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What's New
GEMPAK 5.6 supports building with the GNU g77/gcc Linux environment.
The distribution will build its own NetCDF library for use with decoders of NETCDF data sets (profiler and ACARS). Users no longer need to obtain and build NetCDF separately.
CIMSS product display
Display and anotation of CIMSS derived satellite products (added to the IDD data stream this summer) was added to the GEMPAK 5.4 release (patch level 17). In addition to new enhancement tables, the colorbar is now capable of displaying the units and scale contained within the CIMSS products. The CIMSS products are OZONE, Precipitable Water, Lifted Index, Cloud Top Pressure, Cape, and Sea Surface Temperature.
SFCNTR
In response to requests from the Users Committee, I have developed a self-contained
version of SFMAP which allows the user to plot the data values and contour the data in one
application. This programs performs all necessary objective analysis on the data
internally, which eliminates the need to create a barnes analysis gridded data set first.
File name templates can be used to obtain the most recent file of a specific type. For example, use GDFILE=eta in grid data programs to access the most recent ETA model run. Template definitions are maintained in $GEMTBL/config/datatype.tbl. The datatype.tbl file maintains the location and naming conventions used with each data set type, as long as the time range and menu options within NMAP/NMAP2. Template names are also refered to in the $GEMTBL/nmap/ configuration files for menu pulldowns.
The default configuration of datatype.tbl and the $GARPHOME/Garp_defaults file have been standardized to use the same file naming conventions. Note that while NMAP can look for model data in individual directory locations, GARP still expects the data to reside in a single data directory.
Map File Name Aliases
Map aliases can be used instead of long file names. See the $MAPFIL
help pages, and the current aliases in $GEMTBL/config/mapfil.tbl.
Decoders
New decoders
See the User Guide for usage of these decoders, as well as the GEMPAK tutorial for
decoder patterns for use with the LDM.
Programs
New programs
See the User Guide for usage of these programs.
Data types
New data types
Decoders and/or display programs are available for use with the above data sets.
All of the above datasets are routinely available on NOAAPORT (Unidata's IDD).
Device Drivers
GIF is a device independent GIF file device that can produce output without the
use of the X server (as used by the traditional gf device). Since the device driver does
not utilize the X server, all fonts will be rendered as software types.
Color coded parameters
Color-coding of any parameter may be done based on its own value or
on the value of any other computable parameter.
Other Stuff
The maximum number of headers in a GEMPAK file is set to 30,000. The maximum number of report times is set
to 300. This allows up to 30,000 grids in a gridded data file, 30,000 ship reports in a surface ship file,
and 29,700 stations (at 300 times) in a standard surface file. As a result, I have removed separate
surface programs for NLDN data (LTGLIST and LTGMAP) which were previously provided to access
up to 30,000 observations in those files (Now you can use SFMAP and SFLIST).
The maximun number of grid points in a grid file is set at 400,000.
The max winds and tropopause parts, TRPA, TRPC, MXWA, MXWC, are
now decoded and stored. In addition, the significant winds below
and above 100mb, PPAA and PPCC, respectively, are now stored as
separate parts.
Currently, only the program SNLIST can list the tropopause and
max wind data. NMAP and the other display programs will be modified
in the future to handle these data types.
The raw text, (undecoded data) is now stored. It can be listed
in the program SNLIST by setting SNPARM to TEXT.
GPNEXR2 provides display of Level II data in a plan projection.
This program is similar to GPMAP with the additional parameters
to specify the TILT and RADPARM.
NEXR2RHI displays an RHI (vertical cross section) of radar
data from tilts found in the Level II file.
Level II radar data can be displayed in other programs which
support RAD projection displays (current defaults assume
the lowest tilt reflectivity data) if TILT and RADPARM are not
provided by the program.
I have wrapped a decoder dcnexr2 which uses a command line argument
from the LDM to store the 4 character station ID in the data file in
unused bytes 21-24 of the data file, so if you use that pqact.conf decoder entry:
The maximum grid size that can be stored in a GEMPAK file may now
be larger than the maximum number of grid points used for calculation
and display purposes (LLMXGD). A new parameter, LLMXTG, specifies the
maximum number of grid points that can be stored.
