserved in the rotated file as an Extra Column only! Set information (i.e., Set Windows, Mean Planes, etc.) is not saved in the rotated file. Only the Set Name in the "Set ID" column are saved for identification purposes.

EXTRA COLUMNS

If the original file contained Extra Columns, all of these columns will be preserved in the new file.

ROTATED USER PLANES

If you selected the Rotate User Planes checkbox in the Rotate Data dialog, all added User Planes from the original file (i.e., planes created with the Add User Plane option), will be rotated along with the data, and added to the new file. This allows the user to create reference planes on the original file (e.g., to mark true North, a horizontal plane, or some other reference plane), which will serve as reference planes on the rotated data.

TIPS:

• When all data is rotated in a file, the direction letters (NSEW) on the stereonet may no longer be applicable to the rotated file. The NSEW letters can be turned off in the Display Options dialog, if necessary, to avoid confusion or misinterpretation.
• After rotating data, you may find it useful to overlay a corresponding stereonet grid on the rotated file. This can be done with the Stereonet Overlay option, which allows the user to superimpose a stereonet grid at any axis on the stereonet. Use the same Trend / Plunge for the grid axis as the Rotation Axis entered in the Rotate Data dialog.