WRF-Python

NCL

RIP4

ARWpost

VAPOR

IDV

 

 

 

 

 

WRF Model GRAPHIC TOOLS

Available Graphical Tools

There are a number of visualization tools available to display WRF model data. Since the model data is written in netCDF format (netCDF libraries are available from the Unidata homepage - http://www.unidata.ucar.edu), essentially any tool capable of displaying this data format can be used to display the WRF model data.

NCAR currently supports the following graphical tools, NCL, RIP4, ARWpost, VAPOR, and IDV. A short description of each are given below. Also refer to the WRF Tutorial Lecture Notes on graphics for extra details.

Follow the links to the left to connect to the online tutorial for each of the packages.
 

NCL
NCL (the NCAR Command Language) is a very powerful scripting language which has many advantages over the traditional NCAR Graphics codes that use Fortran or C. See the NCL web site for further information. The package provided here is a set of ready-made NCL scripts for creating basic plots from WRF data. These scripts are relatively easy to read and change to generate different or more plots.

Features and Limitations:

    • Does not require a large intermediate data set, i.e., these scripts read WRF system data files directly (seen by some as an advantage).
    • Vertical interpolation to pressure, height levels, etc. is handled on-the-fly by the plotting scripts, providing added versatility.
    • Can process WRF input and output data.
    • Can process output from real-weather, 2-D and idealized simulations.
    • A relatively large number of diagnostics are available.
    • Package includes NCAR Graphics Library.

WRF-Python

WRF-Python Home Page
Suggest Ideas or Report Issues with WRF-Python

RIP4
RIP, which stands for Read/Interpolate/Plot, is a Fortran program that utilizes the NCAR Graphics System Plot Package Simulator suite of plotting routines for creating plots from mesoscale model output. RIP is capable of producing horizontal or vertical cross section plots of scalar fields (contours) or vector fields (barbs or arrows), vertical profiles and soundings, and trajectories. Its primary strengths are its portability, its complete and up-to-date documentation, and its extensive set of derived diagnostic quantities that are available for calculation and plotting. "RIP4" refers to the fourth major release of RIP, which has been generalized to process output from any model regardless of the vertical coordinate the model uses.

Features and Limitations:

    • Requires a large intermediate data set (seen by some as a disadvantage). A program called "ripdp_wrf" converts WRF system data files into files only the RIP plotting program can read. Both the data converter and the plotting program are provided in this download.
    • Vertical interpolation to pressure, height levels, etc. is handled on-the-fly by the plotting program, providing added versatility.
    • Can process model input and output files.
    • Can process output from real-weather, 2-D and idealized simulations.
    • Does not yet make use of the WRF I/O API software, so only netCDF data can be processed.
    • A very large number of diagnostics are available.

Requirements:
NCAR Graphics libraries (http://ngwww.ucar.edu)

Documentation:
The RIP Users Guide (ripug) is available in the RIP4 tar file in the Doc/ directory, or online at:
      http://www2.mmm.ucar.edu/wrf/users/docs/ripug.htm

ARWpost
 This tool is a converter, which ONLY converts data to the input format needed by GrADS, i.e., no graphics are generated by this tool. Once the data is in the correct format, a user still needs to know how to use GrADS to be able to generate the necessary plots. GrADS are freely available software packages -- see below for download link.

Features and Limitations:

    • Creates a large intermediate data set (seen by some as a disadvantage).
    • Vertical interpolation to pressure, height levels, etc., (or retention of data on model's native vertical levels) must be chosen at the data conversion step. Once the intermediate data set is created, that data can only be viewed by GrADS on the vertical levels chosen, with those levels shown as flat surfaces.
    • Can process WPS geogrid and metgrid, and WRF-ARW input and output data.
    • Can process output from real-weather, 3D, 2D and 1D idealized simulations.
    • Can only process netCDF files.
    • A few basic diagnostics are available.

Requirements:
GrADS visualization software (To analyze and plot data, a user must download, install, and become familiar with the GrADS analysis package)
    http://grads.iges.org/grads/grads.htm
 

VAPOR
VAPOR is the Visualization and Analysis Platform for Ocean, Atmosphere, and Solar Researchers. VAPOR was developed at NCAR to provide interactive visualization and analysis of numerically simulated fluid dynamics. With the latest (1.2) version, VAPOR now supports visualization of WRF-ARW simulation output.

This package is supported by the developers and not NCAR/MMM. For details on this, please see: http://www.vapor.ucar.edu/

Support is available from vapor@ucar.edu

Basic capabilities of VAPOR with WRF-ARW output

    • Direct Volume rendering (DVR)
      Any 3D variable in the WRF data can be viewed as a density. Users control transparency and color to view temperature, water vapor, clouds, etc. in 3D.
       
    • Flow
      - Draw 2D and 3D streamlines and flow arrows, showing the wind motion and direction, and how wind changes in time.
      - Path tracing (unsteady flow) enables visualization of trajectories that particles take over time. Users control when and where the particles are released.
       
    • Isosurfaces
      The isosurfaces of variables are displayed interactively. Users can control iso-values, color and transparency of the isosurfaces.
       
    • Contour planes and Probes
      3D variables can be intersected with arbitrarily oriented planes. Contour planes can be interactively positioned. Users can interactively pinpoint the values of a variable and establish seed points for flow integration.
       
    • Animation
      Control the time-stepping of the data, for interactive replaying and for recording animated sequences.
       
    • Terrain rendering
      The ground surface can be represented as a colored surface or can display a terrain image for geo-referencing.
       

IDV
Unidata's Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) is a freely available, multiplatform visualization and analysis tool for interdisciplinary geoscience data. The IDV brings together the ability to display and work with a wide range of data including satellite imagery, gridded data, observations and radar data, all within a unified interface.

This package is supported by the developers and not NCAR/MMM. For details on this, please see: http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/idv

Support is available from support-idv@unidata.ucar.edu

The IDV can read the Vis5D and GRIB output from ARWpost. It can also read the CF compliant netCDF files created from the user provided wrfout_to_cf.ncl NCL script.

IDV features:

  • 2- and 3-D data displays
  • Interactive probes for dataset exploration
  • Parameter readouts
  • Vertical profiles
  • Time/height displays
  • A rich set of analysis capabilities
  • Image product generation including Quick Time movies and GoogleEarth KML
  • Bundling mechanism for saving state
  • Remote data access
  • Integration of model and observed data
  • Animation
  • Integrated documentation
 
 
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