To access grid files with grids larger than LLMXGD grid points, the
grid must be subset to not exceed LLMXGD grid points. The subset can be
specified using an area (GAREA) or by specifying points using a new
GEMPAK parameter IJSKIP.
The IJSKIP parameter specifies the number of points to skip in each
direction and/or the beginning and ending grid point number in each
direction. In addition, if the parameter is set to "YES", then it
will automatically calculate the optimum skip factors to display the
maximum number of grid points for the geographic region defined by
the GAREA parameter. See the GEMPAK help on IJSKIP for additional
details.
The NMAP cursor position is saved to a CPF by using the Seek function.
Click the "Save CPF" button to save the most recently written cursor
position to the CPF. Any of the methods available in the Seek function
can be used to write and subsequently save the cursor position to the
CPF. For example, to save a cursor selected location to a CPF, click the
"Click Point" button. Then move the cursor to the desired location
and click the left mouse button. Click the "Save CPF" button to save
this location to the CPF. The function automatically creates the CPF
(called nmap2.cpf) in the local directory. The CPF contains one
latitude and longitude that is overwritten each time the "Save CPF"
button is clicked.
The CPF is automatically read by the NSHARP program each time a data
set is selected. Its location is plotted as a yellow x in the map
window for observed, PFC and ACARS data types. Click on the yellow
x marker to plot the sounding corresponding to the location in the
CPF. For the model sounding data type, click the "CPF" radio button
to use the location from the CPF to generate the sounding.
DCISIG has also been modified to decode tropical cyclones (WCP) from
PGUM and PHFO. Again non-standard WCP SIGMETs may not be decoded.
DCISIG has also been modified to decode the phenomena CB for
SIGMETS issued by the U.S.
The Fosberg index (FOSB) may be used in SFPARM in the surface data
programs. FOSB is computed from the surface temperature, relative
humidity and wind speed and gives an index for the Flame Length and Fuel
Drying.
There are 3 Haines Indices: LHAN, MHAN and HHAN. These stability indices
are used in the GEMPAK parameter STNDEX in the upper air data programs.
The Haines indices are simple measures of the chance that an existing
fire will become a dangerous, erratic fire. LHAN is for the low level
Haines index and is a layer between 950-850 mb. MHAN is the mid level
index value and is for the layer 850-700 mb. Finally, HHAN is the high
level index for 700-500 mb.
Click the "Range/Int" button on the "Data Selection Window" GUI to
invoke the "Range/Interval Input" GUI. The "Range/Interval Input" GUI
allows the user to enter interval and range in days, hours and minutes.
Blank entries are equivalent to entering a 0 for the range and interval
entries. For example, say the dominant data type is radar data and the user
desires to see radar imagery once per hour for a day. Enter "1" under
the "DAY" column in the "Range:" row and "1" under the "HR" column for
the "Interval:" row. After clicking the "Accept" button the time line
will include frames starting at the most recent hour going back one
day in time assuming the data are available in the database for the
entire period. A reference time may also be selected. For observed data, the
reference time is the last time that appears on the right of the
time line. For forecast data, the reference time is the first time
that appears on the left of the time line. If the reference time is
blank, the last marker for observed data is the time associated with
the most recent data. When the reference time is blank and forecast
data is dominant, the first marker is the first forecast time in the
data set, usually F000. For more information, see the "What's New" section in the NMAP help panel.
A preliminary GUI for the NAWIPS implementation of the AODT has been
developed for this release. In this release the GUI provides the
required AODT widgets, however, most of the AODT functionality will
be delivered in the next release. When fully implemented, the GUI
will allow the user to run the AODT code as contributed by CIMSS at
the University of Wisconsin. These capabilities include
deterministic Dvorak scene type and classification as well as AODT
history file management. The timeline now retains its selections when changing
restore files for models or station models for surface and upper-air
data. The reference time in the "Range/Interval Input" GUI is now saved
in Stored Procedure Files (SPFs) for forecast data sets. The "Set Time" functionality that appeared in the timeline in previous
versions has been replaced by the Reference Time in the
"Range/Interval Input" GUI. The Reference Time allows
the user to specify the end time for the timeline, for
observational data, or the start time, for forecast data.
