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Sounding Display Controls
Overview

The meteorological sounding display is available for: RAOBs, numerical weather prediction model output, and from a local file that contains aircraft track data. The dewpoint temperature is computed by internal code from temperature and relative humidity grids.

To load sounding data see Choosing RAOB Sounding Data and Displaying Gridded Data. The sounding display consists of a table of aerological (thermodynamic) parameters and three tabs: Sounding Chart, Hodograph, and Table.

The Sounding Chart tab includes an aerological diagram (e.g., skew-T, Stuve, Emagram):

Image 1: Skew-T of Point Data
Image 1: Skew-T of Point Data
Properties

A label above the sounding's chart shows the station number, date, and time of the sounding. When displaying sounding plots made from gridded model output, the position of the sounding is shown in the Main Display window by a solid-color selector point and vertical line. You can move this model-output-based sounding position over the map by dragging the selector point with the left mouse button.

When displaying a sounding diagram made from gridded numerical weather model output, there is a pull-down selector menu of the model output valid times in the upper right corner.

The animation control buttons are available in either case:

Time Animation widget

To increase precision using the sounding diagram, enlarge the window by dragging on the edges. You can zoom the sounding diagram by holding down the Shift key and dragging the right button upwards; drag downwards to zoom out. Zooming can also be done by using the scroll wheel on the mouse. You can pan the diagram by dragging the mouse pointer in any direction while holding down the right mouse button.

The temperature and dewpoint traces can be modified via the cursor. Press the left button on the first data-point to be modified and drag it horizontally along an isobar to the desired position, then move the pointer diagonally along an isotherm to keep the data-point at the desired position and to pick-up the next data-point. Repeat until done and then release the mouse button.

The Hodograph tab shows a 3D hodograph display:

Image 2: Hodograph of Point Data
Image 2: Hodograph of Point Data

The hodograph is enabled if the plotted data includes wind fields. It can be rotated into 3D by clicking and dragging the right mouse button. You can zoom in/out by holding down Shift and right-clicking and dragging up/down or by using the scroll wheel on the mouse. To reset the hodograph, use Ctrl+R.

The Table tab shows a table of all values in the sounding:

Image 3: Table of Point Data
Image 3: Table of Point Data
Properties
Aerological Parameters

The table to the left of the sounding diagram contains aerological parameters determined from the atmospheric sounding displayed in the diagram. The following abbreviations are used:

Menus

Many of the menu items seen utilizing this display are standard options that can be found in the Menus section of the Layer Controls page. However, there are some options that are unique to this display.

The File menu has this unique option:

The Edit menu has these unique options:

The View menu has these unique options:


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