function zuv = readzuv(filename)
       fid=fopen(filename);
  %in this section an array with the dimension of 1x4 is defined for the 
  % "zuvp" files.
       dataset=textscan(fid,'%f %f %f %f');
       zuv = createzuv();
       zuv.dayno=dataset{1};
       zuv.totalwaterlev=dataset{2};
       zuv.uvelocity=dataset{3};
       zuv.vvelocity=dataset{4};
       fclose(fid)
return
end