The calendar window used by the Set Time function has been
moved to the "Range/Interval Input" GUI. Therefore, the user may type
a date/time string or use the calendar interface to select
a Reference Time. The "Current Time" below the timeline has been changed to a push
button. The "Current Time" button updates the tick mark selection
outline. For observed data, the Reference Time is erased
and the tick marks for the latest data are selected. For
forecast data, the Reference Time is erased and the tick
marks for the earlier forecasts (the left side of the
timeline) are selected. The other attributes of the timeline
are unaffected, i.e., range, interval, number of frames, etc.
The AODT GUI in NMAP has been completed and is ready for TPC
operational testing, evaluation and use. The NMAP GUI uses the
AODT version 6.3 library in collaboration with the CIMSS at
the University of Wisconsin. The GUI includes the calculation of
deterministic Dvorak scene type and classification as well as AODT
history file management.
What's Gone!!
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.A
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.C
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.D
A new parameter, BND, specifies the the bounded region name, and the
fill attributes, such as color, fill pattern, etc. See the
GEMPAK help for BND for additional details. Geographic regions
that can be filled are the bounds files located in $GEMTBL/bounds.
These regions are:
Bounds file
Map alias
U.S. States STATE_BNDS
Counties CNTY_BNDS
Low Resolution World WORLD_BNDS
Great Lakes GREAT_LAKES
North American Lakes LAKES
CWAs CWA_BNDS
Multiple file access requires an explicit template for SFFILE or an alias
specified in the table $GEMTBL/config/datatype.tbl.
The following list hot keys for Nmap/Nmap2 display functions:
- Step backward / Halt loop
= Step forward / Halt loop
l Loop forward / Halt loop
1 Loop rock / Halt loop
f Reset the fade on the current look-up table and restores the
current look-up table
h Turns all background data on/off by toggling the hide/show loop
button
i Turns an image "on/off" by toggling the fade between black
and the default brightness setting
w Toggle the data window up or down
(Same as mouse button 3)
The numeric key pad arrow keys (2, 4, 6, 8) roam in the direction of the
respective arrow when in the roam mode. (Note that this function is
currently not supported on IRIX5/IRIX6 platforms.)
The following list hot keys for Nmap/Nmap2 product generation functions:
u Undo
r Redo
The following hot keys display different loops for Nmap2:
F1 View loop 1
F2 View loop 2
F3 View loop 3
F4 View loop 4
F5 View loop 5
F6 View loop 6
F7 View loop 7
F8 View loop 8
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.E.1
1. Data set name(s) and path(s)
2. Dominant data set
3. Skip factor
4. Number of frames
5. Roam factor
6. Auto-Update on/off
7. Pre-defined area name
8. Graphics area and map projection
9. Map on/off, lat/lon lines on/off, map overlay name(s)
A complete description of this new functionality is available in
the NMAP2 on-line "Procedure Save/Restore" help.
Unidata specific updates
STNPLT
text color/text attributes | marker attributes | stnfile#stntbl_column
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.F
Unidata specific updates
GPS ^suoHWV
PIPE -close decoders/dcsuomi
-d data/gempak/logs/dcsuomi.log
-e GEMTBL=/home/gempak/NAWIPS/gempak/tables
data/gempak/gps/YYYYMMDD_suomi.gem
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.H
BND = world_bnds|
BND = zone_bnds|
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.I
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.J
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.K
PNG image format is displayable by most browsers, files are highly
compact, and the distribution of PNG format images is not restricted
in use by pattent holders.
Two new programs for displaying NEXRAD Level II radar imagery
have been created. The programs are designed for use with the
CRAFT IDD data feed which provides data in ARCHIVE2 format.
The Level II data is distributed with all levels and parameters
in a single file.
The CRAFT data does not have the station ID in the data at this time.
If you use the CAPS decoder (nexradII), you need to name file files like:
$RAD/craft/KILN/KILN_YYYYMMDD_HHNN
This file naming will match the template I have in the datatype.tbl file
for NEXRADII where %SITE% is used so that the programs know which station
the file represents.
CRAFT ^L2-BZIP2/(....)/([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-1][0-9][0-3][0-9])([0-2][0-9][0-5][0-9])([0-9][0-9])
PIPE decoders/dcnexr2 -s \1 -d /dev/null data/craft/\1/\1_\2_\3
you don't have to be as strict with the file naming.
Nex2img creates a radar composite image (currently GIF is the
only output format). Eventual combining of this program with nex2gini
and other output formats (such as Geotif) will allow users to
combine GIS tasks.
