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22 Map Database Reference

Map Databases

Map databases are accessed through GEMPAK programs by using the $MAPFIL variable. The $MAPFIL variable is called a hidden variable since it doesn't show up in the user interface list of variables.

You can specify multiple map files using the '+' character to separate each file name:

Attributes for the MAP settings for each individual map file listed in $MAPFIL are also separated using the '+' character.

GEMPAK programs search for map files in the directory named in the environmental variable GEMMAPS by default. Map data bases can be created from ascii files so you are not limited to those provided with the N-AWIPS distribution; however, the mapfiles provided with the GEMPAK provide an extensive database for most applications.

The map files in GEMMAPS are named by concatenating the resolution, map boundaries, and area with the three-letter source file type. For example, the medium-resolution political world map from GSFC is called MEPOWO.GSF.
The Table below shows the types of map combinations available, (capital letters denote the abbreviation letters used in the GEMMAPS file names).

       RESOLUTION	  FEATURES		 AREA		SOURCE

	 ToP	   POlitical		 WOrld		   GSFc
	 HIgh	   COastline		 NW quadrant	   NWS
	 MEdium    REgional		 NE quadrant	   CIA
	 LOw	   CouNty		 SE quadrant	   USGeol survey
	 MiXed	   CountrY		 SW quadrant	   NCeP
		   RiVers		 North Hemisphere  RFC
		   InterState highways	 South Hemisphere  CPC
		   U.s. Highways	 US                UNIdata
		   State Highways	 Us Oceans
		   RoaDs		 North America
		   River Forecast Cntrs  Atlantic North
		   County Watch Areas	 Atlantic1
		   ZoNes		 Atlantic2
		   High Seas		 Atlantic3
		   OffShore		 Pacific North
		   Forecast Bounds	 Pacific East
		   AViation		 Pacific Surface
		   Flight Info region	 Pacific1
		   Convective Sigmet Reg Pacific2
		   Tpc High seas         Pacific3
		   Tpc Sigmets           MarylanD
		   Tpc surface Bounds    Basic Weather
		   Tpc surface Analysis  Medium Range
		   Tpc aViation bounds   Qpf Verification
		   Continental Divide	 Western Region
		   Mar pred ctr Offshore Arkansas-Red Basin
		   River fcst ctr Basins Lower Mississippi
		   Climate Zones         Middle Atlantic
		   Palmer climate Zones  Missouri Basin
		   STates                North Central
		   LaKes                 NorthEast
		                         OHio
		                         SouthEast
		                         West Gulf


The following map files are currently available:


		TPSTUS.NWS	   HISTUS.NWS	    MESTUS.NWS	    LOSTUS.NWS
		TPCNUS.NWS	   HICNUS.NWS	    MECNUS.NWS	    LOCNUS.NWS
		TPCWA.NWS	   HICWA.NWS	    MECWA.NWS	    LOCWA.NWS
		TPZNUS.NWS	   HIZNUS.NWS	    MEZNUS.NWS	    LOZNUS.NWS
		TPCSUS.NWS	   HIPOWO.GSF	    MEPOWO.GSF	    LOPOWO.GSF
		TPCDUS.USG	   HICDUS.USG	    MECDUS.USG	    LOCDUS.USG
				   HIRVUS.USG       MERVUS.USG	    LORVUS.USG
		   		   HIISUS.NWS			    LOISUS.NWS
				   HIUHUS.NWS			    LOUHUS.NWS
		   		   HISHUS.NWS		   	    LOSHUS.NWS
		   		   HIRDUS.NWS		   	    LORDUS.NWS
		   	 	   HIOSUO.NWS		   	    LOOSUO.NWS
		   	 	   HIPOWO.CIA
		   	 	   HICOWO.CIA
		   	 	   HICYWO.CIA
		   	 	   HIAVUS.NWS
		   	 	   HIPONE.CIA
		   	 	   HIPONW.CIA
		   	 	   HIPOSE.CIA
		   	 	   HIPOSW.CIA
		   	 	   HICNMD.GSF
		   	 	   HIFIWO.NCP
		   	 	   HIFIWO.NCP
		BWX1224.NCP
		BWX3648.NCP
		ISLANDS.CIA
		LAKES.CIA
		RFC.NWS
		TECTONIC.CIA
		TPCZUS.CPC
		TPPZUS.CPC
		TPFBWR.NCP
		TPTANA.NCP
		TPTBNA.NCP
		TPTHNA.NCP
		TPTSNA.NCP
		TPTVNA.NCP
		TPRBAB.RFC
		TPRBLM.RFC
		TPRBMA.RFC
		TPRBMB.RFC
		TPRBNC.RFC
		TPRBNE.RFC
		TPRBOH.RFC
		TPRBSE.RFC
		TPRBWG.RFC
	    					    MEFBNA.NCP
		TPHSUO.NWS	HIHSUO.NWS	    MEHSUO.NWS	    LOHSUO.NWS
						    MEHSUO.NCP
			       			    MEREUO.NCP
			       			    MEFBAN.NCP
			       			    MEFBPE.NCP
			       			    MEFBPN.NCP
			       			    MEFBBW.NCP
			       			    MEFBMR.NCP
			       			    MEFBPS.NCP
			       			    MEFBQV.NCP
			       			    MEFBA1.NCP
			       			    MEFBA2.NCP
		TPFBA3.NCP	   HIFBA3.NCP  	    MEFBA3.NCP	    LOFBA3.NCP
			       			    MEFBP1.NCP
			       			    MEFBP2.NCP
		TPFBP3.NCP	   HIFBP3.NCP	    MEFBP3.NCP	    LOFBP3.NCP
		TPMOUO.NWS	   HIMOUO.NWS	    MEMOUO.NWS	    LOMOUO.NWS
					  			    LOCONH.GSF
					   			    LOCOSH.GSF
					   			    LOCOWO.GSF
					   			    LORVWO.CIA
						  	    MXPOWO.NCP
		TPLKUS.NWS	   HILKUS.NWS	    MELKUS.NWS	    LOLKUS.NWS

The default map is $GEMMAPS/HIPOWO.CIA.

