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>Thanks Steve, > >The first solution you proposed is the kind of thing I was looking >for...but GDPOINT wasn't listed at the site I usually use for GEMPAK >reference. The contrib program lacked a $GEMPTXT/gdpoint.txt file which I created and will now be listed on: http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/gempak/help_and_documentation/manual/programs/ >I'm still a bit confused at how to use the grad() diagnostic. >Would I use it in GDPOINT or another program? How would I specify the two >points to use to calculate the gradient? And perhaps most importantly, >what would be the units of the return value (i.e. per degree, per grid >point)? I apologize if these are simple issues, but I haven't used grid >diagnostics much. The GRAD() function computes a vector field from a grid. You can use this in a GFUNC expression such as: GFUNC = MAG(GRAD(thta)) (using thta as an example, any scalar can be used) Or the components with GFUNC = UR(GRAD(thta)) and GFUNC = VR(GRAD(thta)) **note UR and VR are grid relative components, UN and VN are grid relative components (Your grid may not have the row/columns If you wanted to use 2 points in the gradient, you could compute the ddx and ddy, or grad and compute an average gradient between the 2 points, or the actual gradient at any point in between the 2 points. The units of GRAD(s) will be that of the scalar quantity per meter. For example, using GRAD(pmsl) yields mb/m. You can multiply this to more convenient units as needed. Steve Chiswell Unidata User SUpport Ticket Details =================== Ticket ID: JYO-583263 Department: Support GEMPAK Priority: Normal Status: Closed