New capabilities have been added to GEMPAK grid programs
in support of accessing large grids including the National Digital
Forecast Data Base (NDFD) 5 KM grids.
A new option has been added to NSHARP to generate sounding profiles
from reading a location saved from a NMAP/NMAP2 cursor point
file (CPF).
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.L and L.1
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.6.M
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.7.1
Directory, file and source code nomenclature and documentation have
been changed in NMAP2, NWX, the decoders and the LDM pqact templates to support the
scheduled December 16, 2003 switch from separate AVN- and MRF-based
MOS systems to a unified GFS-based MOS system. All MOS data are now
classified as type 'MOS' in NMAP2 and NWX, and no distinction is made
between what was formerly differentiated as 'MOS' and 'New MOS'.
References to 'New AVN MOS' have been changed to 'GFS MOS', and
references to 'New MRF MOS' have been changed to 'GFSX MOS'. Obsolete
references to the "old" AVN and MRF MOS codes, which have not run for
months, have been removed. Finally, the GFS MOS station table has
been updated with 145 new stations, 4 deleted stations, and 3 changed
station names. Note that the previous release will continue to
handle the MOS data sets.
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.7.2
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.7.2p2
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.7.3
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.7.4
Modified gribkeys.tbl to store files by model name under $MODEL in order to reduce files in a single directory, improve scouring by model type and grid, and allow for storage of model forecast times in separate files (useful where storing all times in a single file would create very large files).
# Quikscat BUFR HRS ^ISXX(..) KNES ([0-3][0-9])([0-2][0-9])([0-6][0-9]) FILE data/gempak/qsct/(\2:yyyy)(\2:mm)\2\3.bufr
Work has begun on updating the grid programs to use the new functions in the DG and GD libraries. In this release, the following programs contain calls to the new functions:
The remaining grid programs will be updated in future releases.
NAWIPS now has the ability to remap grid data as part of the diagnostic calculations. Previous versions required that all grids involved in a calculation be on the same projection and area. With this release, any grid on any navigation can be used in the same diagnostic calculation.
For example, a difference can be computed between the 500 mb height field from the ETA and GFS models. Multiple grid files may be listed in the GDFILE parameter. The first grid file in the list defines the internal navigation used for the computation of the diagnostic. So, an entry of "GDFILE = eta + gfs" is remapped to the eta navigation, while "gfs + eta" is remapped to the gfs.
This functionality is available in those programs which have completed the upgrade to new grid functions as listed in the previous section
A new GEMPAK parameter, MSCALE, has been added for use by GEMPAK programs that display maps. Specifically, gdcntr, gdmap, gdplot, gdplot2, gdstream, gdwind, gpltln, gpmap, sfmap and snmap can now display a distance scale legend anywhere within the view region of a map using any "true" latitude. The distances can be displayed in nautical miles, kilometers, or statute miles. The user can specify the text attributes, including font, size and style. The exact distance values to be displayed can be specified and need not be whole numbers or equally spaced. For more details on the available options and the precise syntax, see the help file: "phelp mscale" or $GEMHLP/hlx/mscale.hl2.
The distance scale can also be plotted in NMAP. A "Scale" check box has been added to the "Map Selection" GUI to control the plotting and attributes of the legend. Click the "Scale" check box to plot the distance scale. Click the "Scale" button to invoke the "Scale Attribute" GUI to specify scale legend attributes including position, true latitude, units, distance values, text attributes and color.
The distance scale plotting and attributes can be specified for each display loop like other map attributes and can be applied or inherited from other loops using the "Apply Settings" and "Get Settings" buttons, respectively. Distance scale plotting and attributes can also be saved and restored from Stored Procedure Files (SPFs).
The default legend attributes for NMAP are specified in the table $GEMTBL/nmap/mapovl.nmap. Default attributes include an on/off flag, color, distance units, screen position, true latitude and distance values. See this table for additional details.
The tilda '~' can now be used to specify file path names in N-AWIPS tables, e.g., $GEMTBL/nmap/vgf.nmap. A file pathname can either be a full pathname (/dir/sdir1/sdir2), or include the use of an environmental variable ($HOME/sdir1/sdir2), or include the use of tilda (~/sdir1/sdir2).