The capability to use map alias names is available. This makes it easier to use the map files without previously knowing the long file name. The following is a list of alias definitions.

	bwx1224		    Basic Weather 12 & 24hr	    bwx1224.ncp
	bwx3648		    Basic Weather 36 & 48hr	    bwx3648.ncp
	bwxgif		    Basic Weather GIF        	    mefbbw.ncp
	medrange	    Medium Range Weather     	    mefbmr.ncp
	cwa		    County Warning Areas     	    hicwa.nws
	rfc          	    River Forecast Centers   	    rfc.nws
	abrfc        	    AR-Red Basin RFC Basins  	    tprbab.rfc
	lmrfc        	    Lower MS RFC Basins      	    tprblm.rfc
	marfc        	    Mid Atlantic RFC Basins  	    tprbma.rfc
	mbrfc        	    MO Basin RFC Basins      	    tprbmb.rfc
	ncrfc        	    North Central RFC Basins 	    tprbnc.rfc
	nerfc        	    Northeast RFC Basins     	    tprbne.rfc
	ohrfc        	    Ohio RFC Basins          	    tprboh.rfc
	serfc        	    Southeast RFC Basins     	    tprbse.rfc
	wgrfc        	    West Gulf RFC Basins     	    tprbwg.rfc
        states       	    US states, NWS           	    histus.nws
	county       	    US counties, NWS         	    hicnus.nws
	zones        	    US zones, NWS            	    hiznus.nws
	climate      	    US CPC Climate Zones     	    tpczus.cpc
	palmer	     	    US Palmer Climate Zones  	    tppzus.cpc
	coast        	    World Coasts             	    hicowo.cia
	country      	    Hi-res World Countries   	    hicywo.cia
	inter        	    US Interstates           	    loisus.nws
	base         	    Poltcal Bndry,World,CIA  	    hipowo.cia
	nmap         	    Poltcal Bndry,World,CIA  	    hipowo.cia
	nsat         	    Poltcal Bndry,World,CIA  	    hipowo.cia
	roads        	    US Roads                 	    lordus.nws
	rivers       	    Rivers                   	    lorvwo.cia
	hirivers     	    Hi-res US Rivers         	    hirvus.usg
	state        	    State Highways           	    loshus.nws
	ushwy        	    US Highways              	    louhus.nws
	islands      	    Islands                  	    islands.cia
	lakes        	    Lakes                    	    lakes.cia
	nafos        	    Mix-res Pol Bndry,World  	    mxpowo.ncp
	hiseas       	    High Seas Forecast Areas 	    mehsuo.ncp
        rseas        	    Regional Sea Fcst Areas  	    mereuo.ncp
	offshore     	    Offshore Forecast Areas  	    hiosuo.nws
	offsh2       	    Offshore Forecast MPC    	    himouo.nws
	sigwx        	    Significant AVN Areas    	    sigwx.ncp
	nam          	    North America Fcst Bnds  	    mefbna.ncp
	epacprod     	    East Pacific Products    	    mefbpe.ncp
	npacprod     	    North Pacific Products   	    mefbpn.ncp
	natlprod     	    North Atlantic Products  	    mefban.ncp
	pacsfcpd     	    Pacific Surface Products 	    mefbps.ncp
	pacpart1     	    Pacific SFC Anal Part 1  	    mefbp1.ncp
	pacpart2     	    Pacific SFC Anal Part 2  	    mefbp2.ncp
	atlpart1     	    Atlantic SFC Anal Part 1 	    mefba1.ncp
	atlpart2     	    Atlantic SFC Anal Part 2 	    mefba2.ncp
	qpfver       	    QPF Verification         	    mefbqv.ncp
	fir          	    Flight Information Regn  	    hifiwo.ncp
	convsigmet   	    Convective Sigmet Bounds 	    tpcsus.ncp
	wregion      	    Western Region Boundary  	    tpfbwr.ncp
	tpcsfc       	    TPC Surface Analysis     	    tptana.ncp
	tpcsfcbnd    	    TPC Surface Boundary     	    tptbna.ncp
	tpchsf       	    TPC High Seas            	    tpthna.ncp
	tpcsig       	    TPC SigMets              	    tptsna.ncp
	tpcavn       	    TPC Aviation             	    tptvna.ncp
!
! Unidata additions
	rdis         Interstates              rdis.uni
	rdus         US Highways              rdus.uni
	rdsh         State Highways           rdsh.uni
	rdar         Arterial Roads           rdar.uni
	hicnuni      AWIPS counnties          hicnus.uni
	histuni      AWIPS states             states.uni

The alias names are specified in the table: $GEMTBL/config/mapfil.tbl.

 


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