UAPLOT

Plots a sounding on a thermodynamic diagram.

Format

UAPLOT station time day [keywords]

Parameters

station	4-character station ID or 5-digit station ID number, e.g., KGRB or 72645
time	observation time (default=0 if current time is between 0 UTC and 11:59 UTC, otherwise default=12)
day	observation date; valid formats include YYYYDDD,YYYY/MM/DD and DD/MON/YYYY where YYYY, DDD, MM and DD are integers and MON is three or more letters, e.g., JAN or JANUARY (default=current)

Keywords

ANAlysis=	text gra	controls display of sounding/parcel analysis values in the text frame and graphics frame; specify YES in text to list all the values in the text frame; specify YES in gra to plot selected values in the graphics frame below the diagram and the EL, LFC, and LCL markers on the diagram; specify NO in either or both to suppress the values (default=NO YES)
CENter=	YES	set the temperature range to place the profile near the center of the diagram; you cannot use CENTER with the TRANGE keyword
	NO	use the temperature range in the TRANGE keyword (default)
COLor=	t td win mix sat bg par ax graphics color level for each component (default=3 3 3 4 1 8 1 8 if OLAY=NO [the default]; default=2 2 2 4 1 8 1 8 if OLAY=YES)
	t	temperature profile, sounding/parcel analysis values, plot title, and EL, LFC, LCL markers
	td	dew point profile
	win	wind barbs, or wind staffs and speeds (see the WIND keyword)
	mix	constant mixing ratio lines
	sat	saturation adiabats
	bg	background grid (isotherms, dry adiabats, and wind pole)
	par	sounding/parcel analysis labels and wind unit label
	ax	pressure and temperature axes and labels
	note: you can specify 0 to omit (not draw) any component
DATaset=	mand sig	source ADDE point dataset names for mandatory- and significant-level data; specify as group/descriptor or alias; you must specify NONE in the sig parameter or SIG=NO keyword to use only mandatory data, i.e., ignore the significant data (mand default=RTPTSRC/UPPERMAND; sig default=RTPTSRC/UPPERSIG if mand =RTPTSRC/UPPERMAND, otherwise sig default=NONE)
DEPth=	depth in mb from the surface to include in the parcel analysis; the range is 0 - 400 where 0 means use only surface data (default=100)
EDIt=	YES	invoke the sounding editor after the diagram is plotted; valid only for FORM=SKEWT; the sounding editor lets you interactively change temperatures, dew point temperatures, wind speeds and directions; follow the instructions output by the command to change these values
	NO	do not envoke the sounding editor (default)
FORm=	SKEwt		display data on a skew T diagram, skewed 45 degrees in T vs. log P (default)
	STUve		display data on a Stuve diagram, linear in T vs. P**0.286 (R/CP)
	LINear		display data on a linear diagram, linear in T vs. P
	EMAgram		display data on an Emagram, linear in T vs. log P
GRA=	graphic frame number to display diagram (default=current)
LEVels=	ALL	plot EL, LCL and LFC (Equilibrium Level, Lifted Condensation Level, and Level of Free Convection, respectively) markers on the diagram
	NONE	do not plot EL, LCL and LFC markers
	lev1 lev2	plot only the specified marker(s); specify one or two of these levels: EL and/or LCL and/or LFC
OLAy=	YES	overlays the existing plot; the new wind data is drawn to the right of the OLAY=NO wind data, and the new plot title and sounding/parcel analysis values are written below the OLAY=NO title and values; use OLAY=YES to compare two soundings with different times or locations on a single plot
	NO	does not overlay the existing plot; erases the graphics then plots the entire diagram and sounding (default)
OUTlonly=	YES	draws a diagram without any data
	NO	draws a diagram and plots the upper-air data for the specified station (default)
PRAnge=	min max	pressure levels in mb at the top and bottom of the diagram, respectively (default=100 1050)
SIG=	YES	include data from the significant-level dataset specified in the DATASET keyword (default)
	NO	do not include the data from the significant-level dataset specified in the DATASET keyword; use only its mandatory-level dataset
TRAnge=	min max	temperatures, in degrees Celsius, at the top-left and bottom-right of the diagram, respectively; you cannot use TRANGE with the CENTER keyword (default=calculated, based on the pressure range in the PRANGE keyword)
UNIt=	MB	plot the height in millibars along the left axis (default)
	FT	plot the height in feet along the left axis
	M	plot the height in meters along the left axis
WINd=	type units scale spacing
	settings for wind data (default=BARB KTS 1.0 12), where:
	type	wind symbol, either BARB or STAFF where:
		BARB		wind barbs, where: flag=50kts (~25mps), long barb=10kts (~5mps), short barb=5kts (~2.5mps)
		STAFF		wind staffs with the numeric wind speed plotted next to each staff's origin
	units	units of numeric wind speed plotted next to origin of each wind staff; run CU LIST to list valid units and abbreviations; changing units does not affect wind barbs
	scale	scaling factor used to change the relitive size of the wind barbs or staffs from the default; e.g., 2.0 doubles the size and 0.5 halves the size
	spacing	minimum space in pixels between the origins of the wind barbs along the vertical wind pole, or minimum space in pixels between wind speed values plotted next to each staff's origin