The line width can now be controlled when outlining winter storm warnings, watches, and advisories in GPMAP. The new parameter line for WSTM is:
End time|WN;WT;AD clrs|Tm|Lb|Outline/WN;WT;AD lwidth
The line widths follow the / after the Outline flag. If any line width value is missing or less than 1 or greater than 10, a default line width of 3 is used. See $GEMHLP/hlx/wstm.hl2 for additional details.
The line width can now be controlled in NMAP2 displays of winter weather advisories, watches and warnings (WSTM). Click the "Line" button in the "WSTM Attributes" GUI to specify the desired line width using a slider bar. The width is applied if the "Outline" check box is on. The default line width is specified in the table $GEMTBL/config/miscset.tbl. See this table for additional details. Since miscset.tbl has been modified, old SPF files using WSTM data should be recreated to use the new attribute.
Time binning of observational data has been added to NMAP2. Time binning allows observations to be combined from different times into NMAP frames for display. This capability is especially useful for observations that are not concentrated at nominal observation times.
For more information, see the "What's New" section in the NMAP help panel.
GEMPAK 5.8.2 adds ensemble creation using sets of grid files. This release adds the ability to specify sets of grid files to be processed in ensemble calculations. Currently, ensemble means are computed. Additional ensemble functions will be added in future releases. Ensemble calculations can use grids on different navigations, expanding the functionality of the general grid library rewrite first introduced in version 5.8.1.
For examples, see the "What's New" section in the NMAP help panel as well as the on line help for GDFILE and GPARM.
Watch Outline Update (WOU) and Watch County Notification (WCN) displays now support county fill in addition to outline. Status update displays have been enhanced to allow the option of only displaying the most recent status line via the WTCH attributes.
Plotting options for the Watch Status Line have been enhanced for NMAP2 and GPMAP. Options are to plot the most recent status line, the watch time for the watch box and/or watch status line, and the watch number for either the watch box and/or watch status line. The "WTCH Attributes" GUI has been modified with additional check boxes to control these attributes.
A stand-alone GRIB2 decoder NAGRIB2 has been added to the core development. The ability to pack and store data in GRIB2 format within GEMPAK grid files will be added in a future release.
The following programs now include calls to the new functions:
A new decoder, DCWCP, decodes the WCP text messages created by the WOU- update program. The decoded message is in an ASCII format, similar to the decoded watches. Please see $GEMHLP/hlp/dcwcp.hlp for more information on the DCWCP decoder and its output format.
new parameter (WCP) has been added to GPMAP for displaying the decoded WCP data. The watch lines in the decoded WCP file have the option to be color coded to the watch number. Otherwise, by default, they are color coded as severe thunderstorms (cyan) and tornadoes (red). The capability to display WCPs in NMAP2 is also available. The data source is found under the "MISC" data source category.
The marine surface decoder DCMSFC has been modified to decode five new section 5 ("national practice") buoy/CMAN parameters - highest one-minute mean wind speed in m/s (PKWS), direction of one-minute peak wind in degrees (PKWD), time of one-minute peak wind as hhmm (PKWT), lowest one-minute average pressure in millibars (PMN1), and time of lowest one-minute average pressure as hhmm (PMNT). New computed parameters PKWK (highest one- minute mean wind speed in knots) and BRPK (wind barb in knots for highest peak 1-minute wind) were added. Tables were modified to allow for display in NMAP2 and the GEMPAK SF programs.
GEMPAK gridded data diagnostic functionality has been enhanced to allow for computations over layers containing multiple levels of the vertical coordinate. This functionality allows for a new set of LYR_ functions to be entered in GFUNC or GDPFUN to calculate layer quantities. The general form of the user input is
LYR_X ( arg1 & arg2 & ... & argN & argout | levels )
where X is the name of the function (currently only SWTM exists), arg1-argN are input arguments, argout identifies a particular output if the function can produce more than one output, and levels is an optional input specifying the levels to be used. If levels is not specified, the level information is taken from the GLEVEL input.
The infrastructure for the LYR_ capability has been created for this release along with one function. This single function is LYR_SWTM, which calculates a weighted layer average of its single input argument. This argument can be any valid diagnostic function string. Additional layer diagnostics will be added in future releases.
