Demonstration Division
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NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory Demonstration Division |
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| Profiler Graphical Display Help | ||
This web page allows profiler winds, spectral moments, and RASS temperature data to be plotted graphically. The control options give the user ultimate control over how the data are displayed and how the images are formatted. The display can be used to plot current real-time profiler data as well as historical data. The display has access to a data cache containing the latest year of 60-minute resolution data, and the latest three months of 6-minute resolution data.
The upper-right corner of the page contains a series of thumbnail images. Click on one these images to change view of the larger map image.
| 1. | The site can be selected using the Site Name: combo-box control, or by using the mouse to left-click on the desired site location on the map. Once the site is selected by either of these modes, the control panel options are updated with the selected site's view, beam, and mode options. |  |
| 2. | Use the Display Options combo-box controls on the left to select the desired View:, QC: setting, time Resolution:, Mode:, and plot Background Color:. |  |
| 3. | The plot is generated when the GET PLOT button is clicked. After submitting a plot request, in a few moments, a GIF image is returned to your computer in a new browser window. |  |
| 4. | To view another image, minimize or close the browser window containing the data plot and return to the display control panel. Each new request for data is rendered in a separate browser window. |
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Basic Display Options only allow the user to view current real-time data. Quality Control is set to GOOD ONLY, and scaling defaults to fixed values. The user can toggle between Basic and Advanced Control Panel Views by clicking the link at the top of the control panel. |
Advanced Display Options allow the user to specify the Ending Time, QC method, and scaling limits for plots. Historical data can be plotted by supplying and End Time. To restore the "latest available" time-stamp in the End Time field, Refresh the web page. |
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Profiler site names can be selected from the Site Name drop-down list or selected by clicking the mouse on the desired map site location. As the mouse passes over a site on the map, the site name and source in the Site and Source controls will change accordingly. Site and Source are read-only, editing their content has no affect on the operation of the page.
Selects the type data to display, options include winds, spectral moments (signal power, radial velocity, and velocity variance), RASS temperatures, and RASS signal power. Different sites have different observing equipment, so these options will vary from site to site.
| Display Type | Good Only |
Good + Level 1 (Bird Contaminated) |
Good + Level 2 (Continuity) |
None |
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| Wind Profiles | Plot only winds that pass all bird contamination and QC tests. | Plots all good data, plus any winds that are suspect of bird contamination. Suspect winds are flagged using an alternate color (pea-green). | Plots all good data, plus Level 1 data, plus winds that failed Weber-Wuertz time/height continuity checks. Suspect winds are flagged using an alternate color (orange). | Plots all data, flagging any suspect data. Suspect winds are flagged using alternate colors. |
| Radial Velocities | Plot only range gates that pass all bird contamination and QC tests. | Removes gates that are suspect of bird contamination. | Removes gates that failed Weber-Wuertz time/height continuity checks. | Plots all range gate values regardless of any QC failures. |
| RASS Temperatures | Plot only range gates that pass all bird contamination and QC tests. | Removes gates that are suspect of bird contamination. | Removes gates that failed Weber-Wuertz time/height continuity checks. | Plots all range gate values regardless of any QC failures. |
Selects the resolution of the data display. 6-minute and 60-minute resolutions are available for winds, moments, and RASS data displays.
Applies to spectral moment plots only. East, north, or vertical beams are selectable.
Applies to winds and moment plots only. Plots can be limited to Low Mode, High Mode, or Both Modes. All RASS displays default to Low Mode only.
CACHE The CACHE server is the primary default data repository, and provide access to the largest dataset available. This should be used for historical data plots. If by chance, the CACHE is unavailable, selecting a backup server (such as PHUB or DEV) can be used to acquire real-time data. DEV is a development server used to test new algorithms and evaluate multiple-trip ground clutter problems at several sites. Data acquired using the DEV server should only be used for evaluation purposes.
Preset is used to automatically set the number of Periods (see below) to predetermined values, depending on the View and Resolution selections. Auto is the default Preset value.
The data displays always use the most resent data available time stamp as the ending date for the plot, the starting date for the plot is determined by subtracting the number of periods selected from the starting date. The plot Resolution and the Preset value determine the number of Periods. The maximum number of periods for a given resolution is shown in the table below.
| Resolution | Maximum # of Periods |
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| 60-Minute | 168 |
| 6-Minute | 240 |
The End Time defaults to the latest-hour 60-minute data are available. The page auto-refreshes every 30 minutes to ensure the most recent data are plotted. The end time can be changed to display data from up to one year ago (60-minute resolution data).
By default, graphic plots have a white background. The user can select a black background color, if desired.
Image Quality or Type, GIF is the default image type. The user can select a JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) or PNG (Portable Network Graphic) , if desired.
Defines the maximum and minimum values for the color scale. Allows the user to adjust the color scale to spread-out certain temperature ranges in order to enhance finer temperature gradient contrast.
Defines the Unit scaling for temperatures. Allows the user to select Celsius for Fahrenheit scales.
Defines the maximum and minimum values for the color scale. Allows the user to increase the sensitivity of the color scale. Enhances the moment's gradient contrast.
Defines the maximum and minimum values for the color scale. Allows the user to increase the sensitivity of the color scale. Enhances the Wind plot gradient contrast.
Allows the user to select meters per second (m/s) or knots (kt).
Determines the size of the plotted image. Several predefined sizes are available to choose from.
Predifined plot sizes are defined as follows:
| S (small) | 600 x 400 pixels |
| M (medium) | 800 x 550 pixels |
| L (large) | 1000 x 750 pixels |
| W (wide) | 1000 x 550 pixels |
| LX (extra-large) | 2000 x 1500 pixels |
Determines the direction of time on the X-Axis of the plot. While right-to-left is the default for most views, the Pacific Equator view has left-to-right as the default time direction.
Clicking this button submits a request for a data plot. Plots are always rendered in a new browser window.