Remarks:

UAPLOT automatically erases the graphics before each plot unless OLAY=YES is specified.

Use the ANA keyword to list all available sounding/parcel analysis values in the text frame and plot selected values in the graphics frame below the diagram. To obtain the sounding/parcel analysis values, the reported heights are recomputed for hydrostatic consistency, though the adjustments are generally less than 10 meters. Also, the computed parcel temperature of a 12 UTC sounding is warmed 2 K to account for daytime heating. No adjustment is made to the computed parcel temperature of a 0 UTC sounding.

The following abbreviations are used for the sounding/parcel analysis values below the diagram: KI=K Index, LI=Lifted Index, SwI=Sweat Index, TTI=Total Totals Index, CVT=Convective Temperature in C, FMAX=Forecast Maximum Temperature in C, ThE=Equivalent Potential Temperature in K, EL=Equilibrium Level in mb, MIX=Mixing Ratio in g/kg, PW=Precipitable Water in mm, CAPE=Convective Available Potential Energy in J/kg, and HELI=Helicity in m**2/s**2. See Appendix E, Stability Parameters for definitions of these parameters.

Examples:

UAPLOT OUTL=YES

This entry plots a blank skew T diagram without data from a station.

UAPLOT KOUN 0
UAPLOT KCHS 0 OLAY=YES

The first entry plots a skew T diagram of mandatory- and significant-level data for Norman, Oklahoma at 0 UTC of the current day. The second entry overlays the existing plot with mandatory- and significant-level data for Charleston, South Carolina. The temperature profile, dew point profile, wind data, and EL (Equilibrium Level), LFC (Level of Free Convection), and LCL (Lifted Condensation Level) markers are drawn in graphics color level 3 for Norman, and graphics level 2 for Charleston.

UAPLOT KEYW 12 1998310 FORM=STUVE ANA=YES DEPTH=50

This entry plots a Stuve diagram of mandatory- and significant-level data for Key West, Florida at 12 UTC on day 1998310. The ANA=YES keyword outputs all parcel/sounding analysis values in the text frame and selected values below the Stuve diagram in the graphics frame. The sounding/parcel analysis values are computed using a boundary layer depth of 50 mb instead of the default value, 100 mb.

UAPLOT KOUN 0 PRANGE=500 850 CENTER=YES WIND=STAFF

This entry plots a skew T diagram of mandatory- and significant-level data for Norman, Oklahoma at 0 UTC of the current day. The diagram's pressure range is 500 to 850 mb instead of the default range, 100 to 1050 mb. The CENTER=YES keyword sets the diagram's temperature range so the temperature and dew point profiles are near the center. Winds are plotted as staffs with the numeric wind speed next to the origin of each staff.

UAPLOT KMFR 12 06/JUNE/1998 DATASET=LOCAL/MAND.1017

This entry plots a skew T diagram of mandatory-level data for Medford, Oregon at 12 UTC on 6 June 1998. The data is obtained from the file in position 1017 of the dataset LOCAL/MAND.