Three new ensemble diagnostics have been added in this release. They are:
The XW driver has been modified to allow the user to "take a picture" of the current frame. There is a new GEMPAK command, GSAVE, that takes the output file name as an argument and saves the frame to the file in the GIF format. This command operates from any GEMPAK text-interface program that draws data to an X Window. Type help from any GEMPAK program to get additional information on this command.
The export GIF functionality was also added to NMAP2. From the File menu, select "Export to GIF". A popup window appears and allows the user to enter the output file name. When OK is selected, the current frame is saved to the output file. If the output file exists, a file name is constructed that adds a three digit number to the file name. For example, if the file gempak.gif exists and the user attempts to save a new frame to the same name, then the output file will be gempak_001.gif. The next time the same file name is used, the output file will be gempak_002.gif, etc.
If the user has set the roam factor to larger than the default, then the entire pixmap is saved to the output file, not just the portion that is in view in the window.
The objective analysis (OA) programs OABSFC and OABSND have a new parameter OABND. OABND specifies the bounds file(s) to use for 'blocking', that is masking out geographical areas based on bounded areas. Observations within the bounded area are not considered nor are observations whose line-of- sight to an analysis point is 'blocked' by a bounded area. Multiple bound areas may be specified; the default is NULL - no bounds blocking specified. See $GEMHLP/hlx/oabnd.hl2 or type 'phelp oabnd' for additional information.
A new GEMPAK parameter, GUESFUN, has been added to the objective analysis (OA) programs, OABSFC and OABSND. The new parameter allows the user to specify a different field as a first guess than the analyzed field. For example the 10 meter temperature from a model can now be used as a first guess for the 2 meter temperature analyzed field.
***** IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE: *****
The previous practice of specifying the forecast hour (time) along with the filename in the GUESS parameter is replaced with this capability. The forecast hour of the model grid MUST now be placed in-line in the new GUESFUN parameter. Therefore, any scripts specifying the forecast time in the GUESS parameter MUST be modified. An example of specifying the forecast hour with the new GUESFUN parameter is :
GUESFUN = hght@10%HGHT^f012
See the GEMPAK help on GUESFUN for additional details.
Raw sounding reports, e.g., TTAA, TTBB, etc., can now be displayed in NWX. To view raw sounding reports, select "Observed Data", then select "Sounding Data". The tables $GEMTBL/nwx/master.tbl and guidata.tbl have been modified accordingly.
The members of an ensemble listed between curly brackets ({}) in GDFILE input may be assigned weights. If no weights are assigned, the members are equally weighted. The weight values range from 0 to 100 and must sum to 100. The weight is prefixed to the name of the member and followed by a "%" which acts as a delimiter between the weight value and the name. If the member name refers to a collection of individual members (e.g., SREF), then the weight value is divided equally among those individual members. These weights can be used in computing ensemble scalar and vector means (ENS_SAVG and ENS_VAVG) and the ensemble percentile funcion (ENS_PRCNTL, see description below), but not spreads. The help for GDFILE provides more information.
A new ensemble function, ENS_PRCNTL, has been added to compute the value of a function associated with a given percentile of occurrence within a weighted ensemble. The percentile may be specified as a constant or as a parameter or function that is valued between 0 and 100. For example if the value of 50 is specified, then the median of a diagnostic over ensemble members can be computed. The help for GPARM has more information on ENS_PRCNTL.
A new ensemble function, ENS_MODE, is now available to estimate the mode, the most frequently occurring value, in a weighted ensemble. This function will usually find the dominant mode closest to the mean. Secondary modes are ignored. An iterative trisection algorithm is used that takes into account the weights of the members.
New ensemble functions to calculate the maximum, minimum and range for a scalar diagnostic field over the range of ensembles have been developed. These functions are ENS_SMAX, ENS_SMIN and ENS_SRNG, respectively. See the GPARM help for additional details.
GDATTIM may now be used to override the default values provided by DATTIM; GFUNC may now be used to override PARMS; GLEVEL and GVCORD may now be used to override '0' and 'SFC', respectively. See the help file for OABSFC for more information and restrictions.
Existing scripts may be inadvertently affected by this change. Specifically, the values for GDATTIM, GFUNC, GLEVEL, and GVCORD set by other scripts will now affect the output of OABSFC. Therefore, these parameters MUST be set to blank in existing scripts to ensure that OABSFC continues to operate as before this release.
