[IDV #PNW-510251]: NOAA Profiler Plots

> Yuan,
> Here's some additional feedback on the new features.
> 1) Image capture: Thanks for adding the capture feature in the time/height 
> profiler display. It works very well when choosing "View" in the Capture What 
> options. However, the other two options of "View & Legend" and "Full Window" 
> prompt an error and no image can be captured.

Yes, we knew this bug, and we were working on it.
> 
> 2) Time/Height chart: I took a look at the y-axis fix that you've added and I 
> think there may be a bug. The attachment called TimeHt_STWMA_latestL.jpg 
> shows that loading the local profiler netCDF files creates a nice Time/Height 
> chart, however; the display changed after I toggled the "Latest data on left" 
> selection. The y-axis suddenly increased its vertical extent as shown by 
> TimeHt_STWMA_latestR.jpg.

I need to find a better design for the y-axis.
> 
> 3) To magnify the vertical extent of the profiler data (See #3 in last 
> email), I used the vertical scale icon as you suggested. Thank you for 
> pointing this out, it should work nicely. One item to note is that one of the 
> profilers (PNRMD) is a high elevation site that is located in Frostburg, MD 
> with an elevation of 763 meters. Using the vertical scale icon, it is more 
> apparent that the data point closest to the surface is also magnified. This 
> can be a problem because the profiler's data look to originate in PA instead 
> of MD. The other 2 attachments illustrate this: 
> 3D_PNRMD_VertScaleMax-6000m.jpg (actual data origin) and 
> 3D_PNRMD_VertScaleMax-500m.jpg (station looks to be located in PA). Is it 
> possible to make the data point closest to the surface maintain its original 
> fixed height while the vertical scale adjustment is being used?
> 
I will check, this maybe a 3D illusion. When the station plot is available, 
this 3D illusion will be less concern.


Yuan
> Thanks,
> Laura
> 
> >>> "Unidata IDV Support" <address@hidden> 8/11/2010 6:34 PM >>>
> > Hi Yuan,
> > I have been working with the CAP profiler winds display using local netCDF 
> > files. First, I would like to say that I can load the files with ease and 
> > have successfully used both the time/height display and the 3D plot. Thank 
> > you for your extensive work on this. I do have a few questions and they are 
> > listed below.
> >
> > 1) I see that the time/height and 3D plots are available. Do you anticipate 
> > adding the profiler station plot also?
> >
> Well, this is a easier one. I will add it soon.
> 
> > 2) Time/height display: Is there a way to capture an image of the 
> > time/height display control window? Also, is the y-axis adjustable so that 
> > it can be changed to above ground level (AGL) labeled every 500 meters as 
> > opposed to MSL labeled every 2000 meters? This would account for the lower 
> > heights measured by CAP boundary layer profilers compared to NOAA profilers 
> > that can reach up to tropopause.
> >
> No, you can not capture an image, but I will add this feature soon. If you 
> download the nightly build tomorrow, the y-axis label is better now, may not 
> be what you wanted, let me know if you like it or not.
> 
> > 3) Most (if not all) of the CAP profiler network measures winds in the 
> > boundary layer (up to approximately 4 km AGL) whereas the NPN measures up 
> > to around 9-16 km AGL, depending on its vertical sampling mode. This height 
> > difference makes for a much different looking 3D plot with CAP data - the 
> > 3D plot looks a bit cramped, vertically. While this display is draw to 
> > scale and accurate, is there a way to artificially magnify the height of 
> > the CAP profiler data so that the vertical extent is expanded? Perhaps a 
> > drop down menu in the display settings that magnifies the height 2x, 3x, 
> > etc?
> 
> If you want to adjust the vertical scale in the map view, click the vertical 
> scale icon on the left of the window, and change the value, it will give you 
> the same effect as magnifies the height.
> >
> > My reasoning behind this is that I hope to be able to create a 3D plot 
> > showing 3 profilers in 1 map view: a MD profiler (BLTMD), NJ profiler 
> > (RUTNJ), and NC profiler (CHANC). At the present time, without 
> > magnification of the data's vertical extent, it would be extremely 
> > difficult to see the wind barbs/colors for each profiler with the level of 
> > zoom required to get all 3 profilers in the same map view.
> >
> > 4) My previous question about plotting different QC levels of the data may 
> > be better illustrated by viewing the MADIS CAP Profiler Real-Time Data 
> > Display (http://madis-data.noaa.gov/cap/profiler.jsp?options=full)
> >
> > Note that on this site, you can select an option in the drop down QC menu 
> > such as "Pass Level 1" and "Applied and Pass Level 2". These options will 
> > filter the data based on QC flags designated by MADIS. The flags are also 
> > in the netCDF files. You can see this by selecting a local netCDF file I've 
> > uploaded in Data Choosers and select "I'm feeling lucky" as the data source 
> > type instead of "CDM netCDF profiler files". Then click 3D grid and you 
> > will see the IDV lists a few QC flag fields. More information on the 
> > applied QC is here (http://madis.noaa.gov/madis_sfc_qc.html). However, this 
> > might be a better question for the MADIS contacts I sent earlier today. 
> > They would likely be able to explain the file setup much more easily. 
> > Ideally I would want an option to select and plot the best available data 
> > (Applied and Pass Level 2).
> >
> 
> This is interesting, I will put it in our to do list.
> 
> > Let me know if you need more clarification.
> >
> > Laura
> >
> >
> >
> 
> Ticket Details
> ===================
> Ticket ID: PNW-510251
> Department: Support IDV
> Priority: Normal
> Status: Closed
> 
> 
> 


Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: PNW-510251
Department: Support IDV
Priority: Normal
Status: Open