McIDAS-X Learning Guide
Version 2020

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GUI - Plotting Surface and Upper Air Data

In this exercise, you will plot real-time surface and upper air observations (Please note that these two GUIs currently only work for real-time data, even though all MD datasets are listed under the dataset menu button).

Plotting Surface Data

1. Switch back to looping all frames, and erase the image and graphics in all six frames.

   Select:  Show Frame/ALL FRAMES/1

   Click:   Erase Image

   Click:   Erase Graphics

   Click:   Advance Frame

   Repeat process until all six frames (1-6) have been erased.

2. Display the current wind speeds on frame 1. Display the data in meters per second over the Midwest using the dataset RTPTSRC/SFCHOURLY. Display a sky blue map with white label colors.

   Select:  Display/Real-time Surface Data

   Select:  Select Frame/ALL FRAMES/1

   Select:  Dataset/RTPTSRC/SFCHOURLY, Parameter/Wind Speed, Units/Wind/MPS, and Time/Current Time

   Click:   Today's Date

   Click:   Options Tab

   Select:  Map Boundaries/MID

   Select:  Map Color/SKY

   Select:  Label Color/WHITE

   Click:   Load Point(s)

   The plot should look similar to this:

   


3. Now, look at the map and find the state with the highest wind speed.
   
   Use that state when defining the map to display the wind gusts on frame 2.

   Click:   the Data tab

   Select:  Select Frame/ALL FRAMES/2

   Select:  Parameter/Wind Gusts

   Click:   the Options tab

   Select:  Map Boundaries/the state you chose

   Click:   Load and Dismiss

Plotting Upper Air Data

1. Erase the graphics from the first two frames using the method in step 1 above, and bring up the DISPLAY/Real-time Upper Air Data GUI.
2. Using the method described above, display today's 0 UTC 500 mb temperature from the RTPTSRC/UPPERMAND dataset over the United States.
3. Dismiss the Real-time Upper Air GUI.

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