New sounding diagnostics have been added to NSHARP. This development was done in collaboration with the OPC.
The current modifications include three main changes: 1) Page 2 of the diagnostic panel is now the new "OPC Low Level Stability" page, 2) this page details three measures of atmospheric stability with calculations and relevant layer data, and 3) the mixing heights from the various OPC calculations are now shown graphically on the SKEWT display.
The new OPC diagnostics are measures of low level atmospheric stability. The simplest of these is the temperature gradient between the 975 hPa level and the surface, which is negative under mixed conditions. A basic measure of the surface mixing height is the height of the lowest temperature inversion; this level is drawn on the SKEWT display as a solid yellow line. Two alternate measures of the mixing height are calculated using either a layer-based or surface-based lapse rate. The threshold criterion for the mixing level is 85% of the dry adiabatic lapse rate (as in BUFKIT). The layer-based calculated height is shown as a dotted cyan line on the SKEWT graph, and the surface-based height is shown as a dashed magenta line.
The new mixing height lines are fully dynamic and will automatically be redrawn when looping or manually altering the data profile.
The zone table $GEMTBL/stns/zones.tbl has been updated in accordance with NWS changes distributed in May and June, 2005.
The spcwatch.tbl has been updated according to the October 25, 2005 implementation of new anchor points.
Sfmetar_sa.tbl has many additions for US and Canadian stations as needed to keep pace with datastream changes.
The N-AWIPS directory topology has been modified by to conform to the UNIX paradigm for operating system (os) specific programs, includes, and object libraries. In other words, the bin, include and lib directories for a specific os will have a COMMON root path. This change makes the inclusion of external libraries and packages more straight forward by allowing the use of supplied configure scripts rather than individual package tree configurations.
The Gemenviron and Gemenviron.profile configurations have been modified to conform to the new tree structure. Specifically, $GEMEXE is redefined from $NAWIPS/bin/$NA_OS to $NAWIPS/os/$NA_OS/bin, while platform independent scripts and utilities will be found under $NAWIPS/bin.
All external libraries needed by N-AWIPS have been moved to sub-directories under $NAWIPS/extlibs. The sub-directories include:
Sites which develop local applications and utilities may need to check any path names used for executable and build environments especially if the Gemenviron and Makeinc.common files are not used.
A new program nmap_kiosk has been added to facilitate the use of NMAP2 in a kiosk setting. NMAP2 provides up to 16 loop frames, and has autoupdate features for loops containing imagery as a dominant source. Typically, switching between loops is done either through the selection widget, or the keyboard hot "F" keys.
To enable the loops to be cycled at specified intervals, the nmap_kiosk program is provided to provide the keyboard hotkey input. A script $NAWIPS/bin/run_kiosk.csh is provided to facilitate use.
User defined parameters in the script are the first loop frame and last loop frame to iterate through, and the sleep time in between each loop change. The script calls the X11 utility xwininfo to allow the user to click on the desired NMAP2 invocation to run in kiosk mode.
Three additional logical functions are added: EQ (S1,S2,S3) evaluates |S1-S2| <= S3, NE (S1,S2,S3) evaluates |S1-S2| > S3, and NOT (S) evaluates S==0. If the evaluation is true the function assigns 1; otherwise 0.
See help on GPARM for additional details.
ENS_PROB(AND(GT(MAG(WND),10),LT(TMPC,0))).
See help on GPARM for additional details.
The NTRANS Procedure File (NPF) stores the number of rows and columns that are displayed for a multi-panel display. It also contains information about each panel. This information includes the metafile source name with the model cycle date and time replaced with a [cycle_date] and [cycle_hour], respectively. The column and row location of the panel, the group name, and whether the source was used to set the valid time for the animation are also saved within the file.
When a user loads a .npf file, the text strings [cycle_date] and [cycle_hour] within the source name are replaced with the latest available cycle date and hour for that model source. The model used to set the valid time (if done at all) is loaded first with the remaining models loading at the matching times and time intervals.
The Layer Max/Min function computes the maximum or minimum of a scalar quantity over the specified levels. The functio n can also compute the value of an output grid where the max or min of the input grid occurs. The syntax for the function is:
LYR_MXMN ( ARGIN & FLDOUT [ & ARGOUT ] [ | LEVELS ] )
FLDOUT controls what grid values are returned to the user. If FLDOUT is MXVAL or MNVAL, then the values are the maxim um or minimum values of grid specified by ARGIN. If FLDOUT is MXOUT or MNOUT, then values are from the grid specifie d by ARGOUT at the same level as the maximum or minimum of ARGIN. LEVELS is a list of individual levels or a range. S ee the help for GFUNC for examples.
The Layer Value on an Isosurface function computes the value of a function on a specified isosurface of a second funct ion. The function finds the isosurface by either searching the levels from the bottom or from the top. It will also re turn values associated with the Nth isosurface. The syntax for the function is:
LYR_FVONISFC ( FVALU & FISFC & VISFC & N & GRADFLAG [ | LEVELS ] )
FVALU is the grid that is interpolated to the isosurface. FISFC is the grid that represents the isosurface. VISFC is t he threshold applied to FISFC. This can be a grid or a constant value. N is the occurrence number of the isosurfaces. If N is positive, the search is conducted starting at the bottom. A negative N starts the search at the top level. GR ADFLAG is a function to specify whether the data is increasing or decreasing across the threshold during the search. L EVELS is a list of individual levels or a range. See the help for GFUNC for examples.
Unidata Specific AdditionsThe grid diagnostic libraries and associated INCLUDE files have been converted from FORTRAN to the _C_ programming language. These libraries are DG, DF, DV, DL, DE, PD and the INCLUDE file _DGCMN.CMN_. This implementation is part of a larger effort to eliminate current grid size limitations within GEMPAK grid applications. In N-AWIPS 5.9.4, the grid limit will be raised to 750K points. Future efforts will target the goal of eliminating ALL grid size limitations within ALL GEMPAK applications and libraries.
The overall functionality of grid diagnostic libraries has not changed. Users of GEMPAK programs that employ these libraries (such as GDPLOT2) should not see any calculation differences between the new code (v5.9.4) and previous versions. In addition, the performance of these libraries has not changed. The N-AWIPS team has conducted an extensive set of regression tests for the converted libraries in our development environment to ensure the integrity and performance of the system.
*GEMPAK DEVELOPERS, IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE:*
As part of this conversion, we have eliminated several dg library routines that have not been used by the operational baseline applications for over a year. These routines will no longer be supported in version 5.9.4. If you have your own applications that use the dg library, please see the migration document that lists the eliminated dg routines and describes how to replace them with the supported routines. In addition, the gd library has been modified for more efficient management of grid files. If your applications require modifications, they can be made with the 5.9.3 baseline.
Note: An example program illustrating grid access is available here:
newgrid_example.tar.gz.
Additional features of GEMPAK 5.9.4
In order to provide flexibility in decoded output. The following environment variables may be used to configure the decoder:
BUFR sounding files posted on the NCEP ftp server are blocked on a big endian (byte order) machine. To use these files with NAMSND on a little endian OS, the files must be unblocked and reblocked. Information on this utility is available here.
To use the utility to unblock and reblock the data for little endian machines:
A test script $NAWIPS/unidata/programs/cwordsh/reblock.csh in the source distribution to unblock and reblock as sample data file, and then convert to GEMPAK format using NAMSND.
To display the storm-based polygons, run gpmap or nmap2. When the polygon flag is YES, the polygon will be plotted with the color assigned to the type of waring being displayed. See the $GEMTBL/config/miscset.tbl configuration change for WARN.
For more information, see the help for dcwarn, $GEMHLP/help/dcwarn.hlp and the help for the warn parameter, $GEMHLP/hlx/warn.hl2.
More information can be found in the release notes here under the NMAP2 Help "What's New" section.
Notification to retire 5 legacy programs with 5.11.2 in February, 2008
NCEP developers have provided notification for retirement of five legacy GEMPAK GD programs. They are: GDCNTR, GDSTREAM, GDWIND, GDMAP and GDPLOT. The functionality of each of these programs is fully incorporated into GDPLOT2. In addition, GDPLOT2 provides additional capabilities beyond the capabilities provided by these individual programs. Minimal changes are needed to go from the legacy program parameter settings to GDPLOT2 parameter settings.
The plan is to retire these five programs one year from February, 2007. That is, they will not be included with 5.11.2 in February, 2008.
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