[McIDAS #IND-391015]: MCIDAS BATCH Files

Hi Paul,

re:
> I know how to do the creation and stuff, but I do not know the *best* way
> to make satellite images look and behave well.

OK, now I understand.  The thing I can say is that enhancements fall into
two broad categories:  those that please (some) folks' eyes, and those
that have been accepted by the community as being very useful for
certain situations.

re:
> Is there a listing of why someone would use those enhancements?

No, not really.  I tried to include a sort one like description of
each enhancement I include in the Unidata McIDAS distribution so
that users will have a chance of knowing what they may be useful
for.  Check out ~mcidas/data/EU.CORE.  The short descriptions there
may or may not be useful to you.

re:
> I am just
> trying to educate myself on the correct use of such enhancements and
> stretch tables. I hope I am making myself clear - I know how McIDAS does
> it...I just do not know what would work best.

I built into the MCGUI interface the ability to easily associate an
enhancement with a displayed image.  The button to click in the MCGUI
is the one that has what is supposed to look like an artists paint
pallet.

re: which Wisconsin enhancements are you referring to?

> I saw some examples of various curves (like MB, linear IR, and others that
> are included) Is that anything that says how to best use them.

No.  You would have to do some web searches to see relevant comments on
why one enhancement is better than another.

re:
> A stretch
> table that goes with an Enhancement. And is there any documentation of how
> the ST tables actually work.

The Users Guide section on SU is your best bet on how stretches work.

re:
> I see the help pages on how to do it, but I am unsure of what the colors
> are really doing.
 
A stretch is a way to change the mapping between original satellite value
and displayed value.  An enhancement simply colors the displayed values.  I
find that I want to use a stretch table with water vapor imagery when I am
displaying that kind of image in a panel with other kinds of satellite imagery.
The reason for this is that the information contained in a water vapor image
is in a small subrange (140-215) of the 0-255 range of brightnesses.  To
see what I am referring to, try the following:

- bring up an interactive McIDAS session that has at least 4 frames

- load in a GOES-East water vapor image using the H2O.ET enhancement
  in frame 1

SF 1
ERASE
IMGDISP RTIMAGE/GE-WV EU=H2O STA=KSTL MAG=1

- load in the same GOES-East water vapor image using the IMAGE.ET enhancement
  and H2O.ST stretch in frame 2

SF 2
ERASE
IMGDISP RTIMAGE/GE-WV EU=IMAGE SU=H2O STA=KSTL MAG=1

- setup a loop sequence for frames 1 and 2 and turn on looping

re: getting the right mouse button to work on Mac with McIDAS

LB 1 2
TERM L ON

The result is supposed to be the same, but I see that the H2O.ET enhancement
is off a little bit.  To make the images more like each other, manipulate
the enhancement associated with Frame 1:

SF 1
EU MAKE 0 139 BLACK
EU MAKE 139 215 BLACK WHITE
EU MAKE 216 255 BLACK

TERM L ON

The following will demonstrate what I was referring to with respect to loading
in panels (keep in mind that in McIDAS, there is one enhancement per frame and
all panels share that enhancement):

SF 3
PANEL 2 3

EU REST IMAGE
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-VIS STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=1
MAP H PAN=1
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-39 STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=2
MAP H PAN=2
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-WV STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=3
MAP H PAN=3
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-IR STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=4
MAP H PAN=4
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-CO2 STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=5
MAP H PAN=5

SF 4
PANEL 2 3

EU REST IMAGE
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-VIS STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=1
MAP H PAN=1
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-39 STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=2
MAP H PAN=2
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-WV STA=KSTL SU=H2O MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=3
MAP H PAN=3
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-IR STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=4
MAP H PAN=4
IMGDISP RTIMAGES/GE-CO2 STA=KSTL MAG=-4 TIME=15:15 PAN=5
MAP H PAN=5

LB 3 4
TERM L ON

Notice the dramatic difference in appearance for the WV image
in Frame 4/Panel 3 -- the stretch accentuates the range of
brightnesses between 140 and 215 (where the information content
is for water vapor imagery).

After putting up this display, it stuck me that I should have
created a stretch for the CO2 (13.3 um) images...

re:
> I have used the way MAC should use the right button....but it did not work
> on McIDAS.

Since McIDAS doesn't do any thing special to interpret the mouse button
clicks, I would bet that the "event" that is being set by whatever
you are doing to emulate a mouse button-3 click is not what is expected.
I seem to remember looking over a Mac user's shoulder and seeing that
user adjust something in an OS setup.

re:
> Inactivity eventually killed the process. Thanks for the info.

Yup, the good news is that all interactive commands have timeouts.

Cheers,

Tom
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Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: IND-391015
Department: Support McIDAS
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed